Deck 7: Agricultural Revolution

Question 1

Basic agriculture emerged as a viable subsistence method around:

A) 1,000 years ago.
B) 500 years ago.
C) 10,000 years ago.
D) 50,000 years ago.
E) 75,000 years ago.

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which subsistence strategy did nearly all behaviorally modern humans use until 10,000 years ago?

A) agriculture
B) polyculture
C) foraging
D) monoculture
E) Scavenging

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Scavenger subsistence involves actions like

A) Collecting fallen fruit from underneath a fruit tree.
B) Fishing by the river
C) Picking an apple off an apple tree
D) Planting and tending to crops.
E) Milking cows

Answer 3

A

Question 4

__________ entails growing plants unaided by farming technology such as irrigation or plows?

A) Agriculture
B) Foraging
C) Industrialism
D) Scavenging
E) Horticulturalism

Question 5

The network of intertwined activities embedded within old-fashioned (pre-industrial) farming is formally defined as:

A) Polyculture
B) Industrialization
C) Intensified Agriculture
D) Stratification
E) Specialization

Question 6

Which is an example of foraging?

A) Collecting fallen fruit from underneath a fruit tree.
B) Collecting mushrooms
C) Going to the grocery store
D) Planting and tending to crops.
E) When some people produce food and others do crafts

Question 7

Of the following subsistence strategies, which is the most intensified and technologically complex?

A) Polyculture
B) Foraging
C) Industrialized agriculture
D) Pastoralism
E) Horticulturalism

Question 8

The 'generic' or plain-language label commonly used to mean the 'Neolithic Revolution' is:

A) Agricultural Revolution
B) Cultural Revolution
C) Pre-Industrialism
D) Old stone age
E) Subsistence Transition

Question 9

Which of these motives was the most important driver of the initial switch to agriculture?

A) Desire to settle down
B) Climate becoming increasingly warmer and dryer.
C) Desire for larger families.
D) Higher nutritional value of cereal crops like rice, wheat, barley, corn, and sorghum
E) Avarice or the desire for more material wealth.

Question 10

Up until _____ years ago, roughly 50% of the world's population still foraged for a living.

A) 10,000 years ago
B) 5,000 years ago
C) 2,000 years ago
D) 75,000 years ago
E) 800 years ago

Question 11

What contributed most to the initial agricultural success of populations based in the Fertile Crescent and similar places?

A) Proximity to eligible domesticates
B) Construction of hierarchical social structure
C) Geographic isolation
D) Access to animals that mature slower than human beings
E) Access to plans.

Question 12

Which of subsistence strategy is associated with a higher risk of negative health outcomes arising from prolonged exposure to environmental toxins?

A) Scavenging
B) Foraging
C) Horticulturalism
D) Agriculture
E) Both foraging and agriculture

Question 13

For the most part, there is a negative correlation between:

A) Intensification and technology
B) Intensification and good health
C) Intensification and interpersonal violence
D) Agricultural strategies and exposure to soil.
E) Agriculture and dental health.

Question 14

The biodynamic, slow food, and farm-to-table movements are examples of:

A) Industrialized agriculture.
B) Contemporary efforts to restructure industrialized subsistence methods in ways that improve the environment and overall health outcomes.
C) Specialization.
D) Contemporary efforts to restructure industrialized subsistence methods in ways that break polycultural ecological chains.
E) Progressive horticulturalism.

Question 15

The more 'intensified' strategies on the subsistence continuum ________ than less intensive strategies.

A) manipulate of interfere with (construct) the environment more
B) use fewer tools and technologies
C) leave a smaller mark on the environment
D) leave habitats more intact or more in their natural state
E) manipulate of interfere with (construct) the environment less

Question 16

To be good potential domesticates animals should

A) Eat humans
B) Be loners, shunning packs or herds
C) Reproduce slowly
D) Mature slowly
E) Be people friendly

Question 17

The Devon Colic occurred and persisted for well over 100 years because

A) Foragers ate bad fruit
B) Lead was used in cider presses and in the cleaning process when making cider
C) A meat-packing factory was contaminated
D) People did not maintain social distance
E) People refused to settle down in one place

Question 18

How is the hard work of agriculture written into skeletons?

