Question 1

Archaeologists have rejected claims that human antiquity can be best explained as the result of intervention by technologically precocious Altanteans or ancient extraterrestrial aliens because scientists:

Accepted Answer

The reason why archaeologists reject claims of intervention by technologically advanced Atlanteans or ancient extraterrestrial aliens is because they require evidence, and there is absolutely no evidence to support those claims. This is the scientific approach that is followed, and claims must be backed by evidence before they are considered to be true. The other options (A, B, and C) are not valid reasons for the rejection of these claims.

Question 2

If you see the date of an archaeological site expressed as "2000 BC," it can also be written:

Accepted Answer

"BCE" stands for "Before Common Era" and is a secular equivalent to "BC," which stands for "Before Christ." Both terms are used to denote years before the start of the Gregorian calendar, making them interchangeable in historical and archaeological contexts.

Question 3

It is the year 2020. Technically, that's shorthand for:

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Question 4

Archaeology is a science. How is the archaeological study of the human past scientific?

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Question 5

What does it mean to say that archaeologists and paleoanthropologists rely on a "convergence of evidence?"

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Question 6

How are archaeological sites formed? In other words, how do they come into existence?

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Question 7

What happened to Pompeii in A. D. 79? How did the destruction of Pompeii lead to its preservation?

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Question 8

How are archaeological sites preserved? How do they survive for thousands or even millions of years?

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Question 9

How do archaeologists find sites? What techniques do they use to detect evidence of the past human occupation of an area?

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Question 10

What kind of data constitute the archaeological record?

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Question 11

How do archaeologists recover data from sites?

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Question 12

Why is spatial context so important to the archaeologist? Briefly describe three different spatial contexts and associations for the same artifact, showing how different contexts reveal different behaviors.

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Question 13

How do archaeologists analyze their data? Specifically, how can archaeologists determine where raw materials came from, how tools were made and used, and how these objects can inform us of the social or religious practices of a past people?

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Question 14

What did archaeological Phil Weigand determine about the raw turquoise used by artisans in ancient Mexico? How did he determine this?

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Question 15

How do archaeologists analyze food remains? What insights do these remains provide us about the lives of past people?

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Question 16

What can blood residue recovered from the edges of stone blades tell us about ancient hunting practices?

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Question 17

How can carbon isotope analysis help in our reconstruction of an ancient environment and an ancient human diet?

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Question 18

What contributions does pollen analysis make to archaeological analysis? Describe the process by which palynologists can reconstruct plant communities and the ancient environment.

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Question 19

How does the analysis of ancient foraminifera shells inform us of worldwide temperature fluctuation and the extent of ancient glaciation?

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Question 20

What kind of information can archaeologists and paleoanthropologists derive from human and pre-human skeletal remains?

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Quiz 2: Probing the Past