Deck 5: Field Methods in Archaeology and Paleoanthropology

Question 1

How many years ago do archaeologists believe that humans began to consistently bury their dead?

A)6,000
B)15,000
C)72,000
D)100,000
E)3,000,000

Answer 1

100,000

Question 2

In the original study,"Action Archaeology and the Community at El Pilar" Anabel Ford conducted her work:

A)in the United States.
B)in the desert.
C)in a coastal environment.
D)in a forest.
E)along a river bank.

Answer 2

in a forest.

Question 3

Which of the following statements about prehistory is incorrect?

A)Prehistory refers to a time period that occurred before history existed.
B)Prehistory occurs before the existence of written history.
C)Paleoanthropologists and archaeologists share a focus on prehistory.
D)Prehistory is an important time period for the study of paleoanthropologists.
E)Prehistory does not deny the existence of history.

Answer 3

Prehistory refers to a time period that occurred before history existed.

Question 4

The starting point,or reference,for a grid is called:

A)flotation.
B)stratification.
C)a datum point.
D)a grid system.
E)paleoanthropology.

Question 5

Anabel Ford noted in the article "Action Archaeology and the Community at El Pilar" that archaeology should:

A)be less of a science and more of an art.
B)avoid working within thick forests.
C)be less receptive to local concerns.
D)work with local populations.
E)avoid interpreting the past.

Question 6

A midden is a(n):

A)garbage dump.
B)house foundation area.
C)area of human burials.
D)human-made dwelling mound.
E)sterile area without artifacts.

Question 7

The purpose of a grid system is to:

A)record the exact location of an artifact or fossil accurately,both horizontally and vertically.
B)tell relic collectors where to find artifacts to sell to private collections.
C)provide electricity to primitive villages.
D)cook bacon.
E)recover small objects immersed in water.

Question 8

The original study,"Action Archaeology and the Community at El Pilar" describes action archaeology as:

A)accelerating the pace of excavations.
B)using the most technologically advanced excavation equipment.
C)following streamlined protocols regarding participant observation.
D)questioning the use of excavations.
E)using past solutions for contemporary populations.

Question 9

Which of the following statements is true of an assemblage?

A)It provides enough information to tell all details about the artifacts.
B)It allows archaeologists to reconstruct the daily life of the inhabitants.
C)It provides the type of evidence that requires a team of experts.
D)It is a collection of artifacts that provides more information on the culture.
E)It allows scientists to use multiple excavation techniques and get more accurate dates.

Question 10

The durable aspects of culture such as tools,structures,and art are known as:

A)fossils.
B)artifacts.
C)material culture.
D)prehistory.
E)intangibles.

Question 11

All of the following is information that is gained from studying coprolites except:

A)overall health of individual.
B)type of diet.
C)time of year of death.
D)type of climate in area.
E)cultural value of food.

Question 12

Those physical anthropologists engaged in the recovery and study of fossil evidence for human evolution are known as:

A)paleontologists.
B)geoarchaeologists.
C)fossilologists.
D)osteologists.
E)paleoanthropologists.

Question 13

The example of "Underwater Archaeology" examined:

A)prehistoric fish.
B)ancient trade routes.
C)an ancient Turkish city.
D)lost treasure.
E)long forgotten naval battles.

Question 14

Excavation records include all of the following except:

A)a scale map of the features.
B)assemblage of artifacts.
C)a description of exact location of every artifact.
D)photographs of the site.
E)stratification of each excavated square.

Question 15

As pointed out in the original study,"Action Archaeology and the Community at El Pilar" developing a plan which included local villagers,government administrators,and international scientists:

A)led to the abandonment of the project.
B)undermined scientific integrity.
C)ignored potential ways to benefit contemporary populations.
D)enabled all stakeholders to have a voice.
E)caused a backlash within the archaeological scientific community.

Question 16

Any object fashioned or altered by humans is called a(n):

A)ecofact.
B)fossil.
C)artifact.
D)tool.
E)manufact.

Question 17

What is unique about physical remains dating back from before 2.5 to 2.6 million years ago?

A)They are never found underground.
B)They are hard tissue remains only.
C)There is very little DNA evidence in them.
D)They are found in isolation with no context.
E)They are found underground and encased in a matrix.

Question 18

The term "soil marks" refers to:

A)a place where fossils are found in paleoanthropology.
B)a system for recording data from an archaeological excavation.
C)stains that show up on the surface of recently plowed fields,indicating an archaeological site.
D)remains of plants and animals whose organic material has been replaced by silica.
E)places where animals have left some sort of prints on the ground.

Question 19

Fossilization occurs most frequently among which type of organism?

