Deck 1: The Rise of Culture: From Forest to Farm

Question 1

The Ise shrine is razed and then rebuilt every 20 years to

A)prevent deterioration of its materials.
B)ritually celebrate renewal.
C)demonstrate disinterest in the material world.
D)symbolize the lifespan of the goddess Amaterasu.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

The Shinto main sanctuary at Ise is always built of wood to

A)demonstrate reverence for the natural world and tradition.
B)avoid the cost of stone.
C)deter the kami.
D)effectively insulate against a cold climate

Answer 2

A

Question 3

According to the most recent discoveries,Stonehenge was constructed as a

A)sacrificial altar.
B)royal residence.
C)burial ground.
D)marketplace.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Among prehistoric paintings,what is distinctive about the painting of a bird-headed man,a bison,and a rhinoceros in Lascaux Cave?

A)It includes a representation of a large animal.
B)It is one of the few cave paintings to depict a human.
C)It is painted on limestone.
D)It demonstrates a rejection of naturalistic representation.

Question 5

Why did the Neolithic era witness increased pottery creation?

A)More permanent settlements could support artists.
B)Tending crops provided more free time for art than hunting did.
C)Neolithic people had learned to control fire for use in kilns.
D)Fragile pottery was impractical for Paleolithic hunter-gatherers.

Question 6

Implying a community's sense of historical continuity,what was buried beneath some of the Neolithic Çatalhöyük houses?

A)human bodies and skulls
B)fertility goddess statuettes
C)boar tusks,vulture skulls,and weasel teeth
D)large terracotta heads of leaders

Question 7

Why are the Chauvet animal paintings probably NOT associated with the hunt?

A)Most of the animals painted on the walls were imaginary.
B)Less than half of the animals painted on the walls are believed to have been hunted.
C)Few of the animals painted on the walls were domesticated.
D)Most of the animals painted on the walls were shown killing humans.

Question 8

Why did the Chauvet painters utilize perspectival drawing?

A)to convey a sense of three-dimensional space
B)to demonstrate allegiance to the Mother Goddess
C)to foster a sense of communal history
D)to increase contrasts in values and color

Question 9

Japanese emperors claimed divinity as

A)heads of the Shinto religion.
B)direct descendants of the sun goddess.
C)authors of the Kojiki.
D)Manifestations of future kami.

Question 10

The Anasazi built their kivas with a small,round hole in the floor to

A)represent a belief that their ancestors emerged from the depths of the Earth.
B)collect what little rain fell in the parched desert.
C)demonstrate a belief that evil spirits could be flushed into the depths of the Earth.
D)dispose of human waste and other refuse.

Question 11

Which of the following beliefs is NOT reflected in Pueblo emergence tales?

A)The forces of nature are inhabited by living spirits.
B)Humans can communicate with natural spirits.
C)Humans can take on animal form if they offer proper sacrifices.
D)Nature's behavior can be compared to human behavior.

Question 12

What can myths tell about their cultures?

A)place of origin
B)views and beliefs
C)social hierarchy
D)form of government

Question 13

Venus of Willendorf's original red color is suggestive of

A)sacrifice.
B)menses.
C)autumn.
D)shamanism.

Question 14

Why can the potter's wheel be considered one of the first mechanical and technological breakthroughs in history?

A)It allowed artisans to produce uniformly shaped vessels in short periods of time.
B)It provided an alternative to creating vessels by casting metal.
C)It enabled clay to be fired to a hot enough temperature to be hardened.
D)It created an adequately smooth surface for pots to be painted.

Question 15

What is the most basic architectural technique for spanning space?

A)post-and-lintel
B)corbel
C)cromlech
D)menhir

Question 16

Paleolithic cave paintings may have been intended to do all of the following EXCEPT

A)serve as magic charms to ensure successful hunting.
B)function as lunar calendars,predicting seasonal migration of the animals.
C)conjure game by depicting it.
D)commemorate the dead buried in the caves.

Question 17

Which of the following statements reflects the changed thinking regarding prehistoric art due to the discovery of Chauvet Cave?

A)Art progressed from awkward beginnings to increased sophistication.
B)The Paleolithic art in each cave probably was created by a single person.
C)Art did not necessarily evolve in a linear progression from its early days in prehistory.
D)Paleolithic cave art was a form of graffiti created by young people.

Question 18

Why do Paleolithic female figurines vastly outnumber those representing males?

A)Males were likely the carvers.
B)Males probably outnumbered females.
C)Females played a central role in the culture.
D)All prehistoric gods were female.

Question 19

In the Zuni emergence tale,the Pueblo people originated in

A)clay mounds formed by Himura,the potter goddess.
B)the womb of Mother Earth.
C)tears falling from the Sun Father's eyes.
D)the Spruce Tree House

Question 20

Neolithic Nok heads have an artistry based upon

A)animal imagery.
B)burial masks.
C)woven patterns.
D)abstract geometrical shapes.

Question 21

What do the Hopewell culture's elaborate burials tell about them?

A)They considered bear teeth sacred.
B)They created beautiful works of pottery.
C)They believed in reincarnation of the dead.
D)They had an extensive trade network.

Question 22

With what astronomical event might the Great Serpent Mound be associated?

A)the summer solstice
B)Halley's Comet
C)a solar eclipse
D)alignment of the planets

Question 23

Why might the Olmec have carved their leaders' heads in colossal size?

A)to intimidate potential attackers away from their sacred sites
B)to show the leaders as larger than life,like the gods
C)to provide supports for their sacred sites' roofs
D)to serve as markers for the leaders' graves

Question 24

In prehistoric times,communication with the spiritual world is thought to have been largely conducted in

A)groves.
B)semi-permanent huts.
C)river valleys.
D)Caves.

Question 25

Think of a current myth-a story grounded in observed experience that a culture assumes is true-and consider what this myth reveals about our society.

Question 26

The indigenous Japanese religion of Shinto shares much with Pueblo religions.Compare the two on their emergence tales and their general beliefs about the gods and nature.

Question 27

Explain the reasons pottery making facilitated advancement for Neolithic agriculture-based people.

Question 28

Discuss the view of society that construction of the megalithic dolmens,Carnac,and Stonehenge reveal.

Question 29

Discuss the implications of Chauvet Cave's revelations about art not developing linearly and early Paleolithic artists not being as primitive as we previously thought.

Question 30

The Olmec's giant mounds where the priests dwelled are thought to have possibly represented

A)volcanoes.
B)pregnant wombs,
C)mountains.
D)female breasts.

Question 31

Describe the picture of Paleolithic daily life that the human artifacts provide.

Question 32

Explore what the colossal heads guarding the Olmec ceremonial centers seem to tell us about that culture's sacred sites.

Question 33

Describe the afterlife beliefs that the mound burials of the Hopewell people present.

Question 34

The Great Serpent Mound differs from most Hopewell mounds in its

A)spiral shape and raised embankments.
B)alignment with the sun at the equinoxes.
C)absence of burial sites.
D)mysterious abandonment.

Question 35

Examine the Paleolithic female figurines-the Laussel Woman Holding an Animal Horn,the Venus of Willendorf-as "images of beauty in a cold,hostile world."