Deck 4: The Origins of Agriculture

Question 1

Marginal (Edge) Zone, Oasis, and Natural Habitat are

A) varieties of environment at Olduvai.
B) hypotheses about the origins of agriculture.
C) locations where Homo erectus bands hunted large mammals.
D) the three different regions in which Mesolithic cultures flourished.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT a theoretical model proposed to account for the origins of food production?

A) Marginal Zone Hypothesis
B) Multi-dimensional Hypothesis
C) Oasis Theory
D) Hilly Flanks or Natural Habitat Theory

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Wheat and barley were first domesticated in a region that extends from

A) Egypt to Greece.
B) India to China.
C) Israel to Iran.
D) China to Southeast Asia.

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The following individual has NOT used population growth in theories about the Neolithic Revolution:

A) Mark Cohen.
B) Kent Flannery.
C) Robert Brain.
D) Lewis Binford.

Question 5

Two key Neolithic sites in China are

A) Khok Phanom Di and Non Nok Tha.
B) Guilá Naquitz and Jarmo.
C) Ban-po-ts'un and Ho-mu-tu.
D) Shang and Zhou.

Question 6

One of the advantages of plant and animal domestication is

A) an increase in leisure time.
B) variety in the diet.
C) an increase in the amount of food produced per unit area.
D) increased chances for social contact with neighboring groups.
E) decreased incidence of diarrhea.

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT true of the domestication of plants and animals?

A) It began during the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene.
B) It happened simultaneously in the Old and New Worlds.
C) It occurred independently in a number of areas.
D) It appears to have occurred first in Southwest Asia

Question 8

Which of the following plants is NOT part of the basic triad of Mesoamerican plant food staples?

A) chili pepper
B) squash
C) beans
D) maize

Question 9

Natufian sites are NOT characterized by

A) sickle blades.
B) permanent settlements.
C) use of wild wheat and barley.
D) two different kinds of burials

Question 10

Richard S. MacNeish led an interdisciplinary team to investigate the origins of agriculture of Mesoamerica in

A) the Tehuacán Valley.
B) the Virú Valley.
C) the Teotihuacán Valley.
D) the Valley of Oaxaca.

Question 11

Rice has NOT been found at which of the following sites in Southeast Asia?

A) Spirit Cave
B) Khok Phanom Di
C) Ban Chiang
D) Non Nok Tha

Question 12

Teosinte is thought to be the most likely candidate for which of the following domesticates?

A) wheat
B) corn
C) sunflower
D) chili pepper
E) barley

Question 13

Sedentary villages did not appear in the Tehuacán Valley prior to 3500 BP because

A) hunter-gatherers were not culturally complex until then.
B) maize was not domesticated until 4000 BP.
C) corn cobs were not large enough to be productive until then.
D) intertribal hostility was too fierce.

Question 14

The site of 'Ain Mallaha in the Levant

A) provides the best evidence we have yet for Neanderthal ritual.
B) is the earliest example of a shell midden anywhere in the world.
C) was a Neolithic town.
D) was a permanent settlement directly preceding the earliest farming period.
E) has been shown to be nothing more than a carnivore kill.

Question 15

The earliest cultivation of rice in Asia appears to have occurred in

A) North China.
B) South China.
C) Thailand.
D) Cambodia.

Question 16

"Tells" are

A) fossilized Neolithic wheat fields.
B) high mounds that accumulate from thousands of years of human garbage and debris, often found in Southwest Asia.
C) beehive-shaped Natufian huts found in the Levant.
D) communal stone tombs found in Europe dating to the fifth millennium B.C.

Question 17

A key domesticated animal at Mehrgarh after 6000 B.C. was the

A) gazelle.
B) elephant.
C) horse.
D) cow.

Question 18

The long-term process that results in the loss of fitness for a species to survive without the assistance of humans is called

A) sedentism.
B) domestication.
C) mutation.
D) adaptation.

Question 19

Jericho is

A) a site in the Levant that fits the Oasis Theory.
B) the focus of Robert Braidwood's research on the origins of pottery production.
C) a site with evidence for early rice and millet domestication.
D) no longer occupied.

Question 20

The world's earliest ceramic vessels were probably made in

A) Southwest Asia.
B) Mesoamerica.
C) Japan.
D) Ecuador.
E) Southeast Asia.

Question 21

Which of the following was NOT first domesticated in Southwest Asia?

A) barley
B) beans
C) wheat
D) pigs
E) goats

Question 22

Which of the following archaeologists investigated early agriculture in the Tehuacán Valley?

A) Richard MacNeish
B) Charles Higham
C) Robert Braidwood
D) Kathleen Kenyon
E) Chester Gorman

Question 23

At Non Nok Tha metal objects were made of

A) bronze and iron.
B) gold and silver.
C) steel and aluminum.
D) copper and tin.

