What can not be said of scientific inquiry used to understand global climate change?
a. Science is based on data collection, hypothesis testing, generalization and
verification.
b. Scientific investigation can be a long process.
c. Scientific investigation frequently involves debate regarding alternative approaches
and conclusions.
d. Science advances based on debates that occur in the pages of scientific journals and
organized scientific meetings.
e. Much is gained by science from well-intended ideology-driven claims.
How many ABO phenotypes (blood types) are there?
a. 4
b. 2
c. 3
d. 6
e. 1
Bifacially flaked tools characterize the _______ stone tool industry.
a. Oldowan
b. Acheulian
c. Shewlian
d. Osteodontokeratic
e. Northern Asian
What does each mitochondrion contain?
a. nuclear DNA
b. 46 chromosomes
c. an X but never a Y chromosome
d. several copies of a ring-shaped DNA molecule, or chromosome
e. A Y but never an X chromosome
Which of the following is true of the relativistic view of culture?
a. It allows us to understand our concerns and to view our own culture from a narrower
perspective.
b. It allows us to understand other people’s concerns and to view our own culture from a
broader perspective.
c. We realize that we can judge other species using human criteria.
d. We come to recognize the superiority of humans.
e. We understand the importance of our culture.
In bonobos, males and females
a. commonly form friendships and consortships
b. never interact except when a female is in estrus
c. are usually sexually active throughout the female’s estrus cycle
d. always interact aggressively
e. always avoid one another
Whether you see the future of humans as rosy or bleak,
a. the costs of changes outweigh the benefits.
b. the costs of benefits outweigh the costs.
c. tool using is soon to be replaced by cognitive reasoning.
d. hard work, sacrifices and brilliant insights will not be necessary in the future.
e. there’s no going back.
Evidence used to support the contention that humans were primarily responsible for the
Pleistocene extinctions include all of the following except
a. the timing of the arrival of humans in the New World within a few centuries of the
extinction of large mammals
b. association between large herbivores and Paleo-Indian points
c. a similar pattern of extinction in Asia
d. large herbivores have been excavated from sites with the weapons used to kill them
e. overhunting by rapidly expanding human populations
As discussed in the text, long-term continental drift had significant evolutionary
ramifications because
a. groups of animals were no longer isolated from each other by oceans.
b. the distribution of mammals and other land vertebrates were unaffected.
c. geological activities induced volcanic activities which decimated populations of
placental mammals.
d. groups of animals were isolated from each other by oceans.
e. scientists can map the changes that occurred.
Forensic anthropologists
a. study disease and trauma in ancient populations
b. apply anthropological techniques to the law
c. are primarily concerned with the recovery of material culture remains
d. examine the relationships between medical treatment and culturally determined
views of disease
e. study nonhuman primates
The theory that macroevolution proceeds as the result of gradual microevolutionary
change
a. is the only explanation of speciation accepted by biologists today
b. is called the theory of punctuated equilibrium
c. has been refuted
d. has been questioned as the exclusive mode of speciation
e. postulates rapid evolutionary change followed by long periods of stasis
Which of the following refers to the process of attaching a handle to a tool?
a. haft
b. hilt
c. fix
d. flake
e. artifact
Which is not an important aspect of human culture?
a. It is learned.
b. It includes such things as technology, language, religion, and gender roles.
c. It is genetically determined.
d. It is a critical role in human evolution.
e. It is a strategy that includes various technologies, but fortunately excludes language
and kinship rules which are always changing.
What common factor does Bruce Trigger propose all early civilizations share?
a. comparable periods of environmental change
b. the presence of increasingly limited access to information
c. the need to manage increasingly complex societies through political and
administrative institutions
d. all early civilizations emerged in the same basic type of environment
e. less top-down management
For most of hominin history
a. our ancestors’ reproductive capacity was much different from our ape cousins.
b. a woman gave birth every three or four years.
c. women gave birth every two years, then a few thousand years ago began to give birth
every three or four years.
d. infant mortality rates were different than those of early farmers and some
communities today.
e. had a relatively worse environmental record before the end of the Ice Age.
