Deck 1: Becoming Human

Question 1

Which of the following studies requires knowledge from many different fields of science,such as astrophysics,geology,biology,and others?

A) Yoruba narratives.
B) Big History
C) Potassium-argon method
D) Buddhist cosmology

Answer 1

Big History

Question 2

For Homo sapiens,which of the following was an effect of the development of complex language?

A) They were able to defeat wandering bands of australopithecines.
B) They were able to coordinate hunting efforts for the first time.
C) They were no longer able to communicate with other hominids.
D) They were able to create culture and pass it to future generations.

Answer 2

They were able to create culture and pass it to future generations.

Question 3

Which of the following best explains the relative lack of communication between the people of the Americas and Afro-Eurasia after about 6,000 BCE?

A) A new Ice Age created massive impassable glaciers separating the Americas from Afro-Eurasia.
B) Melting glaciers covered the land bridge between East Asia and the Americas with water,physically separating the continents.
C) The peoples of these two regions pursued fundamentally different strategies for finding food,so they had little desire for communication.
D) The peoples of Afro-Eurasia refused to adapt to changing environments.

Answer 3

Melting glaciers covered the land bridge between East Asia and the Americas with water,physically separating the continents.

Question 4

Which of the following resulted from the domestication of animals?

A) Farming was more difficult,since food had to be grown not only for humans but also for their animals.
B) Humans gave up hunting to obtain protein.
C) Some communities developed pastoralism to provide sufficient food supplies for their growing herds.
D) Relationships between pastoralists and agriculturalists worsened,as they competed for the same land.

Question 5

Which of the following best describes Homo erectus' children?

A) They had larger brain capacity than earlier hominids because their mothers had wider pelvises.
B) They were largely ignored by other clan members until they could contribute to clan survival.
C) They could not feed or care for themselves for many years,requiring prolonged maternal care.
D) They were closely guarded by their mothers,who feared attacks from other females in the clan.

Question 6

What was a major consequence of the agricultural revolution?

A) A large increase in human population
B) The extinction of hunter-gatherer societies
C) A wider variety of foods for humans
D) Greater diversity of plants and animals

Question 7

What evidence did scientists use to decide that hominids were more diverse than had been suggested by the early australopithecine finds such as Lucy?

A) Fossil finds in East and South Africa showed that several different kinds of early hominids were living in isolated societies and evolving separately.
B) Fossil finds in southern Africa indicated that some groups of hominids had begun to use fire.
C) Fossil finds indicated that some groups of hominids prior to australopithecines made bone tools.
D) Some fossils indicated that different hominids were evolving in Southwest Asia,and had remarkably modern teeth and hands.

Question 8

What advantage did larger brains give to early hominids?

A) The ability to walk upright with the head as a balancing point
B) The ability of children to be self-sufficient at a young age
C) The ability to learn,remember,and pass on information to the next generation
D) The ability to identify friends from foes

Question 9

The most significant way in which modern science challenged Asian creation narratives was that none of the Asian creation narratives recognized:

A) the existence of multiple planetary systems.
B) million-year time frames.
C) that planets were first joined together and would rejoin at the end of time.
D) that humans descended from apes and originated in Africa.

Question 10

What was the most important consequence of the large-scale ecological changes in Africa several hundred thousand years ago?

A) Australopithecines survived by building structures to store water.
B) Retreating ice sheets created the savannas,which favored Homo habilis.
C) Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons fought a war over resources,which led to the extinction of Neanderthals.
D) Larger-brained,quicker,more adaptable Homo sapiens survived and spread out of Africa.

Question 11

What was Charles Darwin's revolutionary insight?

A) All life evolved over a long period from simple forms of matter.
B) Humans evolved in several different places on Earth.
C) Traditional creation narratives all produce a similar date for the origins of the universe.
D) Modern humans appeared all at once thousands of years ago.

Question 12

Around 12,000 years ago,what was the main effect of population pressure and changing climate conditions on modern humans?

A) Humans migrated out of Africa to Eurasia.
B) Humans discovered fire.
C) Humans created music and art.
D) Humans learned to domesticate plants and animals.

Question 13

Where were sheep,goats,pigs,and cattle first domesticated?

