Anthropology can be applied to practical issues outside the university setting.
Tool use is not a characteristic unique to hominins.
Thanks to the modern medicine, many infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and
cholera are no longer a threat to human populations.
All human genetic disorders are inherited as recessive traits.
Scientists who use the behavioral ecology approach believe that primate behaviors have
evolved through the operation of natural selection.
The relationship between malaria and the HbS allele is an example of natural selection
as a factor that can cause directional change in allele frequencies.
The term “civilization” is currently used by anthropologists to mean essentially the
same as culture or society.
Several language experiments with chimpanzees, orangutans, gorillas, and bonobos
have shown that all great apes have the capacity to use signs and symbols to
communicate. Questions, however, have been raised about this type of research.
Kamaya Kimeu discovered the most complete Homo erectus at Zhoukoudian.
Macrofossils do not typically survive even where macrofossils can.
As a group, the specimens from Skhūl all have modern human features and none show
any hints of premodern features.
Melanin production is the result of interactions between several different loci.
The modification of natural objects for use as tools has several implications for
nonhuman primate intelligence.
The genotype sets limits and potentials for development and interacts with the
environment to produce the phenotype.
Rates of development can be accurately reconstructed by examining dental growth
markers.
Animal domestication differs from plant domestication, and probably varies from one
animal species to another.
Sexual selection does not seem to be an important factor in the evolution of sexual
dimorphism.
Anders Retzius was the first European scientist to classify humans into races.
Carbon-14 dating is a relative dating method used to date rocks and minerals.
By 165,000 ya individuals were using fire at Blombos Cave, as evidenced by microliths
that show evidence that the stone had been carefully heated.
There are no well-documented examples of natural selection operating in natural
populations.
All aspects of the past cultures, even the most distant, can be easily reconstructed
through archaeological research.
Chimpanzees have never been observed to modify twigs for termite fishing before
actually arriving at the termite mound.
Environmental explanations of domestication typically propose that some change
altered a population’s ability to feed its members.
The mean cranial capacity for Homo erectus is 900 cm3
A manifestation of sickle-cell anemia is the abnormal hemoglobin S reduces the ability
of red blood cells to transport oxygen throughout the body.
Different stone tool industries coexisted in some areas for long periods during the
Middle Pleistocene.
Kanzi the bonobo learned to produce sharp flakes by throwing rocks to the ground.
The Upper Paleolithic was a period during which there were rapid shifts in climatic
conditions.
Polygenic traits account for few, if any, of the readily observable phenotypic variation
seen in humans.
Foragers are typically associated with large, sedentary villages and dense populations.
The phyum chordate includes all animals with a never cord, gill slits, and supporting
cord along the back.
The main effect of fluctuating climates in Africa during the Pleistocene was to change
rainfall patterns.
Cladistics is an approach to classification that makes evolutionary interpretations based
solely on shared ancestral characters.
The earliest skeletons from the New World show greater biological diversity than do
modern Native Americans.
Gregor Mendel
a. published his results and won the Nobel Prize for his discoveries
b. was trained as a geneticist
c. did not know about chromosomes
d. was a professor at the University of Vienna
e. never published his work
The development of the Egyptian civilization may be linked to influence from
a. Mesopotamia
b. Hierakonpolis
c. Harrappa
d. Nubia
e. Mohenjo-Daro
The HbS allele increased in frequency in West African populations due to which of the
following?
a. sickle-cell anemia
b. genetic drift
c. migration
d. increased mutation rates
e. natural selection
By far the largest collection of Homo erectus remains have been found at
a. Sangiran
b. Zhoukoudian
c. Olduvai
d. Trinil
e. Lantian
The core components of hominin biocultural evolution took a long time to develop.
a. True
b. False
Which of the following best describes the nature of Sumerian political organization?
