Deck 6: How Do We Know About the Human Past

Question 1

A cultural anthropology of the human past focusing on material evidence of human modification of the physical environment is called

A) archaeology.
B) anthropology.
C) paleontology.
D) niche construction.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

All material objects constructed by humans or near-humans revealed by archaeology are considered part of the

A) archaeological record.
B) historical collection.
C) record of the past.
D) total material remains.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

The archaeological approach that takes as its objective explaining the cultural processes that led to ways of life and material cultures of different kinds is called

A) ethnoarchaeology.
B) processual archaeology.
C) postprocessual archaeology.
D) survey archaeology.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A precise geographical location of the remains of past human activity is an archaeological

A) location.
B) place.
C) site.
D) zone.

Question 5

Objects that have been deliberately and intelligently shaped by human or near-human activity are called

A) artifacts.
B) commodities.
C) features.
D) midden.

Question 6

The study of the way people in present-day societies use artifacts and structures on the sites where they live, and how these objects become part of the archaeological record is called

A) ethnoarchaeology.
B) taphonomy.
C) survey archaeology.
D) excavation.

Question 7

The study of the various processes that affect the formation of a particular site, explaining how certain objects in that site (such as bones or stone tools) came to be where they are found, is called

A) ethnoarchaeology.
B) taphonomy.
C) survey archaeology.
D) excavation.

Question 8

The physical examination of a geographical region in which promising sites are most likely to be found is

A) ethnoarchaeology.
B) taphonomy.
C) survey archaeology.
D) excavation.

Question 9

The systematic uncovering of archaeological remains through the removal of the deposits of soil and other material covering them and accompanying them is called

A) ethnoarchaeology.
B) taphonomy.
C) survey archaeology.
D) excavation.

Question 10

When artifacts and structures from a particular time and place are grouped together, they are called a(n)

A) assemblage.
B) archaeological culture.
C) artifact distribution.
D) material culture.

Question 11

The different ways that people in different societies go about meeting their subsistence needs are called

A) feeding techniques.
B) farming.
C) food production.
D) subsistence strategies.

Question 12

A society generally larger than a band, whose members usually farm for a living is a

A) band.
B) tribe.
C) chiefdom.
D) state.

Question 13

Special-purpose groupings that may be organized on the basis of sex, economic role or personal interest are called

A) associations.
B) clubs.
C) sodalities.
D) tribes.

Question 14

A society in which one person and his relatives have privileged access to wealth, power, and prestige is called a

A) band.
B) chiefdom.
C) rank society.
D) tribe.

Question 15

A person's social position in a group is that person's

A) ranking.
B) role.
C) status.
D) hierarchy.

Question 16

A stratified society that possesses a territory that is defended from outside enemies with an army and from internal disorder with police is called a

A) band.
B) tribe.
C) chiefdom.
D) state.

Question 17

In the United States, the objections of Native American groups to the excavation of indigenous burials has become recognized in a law that is called

A) Native People's Protection Act.
B) North American Research and Publication Protection Act.
C) Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
D) Native American Graves Preservation and Relocation Act

Question 18

In the United States, federal, state, and local legislative actions that require the consideration of environmental and cultural factors in the use of federal, state, or funds for development has led to the development of

A) historical archaeology.
B) collaborative archaeology.
C) feminist archaeology.
D) cultural resource management archaeology.

Question 19

A research approach that explores why women's contributions have been systematically written out of the archaeological record and suggests new approaches to the human past that include such contributions is

A) historical archaeology.
B) collaborative archaeology.
C) feminist archaeology.
D) cultural resource management archaeology.

Question 20

The study of archaeological sites associated with written records is called

A) historical archaeology.
B) collaborative archaeology.
C) feminist archaeology.
D) cultural resource management archaeology.

Question 21

The approach in archaeology that stresses the role of individual human agency in the archaeological record is called

A) reconstructing the materials remains of the past.
B) reconstructing the lifeways of the past.
C) processual archaeology.
D) postprocessual archaeology.

Question 22

The remote-sensing technology that uses laser beams to penetrate heavy forest vegetation, providing high-resolution images of hidden archaeological features is called

A) radar.
B) LiDAR.
C) LaSER.
D) sonar.

Question 23

The sensing method that reflects pulsed radar waves off features below the surface is called

A) air photo analysis.
B) Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
C) Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).
D) Satellite Imaging Technology (SIT).

Question 24

A computer-aided system for the collection, storage, retrieval, analysis, and presentation of spatial data of all kinds is called

A) air photo analysis.
B) Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
C) Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).
D) Satellite Imaging Technology (SIT).

Question 25

A supporter of unilineal evolutionary theory who had widespread influence was

A) Franz Boas.
B) Bronislaw Malinowski.
C) Lewis Henry Morgan.
D) A. R. Radcliffe-Brown.