A) North Africa
B) The Yellow River valley
C) Southwest Asia
D) The Nile Valley

Question 14

How do modern scientific understandings about the origin of the universe compare with traditional creation narratives?

A) Modern science indicates that the origin of the universe was much longer ago than do traditional creation narratives.
B) Modern science indicates that humans first appeared suddenly,as do traditional creation narratives.
C) Neither modern science nor traditional creation narratives has an answer for how the universe began.
D) Creation narratives and modern science indicate that divine beings had a role in creating all life.

Question 15

Which of the following discoveries supports the assertion that the spread of Homo sapiens from Africa is more complicated and occurred longer ago than previously believed?

A) Biblical calculations were redone,producing a much later date for the creation of humans.
B) Ancient Asian sources demonstrated a million-year time frame for the creation of the world.
C) Homo sapiens fossils found in Morocco were dated as early as 315,000 years ago.
D) The earliest fossils of Homo sapiens were found in East Africa.

Question 16

What was the adaptive advantage of bipedalism for early hominids?

A) The ability to see farther than other mammals
B) The ability to climb trees
C) The ability to outrun predators
D) The ability to migrate away from hostile environments

Question 17

What was a change to human language when humans spread out of Africa?

A) It expanded into nineteen separate language families.
B) It was unchanged,as the vocal chords of humans were unchanged.
C) The number of phonemes became more limited.
D) It differed only marginally from the language systems of other primates.

Question 18

What can scientists infer about Homo sapiens hunter-gatherers by studying contemporary hunter-gatherer societies such as the San and !Kung?

A) They spent nearly every hour of the day foraging for food.
B) They formed small bands that were relatively egalitarian.
C) They avoided social behaviors such as friendly competitions.
D) Since most of the food was obtained by hunting,the role of women was limited to childbearing.

Question 19

Which of the following describes an effect of the mastery of fire for Homo erectus?

A) Fire created a focus for new religious ideas,leading to new cultural development.
B) Fire helped hominids to expand their diets,leading to still larger brain size.
C) Fire provided a gathering point for small communities,leading to more complex social structures.
D) Fire permitted the creation of bronze tools,allowing the hunting of large animals.

Question 20

What is the characteristic that sets Homo habilis apart from prior hominids?

A) Development of simple language
B) Using tools to create tools
C) Creating simple musical instruments
D) Bipedalism

Question 21

Fossil evidence of damage to vertebrae and osteoarthritis in the toes suggest that women were responsible for agricultural drudge labor such as bending and kneeling in the fields.

Question 22

Why were pastoralists important to settled agriculturalists?

A) They transmitted ideas,products,and people across long distances,linking villages with a wider world.
B) They left important records that influenced agricultural innovation.
C) They had so little interaction with villages that farmers came to think of them as powerful mythological beings.
D) They served as a buffer between agricultural communities and outside enemies.

Question 23

Recent fossil discoveries in Chad corroborated the dating for bipedalism based on discoveries such as the fossil called Lucy.

Question 24

Which of the following was a consequence of the arrival of Homo sapiens in the Americas?

A) Humans adapted to different ecological niches and created new subsistence strategies.
B) Humans experienced rapid population growth as they abandoned hunting and gathering in favor of settled agriculture.
C) Humans developed extensive traditions of watercraft on the coast of Peru to promote trade along the coast.
D) Humans wiped out the large Ice Age Mammals.

Question 25

Where is the region known as the Fertile Crescent?

A) The Andes Mountains,in which tool fabrication first appeared
B) The region of Southwest Asia with rich soils and regular rainfall in which the agricultural revolution first appeared
C) The regions of southern France and northern Spain,where many cave paintings have been discovered
D) The region of Southeast Asia,where scholars found evidence of rice cultivation

Question 26

What led to the diffusion of agricultural techniques from the Sahel region to other parts of Africa around 2000 BCE?

A) The climate became warmer and the desert expanded.
B) The climate cooled and the region no longer supported crops.
C) Population pressure caused the people of the Sahel to migrate to new places.
D) Invaders from Egypt forced the Sahelians to move.

Question 27

What ecological change contributed to the development of agriculture in Japan?

A) The cooling climate froze out the fishing societies spread out along the coasts and rivers.
B) Rising sea levels created islands and limited the range of large game animals,leading to their extinction.
C) Sinking sea levels meant that there was more land available for settled agriculture.
D) A land bridge from the Korean Peninsula allowed the migration of agriculturalists to Japan.

