Archaeology and the study of prehistory, as it stands today, comes primarily from:
a) a Western tradition of scholarship
b) an Eastern tradition of scholarship
c) a model developed by the ancient Greeks
d) a global tradition of scholarship
e) a model developed by Charles Darwin
It is possible that Oldowan tools were made by:
a) early Homo species
b) australopithecines
c) both early Homo species and australopithecines
d) a, b and c
e) early modern humans
Lewis Binford described Late Epipaleolithic societies as being _______ rather than
foragers, because they moved much less frequently and operated from base camps or
year-round settlements.
a) pastoralists
b) collectors
c) agriculturalists
d) hunters
e) toolmakers
Microliths:
a) are small, retouched stone tools
b) are fashioned out of a portion of a blade or bladelet
c) can be combined and mounted to make barbed arrowheads
d) are typical of the Epipaleolithic in the Levant
e) all of the above
Chengtoushan, the most important Daxi site:
a) was a walled town
b) boasted a 33-ft wide moat
c) was located near rice fields
d) dates to the Neolithic period
e) all of the above
The “Out of Africa” hypothesis predicts that:
a) the earliest fossils of modern humans will be found only in Africa
b) fossils transitional between modern humans and their direct ancestor will be found
only in Africa
c) modern-day humans will not necessarily share links with earlier populations from the
same region
d) Africa should show the greatest genetic diversity
e) all of the above
Urbanization
a) is seen in Southeast Asia following the introduction of iron tools and weapons
b) occurred later on the islands of Southeast Asia than on the mainland
c) did not occur on the Pacific islands east of New Guinea until European contact
d) all of the above
e) a and b only
A ziggurat is:
a) another term for a cylinder seal
b) a staged tower that was surmounted by a shrine and was accessed by a series of
staircases
c) a type of siege device used by the Akkadians to conquer their enemies
d) the term used to describe the writing system used in most of Southwest Asia
e) a unit of measure employed by the Sumerians
The site of Chan Chan was the capital of __________, South America’s second largest
native empire.
a) Chimor
b) Chavn
c) Wari
d) Paracas
e) Nazca
Homo sapiens emerged as a distinct species:
a) 5 or 6 million years ago
b) 1 or 2 million years ago
c) over 10 million years ago
d) less than 500,000 years ago
e) never, we are not a distinct species
A prominent difference between humans and modern great apes is that only humans
display:
a) mobile shoulder joints
b) a lack of a tail
c) agile hands
d) stereoscopic color vision
e) bipedal locomotion
At the start of the Early Woodland period, changes in cooking and the storage of food
were related to the widespread use of:
a) herd animals
b) metal utensils
c) rice
d) cooking stones
e) pottery
Most southern African rock art depicts:
a) early written texts
b) the Rainbow Serpent
c) abstract representations of local plants
d) interaction with Europeans
e) naturalistic representations of animals and people
Kent Flannery’s idea of a “broad-spectrum revolution” is based on the idea that:
a) hunter-gatherers in the Epipaleolithic were able to remain in one place longer
because they developed agriculture
b) agriculturalists in the Epipaleolithic returned to hunting and gathering as a result of a
global cooling trend
c) agriculturalists in the Epipaleolithic gave up hunting and gathering entirely
d) hunter-gatherers in the Epipaleolithic were able to remain in one place longer
because they began to invest more effort in hunting different types of game
e) hunter-gatherers in the Epipaleolithic were prevented from remaining on one place
very long because of a global cooling trend
The civilization of Dvaravati flourished in the valley of the Chao Phraya River of
central __________ from about 400 to 900 ad.
a) Indonesia
b) India
c) Thailand
d) Bangladesh
e) Korea
In the native Polynesian language of the island, Easter Island is known as:
a) Lapita
b) Rapa Nui
c) Māori
d) Moai
e) Aotearoa
Beginning in the 8th century bc, the city-states of Greece sent people to distant
locations to:
a) start massive wars
b) ask for help during the Persian War
c) conduct ethnography on foreign cultures
d) establish colonies
e) learn how to read and write
Because no other Mesoamerican polity appears to have been strong enough to destroy
Teotihuacn, researchers suggest that the demise of that city was due to:
a) an earthquake followed by flooding
b) internal conflict and increased factionalization
c) the Spanish Conquest
d) the adoption of a sedentary lifestyle
e) invasion by the South American Inca
The “multi-regional evolution hypothesis,”, as promoted by Franz Weidenreich in the
1940s and developed by more recent scholars such as Thorne and Wolpoff, is based on
the idea that:
a) Homo sapiens first evolved in Africa and then spread out from there
b) Homo sapiens evolved locally from various Homo species that had left Africa
c) Homo sapiens evolved from Neanderthals in Europe and then expanded from there
d) Homo sapiens evolved from Homo erectus in Asia and expanded from there
e) Homo sapiens conquered rival species region by region through aggression and
warfare
The deliberate preparation of a stone tool core so that it produces flakes of a
predetermined size and shape when struck is called:
a) the Cire Perdue technique
b) the Levallois technique
c) the Lascaux technique
d) the Repouss technique
e) experimental archaeology
The archaeological study of Greece and Rome is generally known as:
a) Ethnoarchaeology
b) Classical Archaeology
c) Greco Archaeology
d) Biblical Archaeology
e) Romantic Archaeology
The most visible archaeological evidence for human occupation of the Amazon during
the Archaic period is in the form of:
a) large pyramid constructions
b) an abundance of stone tools
c) bison kill sites
d) permanent farming communities that were inhabited for a long time
e) rock art
Human colonization of Australia:
a) occurred in the 18th and 19th centuries as the UK sought to deport criminals
b) was a result of the seafaring prowess of Polynesian people
c) occurred over 2 million years ago when Australia was joined with Africa
d) is a result of an independent evolution of early Homo species into Homo sapiens
e) probably occurred at least 50,000 years ago
The development of ________ in Southwest Asia around 6000 bc enabled more land to
be brought under cultivation.
