Deck 9: The Neolithic Revolution: the Domestication of Plants and Animals

Question 1

About 12,000 years ago,climatic conditions changed,resulting in new forests,more plant food,and abundant sources of fish and other food around lakeshores,bays,and rivers.Human populations developed new techniques to catch and kill animals,and spent more time fishing and collecting wild plant foods.This new way of life marks the beginning of the Middle Stone Age,also called the:

A)Lower Paleolithic.
B)Middle Paleolithic.
C)Upper Paleolithic.
D)Mesolithic.
E)Neolithic.

Answer 1

Mesolithic.

Question 2

Which time period is characterized as a transition from foraging to an economy based on food production?

A)Upper Paleolithic
B)Early Paleolithic
C)Mesolithic
D)Neolithic
E)Microlithic

Answer 2

Neolithic

Question 3

Brian Hare argues that the initial domestication of dogs is most likely that:

A)humans selected dogs for domestication based on their hunting abilities.
B)humans selected dogs for domestication based on their protective abilities.
C)humans selected dogs for domestication based on their companionship.
D)dogs and human were co-domesticated as each needed the other equally.
E)dogs domesticated themselves to humans because of the attraction to human living sites.

Answer 3

dogs domesticated themselves to humans because of the attraction to human living sites.

Question 4

Natufian subsistence is associated with all of the following except:

A)use of sickles.
B)use of foot plows.
C)burning to promote animal grazing.
D)use of grinding stones for seed.
E)storage of wild seeds.

Question 5

Brian Hare's research on dogs shows that they have a genetic ability for joint attention with humans,something relatively rare between species.Based on what symbolic communication from humans do dogs perform "joint attention"?

A)Verbal commands
B)Foot stomping
C)Pointing
D)Gesturing with the chin
E)Clapping

Question 6

Which of the following statements is most correct?

A)Humans have never had genetic control over any animals or plants.
B)Human had some control over the domestication of species,but humans are also domesticated.
C)Domestication took place as a series of interactions between species with little awareness of long-term consequences.
D)Domestication occurred as human intentionally chose each functional species.
E)Domestication occurred only to animals and plants that had immediate use value for humans.

Question 7

About 12,000 years ago,what environmental changes created a shift in food production?

A)The climate of the north grew colder
B)Tundra and the large herd animals that they supported spread throughout the Old World
C)Glaciers melted and the sea levels rose
D)Deserts replaced forests
E)The fish disappeared from the ocean

Question 8

All of the following are characteristics commonly associated with domesticated plants except:

A)increased size.
B)increase in natural seed dispersal mechanisms.
C)reduction of seed protective devices,such as husks.
D)loss of delayed seed germination.
E)development of simultaneous ripening.

Question 9

According to this theory,animal domestication began because permanent water holes attracted hungry animals that came to graze on the stubble of the grain fields.People,finding these animals too thin to kill for food,began to fatten them up.This theory is known as the desiccation theory,or:

A)hilly flanks theory.
B)oasis theory.
C)domestication theory.
D)leisure theory.
E)hungry animal theory.

Question 10

Domestication began in the Fertile Crescent.Groups such as the Natufians are believed to have initially promoted the development of domestication:

A)because of food shortages.
B)as a fixed process for food production.
C)as a multicultural base.
D)intentionally.
E)unintentionally.

Question 11

Who were the earliest Mesolithic people known to have stored plant food,as evidenced by basin-shaped depressions in the rocks found outside homes and plastered storage pits beneath the floors of the houses?

A)Natufian
B)Cro-Magnon
C)Aborigines
D)Polynesians
E)Babylonians

Question 12

The Natufians are associated with all of the following except:

A)lived at the eastern end of the Mediterranean.
B)buried their dead with many art objects and money.
C)were an example of a Mesolithic culture in the Old World.
D)lived in stone-walled houses in small villages,caves,and rock shelters.
E)are the earliest known Mesolithic peoples to have cut grain and stored crops.

Question 13

The potato,tomato,and peanut were all first domesticated in:

A)North America.
B)Europe.
C)Africa.
D)South America.
E)Southwest Asia.

Question 14

Dogs are a domesticated subspecies of which wild animal?

A)Coyote
B)Wolf
C)Hyena
D)Bear
E)Tiger

Question 15

What is distinctive in Southeast Asia was the domestication of root crops,such as yams and taro.Root crop farming typically involves the growing of many different species together in a single field.This is also called:

A)vegeculture.
B)vegetative culture.
C)yamaculture.
D)root burrowing.
E)rutaculture.

Question 16

Domestication and food production is associated with many cultural changes.Which of the following is not commonly associated with the transition from foraging to food production?