A)Marine animals and other creatures living near water
B)Water-dwelling animals in tropical areas
C)Animals located in arid deserts
D)Land animals in high-altitude environments
E)Reptiles that are both land- and water-dwelling

Question 20

The study of how bones and other materials come to be preserved in the earth as fossils is called:

A)fossology.
B)relative dating.
C)paleoanthropology.
D)taphonomy.
E)taxonomy.

Question 21

Computed tomography (CT)allows researchers what kind of information on skeletal remains?

A)Types of soft tissue disease
B)Evidence of past traumas
C)Geographical origin of the individual
D)Date on which the individual was deceased
E)Ethnic affiliation of the individual

Question 22

The use of tree rings to assign chronometric dates is called:

A)palynology.
B)potassium argon.
C)dendrochronology.
D)stratigraphy.
E)matrix analysis.

Question 23

A "relative date":

A)is when you take your cousin out to dinner.
B)would be represented by the statement,"this fossil is about 100,000 years old,plus or minus 10,000 years."
C)is the same as a "chronometric date."
D)would be represented by the statement,"Fossil A has more fluorine in it than Fossil B,so it is the older one."
E)is based on solar years.

Question 24

Skeletal analyses have become more difficult to carry out,especially in the U.S. ,where American Indian communities now often request the return of skeletons from archaeological excavations for reburial,as required by federal law.Which of the following techniques helps to resolve this conflict?

A)Coating it with latex
B)Dissolving it with chemicals
C)3D digital images of skeletons
D)Cutting it into pieces and saving a few
E)Analyzing its shape

Question 25

The radiocarbon method can be used to date organic materials up to approximately how many years old?

A)11,460
B)50,000
C)5,730
D)1.3 billion
E)4.5 billion

Question 26

What is a polymerase chain reaction?

A)It is a technique for creating extra copies of DNA for laboratory study.
B)It is a technique for cloning the individual and recreating the life context.
C)It is a way to extract DNA from fossil material,even though carbon particles no longer remain.
D)It is a chemical reaction that releases the fossil from a matrix.
E)It is an excavation technique that allows archaeologists to sift through material quickly.

Question 27

Which of the following cannot be learned from a human skeleton?

A)An individual's gender
B)An individual's overall health
C)An individual's social status
D)An individual's mortality
E)An individual's religious beliefs

Question 28

The fact that most stone tools were probably made by right-handed individuals has implications for:

A)the disappearance of the prehensile tail.
B)the appearance of agriculture
C)the study of brain structure.
D)the study of skeletal structure.
E)aggressive behavior in humans.

Question 29

What is the purpose of cranial endocasts?

A)They provide data on the ethnic background of the individual.
B)They provide data on the nutritional status of the individual.
C)They provide information about long bones and the height of the individual.
D)They tell us how smart the individual was.
E)They tell us the size and shape of the brain.

Question 30

According to the theory of plate tectonics,the movement of continents embedded in underlying plates on the Earth's surface have moved in relation to one another over the history of life on Earth.This is called:

A)the molecular clock.
B)continental drift.
C)tectonic shifting.
D)the geologic scale.
E)the big bang theory.

Question 31

How does the molecular clock theory work?

A)It is based on examining the number of genetic mutations that have occurred during divergence of species.
B)It proposes that species divergence is based on a constant rate of genetic drift and isolation.
C)It is based on the notion that the Earth is one hour old,and it calculates events on a 60-minute clock.
D)It is based on examining molecules and how chemical reactions occur over time.
E)It argues that evolution occurs at steady rates and cannot make any changes over time that are not programmed.

Question 32

You are a paleoanthropologist uncovering fossils in East Africa.Using a certain technique,you discover that a humanlike fossil is in a stratum between a volcanic eruption dated at 2.9 million years and another volcanic eruption whose rocks give a date of 3.6 million years.The fossil is about midway between these layers so you assign a tentative date of 3.2 to 3.3 million years to your fossil.What technique are you using?

A)Radiocarbon analysis
B)Stratigraphy
C)Dendrochronology
D)Potassium argon analysis
E)Grid system

Question 33

Russian archaeologist S.A.Semenov studied the wear pattern on prehistoric scrapers and found that:

A)all tools were constructed by the same individual.
B)all tools were constructed by left-handed individuals.
C)virtually all tools were constructed by right-handed individuals.
D)almost every tool was devoid of any kind of meaningful wear pattern.
E)all tools were used as decorative objects.

Question 34

Which of the following dating methods is not considered to be an absolute dating method?

A)Electron spin resonance
B)Accelerator mass spectrometry
C)Carbon 14 dating
D)Potassium-argon dating
E)Stratigraphy

Question 35

Why are aboriginal skeletal analyses more challenging today than earlier in our history?

