Deck 9: The Present and the Past

Question 1

What value do the discards of the past-food remains, structures, and artifacts-have as a means of studying ancient human behavior?

A) They are priceless.
B) They are valueless.
C) They have good value.
D) They have poor value.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The factors that create the historic and archaeological records are known as

A) prehistory.
B) history.
C) site-formation processes.
D) formative processes.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Factors where human behavior has transformed the archaeological record are

A) cultural processes.
B) behavioral processes.
C) complex processes.
D) environmental processes.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

Cultural factors that can affect the archaeological record include all of the following EXCEPT

A) reuse of artifacts.
B) dumping of trash.
C) later occupants.
D) erosion.

Question 5

The events and processes of the natural environment that affect the archaeological record are known as

A) cultural processes.
B) site-formation processes.
C) phase-creation processes.
D) noncultural processes.

Question 6

The environmental agents of deterioration can be grouped into any of these categories EXCEPT

A) biological.
B) chemical.
C) geological.
D) physical.

Question 7

Which of these biological agents occur almost everywhere and are usually the first to colonize dead organic matter and begin the processes of decay?

A) bacteria
B) fungi
C) archaea
D) insects

Question 8

Materials such as bone, leather, skin, textiles, and wood depend greatly on their physical environment for preservation because they are

A) living.
B) organic.
C) synthetic.
D) pliant.

Question 9

What is the most favorable condition for preservation of archaeological finds?

A) dry
B) humid
C) tropical rain forest
D) mid-latitude

Question 10

Watery conditions can aid preservation. The corpse of Tollund Man was found in excellent condition because it was preserved in

A) a peat bog.
B) a cedar plank house by the ocean.
C) a mud slide.
D) an ice-filled log coffin.

Question 11

In A.D. 79, entire towns were overwhelmed by an eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius; lava from the eruption even preserved the body casts of fleeing victims. One of those towns was

A) Milan.
B) Naples.
C) Roman Herculaneum.
D) Ostia.

Question 12

For archaeologists, understanding the past requires accurate knowledge of the

A) present.
B) past.
C) archaeological record.
D) regional history.

Question 13

Which theory comprises methods, theories, and ideas that can be applied to any period and anywhere in the world to explain what we have discovered, excavated, or analyzed from the past?

A) middle-range
B) nearest-neighbor
C) central-modality
D) Pearson's R

Question 14

For years, archaeologists talked about a moment in time when a non-Western society first came in contact with Europeans, such as when Captain James Cook landed on Tahiti in the South Pacific in 1769. This moment in time could be called a(n)

A) colonial moment.
B) transitional moment.
C) ethnographic present.
D) ethnographic past.

Question 15

The basis upon which archaeologists use ethnographic records to interpret prehistoric artifacts and sites is

A) prehistoric analogy.
B) ethnographic analogy.
C) creative thinking.
D) experimental archaeology.

Question 16

If photographs taken in 1890 were compared with excavated home foundations from earlier, but still relatively recent, historic times and the features of both were the same, then archaeologists might use this model to interpret the design of prehistoric houses. A house could then be traced backward into prehistoric times in sites many centuries earlier than the historic settlements. This is an example of

A) ethnographic analogy.
B) living archaeology.
C) site formation processes.
D) cultural processes.

Question 17

Focusing on specific artifact patternings and on studies of hunter-gatherer encampments that might provide ways of interpreting the very earliest human sites at Olduvai Gorge and elsewhere is an application of

A) ethnoarchaeology.
B) experimental archaeology.
C) ethnographic analogy.
D) creative analogy.

Question 18

Using data from the dynamic present to evaluate archaeological evidence from the static archaeological record, as Brian Hayden did in studying metates and manos, demonstrates the power and potential of a many-sided approach to

A) ethnographic analogy.
B) creative analogy.
C) experimental archaeology.
D) ethnoarchaeology.

Question 19

The fact that archaeologists are able to distinguish between wear polishes associated with different materials, including wood, bone, and hide, indicates the power of

A) ethnographic analogy.
B) creative analogy.
C) experimental archaeology.
D) ethnoarchaeology.

Question 20

A long-term study underway in Tucson, Arizona, is applying ethnoarchaeology to investigate material culture, resource management, urban demography, and social and economic stratification

A) in a modern context.
B) in an early Southwestern culture.
C) in an ancient urban center.
D) from an alternate perspective.

Question 21

Discuss the true value of William Rathje's long-term study of modern urban garbage in Tucson, Arizona. How can this study be applied to findings from other archaeological sites?

Question 22

What does something like Thor Heyerdhal's voyage in a balsa raft actually prove?

Question 23

What is the difference between what Thor Heyerdhal demonstrated and what Ben Finney demonstrated? Which is more important to an understanding of prehistory? Why?

Question 24

Explain the two basic forms of site-formation processes, and explain their impact on archaeological sites.

Question 25

List and describe at least three different types of preservation found with archaeological materials. Which do you think is best? Explain your answer.