Deck 1: Nature, Humanity, and History

Question 1

The several extinct species of humanlike primates that existed from about 4.5 million years ago to 1.4 million years ago were

A)australopithecines.
B)homo sapiens .
C)homo erectus .
D)Peking man.
E)homo habilis .

Answer 1

australopithecines.

Question 2

Roughly how much were ocean levels lowered during the Pleistocene?

A)100 feet
B)250 feet
C)450 feet
D)1000 feet
E)5000 feet

Answer 2

450 feet

Question 3

Homo sapiens evolved in Africa sometime

A)during the Pleistocene period.
B)between 400,000 and 100,000 years ago.
C)during the Paleolithic period.
D)with the earliest hominids.
E)during the Great Ice Age.

Answer 3

between 400,000 and 100,000 years ago.

Question 4

It is believed that many species of large mammals may have disappeared between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago because of climate change and

A)other natural disasters.
B)human predation.
C)delayed or insufficient genetic adaptation.
D)death from new diseases spread by human migration.
E)predation from nonhuman predators.

Question 5

The biological family that includes humans and humanlike primates is

A)humanid.
B)hominid.
C)Homo habilis .
D)Homo erectus .
E)Homo sapiens .

Question 6

Who presented his theory of human evolution in the book The Descent of Man ?

A)Eugene Dubois
B)Charles Darwin
C)Raymond Dart
D)Richard Leakey
E)W.C. Pei

Question 7

Travel between continents in early human diasporas-such as between Siberia and Alaska-was accomplished by

A)horses and pack animals.
B)walking at low tide across sand bars.
C)walking across land bridges.
D)swimming.
E)canoes.

Question 8

The ability to walk upright on two legs, characteristic of hominids, is called

A)upright pedalism.
B)dipedalism.
C)biapendigism.
D)bipedalism.
E)twin pedalism.

Question 9

Like the australopithecines, early humans depended heavily on

A)scavenging from kills made by animals.
B)nutritious animal flesh.
C)salt water fishing.
D)settled agriculture.
E)vegetable foods.

Question 10

The Neolithic era is associated with which of the following?

A)making tools out of materials including metal
B)making large rock formations like Stonehenge for religious purposes
C)an architectural hallmark when people lived in buildings instead of caves
D)the rise of agriculture
E)the start of a bilateral trade system

Question 11

The first regular producers of tools were

A)australopithecines.
B)homo habilis .
C)homo erectus .
D)homo sapiens .
E)Neolithic man.

Question 12

What is not an aspect of culture?

A)shared religious beliefs
B)learned patterns of expression and action
C)mMaterial objects such as dwellings, clothing, and tools
D)shared biological characteristics
E)similar values

Question 13

Most early human activity centered on

A)gathering food.
B)acquiring wealth.
C)construction projects.
D)entertainment.
E)warfare with encroaching clans.

Question 14

Which three traits distinguish humans from apes and other primates?

A)foraging, tool making, bipedalism
B)opposing thumbs, bipedalism, pastoralism
C)larger brain, opposing thumbs, larynx higher in the neck
D)bipedalism, larger brain, larynx lower in the neck
E)pastoralism, bipedalism, larger brain

Question 15

Which of the following people believed that the first humans emerged out of a hole in the earth?

A)Yoruba
B)Hopi
C)Maori
D)Deccan
E)Hebrews

Question 16

Which species was the first to be classified in the same genus ( Homo )with modern humans?

A)homo habilis
B)homo erectus
C)homo Neanderthal
D)homo sapiens
E)homo genous

Question 17

Current archaeological theory supports Louis and Mary Leakey's discovery that the cradle of humanity is located on which continent?

A)Australia
B)Europe
C)Asia
D)Africa
E)America

Question 18

Which of the hominids first developed speech, probably about 50,000 years ago?

A)homo neanderthalus
B)homo habilis
C)australopithecines
D)homo sapiens
E)homo erectus

Question 19

Modern research has found what percentage of human DNA to be identical to that of apes?

A)10 percent
B)25 percent
C)50 percent
D)99 percent
E)Humans and apes share physical similarities but no common DNA.

Question 20

Where was australopithecine "Lucy" found?

A)Australia
B)Ethiopia
C)Peking
D)Java
E)Easter Island

Question 21

Pastoralists

A)were happier because their lives were less stressful.
B)were mobile populations without many material goods.
C)used herds for transportation.
D)were entirely carnivorous.
E)viewed animals as sacred totems.

Question 22

The change from food gathering to food production that occurred between about 8000 and 2000 BCE was called

A)the Sedentary Revolution.
B)the Industrial Revolutions.
C)the Agricultural Revolutions.
D)the Neolithic Revolution.
E)both c and d.