A) People's bones are thicker
B) Workers' joints are healthier
C) People are notably taller in agricultural societiesd
D) People have thinner bones
E) None of these answers are correct

Question 19

What does NOT cause nutritional stress in agriculturalists?

A) Lack of variety in foodstuffs
B) Overreliance on specific cereals that affect absorption of various nutrients
C) Lack of wild foods in the diet
D) Overuse of the same soil/fields
E) Lack of fiber.

Question 20

The lack of fiber in the modern industrialized diet contributes to:

A) A diminished microbiome
B) Lowered immune function
C) Unwarranted fat storage
D) Excess inflammation
E) Everything listed in the answers here

Question 21

How does 'horticulture' differ from 'agriculture'?

A) Horticulture is the same as agriculture, but done on a much greater scale.
B) Agriculture refers to a subsistence pattern, while horticulture is the particular method used to procure foodstuffs via agriculture.
C) Agriculture entails irrigation and plowing; horticulture does not.
D) Agriculture uses domesticated plants, while horticulture uses non domesticated plants.
E) None of the given answers is correct.

Question 22

The agricultural revolution was driven by:

A) desire for more goods, access to domesticable plants and animals, and necessity provoked by climate change.
B) necessity provoked by climate change, access to domesticable plants and animals, and overexploitation of the existing resources.
C) necessity provoked by climate change, access to domesticable plants and animals, and curiosity or ingenuity.
D) This is a nonsense question: the agricultural revolution actually happened first in Central Africa.
E) curiosity or ingenuity, necessity, and greed.

Question 23

Porotic hyperostosis in agricultural populations suggests that:

A) agricultural populations suffered from diseases associated with sedentary lifestyles.
B) agricultural populations had increased nutritional intake so much that there was 'overdosing' of ordinarily harmless vitamins.
C) agricultural populations did more manual labor than earlier societies.
D) stress in agricultural populations was quickly adapted for by changes in bone density.
E) agriculture populations suffered from diseases related to a decrease in manual labor and an increase in food variety.

Question 24

About how much energy is lost from sunshine by the time it turns into a hamburger?

A) 10%
B) 33%
C) 90%
D) 100%
E) 0%

Question 25

'Biodynamic' food production involves or entails:

A) the application of bionics.
B) farmers engaged in mindful stewardship of biodiversity.
C) the industrial application of biotechnology and thermodynamics to agriculture.
D) genetically modified biological compounds.
E) None of the answers provided is correct.

Question 26

Which of the following best describes a 'tribe'?

A) egalitarian, wholly nomadic, reciprocity practiced
B) centralized bureaucracy with legal system, fixed villages and cities, redistributive economy
C) egalitarian or achieved leadership, semi-nomadic, reciprocity practiced
D) hereditary bureaucracy, fixed villages, redistributive economy
E) nomadic, egalitarian, redistributive economy

Question 27

Relationships among people within complex societies are:

A) emotional, enduring, and instrumental.
B) expressive and consistent.
C) single-stranded and instrumental.
D) enduring and reciprocal.
E) multiplex, reciprocal, and involve market exchange.

Question 28

'Reciprocity' is to 'redistribution' as 'foraging' is to:

A) agriculture.
B) herding.
C) hunter-gatherer lifestyle.
D) pillaging.
E) market economy.

Question 29

'Single-strand' social ties are to 'multiplex' social ties, as 'states' are to:

A) bands.
B) herding.
C) chiefdoms.
D) organisms.
E) agriculturalists.

Question 30

In the model of social evolution that our textbook discusses, work-related specialization is possible due to ________, and it often is followed by or supports ________.

A) stored surplus, social stratification
B) stored surplus, sedentism
C) sedentism, speciation
D) egalitarianism, democracy
E) multi-strand social ties, stored surplus

Question 31

Which of the following did NOT fuel the agricultural revolution?

A) geography
B) curiosity
C) necessity
D) greed (desire for more)
E) All of the answers are correct (i.e., none of the options fueled the agricultural revolution).

Question 32

Which of the following was NOT directly considered by humans in selecting plants for domestication?

