Deck 8: Food Production and the Rise of States

Question 1

How did a shift to a more sedentary lifestyle and reliance on grains affect the Natufians' health?

A) They suffered nutritional deficiency, as shown by their teeth.
B) They grew an average of 2 inches taller than previous generations.
C) Their birth rate declined.
D) They had a more diverse diet with better vitamin content.

Answer 1

They suffered nutritional deficiency, as shown by their teeth.

Question 2

The Uruk period refers to pre-state developments in __________.

A) the Near East
B) Mesoamerica
C) East Asia
D) sub-Saharan Africa

Answer 2

the Near East

Question 3

What proportion of the Teotihuacán Vvalley population lived in the metropolis of Teotihuacán by a.d.500?

A) approximately 90 percent
B) about one-half
C) approximately one-quarter
D) less than 10 percent

Answer 3

approximately 90 percent

Question 4

The wild grass teosinte led to today's domesticated __________.

A) maize
B) barley
C) wheat
D) rice

Question 5

What nutrients might hunter-gatherers be lacking in dry seasons or in periods where when they must rely on lean meats for survival?

A) carbohydrates and fats
B) protein and iron
C) milk and cheese
D) calcium and potassium

Question 6

Which was the only area of the New World where early domestic animals were a significant part of the economy?

A) the Andes
B) Mesoamerica
C) the Amazon basin
D) the great plains

Question 7

Most archaeologists believe that the __________ was one of the earliest centers of plant and animal domestication.

A) Fertile Crescent
B) Sahara Desert
C) African savanna
D) Kansas plain

Question 8

How do domesticated plants get to be different from their wild varieties?

A) Certain variations are artificially selected through the harvesting and planting process.
B) Wild varieties die quickly in a garden, leaving only the domesticated ones.
C) People deliberately took only the biggest and best foods when gathering.
D) Different domesticated plants are cross-bred to get rid of all tracdes of the wild species.

Question 9

From the time agriculture developed to about 6000 b.c.,people in the Near East lived in __________.

A) small villages
B) caves
C) tents
D) big cities

Question 10

Which was the only area of the New World where early domestic animals were a significant part of the economy?

A) the Andes
B) Mesoamerica
C) the Amazon basin
D) the great plains

Question 11

In Ali Kosh in southwestern Iran after about 5500 b.c.,__________ were two important innovations.

A) irrigation and the use of domesticated cattle
B) the steel plow and crop rotation
C) intercrop cultivation and fertilizer
D) growth of legumes and artificial fertilizer

Question 12

The date of domestication in mainland Southeast Asia appears to be __________.

A) comparable to that of the Near East
B) much later than that of the Near East
C) comparable to that of Mesoamerica
D) much later than that of Mesoamerica

Question 13

We know that domestication was present in Africa after 6000 b.c.What is still unknown about African domestication?

A) whether the first crops were indigenous or borrowed
B) whether the first crops were fruits or grains
C) whether they domesticated animals or plants were domesticated first
D) whether they herded animals were herded in a sedentary or nomadic fashion

Question 14

In the Near East,dogs seem to have been domesticated __________.

A) before the rise of agriculture
B) alongside the shift to nomadic pastoralism
C) as a food source
D) only within the last few hundred years

Question 15

The increased use of stationary food sources during the Epipaleolithic explains in part why people in the Near East began to __________.

A) lead more sedentary lives
B) hunt over wide ranges more than ever
C) have a breakdown in family life
D) become increasingly nomadic

Question 16

By about __________ b.c.,archaeologists had found most of the major characteristics of civilizations can be seen.

A) 3500
B) 4500
C) 5500
D) 2500

Question 17

The Harappan civilization was located in the __________ Valley.

A) Indus
B) Yangtse
C) Nile
D) Niger

Question 18

Among archaic peoples of Mesoamerica,__________ were located near seasonally abundant resources.

A) macrobands
B) mesobands
C) microbands
D) broadbands

Question 19

__________ has proposed a theory of state origin stressing population growth,circumscription,and war.

A) Robert Carneiro
B) Elman Service
C) Harvey Weiss
D) Gregory Johnson

Question 20

At present,archaeologists define the Neolithic in terms of the presence of __________.

A) domesticated plants and animals
B) pottery and stone tools
C) centralized government
D) nuclear families

Question 21

What religious features would you expect to see in a state society?