A)Today,there are so many scientific questions about remains that analyses take a long time.
B)There are fewer skeletal remains left today to study than there were before.
C)In the past,scientists were better educated and able to do analyses more effectively.
D)Many aboriginal groups do not want remains of their ancestors being analyzed for science.
E)The equipment and processes are much more sophisticated and require teams of scientists.

Question 36

Kennewick Man is dated at around:

A)9,300 years old.
B)6,700 years old.
C)7,900 years old.
D)10,080 years old.
E)12,400 years old.

Question 37

Which of the following scientists used biochemistry to discover how evolutionary relationships have emerged over time?

A)John McCain
B)Juan Luis Arsuaga
C)Allan Wilson
D)Michael Zimmerman
E)Anne Jensen

Question 38

Approximately how many individuals were buried in the African burial ground in Manhattan?

A)500
B)1,000
C)12,000
D)15,000
E)20,000

Question 39

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act was passed in:

A)1964.
B)2006.
C)1990.
D)1887.
E)2001.

Question 40

Stratigraphy is based on the assumption that layers are deposited in order;thus,an artifact or fossil in a lower stratum is__________________one found in a higher stratum.

A)the same age as
B)older than
C)younger than
D)likely to be descended from
E)likely to be unrelated to

Question 41

Certain climates can obliterate all evidence of organic remains.

Question 42

Flotation is a technique that is used to establish stratigraphy,or earth layers.

Question 43

The importance of the context in which artifacts are found cannot be overstated;without context,the archaeologist,in effect,knows nothing.

Question 44

Radiocarbon dating is a type of chronometric dating.

Question 45

Because of the controversy,Kennewick Man has not yet been studied by scientists.

Question 46

Relative dates do not provide any way of knowing when an event occurred.

Question 47

Analyses of DNA become increasingly unreliable when the sample is more than 5,000 years old.

Question 48

Paleoanthropologists working on sites that are older must use geologists to help them interpret the context.

Question 49

Bioarchaeologists can determine gender from skeletal analyses.

Question 50

The molecular clock allows scientists a better calculation of the time when one species split off from another.

Question 51

Archaeologists sometimes work on hostile conditions,where local people do not want them to excavate burial remains.This was the problem in El Pilar.

Question 52

A bioarchaeologist specializes in both archaeology and geology.

Question 53

There is no equivalent international law to NAGPRA to protect aboriginal graves worldwide.

Question 54

Paleomagnetic reversals are considered the most reliable form of absolute dating.

Question 55

The only way to thoroughly investigate our past is to excavate sites where biological and cultural remains are found.Unfortunately,excavation results in the site's destruction.

Question 56

Since the passage of the Historic Preservation Act of 1966,the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969,the Archaeological and Historical Preservation Act of 1974,and the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979,cultural resource management has been required for any construction project funded or licensed by the U.S.government.

Question 57

Chance plays a major role in the discovery of archaeological sites.

Question 58

If the site is stratified,archaeologists should dig each layer separately.

Question 59

As in the case of Schliemann's discovery of Troy,place names and local lore often play a role in discovering archaeological sites.

Question 60

The most reliable form of relative dating is stratigraphy.

Question 61

What is the role of the bioarchaeologist in laboratory analyses of human remains?

Question 62

What is NAGPRA,and why is it important to archaeologists?

Question 63

Discuss the ways that ancient societies used to record dates that enable archaeologists to correlate with our own calendar.

Question 64

Describe the importance culturally and ethics of cultural resource management.

Question 65

Discuss how objects and events from the past can be reliably dated in order to give an accurate understanding of the age of remains.

Question 66

What is the meaning of the "half-life" of Carbon 14?

Question 67

What was special about the excavation at El Pilar in the article "Action Archaeology and the Community at El Pilar"?

Question 68

Identify and explain the method most commonly used to date sequences of cultural remains into relative chronological order based on stylistic features.

Question 69

What types of information can an archaeologist get from coprolites?

Question 70

What is the benefit of taphonomy to the study and interpretation of fossils?

Question 71

Choose two types of relative dating,and describe the process involved.

Question 72

What has to happen for an organism to become a fossil?

Question 73

Why are skeletal analyses of aboriginal material more challenging today than they were in the past?

Question 74

What is the molecular clock,and how does it work?

Question 75

How do archaeologists identify sites?

Question 76

What is the controversy surrounding the Kennewick Man? What is important about this controversy in archaeology?

Question 77

What is the difference between archaeology and paleoanthropology?

Question 78

Describe the grid system used in archaeological excavation.

Question 79

Describe polymerase chain reaction,and why it is used in laboratory analyses.

Question 80

Why does context have such an important role in understanding the past?