A) nutrient content
B) seed dispersal mechanism (for instance, how easily wheat seeds break off of the stalk when the wind blows)
C) whether a seed could go dormant while in storage
D) pollination requirements (how hard or easy it was to pollinate crops, to get them to reproduce)
E) whether the crop could be stored for a while without rotting

Question 33

What does NOT increase with intensification and a settled agricultural lifestyle?

A) Interpersonal violence and organized warfare
B) deforestation and erosion
C) unhappiness possibly due to increased competition for resources
D) variation in diet and better dental health
E) exposure to environmental toxins

Question 34

Which kind of food production pays the LEAST attention to pre-existing relationships between parts of the ecosystem?

A) horticultural food production
B) pastoralism
C) multi-crop agriculture (polyculture)
D) industrialized agriculture
E) foraging

Question 35

Which of the following does NOT promote the sustainable, local production of regionally appropriate foods in season?

A) farm-to-table movements
B) slow food
C) biodynamic farming.
D) bioengineered farming.
E) new food movements

Question 36

Which of the following is NOT included in the 'Four Ss' of the agricultural revolution?

A) specialization
B) surplus
C) socialization
D) social stratification
E) sedentism

Question 37

Which of the following is NOT generally seen in the skeletal remains of agriculturalists?

A) porotic hyperostosis as a sign of iron deficiency
B) more degenerative joint disease than among foragers
C) thicker bones than among foragers
D) taller stature than among foragers
E) shorter stature than among foragers

Question 38

Which forms of political organization are LEAST likely to involve social stratification?

A) band or tribe
B) tribe or chiefdom
C) chiefdom or state
D) tribe or democracy
E) serfdom or kingdom

Question 39

Which of the following does NOT fit Spencer's 'organic analogy'?

A) homogenous to heterogeneous
B) simple to complex
C) difficult to easy
D) equal to specialized
E) Every answer given fits (all the answers are correct).

Question 40

Picking up carrion (already dead meat) instead of hunting is called:

A) browsing.
B) foraging.
C) scavenging.
D) pastoralism.
E) vulturism.

Question 41

'Scavenging' is different from 'foraging' because:

A) scavenging does not include collecting plant foods.
B) scavenging does not include gathering meat.
C) what's taken in scavenging is already dead or fallen.
D) scavenging is more manipulative of the environment than foraging.
E) None of the given answers is correct.

Question 42

'Intensification' refers to which of the following?

A) an increase in carbohydrates in the diet
B) increasing how much we manipulate the environment to get food
C) an increased amount of food produced
D) when less effort/energy is needed to produce more foodstuffs
E) an increase in the variety of nutrients in the diet.

Question 43

More 'intensified' subsistence patterns __________ than less 'intensified' patterns.

A) leave a bigger mark on the environment
B) leave a smaller mark on the environment
C) entail lower energy inputs
D) always lead to more dietary variety
E) allow us to do less to get food

Question 44

Which of the following correctly lists subsistence strategies from least intensified to most intensified?

A) industrialism, agriculture, horticulture and pastoralism, foraging
B) scavenging, horticulture and pastoralism, foraging, industrialism
C) scavenging, foraging, agriculture, horticulture and pastoralism
D) scavenging, foraging, horticulture and pastoralism, industrialism
E) foraging, scavenging, agriculture, industrialism

Question 45

The subsistence pattern in which animals are herded is known as:

A) pastoralism.
B) horticulture.
C) domestic.
D) nomadism.
E) intensification.

Question 46

Agriculture emerged around:

A) 2,000 years ago.
B) 5,000 years ago.
C) 10,000 years ago.
D) 20,000 years ago.
E) 75,000 years ago.

Question 47

In what region did agriculture first take root?

A) the Middle East
B) the Americas
C) South America
D) the Horn of Africa
E) Central Asia

Question 48

Which of the following was the crucial or key driving force behind the agricultural revolution?

A) over exploitation of flora and fauna and resulting scarcity
B) foraging
C) greed (desire for more)
D) climate change and resulting scarcity
E) food abundance

Question 49

While many factors fed 'intensification,' it is widely agreed that 'intensification' began first and foremost in response to:

A) climate change and resulting scarcity.
B) large population increases.
C) a desire to conquer other peoples.
D) the human instinct for ownership.
E) the need for social cohesion.

