Deck 13: Origins of Cities and States

Question 1

By around ________ years ago in the Near East, we see the first signs that communities had begun to exhibit social stratification, economic specialization and political centralization.

A) 8,000
B) 6,500
C) 5,000
D) 3,500
E) 2,000

Answer 1

8,000

Question 2

Which of the following is not a component of Robert Carneiro's theory for the origin of the state?

A) irrigation
B) population growth
C) circumscription
D) war
E) all of the above

Answer 2

irrigation

Question 3

During the early Uruk period (approximately 3,500 B.C.), in what is today southwestern Iran, ________ appears to have been the administrative centre of the region and the "capital" of the state.

A) Uruk
B) Ur
C) Babylon
D) Sumer
E) Susa

Answer 3

Susa

Question 4

In southern Iraq and the Mayan lowlands, ________ may have stimulated bureaucratic growth.

A) warfare
B) trade routes
C) temple complexes
D) large scale farms
E) climate change

Question 5

If only some people are buried with special objects, such as jewellery or pots filled with food, we can be fairly sure that the society featured

A) differences in wealth.
B) religion.
C) long-distance trade.
D) differences in status.
E) a strong sense of community.

Question 6

It is believed that Neolithic societies were

A) capitalist.
B) individualistic.
C) egalitarian.
D) hierarchical.
E) meritocratic.

Question 7

The earliest evidence of writing comes around ________ years ago in the form of ________.

A) 4,000; religious texts
B) 5,000; ledgers and inventories
C) 3,000; hieroglyphics
D) 3,500; royal decrees
E) 4,500; military plans

Question 8

Teotihuacan controlled major deposits of obsidian, a much sought after resource in Mesoamerica; obsidian products from Teotihuacan were distributed

A) only within the region immediately near Teotihuacan.
B) as far as the Inca empire in Peru.
C) over distances of more than 1,000 kilometres.
D) over a radius of 100 kilometres.
E) to the Spanish in exchange for guns and horses.

Question 9

Marvin Harris suggested that states formed in areas

A) that supported intensive grain production that were surrounded by areas that could not.
B) close to river systems.
C) cut off from neighbouring populations.
D) traditionally were nomadic.
E) conquered by warfare.

Question 10

Grave goods from burials in ancient Teotihuacan indicate

A) human sacrifice.
B) immigration.
C) extensive trade.
D) migration.
E) infanticide.

Question 11

Henry Wright and Gregory Johnson define a state as

A) a decentralized political hierarchy with at least three levels of administration.
B) a centralized political hierarchy with at least three levels of administration.
C) a decentralized political hierarchy with at least two levels of administration.
D) a centralized political hierarchy with at least two levels of administration.
E) a centralized social hierarchy with at least three levels of social status.

Question 12

Most ancient civilizations arose in ________ around ________.

A) China; 2500 BC
B) East Asia; 2500 BC
C) the Near East; 3500 BC
D) Europe; 10,000 BC
E) Mesoamerica; 3000 BC

Question 13

Archaeologists think that the first states arose about 3,500 BC in

A) Mesoamerica.
B) Mesopotamia.
C) the Nile River Valley.
D) the Indus River Valley.
E) China.

Question 14

Egyptian hieroglyphics provided the inspiration for the ancient Maya to develop their own hieroglyphic system.

Question 15

In the area of modern Peru, state societies emerged after about

A) 200 B.C.
B) 1200 B.C.
C) A.D. 200.
D) A.D. 800.
E) 2200 B.C.

Question 16

Civilization first developed in the Nile River Valley of Egypt and then spread worldwide via culture contact.

Question 17

Around ________ all of Sumer was unified under a single government.

A) 3000 BC
B) 2500 BC
C) 300 BC
D) 1750 BC
E) 5000 BC

Question 18

It has been suggested that labour and management necessary for the upkeep of ________ led to the formation of a political elite.

A) an army
B) extensive trade networks
C) herds
D) temples
E) an irrigation system

Question 19

Some archaeologist think that states first evolved in Mesopotamia around

A) 2000 BC.
B) 200 BC.
C) 3500 BC.
D) 10,000 BC.
E) 8200 BC.

Question 20

The ________ in ________ has been long cited as the earliest state society in East Asia.

A) Shang Dynasty, Mongolia
B) Shang Dynasty, northern China
C) Jomon, Japan
D) Sumer, China
E) Indus Valley, India

Question 21

At its peak, from A.D. 200-500, the great city of Teotihuacan covered an area greater than imperial Rome.

Question 22

What are some of the negative consequences of the development of states?

Question 23

Lake sediments have revealed that the region the Maya inhabited experienced a drought lasting approximately 200 years.

Question 24

Physical or environmental circumscription is the only kind of barrier than can give rise to a state.

Question 25

Three pyramids dominated the metropolis of Teotihuacan: the Pyramid of the Sun, the Pyramid of the Moon, and the Pyramid of the Stars.

Question 26

Why do scholars disagree over whether or not Cahokia was a state?

Question 27

Sites like La Venta, Mexico show evidence of elite status among children's burials.

Question 28

When the Temple of Quetzalcoatl in Teotihuacan was built in A.D. 200, more than 200 individuals were sacrificed.

Question 29

At Teotihuacan, there was a population shift after about 500 B.C. away from settlements on the valley floor.

Question 30

Archaeologists are still not clear as to the specific conditions that led to either the rise or collapse of each of the earliest civilizations.

Question 31

Irrigation seems to have been important in many areas in which early state societies developed.

Question 32

After the Inca conquest, women seem to have worked harder and had poorer health than men.