Question 26

The 9300-year-old skeleton found in Washington state that touched off a legal battle over the repatriation of the skeleton:

A) Kennewick Man.
B) Neandertal Man.
C) Umatilla Man.
D) Washington Man.

Question 27

In 2001, the Taliban in Afghanistan destroyed

A) ancient early hominid sites.
B) early Muslim sacred sites.
C) giant statues of the Buddha.
D) ancient Hindu sculptures of Ganesh.

Question 28

One of the greatest challenges to male bias in archaeological interpretation concerns the roles women played in

A) pottery production.
B) stone-tool manufacture.
C) hunting.
D) textile production.

Question 29

The discussion of Chumash burial practices illustrates

A) that gender differences are universal.
B) the way "two-spirited" men remained male, even in burials.
C) that status in Chumash society was both based on gender, regardless of occupation.
D) that in burial, the status of undertaker was more significant than the gender of the individual.

Question 30

Janet Spector's archaeological work was unusual because

A) she was the first woman ever to direct an archaeological excavation.
B) Dakota and non-Dakota were collaborating in teaching Dakota language, oral history, ethnobotany, ecology, and history at the site while digging continued.
C) her work brought to light detailed information about technological changes in Dakota textile production that had never before been documented archaeologically.
D) she was able to show that stone-tool manufacture and use remained important at Village at the Rapids, even after settlers began importing metal tools.

Question 31

Digital heritage refers to curation in archaeological museums of artifacts connected with computerization.

Question 32

Traditional archaeological interpretations of stone tools assume that stone tools were made for men to hunt with.

Question 33

Today, many archaeologists are taking the view that they must find a way to deal with a range of local and global stakeholders who have their own views of how cultural heritage should be managed.

Question 34

To an archaeologist, which of the following would be considered a feature at an archaeological site?

A) Bison bones
B) A spear point
C) The wall of a house
D) Pottery

Question 35

What Ian Hodder calls "interpretation at the trowel's edge" involves

A) letting the material facts at the excavation site speak for themselves.
B) preventing analytic specialists and interested groups of various kinds from seeing excavated artifacts until they have been washed and organized in the laboratory.
C) bringing specialists and interested groups of various kinds to converse with excavators working in the trenches.
D) making sure that excavator's trowels are always clean and sharp-edged.

Question 36

When archaeologists excavate a site, they always

A) refill the site with the unimportant artifacts when they are finished, since they may be of value later.
B) excavate a small part of a site to preserve the site for future archaeologists.
C) excavate as much as they can of a site to try to record as much of the context of the artifacts as possible.
D) nonintrusive techniques like ground-penetrating radar and sonar to avoid destruction.

Question 37

Ian Hodder's work in the 1980s among several contemporary ethnic groups in eastern Africa showed that

A) tool styles were symbols of group identity.
B) pottery styles were symbols of group identity.
C) ear ornaments were symbols of group identity.
D) contemporary distribution of pottery styles corresponded to patterns of pottery style distribution discovered in the archaeological record of this region.

Question 38

Looting archaeological sites

A) is a recent, tragic development that follows from the increase in public interest in archaeology.
B) can be stopped by improving security at archaeological sites and closing down shops that sell looted antiquities.
C) makes any scientific analysis of a site impossible.
D) by following the trail of looted artifacts, archaeologists can find new sites they had not known about.

Question 39

Joan Gero's analysis of stone-tool use over time at the site of Huaricoto in highland Peru argues that

A) female status may have been connected to stone-tool production during the early period, when the site was a ceremonial center.
B) female status may have been shifted to ceramic production during the later period, when the site had become a village settlement.
C) male status in the early period may have been connected to ceramic production during the early period, when the site was a ceremonial center.
D) women probably made and used stone tools during the later period, when the site had become a village settlement, but they were utilitarian flake tools.

Question 40

What concept does Chip Colwell-Chanthaphonh suggest as "a frame archaeologists can use to begin deliberations on ethical predicaments"?

A) Positivist archaeology
B) Cultural Resources Management
C) Complex stewardship
D) "Hands-off" archaeology

Question 41

Archaeological sites do not play a role in identity formation.

Question 42

Describe the major differences between processual and postprocessual archaeology.

Question 43

What does it mean to be a cosmopolitan archaeologist?

Question 44

What does it mean to practice "interpretation at the trowel's edge"?

Question 45

Compare and contrast archaeological survey work and excavation. Identify three strengths and weaknesses of each.

Question 46

Explain three principal points made by feminist archaeologists regarding the goals of archaeology. How can these points transform the subfield of archaeology?

Question 47

What is digital heritage, and why will it be increasingly significant to archaeologists and stakeholder communities in the twenty-first century?