a) slash and burn agriculture
b) fertilizer
c) irrigation
d) land distribution
e) all of the above
In South America’s Atlantic Lowlands, sambaquis (low level refuse and habitation
mounds) begin to appear after 6800 bc. Sambaquis were constructed out of:
a) mudbrick
b) cut and worked stone
c) shell
d) prepared human skulls
e) hundreds of thick wooden poles
At the Neolithic site of Chopani Mando in the Ganges Basin ground-stone tools and
handmade pottery have been found along side the remains of wild rice and
undomesticated cattle and sheep. This suggests that:
a) the people of the site were entirely dependent on farming to meet all of their
subsistence needs
b) the people of the site were transitioning to an agricultural way of life
c) there was a ranked hierarchy, called the caste system, in place
d) the people of the site were highly mobile hunter-gatherers
e) the site had been conquered by Indo-European invaders
Which of the following is a possible explanation for why Polynesians chose to migrate?
a) the need for new agricultural lands as populations increased
b) a cultural desire to colonize to gain social approval
c) increases in westerly winds due to El Nio-Southern Oscillation events
d) all of the above
e) a and c only
Which of the following was a characteristic of centralized administration during the
Han Dynasty:
a) a standing army
b) a central mint
c) broadly based taxation
d) systemized selection for civil service positions
e) all of the above
The exchange of rare items from distant places:
a) inspired Caesar’s conquest of Britain
b) did not occur in Europe until after the development of iron technologies
c) was limited to the overland trade in gold
d) was blocked, in Europe, by geographic barriers
e) helped to establish elite identity in the Bronze and Iron Ages
The use of __________ is sometimes considered to be a good marker for the onset of an
agricultural way of life in Mesoamerica and its appearance marks the start of the
Preclassic period.
a) gold
b) stone
c) pottery
d) bronze
e) cotton
Much of our information about the political situation of Southwest Asia during the 14th
century bc comes from the so-called __________, associated with the reign of the
pharaoh Akhenaten.
a) Mari archive
b) Code of Hammurabi
c) Amarna Letters
d) Narum Sin Stela
e) Vase of Warka
____________ was the site of a panhellenic festival of games, including wrestling,
boxing, and foot races, which occurred every four years from 776 bc until the late 4th
century ad.
a) Athens
b) Sparta
c) Olympia
d) Delphi
e) Delos
One approach to the question of “change” in the past is the concept of cultural ecology.
Cultural ecology is:
a) the idea that societal change is completely voluntary, the result of decisions
specifically made by humans
b) the idea that most change in human society has been in response to the environment
c) the idea that humanity and society do not change, but rather stay the same over time
no matter what
d) the mechanism through which societies learn such techniques as farming from the
observation of other societies
e) the belief that culture only changes when there is a migration or other direct outside
influence from another society
In studies of the development of the Mediterranean, much of the region is often
overlooked because of the sheer fame of the Mediterranean civilizations of __________
a) Persia and Egypt
b) Greece and Rome
c) China and Japan
d) the Vikings and the Celts
e) all of the above
Agriculture was developed in only one location, the Fertile Crescent, and spread from
there to the rest of the world.
The Khmer were the builders of the spectacular Cambodian sites of Koh Ker, Angkor
Thom, and Angkor Wat.
The very presence of any rice grains at a site indicates that the plant had been fully
domesticated by the time period that the site dates to.
Intriguing information about Japanese culture in the 3rd century ad, including
descriptions of the Wa people whose leaders were female shaman, has been found in
Chinese historic texts.
It is quite easy for researchers to assign dates to nearly all the rock art of southern
Africa because most of it is found in deep cave sites near artifacts that can be carbon
dated.
Symbolic behavior has been recorded in such non-human species as dolphins and
gorillas.
Ashur, Kahlu (Nimrud), and finally Nineveh were each the capital of the Hittite Empire
at some point.
Although the sites are clearly complex, no grave goods or village cemeteries have been
found associated with the Neolithic settlements of the Yellow River Valley.
Europeans introduced domesticated tobacco to the Americas in the early 17th century.
Maize was a remarkably easy plant to domesticate and the people of Mesoamerica
adopted it quickly becoming sedentary quite early on.
Humans, apes, and monkeys are all considered anthropoids.
The Philistines are purely mythological; as a cultural group, they never actually existed.
One of the reasons we know so little about Olmec culture is that many Olmec sites have
been looted for their objects to sell on the art market before archaeologists could
excavate.
Most domesticated species could survive in the wild without any human intervention.
Oracle bones were used to make divinations by interpreting cracks generated through
the application of heat to animal bones.
The first emperor of China was Qin Shi Huangdi and the name “China” is derived from
the word “Qin.”
Farming spread across the whole continent of Europe within 2500 years as a result of
the movement of people and colonization.