The primate emphasis on the visual sense is reflected all of the following except
a. the reduction in the size of structures related to the sense of smell
b. the presence of color vision in most species
c. a more forward facing position of the eyes relative to most other mammals
d. visual information from each eye transmitted to visual centers in both hemispheres
e. lack of color vision in most species
Ultraviolet radiation can be an important factor in selection for increased melanin
production because UV radiation can cause which of the following?
a. rickets
b. albinism
c. skin cancer
d. the rebuilding of folate
e. spina bifida
The Upper Paleolithic culture period began in Western Europe about ________ years
ago.
a. 40,000
b. 10,000
c. 5,000
d. 70,000
e. 100,000
The development of population density and overall cultural elaboration in the
southwestern United States occurred as a result of:
a. the diffusion of maize agriculture migrating northward from Mexico
b. the development of an intensive system of agriculture based on local plant crops and
irrigation
c. the introduction of intensive agriculture from the eastern Woodlands
d. the development of complex trade networks throughout the region
e. the distribution of Post-Uto-Aztecan language speakers.
Human activity in the last two centuries is not the most significant cause of this climate
change.
a. True
b. False
By using the designation Homo habilis, what was Louis Leakey not implying?
a. There were at least two hominin lineages present at Olduvai Gorge.
b. The Homo lineage was distinct from the australopithecines.
c. That Homo habilis was more closely related to modern humans than were the
australopiths.
d. That Homo habilis was more closely related to australopithecines
e. Members of the group were the early Olduvai toolmakers.
What does the Regional Continuity Model of modern Homo sapiens origins not
propose?
a. Modern humans did not appear solely in Africa.
b. Premodern populations in Europe, Asia, and Africa all evolved into modern Homo
sapiens.
c. There was gene flow between premodern populations from different regions of the
Old World.
d. Local populations would have evolved totally independently from one another
e. Local populations would not have evolved totally independently from one another
The spatial and temporal relationships between artifacts and features is known as:
a. context
b. taphonomy
c. palynology
d. absolute dating
e. site survey
Ideally, taxonomic classification
a. reflects evolutionary relationships
b. is based on the presence of acquired characteristics
c. is always based solely on between-species behavioral similarities
d. reflects the current geographic distribution of species
e. is only applicable to nonhuman species
The hominin fossils from Laetoli and Hadar are classified by most researchers as
a. Australopithecus africanus
b. Homo afarensis
c. Homo habilis
d. Australopithecus robustus
e. Australopithecus afarensis
Monkeys are divided into which two major groups?
a. terrestrial and arboreal forms
b. New and Old World species
c. large and small-bodied species
d. quadrupedal and bipedal
e. omnivores and frugivores
Primate social structure of a group of animals refers to
a. the composition
b. the size
c. the sex ratio
d. the composition, size and sex ratio
e. the behavior of the animals
Environmental approaches for explaining the origins of domestication argue that it
represents a more intensive use of the environment caused by:
a. the inherent predisposition of humans to develop domestication in response to
environmental triggers
b. society’s ability to face increasing resource needs
c. the environmental changes that occurred at the end of the Pleistocene
d. people being unaware of other choices to lifestyles
e. grazing herbivores
Which of the following statements about the origins of domestication is correct?
a. It represents a universal stage in human cultural evolution.
b. It occurred independently in separate areas of the world.
c. It occurred first in the Near East, and then spread or diffused to other areas.
d. It first occurred during the Upper Paleolithic.
e. The earliest centers of domestication are likely in Western Europe.
Two forms of evidence help to confirm the hypothesis that H. erectus evolved in Africa.
First, all of the earlier hominins come from Africa. Second,
a. well-preserved postcranial elements are scarce at some H. erectus sites.
b. the adult height of the Nariokotome youth would have been about 6 feet.
c. by 1.7 mya there are well-dated fossils of H. erectus at East Turkana, in Kenya, and
not long after at other sites in East Africa.
d. postcranial bones look very similar to modern humans.
e. growth pattern of Nariokotome would have been similar to that of modern humans.
What is the benefit of an atlatl?
a. It is a unique type of projectile point
b. It is used for starting fires.
c. It is used to increase the force and distance of a spear throw.
d. It can be used as a drill
e. It is used for fishing.
Early farming practices North Africa ensured that many areas remained productive for
thousands of years.
a. True
b. False