a. large, loosely organized confederations of allied cities
b. autonomous city-states with smaller satellite communities and associated cropland
c. a single empire based in Uruk city
d. two independent societies located along the Upper and Lower Euphrates
e. large urban centers and autonomous rural farming communities
When did the initial hominid divergence from the African hominoids most likely occur?
a. during the late Miocene
b. during the early Miocene
c. as late as 1 mya
d. 3 mya
e. 20 to 30 kya
Which subdiscipline of anthropology is concerned with various aspects of human
language?
a. primatology
b. linguistic anthropology
c. ethnology
d. applied anthropology
e. anthropometry
Hypoxia
a. is the reduced availability of oxygen
b. occurs at higher altitudes because the atmosphere contains less oxygen than at sea
level
c. exerts no stress on humans
d. is a problem for people living at sea level
e. is not a concern for humans
The Skhūl site is dated to approximately ________ years ago.
a. 250,000-200,000
b. 75,000-43,000
c. 200,000-100,000
d. 130,000-100,000
e. 40,000
The earliest plant crops in China were
a. rice and wheat
b. millet
c. rice and yams
d. wheat and yams
e. barley
The premodern human fossils from Africa and Europe are more similar to each other
than they are to the hominids from Asia.
Dated to approximately 500,000-400,000 years ago, the site of______________has
yielded a sample of 4,000 fossil fragments representing about twenty-eight premodern
Homo sapiens individuals, more than 80% of all Middle Pleistocene hominin remains in
the world.
a. Ehringsdorf
b. Sima de los Huesos
c. Steinheim
d. Swanscombe
e. Petralona
The Classic Maya period is defined as:
a. between 1,500 and 900 BC
b. from around BC 300- AD 200
c. from roughly AD 200-900
d. from AD 900-1520
e. after the Spanish conquest
The presence of morphological variability in skeletons from Asia and the Americas
indicates that
a. there were likely multiple migrations to the New World
b. humans evolved independently in the Americas
c. there was significant genetic drift among New World populations
d. non-Asian populations are likely responsible for the earliest settlement
e. the Bering Land Bridge was not a route for the entrance of humans to the New World
Which of the following best characterizes the term “civilization”?
a. the last in a series of stages of cultural development through which most human
groups have developed
b. the larger social order and set of shared values in which states are culturally
embedded
c. the modern, European social and cultural system
d. any state level society
e. people with culture
States, as defined by Morton Fried, are characterized by which of the following?
a. egalitarian organization
b. lack of social differentiation
c. concept of citizenship
d. lack of administrative bureaucracies
e. dependence on informal leadership
The first Chinese H. erectus discoveries were the result of the focus on locating
a. skullcaps and femurs the same size as remains from Trinil
b. individuals contemporaneous with H. sapiens
c. “Dragon bones” used as medicine and aphrodisiacs
d. fossils unhampered by the complex nature of Javanese geology
e. fossils belonging to the late Pleistocene
Explanations for the origins of domestication that argue for the importance of status
competition or ideology are known as:
a. environmental approaches
b. humanistic approaches
c. cultural approaches
d. materialist approaches
e. determinist approaches
Which of the following statements best describes the current archaeological
understanding of the nature of Olmec political organization?
a. It represents the first undisputed civilization in Mesoamerica.
b. It represents the first civilization in the Americas.
c. It contains characteristics of a chiefdom, or ranked society.
d. It evidences the origins of writing in Mesoamerica.
e. It represents an early development of complex society in the lowlands of the Mexican
Gulf Coast.
What is paleoanthropology?
a. It is defined as the study of early humans.
b. It is practiced by archaeologists ONLY.
c. It is concerned with fossilized skeletal remains ONLY.
d. It is defined as the study of fossilized non-primate mammals.
e. It is practiced by physical anthropologists ONLY.