Question 23

The religions of farming communities tended to focus on

A)a sky-god or male deity.
B)an earth mother or female deity.
C)a variety of important gods.
D)nature spirits.
E)moon worship.

Question 24

A society where the rule of women prevails is called

A)matriarchy.
B)patriarchy.
C)maternalism.
D)paternalsim.
E)matrilineality.

Question 25

The earliest representation of cave art, at Blombos Cave in South Africa, dates from

A)1,000,000 years ago.
B)500,000 years ago.
C)150,000 years ago.
D)100,000 years ago.
E)70,000 years ago.

Question 26

The Iceman whose remains were discovered in 1991 died

A)from disease.
B)violently.
C)of starvation.
D)from the cold.
E)of old age.

Question 27

Structures and complexes of very large stones constructed for ceremonial and religious purposes in Neolithic times were called

A)lithograms.
B)monoliths.
C)megaliths.
D)pegaliths.
E)permastructures.

Question 28

Cave art is generally understood to represent

A)religious or mythological stories.
B)population counts.
C)an inventory of hunting and gathering.
D)early graffiti.
E)a wide range of possible explanations.

Question 29

The Agricultural Revolutions were likely spurred by

A)the promise of a secure food supply.
B)the desire for ready access to beer.
C)climate change.
D)wars among humans.
E)pandemics.

Question 30

Foragers typically spent about hours daily obtaining necessary food, clothing, and shelter.

A)twelve
B)eight
C)three to five
D)two to four
E)one to two

Question 31

Women played a major role in the transition to crop cultivation because

A)they were unsuited for heavier work.
B)they were the primary gatherers of wild plant foods.
C)only women lived very long in farming settlements.
D)since women did the cooking, it was natural for them to grow the plants.
E)it's easy to do agriculture and raise children at the same time.

Question 32

Recent discoveries of large stones and burial chambers may indicate

A)an interest in astronomy.
B)an interest in measuring time.
C)increased warfare.
D)ceremonial and religious purposes.
E)a change in religious focus.

Question 33

The American continents contained very few domesticated animals because

A)agriculture made domesticated animals unnecessary.
B)the environment made raising animals difficult.
C)natives preferred hunting instead.
D)there were few species suitable for domestication.
E)while there were many appropriate wild species, they were difficult to domesticate.

Question 34

Matrilineal societies were

A)ruled by women.
B)defined by maternal heritage.
C)ruled by men.
D)defined by paternal heritage.
E)defined by a nuclear family.

Question 35

The Indo-European languages include all of the following except

A)Romance languages (based on Latin).
B)Germanic languages.
C)Celtic languages.
D)Slavic languages.
E)Sino-Tibetan languages.

Question 36

A significant difference between Jericho and Çatal Hüyük was that

A)Jericho had no walls around the city.
B)Çatal Hüyük had no doors on its buildings.
C)Jericho was made of mud, while Çatal Hüyük was made of bricks.
D)Çatal Hüyük was much smaller.
E)There is no evidence of trade in Çatal Hüyük.

Question 37

During a particularly wet period after 8000 BCE, people in the eastern Sahara began to cultivate

A)rice.
B)sorghum.
C)lentils.
D)maize.
E)quinoa.

Question 38

Scholars believe the earliest domesticated animals were

A)goats.
B)sheep.
C)cats.
D)cattle.
E)dogs.

Question 39

The earliest transition to agriculture occurred first in

A)the Middle East.
B)Europe.
C)Africa.
D)the Americas.
E)China.

Question 40

What was the chief item in Çatal Hüyük's long-distance trade?

A)Silk
B)Barley
C)Iron
D)Clothing
E)Obsidian

Question 41

Instructions: Answer the following question(s).
Describe the different ways that people have sought to understand their origins, from the origin or creation myths to the work of natural scientists such as Charles Darwin, the Leakeys, DuBois, Dart, and Pei.

Question 42

How can the cave paintings, stone carvings, and creation myths of ancient civilizations allow us to understand their values?

Question 43

Describe the development of gender roles and social life in the earliest records of human society.

Question 44

Explain the process by which humans migrated from Africa to eventually populate the earth.

Question 45

For what activities were Ice Age women chiefly responsible?

Question 46

What is the most plausible explanation for the advent of the Agricultural Revolution?

Question 47

Describe the conditions leading to the transition from food gathering to food cultivation. Also, briefly describe the differences and similarities in agriculture around the world.

Question 48

What three unique traits do humans possess that apes do not?

Question 49

Describe what has been learned about life in early towns from the ruins at Çatal Hüyük.

Question 50

Describe the first domestication of animals.