A)Increase in number of work hours
B)Increase in stability of food supplies
C)Decrease in species diversity in the food supply
D)Increase in amount of human attention to food
E)Increase in need to manage land

Question 17

Which is a term applied to an evolutionary process whereby humans modify,either intentionally or unintentionally,the genetic makeup of a population of plants or animals?

A)Transition
B)Conversion
C)Revolution
D)Domestication
E)Modification

Question 18

Which of the following tools is most associated with the Mesolithic?

A)Hand axe
B)Fluted flake
C)Modified core
D)Microlith
E)Burin

Question 19

All of the following are characteristics commonly associated with domesticated animals except:

A)horn variation,including loss of horns.
B)size variation,including reduction in size.
C)hoof variation,generally favoring cloven-hoofed animals.
D)cultural artifacts associated with penning or corralling animals.
E)alteration in sex and age ratios of butchered animals.

Question 20

Beginning about 11,000 years ago in the Asian highlands,the archaeological record shows an increase by what percentage in the amount of immature sheep consumed?

A)10
B)25
C)50
D)75
E)100

Question 21

Close contact with the farmers in Jericho and other villages is indicated in the common features found in all of the following except:

A)art.
B)ritual.
C)use of prestige goods.
D)burial practices.
E)political organization.

Question 22

The archaeological record shows that Neolithic peoples used pottery for all of the following except:

A)containers.
B)pipes.
C)lamps.
D)cutting tools.
E)ladles.

Question 23

As a result of the Irish potato famine,the population of Ireland,through emigration and famine,dropped from:

A)14 million to 6 million.
B)10 million to 1 million.
C)6 million to 2 million.
D)8 million to 5 million.
E)1 million to 250,000.

Question 24

Which of the following is not one of the world's most important crops today?

A)Wheat
B)Rice
C)Barley
D)Maize
E)Potato

Question 25

By about__________________years ago,people and their crops began to spread across West Africa to the southeast,creating the modern far-reaching distributions of speaks of Bantu languages.

A)60,000
B)50,000
C)25,000
D)13,000
E)5,000

Question 26

The spread of certain ideas,customs,or practices from one culture to another is called:

A)juxtaposition.
B)syncretism.
C)diffusion.
D)primary innovation.
E)secondary innovation.

Question 27

What does Sidney Mintz mean by the "core-fringe-legume" pattern?

A)It is a way of building a complete meal with various components.
B)It is a type of horticulture in which people are completely self-subsistent.
C)It is a way of farming that includes rotation of crops.
D)It is a way of talking about the process of domestication.
E)It is a foraging pattern that determined where food gatherers would move and how frequently.

Question 28

There are various correlations between human biology and domestication.Which of the following is not correct?

A)Fertility tends to increase with increased dependence on farming.
B)Overall health and wellness tend to increase with dependence on farming.
C)Breastfeeding tends to decrease with increased dependence on farming.
D)Sedentary lifestyles lead to increased infant mortality rates.
E)The birth interval in sedentary populations is shorter than that of foraging peoples.

Question 29

Sixty percent of the crops grown in the world today were invented by__________________,who not only remain the developers of the world's largest array of nutritious foods,but are also the primary contributors to the world's varied cuisines.

A)Chinese
B)Romans
C)French
D)Greeks
E)Native Americans

Question 30

Global food distribution is of great concern to virologists because:

A)crowded meat farms can generate a virus that spreads quickly and is easily passed worldwide.
B)some areas produce more food products than others,and it creates scarcity worldwide.
C)during food distribution,especially if there are transportation delays,much of the nutrition level of the food declines.
D)animal and vegetable products coming from the same farm can be cross-contaminated and cause a great deal of harm to communities.
E)the human agents who trade in food are often contaminated with viruses.

Question 31

Scientists have found evidence of the earliest "dental drilling" to relieve pain as old as:

A)12,000 years ago.
B)9,000 years ago.
C)5,000 years ago.
D)2,500 years ago.
E)1,300 years ago.

Question 32

All of the following were associated with the Neolithic populations except:

A)bone deformities.
B)decrease in stature.
C)increase in Harris lines.
D)increase in tooth disease.
E)high levels of malnutrition.

Question 33

Native Americans domesticated over 300 food crops,including two of the four most important ones in the world today:

A)tomatoes and squash.
B)wheat and rice.
C)potatoes and maize.
D)broccoli and asparagus.
E)peas and carrots.

Question 34

At what point in the transition from Meolithic to Neolithic lifestyles did agricultural populations begin to show appreciable rise in mortality rates and decrease in health?

A)Advent of sedentism
B)Expansion of food supplies
C)Developing craft industries
D)Beginning house construction
E)Burial of the dead

Question 35

Excavations at the Neolithic settlement that later grew to become the biblical city of__________________have revealed the remains of a sizable farming community occupied as early as 10,350 years ago.