Question 28

Which of the following were first domesticated in the Americas?

A) Wheat,barley,and horses
B) Rice,millet,and chickens
C) Sorghum,bananas,and cattle
D) Maize,potatoes,and guinea pigs

Question 29

Which of the following were first domesticated in the Fertile Crescent?

A) Rice and millet
B) Millet and sorghum
C) Maize and beans
D) Wild barley and wheat

Question 30

Of the six large mammals used for meat,milk,labor,and protein,which was first domesticated outside Southwest Asia?

A) Sheep
B) Pigs
C) Horses
D) Cattle

Question 31

Which of the following accurately describes an effect of the dissemination of agricultural crops and techniques from Southwest Asia to Europe?

A) The first European domesticated crops included Southwest Asian crops-wheat and barley.
B) The first European domesticated crops included Southwest Asian crops-maize and potatoes.
C) The similarities in the climates made adaptation of Southwest Asian crops relatively easy throughout Europe.
D) Long periods of time were required to adapt Southwest Asian crops to southern European climates.

Question 32

What led to the rise of the first major city-states in Southwest Asia?

A) The need to defend against foreign invaders by banding together
B) The local availability of large domesticable animals and a variety of cereal grains
C) The presence of active religious pilgrimage sites for ceremonies and rituals
D) The presence of lush forests with many navigable rivers

Question 33

Which crops formed the basis of village agriculture in China?

A) Millet and sorghum
B) Maize and potatoes
C) Rice and millet
D) Wheat and rice

Question 34

Which of the following is a consequence of the first agricultural revolution?

A) Religious art works
B) Egalitarian gender roles
C) Social stratification
D) Maritime trade

Question 35

Around 8000 BCE,people in the Sahel region of Africa:

A) lived exclusively as hunter-gatherers.
B) developed agriculture,with sorghum as the principal food crop.
C) established the use of camels to convey goods across hot,arid territories.
D) borrowed the idea of settled agriculture from Southwest Asia via the Nile River valley.

Question 36

Because of the colder climates and dense forests of central Europe,sheep and goats became the major herd animals.

Question 37

Which of the following is an accurate comparison between people in the Americas and those in Afro-Eurasia?

A) Populations in the Americas were more widely scattered and isolated from each other.
B) People in the Americas were unable to adapt to local ecozones.
C) People in the Americas did not develop refined agricultural techniques.
D) Populations in the Americas did not create villages and settled life.

Question 38

The pace of change toward agricultural production in the Americas was more gradual than in Afro-Eurasia because the centers of agricultural activity were more narrowly adapted to the local ecology and were geographically isolated from each other.

Question 39

Which of the following is true of nomadic pastoralists?

A) They were more numerous than agriculturalists because their diets consisted of more protein.
B) They tended to have little influence on world history because their migratory lives left little time for artistic or intellectual expression.
C) They were less sophisticated culturally than their agriculturalist neighbors because they did not build social networks and religious structures.
D) They domesticated horses,which gave them decisive advantages in transportation and warfare.

Question 40

What is the primary reason nomadic pastoralism instead of transhumant pastoralism flourished in the northern area of Afro-Eurasia?

A) Nomadic pastoralists could trade with more settled agricultural villages in northern China.
B) The superior military techniques of nomadic pastoralists could keep transhumant pastoralists out of their territory.
C) The steppes were unable to support large agricultural settlements,but could support large herds of grazing animals.
D) The superior numbers and military strength of settled agriculturalists forced the nomadic pastoralists northward.

Question 41

Explain the extent to which the development of settled agriculture relied upon innovation or diffusion in Africa,the Americas,and Europe.

Question 42

Analyze the role of adaptation to climate changes in hominid development.

Question 43

Analyze how the change from hunter-gatherer societies to agriculturalist societies affected gender relations.

Question 44

Describe the new methods and insights since the nineteenth century that have changed our view of how humans developed.

Question 45

Explain the origins of pastoralism and agricultural societies and analyze the relationship between them.

Question 46

As agricultural and pastoral societies became larger and more stratified,the rough gender egalitarianism of hunting and gathering societies eroded.