Compared to Strepsirhini, anthropoids generally
a. have smaller body sizes
b. have decreased infant maturation periods
c. have smaller brains
d. depend less on olfaction and more on vision
e. groom less often
Culture is defined by which of the following characteristics?
a. economic activities
b. symbolic communication
c. social organization
d. material culture
e. cognitive, political, social, economic and technological components
There is a very late surviving H. erectus group in Java that apparently managed to
survive there until less than________years ago.
a. 300,000
b. 100,000
c. 1.5 mya
d. 2.0 mya
e. 50,000
What features characterize the transition to the Neolithic pattern in northern Europe?
a. It was preceded by substantial ideological shifts, particularly the development of
monuments.
b. It represents a gradual transition from intensive Mesolithic hunting and gathering.
c. It occurred rapidly and likely preceded ideological changes.
d. It was preceded by a long period of dependence on wild plant resources.
e. It is primarily the result of the migration of farmers from the Near East.
DNA hybridization of humans and chimpanzees indicate they share about _________ of
their DNA base sequences.
a. 10 percent
b. 95 percent
c. 28 percent
d. 99 percent
e. 100 percent
What is the term for the condition of two copies of the same allele being present in the
genotype?
a. dominant
b. codominant
c. recessive
d. homozygous
e. segregated
Most of the content of most early Sumerian writing does not concern
a. administrative records
b. economic issues
c. legal accounts
d. mythic narratives
e. matters typical of complex bureaucratic societies
Which is the best example of natural selection?
a. the peppered moth
b. the medium ground finch of the Galpagos
c. the recent increase in resistant strains of disease-causing microorganisms
d. the recent decrease in resistant strains of disease-causing microorganisms
e. Mendel’s project with peas and beans
Mechanisms for radiating body heat include which of the following?
a. increased production of red blood cells
b. vasodilation
c. vasoconstriction
d. increased activity levels
e. increased metabolic rate
New World domesticates include an important triad of crops that eventually came
together in the milpa intercropping system. These domesticates include beans, squash
and
a. white potatoes
b. pumpkins
c. quinoa
d. maize
e. sunflowers
Australopithecus afarensis specimens from Laetoli and Hadar are
a. the largest well-studied collection of early hominins
b. the oldest hominins discovered to date
c. the smallest least-studied collection of early hominins
d. only found in South Africa
e. forms of H. habilis
List five traits that distinguish the Anthropoids.
Answer:Will vary
List the similarities between early premodern Homo sapiens fossils and Homo erectus.
Answer:Will vary
Explain what is meant by differential net reproductive success. Give an example of how
this mechanism works.
Answer:Will vary
Explain the scientific basis of the term, global climate change, in terms of the current
situation.
Answer:Will vary
What have scientists been able to ascertain about the Homo erectus lifestyle at
Zhoukoudian? Include any disagreements within the scientific community. What is the
nature of the evidence?
Answer:Will vary
Using the HbS allele to illustrate, describe why fitness levels are a function of the
environment.
Answer:Will vary
Describe the injuries and pathologies evident in the Shanidar I skeleton. What, if
anything, does this tell us about Neandertal lifestyle and/or cultural behavior?
Answer:Will vary
What factors are associated with the demise of Teotihuacan?
Answer:Will vary
Define the problematic nature of the genetic evidence regarding the origins of modern
Homo sapiens.
Answer:Will vary
Knowing when people arrived in the New World is necessarily tied with where they
came, because the two tell us where to search in the archaeological record for the first
immigrants. Why?
Answer:Will vary
What is paleoanthropology?
Answer:Will vary
Define paleoanthropology and describe the nature and process of paleoanthropological
research.
Answer:Will vary
Define analogous and homologous traits and provide an example of each.
Answer:Will vary
What characteristics define a hominin? Discuss which aspects of your definition can be
assessed in the fossil record.
Answer:Will vary
Compare chimpanzee and bonobo anatomy and social behavior.
Answer:Will vary
What are three relative dating techniques? Provide an example.
Answer:Will vary
What are ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology? How are they used to
provide information about past lifeways? Give an example of each.
Answer:Will vary