The technique of mixing two or more metals to create a new material, such as copper
and tin to make bronze, is known as
a) ascribing
b) annealing
c) bifurcating
d) conjoining
e) alloying
Classification of artifacts is usually based on
a) similar surface attributes
b) similar shape attributes
c) similar technological attributes
d) all of the above
e) none of the above
An effective way to understand how the archaeological record was formed is the study
of the material culture and behavior of living cultures. Such an approach is known as
a) ethnoarchaeology
b) observational archaeology
c) Neo-Marxism
d) cultural ecology
e) none of the above
Analysis of human remains from the 154 burials recovered at Khok Phanom Di by the
physical anthropologist Nancy Tayles suggested that the two main clusters of burials
represented
a) two warring factions
b) rulers and their slaves
c) two distinct family groups
d) the remains of a large battle, possibly for local metal resources
e) two castes
____________, first made in Predynastic Egypt, is a glass-like material manufactured
by coating a core material of powdered quartz with vitreous alkaline glaze
a) A core
b) Filigree
c) An eolith
d) Slag
e) Faience
A common non-destructive method used to gain an internal view of human bodies, such
as mummies, which works by creating images of cross-sectional “slices” through the
body is known as
a) computerized axial tomography
b) fluxgate magnetometry
c) electron probe microanalysis
d) infrared absorption spectroscopy
e) optical emission spectrometry
Which archaeologist’s landmark investigation at Star Carr in the 1950s demonstrated
how much information could be gleaned from what appeared to be an unpromising site
using the ecological approach?
a) Mortimer Wheeler
b) V. Gordon Childe
c) Flinders Petrie
d) Grahame Clark
e) Louis Leakey
The isotope uranium-238 decays at a constant rate (half-life of 8.2 x 1015 years). It also
occasionally divides in half, and the two parts are violently repelled from one another,
creating scars in crystalline materials and obsidian. By counting the frequency of the
scars, the archaeologist can calculate the age of the sample. This dating technique is
called
a) obsidian hydration dating
b) optically stimulated luminescence
c) fission track dating
d) thermoluminescence
e) electron spin resonance
In the systems approach, a process that acts to dampen or counter the effects of external
events, thus acting as a stabilizing mechanism, is known as
a) positivism
b) positive feedback
c) the multiplier effect
d) negative feedback
e) negativism
What is androcentrism?
a) male bias
b) the hatred of males
c) the study of males
d) male archaeology
e) none of the above
In order to achieve the desired temperatures necessary for smelting, a ceramic air pipe
or ____________ can be used to force more air into the furnace
a) flute
b) brazier
c) mold
d) cire perdue
e) tuyre
Because ethnoarchaeology is not usually focused on the actual material remains of the
past, it is considered to be a(n) _________________ approach to understanding a past
society
a) direct
b) scientific
c) old fashioned
d) invalid
e) indirect
Tomb robbing is not a modern phenomenon. As early as the 12th century BC,
___________ had appointed a commission to inquire about the plundering of royal
tombs
a) the Maya
b) the Egyptians
c) the Romans
d) the Minoans
e) the Chinese
In the US, the majority of sites found during survey in advance of development do not
meet the criteria for significance and, thus, they are
a) preserved for later study
b) destroyed without being recorded
c) recorded and destroyed
d) cause for a halting of development
e) deemed to be of emotional, not archaeological value
In order to establish and reinforce alliances in Melanesia, a system of ceremonial,
non-competitive, exchange is known as
a) kula exchange
b) potlatch
c) polity
d) market exchange
e) moko
Obsidian makes a good material for characterization and distribution studies because
a) there are relatively few sources of obsidian in the world
b) different sources are chemically different
c) it was desirable in prehistoric times, and was used to make tools
d) all of the above
e) a and b only
Analysis of Neolithic Jomon shell mounds around Tokyo Bay, Japan, recovered
evidence for a variety of food remains. Seasonality of clam exploitation was derived
from
a) ratio of length to shell thickness
b) overall mass of shell
c) daily growth lines
d) sagittal otoliths
e) None of the above
A typology is
a) lines connecting similar altitudes for mapping
b) the discovery of an ideal form of something against which all others are measured
c) the reproduction of ancient artifact forms
d) an arrangement of artifacts in chronological or developmental sequence
e) none of the above
A key breakthrough in scientific methods applied to archaeological questions was the
invention by Willard Libby of
a) neutron activation analysis
b) dendrochronology
c) radiocarbon dating
d) potassium-argon dating
e) trace-element analysis
In his influential ethnographic work, Argonauts of the Western Pacific, anthropologist
Bronislaw Malinowski described an exchange network that centered on ceremonial
exchange between inhabitants of some Melanesian islands. Malinowski’s study of this
system was influential in shaping our understanding of how _____________ works
a) reciprocity
b) redistribution
c) market exchange
d) barter
e) capitalism
_______________ is a form of explanation based on the formulation of hypotheses and
the establishment from them by deduction of consequences that may then be tested
against archaeological data
a) Hypothetico-deductive (H-D) explanation
b) Deductive nomological (D-N) explanation
c) Methodological individualism
d) Monocausality
e) Hypothetico-nomological (H-N) explanation
Archaeologist Marija Gimbutas has become a cult figure among such groups as
ecofeminists and New Age enthusiasts mostly because of her concept of a(n)
a) Mother Goddess
b) society of warrior women (Amazons)
c) ruling sisterhood
d) female oracle
e) androcentric past
In order to interpret the evidence from Middle Paleolithic sites in France, Lewis
Binford studied the use and discard of bones and tools at a seasonal hunting camp used
by the Nunamiut of
a) Argentina
b) Alaska
c) Angola
d) Azerbaijan
e) Australia
A regional or inter-regional exchange system is known as an
a) archaeological culture
b) assemblage
c) cultural group
d) interaction sphere
e) world system
Stencils of human hands found in the caves at Gargas, France, dating from the late Ice
Age, seem to have severe damage, in some cases suggesting all four fingers were
missing. These stencils of humans hands have been interpreted as
a) a kind of sign language or other symbolic system
b) stencils made with the fingers folded
c) damage from mutilation or disease
d) all of the above
e) none of the above are thought to be the cause
A potsherd used by the ancient Greeks as a voting ticket, is called a(n):
a) kula
b) parthenon
c) agora
d) osteon
e) ostrakon
A field of research that is concerned with estimates of various aspects of populations,
such as size, density, and growth rates, based on archaeological data, is known as
a) cultural anthropology
b) ethnography
c) demographic archaeology
d) cultural evolution
e) historiography
An approach that lays great stress on the search for the ideas and motives of the
individuals involved in the historical circumstances leading up to an event is known as
a(n)
a) inductive explanation
b) functional-processual explanation
c) idealist explanation
d) empathetic explanation
e) monocausal explanation
One of the most thorough studies of production and distribution was that by Isabel
McBryde at the quarry outcrops on Mount William. By examining ethnographic
accounts of tomahawk production, and then working with a petrologist, McBryde
determined that access to the quarry was strictly limited, and was available only
through kinship or ceremonial affiliations. The quarry was located in
a) the south island of New Zealand
b) northern Plains, USA
c) southern Plains, USA
d) southeastern Australia
e) southern England
When a mode of exchange involves the operation of some central organizing authority
that receives or appropriates goods and subsequently sends some to other locations, this
is
a) negative reciprocity
b) balanced reciprocity
c) market exchange
d) redistribution
e) a kula network