A) full-time religious specialists
B) unofficial shamans
C) family members with special knowledge of religious stories
D) an absence of religious ritual

Question 22

Which of these modern nations falls within what archaeologists call the Fertile Crescent?

A) Syria
B) Tunisia
C) Morocco
D) Libya

Question 23

What is the most likely factor involved in the decreased birth interval seen in sedentary !Kung communities,as compared to more nomadic groups?

A) changes in infant feeding practices that result in a faster return of fertility
B) a shift away from the post-partum sex taboo seen in more nomadic groups
C) a more diverse diet resulting in greater nutritional stores in the mother
D) a social preference for a bigger family in sedentary communities

Question 24

In North America,a settlement with over 100 earthen mounds developed near present-day St.Louis.This settlement represented a __________.

A) large and powerful chiefdom
B) very small community that did not last long
C) settlement that became the most powerful city in the ancient world
D) way station for populations as they moved north

Question 25

The Uruk period refers to pre-state developments in __________.

A) the Near East
B) Mesoamerica
C) East Asia
D) sub-Saharan Africa

Question 26

Archaeologists can determine if an ancient society had different socioeconomic classes of people by looking at __________.

A) the differences in house size and furnishings
B) the society's population
C) how extensively agriculture was used to produce food
D) how animals were domesticated

Question 27

What do anthropologists mean when they say that city-states arose "independently" in various regions of the world?

A) The states emerged without colonization or conquest from other states.
B) The people developed a complex society without any contact from outside populations.
C) There was no trade involved in the development of the city-state.
D) The state had no political connections to the surrounding villagers.

Question 28

What is the Binford-Flannery model for the development of food production?

A) People used domestication to replicate their previous diets in suboptimal regions.
B) There was an economic incentive for food production, because it could be sold to neighboring peoples.
C) Food production creates adequate nutrition with less work than hunting and gathering.
D) People had to respond to rapid and drastic environmental change at the end of the Paleolithic.

Question 29

Why did cities and states emerge in Mesoamerica later than in the Near East?

A) Agriculture started later in the New World than in the Old World.
B) The population in Mesoamerican was not interested in the development of cities.
C) It was easier to domesticate large animals like cattle and horses without cities.
D) The climate of Mesoamerica was not suitable for building cities.

Question 30

Why does health often suffer in cities?

A) The high population allows infectious diseases to flourish.
B) There is less available medical care in cities.
C) There is less food available for city dwellers.
D) Cities are too clean and sterile for healthy bacteria to grow.

Question 31

How does overdependence on a few staple foods increase the risk of famine?

A) The fewer the staple crops, the greater the danger to the food supply posed by crop failure.
B) Those staple foods are often also the ones used for trade.
C) Staple foods have fewer calories than other foods, which can lead to shortages.
D) Staple foods tend to be high-status foods, which leads to disputes.

Question 32

Based on their site of domestication,where do you expect the wild ancestors of today's sheep and goats to have lived?

A) the Near East
B) South Asia
C) North America
D) Mesoamerica

Question 33

Where might you find a Neolithic Natufian settlement?

A) Jordan
B) Egypt
C) India
D) Somalia

Question 34

In Mesoamerica,what animals do you expect would be the preferred hunting prey at the end of the Paleo-Indian period?

A) deer
B) mammoths
C) woolly rhinos
D) reindeer

Question 35

What is one way that states change the lifestyles of people?

A) allowing for larger populations
B) encouraging hunting
C) providing more leisure
D) improving health

Question 36

A major reason for the decline of states appears to be __________.

A) environmental degradation
B) a love of the simple life
C) a return to fundamental values
D) hedonism

Question 37

Why are many anthropologists interested in the reasons ancient civilizations collapsed?

A) Knowing about the decline of states in the past may help us preserve our own.
B) Anthropologists like to study "failures."
C) They show which political system is the most successful over time.
D) The decline of ancient civilizations supports our modern notion of cultural evolution.

Question 38

Which modern type of home best approximates the homes in the city of Teotihuacán?

A) an apartment block
B) a suburban house
C) a mobile home
D) a country estate

Question 39

Where would you go to participate in a dig at the site of the ancient state of Axum?

A) Ethiopia
B) Sudan
C) South Africa
D) Nigeria

Question 40

Which region provides archaeological support for the trade theory of state development?