A)Jerusalem
B)Bethlehem
C)Jericho
D)Bagdad
E)Constantinople

Question 36

By what time period did farming villages first appear in Mesoamerica?

A)9,000 years ago
B)7,200 years ago
C)4,500 years ago
D)2,400 years ago
E)1,700 years ago

Question 37

The use of intensive crop cultivation,employing plows,fertilizers,and/or irrigation is called:

A)cultivation.
B)agriculture.
C)horticulture.
D)pastoralism.
E)agro-pastoralism.

Question 38

Increased dependence on farming is associated with:

A)decreased fertility across human populations.
B)an decrease in the food supply.
C)the stabilization of the food supply.
D)the destabilization of animal populations.
E)increased fertility across human populations.

Question 39

All of the following skeletal evidences are noted biological consequences commonly associated with the Neolithic time period except:

A)severe and chronic nutritional stress.
B)higher mechanical stress on the body.
C)less wear on teeth.
D)less robust bones.
E)less osteoarthritis.

Question 40

For the first time in human history,clothing was made of woven textiles during the:

A)Mesolithic.
B)Upper Paleolithic.
C)Neolithic.
D)Middle Pleistocene.
E)Holocene.

Question 41

Domestication in the Americas began around 10,000 years ago.

Question 42

The Natufians primarily burned their fields so that they were cleared for agriculture.

Question 43

Stonehenge is a Neolithic site.

Question 44

Skeletal features provide clear evidence,even though there was occasional famine,that overall Neolithic people were healthier than their Paleolithic relatives.

Question 45

Unlike nonhuman primates,dogs are unable to comprehend human pointing,but they do have joint attention with humans.

Question 46

Diffusion was a powerful force during the Neolithic,carrying products,people,and their languages and cultures.

Question 47

In root crop farming,propagation is brought about by the planting of cuttings,rather than the planting of seeds.

Question 48

Nomadic groups frequently buried their dead in the same location.

Question 49

The New Stone Age,or Neolithic,began approximately 14,000 years ago.

Question 50

Increased dependence on farming is a direct result of population growth.

Question 51

The large size of the microlith utilized by Mesolithic peoples allowed them to re-sharpen it many times and create a wide array of different tools.

Question 52

Because of a stressful life with little extra food reserves,foragers tend to have lower fertility rates than sedentary farming communities.

Question 53

Food foragers do not have to work as hard as farmers to survive.

Question 54

Neolithic farmers were also house builders,no longer living in caves.

Question 55

A large proportion of most sedentary prehistoric populations undergoing intensive agricultural development suffered chronic and life-threatening malnutrition and disease.

Question 56

The ultimate source of all culture change is innovation.

Question 57

The human management of flocks shielded sheep from the effects of natural selection.

Question 58

The domestication of plant species is in direct correlation with the development of horticultural societies.

Question 59

Jared Diamond describes contemporary food foragers as "walking encyclopedias of natural history with individual names for as many as a thousand or more plant and animal species and with detailed knowledge of those species' biological characteristics,distribution,and potential uses."

Question 60

As pointed out in your textbook,two anthropologists remark," an overall decline in the quality-and probably in the length-of human life associated with the adoption of agriculture."

Question 61

How did Neolithic people use pottery? What material artifacts were made using this technique?

Question 62

Define vegeculture and the method used for propagation of root crops.

Question 63

Distinguish between a primary and secondary innovation.

Question 64

What are the most immediate causes of the decline of health seen during the Neolithic?

Question 65

Describe the possible relationship between increased farming and increased fertility.Discuss some of the theories regarding this.

Question 66

Paleobotanists can tell the difference between a wild plant species and a domesticated one by studying which elements of the fossil?

Question 67

Explain how environmental and climatic change impacted the development of the Mesolithic.

Question 68

What can the sex and age distributions of animal remains found at butcher sites disclose about the use of domestication?

Question 69

Define diffusion,and provide two examples.

Question 70

Do you agree that there was "progress" with the Neolithic Revolution? Use evidence as part of your answer.

Question 71

What are the four most important food crops today?

Question 72

What is joint attention,and how do dogs and humans share this?

Question 73

What are the disease risks associated with factory farming?

Question 74

Describe the typical house construction during Neolithic times.

Question 75

What is the "desiccation" or "oasis" theory of V.Gordon Childe?

Question 76

Name three diseases that were passed from animals to humans as a result of living in close quarters following the Neolithic.

Question 77

What evidence do scientists use to discern whether a butchering site is associated with wild animals or domesticated ones?

Question 78

What is the core-fringe-legume pattern of Sidney Mintz?

Question 79

What is domestication?

Question 80

Describe the layout and construction of Jericho.