Question 24

Sedentism preceded plant domestication in which area?

A) the Levant
B) highland South America
C) highland Mesoamerica
D) Japan

Question 25

Which of the following is a true statement of differences between the food-producing traditions of Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica?

A) Domesticated animals played a greater role in Mesopotamia than in Mesoamerica.
B) Mesopotamians depended on maize as their major crop.
C) Agriculture occurred thousands of years earlier in Mesoamerica.
D) Goats were a key domesticated resource in Mesoamerica.

Question 26

Which of the following was NOT originally domesticated in the Old World?

A) barley
B) millet
C) turkey
D) rice
E) goat

Question 27

Which of the following was NOT originally domesticated in the Americas?

A) maize
B) beans
C) potato
D) turkey
E) cattle

Question 28

At Guilá Naquitz key food resources included all of the following except

A) acorns.
B) maguey hearts.
C) rabbit.
D) blue oysters.

Question 29

Compared to Upper Paleolithic sites, ________ were particularly abundant at 'Ain Mallaha.

A) obsidian figurines
B) camel bones
C) storage pits
D) wheel-thrown pots

Question 30

Catalhöyük, perhaps the first city, contains evidence for all of the following except

A) obsidian trade.
B) human burial.
C) pottery.
D) bronze toolmaking.

Question 31

Which of the following was NOT domesticated in the Americas?

A) llamas
B) maize
C) lentils
D) potatoes

Question 32

The key early domesticates at Ban-po-ts'un were

A) wheat and goats.
B) corn and guinea pigs.
C) grapes and cattle.
D) millet and pigs.

Question 33

The site of Mehrgarh in Pakistan has evidence for the use of wheat, barley, sheep, goats, and

A) llamas.
B) cattle.
C) camels.
D) horses.

Question 34

Which of the following was NOT domesticated in the Americas?

A) beans
B) squash
C) manioc
D) barley
E) maize

Question 35

The only pack animal domesticated in the Americas was the

A) horse.
B) ox.
C) donkey.
D) llama.

Question 36

Which of the following prehistoric cultigens is NOT correctly matched with its original place of domestication?

A) Ireland-potato
B) Southwest Asia-barley
C) Andean South America-lima beans
D) Mesoamerica-squash

Question 37

The earliest domesticated plants now known come from

A) Tehuacán.
B) Khok Phanom Di.
C) Catalhöyük.
D) Abu Hureyra.

Question 38

Khok Phanom Di is now located in

A) North China.
B) Thailand.
C) India.
D) South China.

Question 39

Which of the following prehistoric cultigens is NOT matched correctly with its geographical area?

A) Japan-millet
B) highland Mexico-maize
C) Southwest Asia-wheat
D) highland South America-potato

Question 40

Domestication in the Americas

A) involved the domestication of many animal species.
B) occurred later than the earliest Old World domestication.
C) was dependent on the use of canal irrigation.
D) never truly happened.

Question 41

The settlement probably belongs to the _________ period.

A) Natufian
B) Oldowan
C) Mousterian
D) Ali Kosh

Question 42

Evidence from the animal bones suggests that the sheep were

A) hunted like the rest of the animal species.
B) scavenged.
C) traded.
D) herded.

Question 43

If you had enough time, money, and energy for three field seasons of excavation to learn about the origins of agriculture, where would you work, what would you look for, and how would you do it?

Question 44

Discuss at least three important sites that are important in discussions of the origins of agriculture. Why are they important?

Question 45

The site is located in

A) Europe.
B) Africa.
C) Asia.
D) Mesoamerica.

Question 46

A probable date for this site would be

A) 25,000 B.C.
B) 9000 B.C.
C) 7000 B.C.
D) 2000 B.C.

Question 47

Compare and contrast the origins of agriculture in Southwest Asia and Mesoamerica.

Question 48

Outline the oasis theory for the origins of agriculture. Using information from Southwest Asia, evaluate the usefulness of this theory.

Question 49

Describe the nature of the transition to food production in Southwest Asia with a comparison of the Natufian and the early Neolithic.

Question 50

Describe three cradles of domestication and discuss the kinds of plants and animals involved and the dates for the first domesticates in each area.

Question 51

There are a number of theories on why domestication began. Select two of the major theories and compare and contrast them.

Question 52

Catalhöyük is located in

A) Pakistan.
B) Thailand.
C) Turkey.
D) Syria.

Question 53

Evidence that this is a fairly permanent settlement comes from

A) the presence of the cemetery.
B) the evidence of hunting.
C) the presence of artworks.
D) the association of the bone tools with charcoal.

Question 54

Why did people begin farming? Discuss at least two of the major theories for the origins of agriculture and their strengths and weaknesses.