A) the Yellow River vValley in China
B) the Congo River basin in Central Africa
C) the Indus Valley civilization in nNorth India
D) the Oaxacan civilization in Mexico

Question 41

What is the relationship between broad-spectrum collecting and sedentarism?

Question 42

What are the consequences of state formation?

Question 43

How do we know that the city of Teotihuacán in Mesoamerica was very influential at its peak?

A) At the height of its power, the city occupied an area larger than imperial Rome.
B) Though very small, the city provided a great deal of resources for its people.
C) The population decreased over time and people moved into the agricultural areas.
D) Teotihuacán is the only true city-state known from Mesoamerica.

Question 44

Based on the evidence explaining the decline of earlier states,what factor is the most pressing consideration for today's civilizations?

A) the environment
B) infrastructure
C) food production
D) trade specialization

Question 45

Mesoamerican farmers are often credited for the clever idea of growing maize,beans,and squash together,because the plants complement each others' nutritional needs.How would the Mesoamerican farmers likely have come up with this idea?

A) Beans, squash, and teosinte grow naturally together in the wild.
B) They adapted this farming technique from South Americans, who introduced maize to them.
C) They were taught this farming technique by missionaries in the 19th century.
D) These are the only plants that can be grown in the same field successfully, and it saves space.

Question 46

Which of the following is part of the state's infrastructure?

A) irrigation systems
B) hunting
C) writing system
D) pastoralism

Question 47

What is the relationship between states and food production?

Question 48

Discuss how archaeologists know that they have discovered sites that show evidence of a switch to food production.

Question 49

How do cities relate to a society's agricultural production?

A) Cities can arise in areas not suited to agriculture but suited to trade.
B) Cities do not require intensive agriculture, but do require domestication of plants and animals.
C) Successful cities have developed alongside all known types of subsistence economies.
D) Cities can only develop on land that is suitable for complex agriculture.

Question 50

How did the Archaic people of Highland Mesoamerica differ socially from the Natufians?

A) There is no evidence of social differences in Highland Mesoamerica.
B) There was a strict caste system in Highland Mesoamerican society.
C) The Archaic peoples had complex religious rituals, which seem to be absent in Mesoamerica.
D) The Archaic peoples were more nomadic than the peoples of Highland Mesoamerica.

Question 51

What was unusual about the Harappan civilization,as compared to other early states?

A) There was little in the way of monumental architecture.
B) It lacked a centralized government.
C) There was no evidence of infrastructure.
D) The people still relied on broad-spectrum foraging for much of their food.

Question 52

What evidence exists to show that African preagricultural settlements were reliant on water resources for food?

A) harpoons in the archaeological record and sites along the shores of rivers and lakes
B) mortars and pestles in the archaeological record and remains of pit houses
C) projectile points in the archaeological record and evidence of temporary shelters
D) wooden spears in the archaeological record and sites in rock shelters and caves

Question 53

How did the process of domestication differ between Mesoamerica and the Fertile Crescent?

A) In Mesoamerica, seminomadic hunting and gathering persisted long after people first domesticated plants.
B) In Mesoamerica, the first domesticated plants were dietary staples.
C) In the Fertile Crescent, people maintained a nomadic lifestyle because their main domesticates were herd animals.
D) In the Fertile Crescent, people shifted completely from gathering wild foods to depending on domesticated foods within only a few decades.

Question 54

How does the formative period in Mesoamerica compare to the formative era in Iraq?

A) In both regions, developments in irrigation were crucial for more permanent settlements.
B) In both regions, recent ecological catastrophe drove new methods of food production.
C) The formative period in Mesoamerica was much longer than the period in Iraq.
D) The formative period in Mesoamerica was much earlier than the period in Iraq.

Question 55

Which statement best represents the anthropological position on the origin of the state?

A) No one theory seems to tell the whole story explaining the origin of the state.
B) There is convincing evidence supporting the irrigation model of the origin of the state.
C) Archaeologists are certain that states developed as a response to rapid population growth.
D) There are no consistent patterns in the origin of states around the world.

Question 56

Discuss the various hypotheses concerning the origin of food production.

Question 57

How could archaeologists estimate the amount of food Epipaleolithic people could gather from harvesting wild grains?

A) through experimentation by replicating Paleolithic tools and conditions
B) through analysis of the amount of grains in the diet through dental wear analysis
C) through calculation of the calorie yield for an average field of wild grain
D) through an estimate of the amount of domesticated grain that can be gathered in one season