Deck 1: 10,000 Years of Social Evolution

Question 1

As recently as the 1960s, it was generally thought that agriculture:

A) was invented once, in the Middle East, and then spread from there all over the world
B) did not develop until people began to live in settled villages
C) originated in China and Southeast Asia
D) was only about 3,000 years old

Answer 1

was invented once, in the Middle East, and then spread from there all over the world

Question 2

In the Old World, large animals were domesticated at about the same time that crops began to be planted, but the New World lacked large animals suitable for domestication.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

In the various regions of the world where it developed, agriculture emerged very rapidly.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

In which of the following parts of the world did the transition to agriculture occur more or less independently:

A) the Middle East
B) China
C) Southeast Asia
D) Mesoamerica
E) all of these

Question 5

In the Old World, agriculture and sedentary village life emerged together, whereas in the New World sedentary village life developed several thousand years after agriculture was first practiced.

Question 6

Which of the following was a consequence of industrialization?

A) increasing economic productivity
B) urbanization
C) increasing specialization of labor
D) the creation of an urban working class
E) all of these

Question 7

The region of the world that was the last to develop agriculture was:

A) Southeast Asia
B) Mesoamerica
C) China
D) sub-Saharan Africa

Question 8

The dramatic social transformation that began, mostly in Europe, in the sixteenth century was the:

A) Industrial Revolution
B) emergence of urban life
C) radical alteration of religion
D) rise of modern capitalism

Question 9

The regions where civilizations and states first emerged were not the same regions where agriculture had emerged thousands of years earlier.

Question 10

As agricultural societies developed and became larger, more complex societies known as chiefdoms and states emerged.

Question 11

How did agriculture develop in Europe?

A) it emerged as a result of new ideas developed by existing hunter-gatherer communities
B) it was carried there by people migrating from the Middle East
C) it was carried there by people migrating from north Africa and parts of China

Question 12

Sanderson and Alderson consider the three greatest social transformations of the past 10,000 years to be:

A) the Neolithic Revolution; the rise of civilization; the rise of postindustrial society
B) the rise of civilization; the rise of the state; the Industrial Revolution
C) the rise of civilization; the Industrial Revolution; the postindustrial revolution
D) the Neolithic Revolution; the rise of civilization and the state; the rise of capitalism and industrialism

Question 13

By the ancestral environment is meant:

A) any society in which people revere their ancestors
B) the hunting and gathering lifestyle in which anatomically modern humans have lived until very recent times
C) the cold environment of the Neandertals
D) none of these

Question 14

Which of the following is or are) characteristic of civilizations?

A) they are politically ruled by states
B) many of their members lived in towns and cities
C) they have craft specialization, writing, and record keeping
D) they have monumental architecture
E) all of these

Question 15

The earliest civilizations and states arose in:

A) China
B) Mexico
C) Egypt and Mesopotamia
D) North America

Question 16

The Neolithic Revolution:

A) involved the transition from hunting and gathering to early agriculture
B) marked the transition to pastoral and agrarian societies
C) was sudden and occurred in only one or two parts of the world
D) none of these

Question 17

The argument that anatomically modern humans originated in Africa about 160,000 years ago and began to migrate out of Africa around 100,000 years ago, eventually populating the globe, is known as the:

A) African origins hypothesis
B) multiregional evolution hypothesis
C) Out of Africa hypothesis
D) modern speciation hypothesis

Question 18

The first civilizations and states arose around 2,000-3,000 years ago in Mesoamerica.

Question 19

Theocratic political systems are ones in which:

A) governance is in the hands of priests
B) religion is outlawed by political rulers
C) political rulers become increasingly religious over time
D) political rulers are religious but the common people lack religion

Question 20

Prior to 10,000 years ago, all humans everywhere lived by:

A) hunting and gathering
B) hunting and gathering and horticulture
C) simple horticulture
D) animal herding

Question 21

When and where did agriculture develop? Was the development of agriculture sudden or gradual? How did it relate to settled village life? What were some of the main domesticates? Was agriculture invented only once, or several times?

Question 22

Marx thought that capitalism created a new form of labor in which workers were more fulfilled and took greater pride in their work.

Question 23

In ancient Mesopotamia and Mexico, class distinctions were a major part of the earliest civilizations.

Question 24

What were the three most important social transformations in human history? What were some of their leading characteristics?

Question 25

When and where did the first civilizations and states arise? What were the leading characteristics of these types of societies? Why do you think it was that the first civilizations and states arose in essentially the same parts of the world where agriculture was first developed?

Question 26

When did capitalism and industrialism first develop? What were some of the major consequences of industrialization?

Question 27

A major consequence of the rise of capitalism was the industrialization of society.