Question 50

In agriculture's early days, being able to adopt an agricultural lifestyle depended largely upon:

A) being lucky enough to be in a location where domesticable plants and animals also lived.
B) a human population's relative intelligence.
C) having a large enough population.
D) having specialists who could focus on the task of domestication.
E) the amount of protein, carbohydrates, fats, and phytochemicals in the diet.

Question 51

The agricultural revolution happened first in the region where it did because the people there:

A) had better access to domesticable plants and animals.
B) were smarter than people in other regions.
C) were hungrier.
D) were more interested in empire-building.
E) None of the answers provided is correct.

Question 52

Given the following options, which kind of plant is the best candidate for domestication?

A) a plant that does not evolve or change easily
B) a plant whose seeds are easily dispersed or come off of the shaft very easily
C) a plant whose seeds can be stored in a dormant stage for a long time
D) a plant that grows slowly so that it can be studied, altered, and gradually domesticated
E) a plant whose fruits, although hard to store, are large and delicious

Question 53

Given the following options, which kind of animal is the best candidate for domestication?

A) an animal that grows very slowly
B) a carnivorous (meat eating) animal
C) an animal that has long pregnancies
D) an animal that likes to live in groups
E) All of the answers are correct.

Question 54

In the context of our discussion of subsistence modes, we used the term 'exposure' to refer to:

A) when archaeological evidence has been tampered with or displaced (e.g., by dogs).
B) humans' proximity to pathogens, harmful chemicals, radiation, or environmental toxins.
C) the amount of time given foodstuffs can go unrefrigerated.
D) the degree to which lead has contaminated archaeological remains.
E) the intensity of food production.

Question 55

The example of apple cider and lead poisoning (Devon colic) showed that:

A) all agricultural practices are detrimental to health.
B) intensification can lead to new exposures and health costs.
C) apple cider is unhealthy.
D) doing anything beyond just foraging for apples is unnecessary.
E) the people of Devon were careless.

Question 56

'Enamel hypoplasia' indicates or indexes:

A) insufficient dental hygiene.
B) that an individual spent a period of time in physical/nutritional stress.
C) advanced metal-smith capabilities.
D) dental attrition and occupational wear on enamel.
E) a diet high in protein.

Question 57

When archaeologists see pits or lines in human tooth enamel they know that the person whose teeth are in question:

A) ate mostly nuts and berries.
B) suffered at various points in time from nutritional stress.
C) had tuberculosis.
D) had smallpox.
E) could not digest wheat.

Question 58

Deficiency diseases are most commonly found when people's diets:

A) are low in farmed foods.
B) include lots of variety.
C) lack variety.
D) are high in plants (vegetables, fruits, legumes, etc.).
E) include foods that are not stored or storable.

Question 59

The archaeological record shows that most settled agricultural populations were:

A) shorter than most forager populations.
B) better nourished than most forager populations.
C) taller than most forager populations.
D) receiving more dietary vitamins and minerals than most forager populations.
E) safe from toxic exposures due to their settled lifestyle.

Question 60

'Intensification' led to increased:

A) malnutrition.
B) environmental change.
C) interpersonal violence.
D) exposure problems.
E) All the answers are correct.

Question 61

Which subsistence mode tries hardest to unlink (or make linear) the multifaceted, intertwined cycles and relational chains found in nature?

A) the farm to table movement
B) pastoralism
C) industrialized agriculture
D) scavenging
E) biodynamic farming

Question 62

Industrial agriculture's use of antibiotics in animal feed:

A) has not been proven (is a myth).
B) insures against the emergence of drug-resistant pathogen strains.
C) is necessary because industrial agriculture eliminates many of the ecological (ecosystemic) relationships and cycles that previously protected the animals.
D) is not necessary because animal health is very good in industrial settings.
E) lessens industrial agriculture's footprint on the environment.

Question 63

What do we see in examining the ecological network of polyculture?

A) evolution
B) natural selection
C) energy flow and dispersal
D) variation
E) the food chain

Question 64

In comparison with the total amount of energy (solar, carbon-based, etc.) used to create a typical forager meal, the total amount of energy used to create a typical US meal:

A) is lower, due to modern technology.
B) is about the same.
C) is higher for us than for foragers.
D) has held constant for both since the agricultural revolution.
E) is not comparable.

