Deck 7: Determining Time

Question 1

The science of archaeological measurement is called ________.

A) archaeometry
B) biostratigraphy
C) statistical modeling
D) typology

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Comparing the age of an artifact, feature, or stratum in relation to other cultural items found in archaeological deposits is called ________.

A) radiocarbon dating
B) chronometric dating
C) relative dating
D) FUN dating

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Australopithecus fossils were relatively dated through the use of ________.

A) pig fossils
B) mammoth fossils
C) domestic dog fossils
D) antelope fossils

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Using evolutionary changes in well-known groups of animals as a dating tool is known as ________.

A) archaeometry
B) biostratigraphy
C) zoology
D) typology

Question 5

Pottery; materials such as stone, bronze, or iron; and projectile points became known as ________ types because they seemed to be time-specific.

A) temporal
B) relative
C) stable
D) context-based

Question 6

FUN dating is based on the fact that the longer a bone is buried in the ground ________.

A) the less mass it has
B) the more nitrogen it absorbs
C) the more nitrogen it loses
D) the more it decays

Question 7

The most commonly used and most important method of radiometric dating in archaeology is _______.

A) uranium-thorium dating
B) potassium-argon dating
C) radiocarbon dating
D) fission track dating

Question 8

Which of the following is not used in radiometric dating?

A) charcoal
B) bone remains
C) forged iron
D) stone

Question 9

Radiometric dating measures the _________ of elements such as carbon within an object over time.

A) calcification
B) rate of decay
C) buildup
D) stability

Question 10

Radiocarbon's half-life is known to be approximately _______.

A) 5,730 years
B) 574 days
C) 5.9 years
D) 564 years

Question 11

In radiocarbon dating, a "clean" sample has to be burned at high temperature to __________.

A) further purify it
B) convert it to a gas
C) kill fungal or bacterial growth
D) reduce the amount of impurities

Question 12

Uranium-thorium dating is applicable only to ________.

A) Organic material
B) radioactive material
C) volcanic rock
D) limestone (calcite) cave deposits

Question 13

Fission-track dating can be used to date ________.

A) crystalline minerals found in ceramic artifacts
B) fossil bone
C) limestone (calcite) cave deposits
D) volcanic rock

Question 14

Thermoluminescence dating is a radiometric technique commonly used to date ________.

A) fossil bone
B) volcanic rock
C) pottery
D) limestone (calcite) cave deposits

Question 15

Which dating technique based on the fact that the position of Earth's magnetic poles is continually changing?

A) fission track dating
B) archaeomagnetism
C) electron spin resonance
D) archaeometry

Question 16

Which nonradiometric dating technique dates the volcanic glass material in tool flakes?

A) archaeomagnetism
B) thermoluminescence
C) fission track dating
D) obsidian dating

Question 17

Obsidian dating is based on the fact that ________.

A) obsidian loses water over time
B) obsidian loses carbon over time
C) obsidian absorbs water from the surrounding environment over time
D) obsidian absorbs nitrogen over time

Question 18

According to the law of superposition, materials found in lower layers ________.

A) are younger than materials found in layers above
B) are older than materials found in layers above
C) are irrelevant
D) are equal in age to all materials found in the same spot

Question 19

Chronometric dating establishes ________.

A) actual age
B) relative age
C) general age
D) who created the artifact

Question 20

William Libby in the 1950s developed the important technique of ________.

A) radiocarbon dating
B) potassium-argon dating
C) FUN dating
D) nonradiometric dating

Question 21

Why are archaeologists so focused on establishing the age of artifacts?

Question 22

Describe the differences in accuracy and usage between relative dating techniques and chronometric dating techniques.

Question 23

Why are archaeologists so careful to not contaminate a sample sent for radiocarbon dating?

Question 24

Why is obsidian such an important element that it has its own dating technique?

Question 25

Using examples from the text, describe how archaeologists use temporal types in constructing chronologies.