Deck 5: Space and Time

Question 1

Which is a precisely defined location for every find made during an archaeological survey and excavation, and it is part of context?

A) space
B) association
C) archaeology
D) physics

Answer 1

A

Question 2

This term describes the context in space between artifacts and other evidence of human behavior around them.

A) temporal relationships
B) associations
C) patternings
D) hypothetical relationships

Answer 2

B

Question 3

When examining the concept of space, archaeologists apply certain directions of inquiry EXCEPT for

A) the cultural origins of artifacts.
B) activities within a human settlement.
C) seriation techniques.
D) the distributions of human settlement.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which law is of great importance when artifacts are being ordered in chronological sequences?

A) stratigraphy
B) independent assortment
C) related geologic strata
D) association

Question 5

A collection of artifacts associated with a single individual is a(n)

A) assemblage.
B) horizon.
C) zone.
D) subassemblage.

Question 6

A village flourishes, but eventually is abandoned. Later, another village is built at the same location; over many years this second village is replaced. In time, yet another village is built on the same spot. For archaeologists, the layers and artifacts that result from such change are an example of

A) superposition.
B) subassemblage.
C) industry.
D) cross-dating.

Question 7

The types of chronology that archaeologists refer to primarily are all of the following EXCEPT

A) relative chronology.
B) absolute chronology.
C) dendrochronology.
D) chronometric chronology.

Question 8

What type of time is exemplified by a planting and harvest calendar?

A) temporal
B) chronometric
C) cyclical
D) linear

Question 9

The idea that underlying geological levels are earlier than those that cover them is known as the law of

A) association.
B) horizontal neutrality.
C) relatedness.
D) superposition.

Question 10

Archaeologists use seriation techniques to place artifacts in chronological order. If the frequencies with which these artifacts occur are plotted as a set of bars, they often appear in a shape known as the

A) battleship curve.
B) artifact form.
C) frequency of occurrence.
D) popularity peak.

Question 11

Along with coins, what can be used to date buildings or refuse pits in which they were dropped centuries ago?

A) known age
B) supposed age
C) temporal specificity
D) related importance

Question 12

Tree-ring dating has been practiced on long-felled wood beams to date the Indian pueblo buildings of which they were a part. This method is called

A) vegetable chronology.
B) dendrochronology.
C) temporal seriation.
D) chronological sequencing.

Question 13

The half-life of C-14 (radiocarbon) is measured at how many years?

A) 5568
B) 3224
C) 5730
D) 5890

Question 14

The prehistory of the world from some 40,000 years ago up to historic times is dated almost entirely by which method?

A) elapsed-time
B) Bayesian
C) chronometric
D) radiocarbon

Question 15

What comprises optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) and thermoluminescence (TL), measures the light emitted from baked clays, heated or burnt stone, and windblown sediments like sand?

A) chronological dating
B) chronometric dating
C) cendro-dating
D) luminescence dating

Question 16

Which measures radiation-induced defects or the density of trapped electrons within a bone or shell sample without the need to heat them?

A) dendrochronology
B) radiocarbon dating
C) neutron spin deactivation
D) Electronic Spin Resonance

Question 17

Uranium series dating measures the steady decay of uranium into various daughter elements inside any formation made up of

A) calcium carbonates.
B) magnesium hydroxides.
C) sodium bicarbonates.
D) sodium hypochlorites.

Question 18

For every 100 40K atoms that decay, what percentage becomes 40Ar (Argon), an inactive gas that can easily escape from its present material by diffusion when lava and other molten rocks are formed?

A) 12
B) 15
C) 20
D) 11

Question 19

Which series dating is most effective when it is applied to sites between 50,000 and 1 million years old?

A) thorium
B) uranium
C) plutonium
D) carbon

Question 20

The date of any mineral containing uranium can be obtained by measuring the amount of uranium in the sample, which is done by counting the fission tracks in the material-narrow trails of damage in the sample caused by fragmentation of massive energy-charged particles. This is known as what kind of dating?

A) uranium track
B) cross-track
C) fission track
D) glass-track dating

Question 21

Define the concept of space as used in archaeology. How do archaeologists describe their finds?

Question 22

Differentiate between the concepts of assemblage and subassemblage, using examples for each.

Question 23

Compare and contrast linear time with cyclical time. Define each with examples.

Question 24

Describe the law of superposition and how it relates to the concept of relative chronology. Give an example of relative chronology used in archaeology.

Question 25

Describe the application of C-14 dating to archaeology. How does it work, and how is it used?