Question 65

Which of the following changes occurred at the end of the change sequence summed up in the 'Four Ss' (or hinged on the others Ss already having begun to happen)?

A) social stratification
B) sedentism
C) specialization
D) surplus accumulation
E) speciation

Question 66

What is the relationship between a 'band' and a 'tribe'?

A) A tribe is the smallest unit of individuals, while a band is a grouping of tribes.
B) Bands are primarily family based units which may come together to form tribes.
C) A tribe refers to the specific band from which a person claims kinship.
D) Bands are pastoral societies, while tribes are horticultural.
E) Bands and tribes have no relationship to each other.

Question 67

What are the four basic forms of political organization?

A) band, family, chiefdom, monarchy
B) band, tribe, chiefdom, state
C) chiefdom, serfdom, kingdom, band
D) tribe, slave system, chiefdom, state
E) band, tribe, chiefdom, democracy

Question 68

'Redistribution' occurs in which of the following forms of political organization?

A) bands and tribes
B) tribes and chiefdoms
C) chiefdoms and states
D) states and democracies
E) serfdoms and kingdoms.

Question 69

Hereditary leadership emerges (is found) within:

A) bands.
B) tribes.
C) chiefdoms.
D) states.
E) republics.

Question 70

Which of the following forms of political organization has a nomadic settlement pattern?

A) chiefdom
B) serfdom
C) band
D) state
E) kingdom

Question 71

Which of the following lists has the forms of political organization in the correct order from simple to complex, or from smaller to larger populations?

A) band, tribe, chiefdom, democracy
B) band, chiefdom, tribe, state
C) state, chiefdom, tribe, band
D) state, band, chiefdom, tribe
E) band, tribe, chiefdom, state

Question 72

According to Spencer's 'organic analogy':

A) evolution is multi-linear.
B) societies, like organisms, will slowly become more complex over time.
C) society evolves to become simpler over time.
D) evolution is not linear at all.
E) subsistence methods have become less and less organic over time.

Question 73

Spencer's 'organic analogy' can be best explained in which of the following ways?

A) The individual parts of a society are fluid; any person can move easily from one position to another.
B) Over time, societies develop heterogeneous parts that are more and more specialized and interdependent.
C) Societies have different shapes much like human organs do.
D) The complexity and structure of a society are not correlated.
E) A multilinear society will evolve specialized functions in only some of its parts.

Question 74

Spencer's 'organic analogy,' the functional specialization and differentiation of various parts of society, is compared to the functional differentiation of various parts of:

A) the body.
B) the crop-growing cycle.
C) houses.
D) castles.
E) machines.

Question 75

Durkheim's 'division of labor' insures:

A) social chaos.
B) social cohesion.
C) social condensation.
D) social segregation.
E) social striving.

Question 76

The potentially divisive (dividing) force of the functional specialization that occurs in complex society is offset by:

A) Durkheim's division of labor.
B) trade guilds.
C) social condensation.
D) agriculture.
E) the Four Ss.

Question 77

A label for when larger groups break into smaller, self-contained factions is:

A) social isolation.
B) social condensation.
C) division of labor.
D) civilization.
E) organic analogy.

Question 78

What keeps 'social condensation' from happening in complex societies?

A) Social condensation requires a nomadic or semi-nomadic settlement pattern.
B) Chiefdoms and states have laws against social condensation.
C) People move around too much (i.e., from job to job).
D) Extra familial economic specialization ('the division of labor') makes social condensation impractical.
E) None of the given answers is correct.

Question 79

'Reciprocity' is characteristic of the exchange of goods in:

A) complex societies, where they strengthen the division of labor.
B) complex societies, as they represent a complex form of interaction.
C) simple societies, where exchange occurs among people who see each other often.
D) simple societies that rely on barter.
E) chiefdoms and states.

Question 80

Which of the following is an example of economic 'redistribution'?

A) You pay taxes and some of that money goes to support the forest service.
B) I pay a pre-set price for a car.
C) After harvesting cabbage from his wife's garden, a husband cooks it and feeds it to the children.
D) A chief gives a neighboring chiefdom the gift of a ceremonial sword.
E) None of the given examples is correct