Deck 9: People Plants and Animals In The Past

Question 1

In reconstructing ancient environments, pollen is useful because:

A) it preserves well over a long period of time.
B) large amounts of pollen are trapped in sediment over time.
C) pollen is distinctive of the species of plant that produced it.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Answer 1

All of the answers are correct.

Question 2

The faunal assemblage from the site of Chavín de Huántar, Peru, contains an abundance of leg bones with few cranial and foot bones. This pattern has been explained by:

A) large animal disturbance; cranial and foot bone were preferentially carried away from the site by carnivores, while leg bones were left behind.
B) taphonomic processes; bone preservation at high altitude sites is notoriously poor.
C) Ch'arki trade; dried llama and alpaca meat on leg bones was traded into the site from high-altitude herding communities.
D) decreasing reliance on camelid meat by residents of the site through time.

Answer 2

Ch'arki trade; dried llama and alpaca meat on leg bones was traded into the site from high-altitude herding communities.

Question 3

The raw number of identified bones per taxon in an archaeofauna is known as the:

A) OSL.
B) MNI.
C) NISP.
D) AMS.

Answer 3

NISP.

Question 4

If you are using a skeletal collection of modern fauna, of both sexes and different ages, to identify specimens in an archaeofauna, you are using a:

A) macrobotanical assemblage.
B) palynological collection.
C) comparative collection.
D) phytolith assemblage.

Question 5

When analyzing a faunal assemblage, zooarchaeologists attempt to identify a specimen to:

A) element.
B) taxon.
C) side.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 6

The main purpose of a zooarchaeological comparative collection is to:

A) help zooarchaeologists identify archaeofaunas.
B) determine whether cutmarks on animal bones were made historically or prehistorically.
C) distinguish between natural carnivore tooth marks and cutmarks made by humans.
D) identify the types of fauna living at and around a site at the time it was occupied prehistorically.

Question 7

An archaeologist involved in analyzing and interpreting plant remains from archaeological sites in order to understand past interactions between human populations and plants would be a:

A) palynologist.
B) paleoethnobotanist.
C) zooarchaeologist.
D) bioarchaeologist.

Question 8

If you have a site dominated by bones from the axial skeleton, you have:

A) a kill site.
B) a camp site.
C) mostly upper and lower leg bones, scapulae, clavicles, pelves, metapodials, and phalanges.
D) mostly cranial bones, mandibles, vertebrae, ribs, sacrum, and tail bones.

Question 9

How do we know that Folsom hunters camped at the Agate Basin site in the spring?

A) Coprolites from the site contain plant and small animal remains that are only present in the area in the springtime.
B) Bison tooth eruption patterns indicate the presence of juvenile bison that died in late March or early April.
C) Palynological data from the site indicate the presence of plant species that only pollinate in the spring.
D) Macrobotanical remains from the site indicate the presence of plant species that only grow in the spring.

Question 10

Neanderthal burials from Shanidar Cave, Iraq, associated with pollen indicate that:

A) humans are the only way that flowers could enter a cave.
B) burial rituals began with the Neanderthals.
C) the pollen in the cave was the result of normal background pollen "rain."
D) archaeologists need to take formation processes into account when interpreting the meaning of data from ecofacts.

Question 11

Broken bison and antelope metapodials and phalanges within the Folsom component at the Agate Basin site have been interpreted as evidence of:

A) folsom hunters taking advantage of the abundant meat associated with these skeletal elements.
B) folsom hunters taking advantage of the abundant marrow associated with these skeletal elements.
C) game abundance in the late winter/early spring season, as Folsom hunters had access to two different animal species.
D) folsom hunters facing hard times with sparse food supplies in a harsh late winter/early spring season.

Question 12

Archaeologists who analyze faunal assemblages are commonly known as:

A) palynologists.
B) zooarchaeologists.
C) paleoecologists.
D) paleoethnobotanists.

Question 13

What do fluctuations in pollen percentages in a pollen diagram indicate?

A) Changes in frequencies of animal remains present at a site
B) Changes in the types of domesticated plants that prehistoric populations relied upon
C) Changes in local and regional plant densities
D) Climatic change in the form of decreasing temperatures and increasing moisture content

Question 14

Size classes categorize faunal remains to one of five categories based on body size. Animals assigned to class five include:

A) giraffes, hippos, and elephants.
B) bison and elk.
C) wolf and pronghorn antelope.
D) rabbits and rodents.

Question 15

Analysis of the archaeofauna from the site of Chavín de Huántar, Peru, indicates:

A) a change in diet through time, with increasing reliance on domesticated llamas.
B) a change in diet through time, with increasing reliance on deer and large cats.
C) a decrease in leg bones and an increase in cranial and foot bones through time.
D) extreme carnivore damage to the faunal assemblage, making it impossible to infer any human behavior from the archaeofauna.

Question 16

What did Hill suggest accounted for the comparative abundance of bison limb bones relative to other bison bones at the Agate Basin site?

A) Bison long bones contain little in the way of meat and marrow, making them undesirable for transport back to camp.
B) Bison are large animals that would be extremely difficult to carry whole; long bones would be preferentially transported because of their high-utility (meat and marrow).
C) Carnivore activity resulted in the natural accumulation of limb bones at the site; limbs are the easiest part of the skeleton for carnivores to remove.
D) The limb bones were the only bones to remain after carnivores scavenged the rest of the axial and appendicular skeletons.

Question 17

If an archaeologist is analyzing tiny silica particles that were originally contained in plants, he or she is analyzing:

A) macrobotanical remains.
B) phytoliths.
C) coprolites.
D) lipids.

Question 18

Macrobotanical remains are likely to be preserved if they were:

A) deposited in arid climates or dry caves.
B) deposited in waterlogged contexts, such as wells or shipwrecks.
C) burned and carbonized.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 19

Using palynological data, Haynes and Mehringer concluded that the climate at the Lehner Clovis site in southeastern Arizona 11,000 years ago was:

A) only slightly wetter and cooler than today, followed by a rapid shift toward drier conditions.
B) only slightly drier and warmer than today, followed by a rapid shift toward wetter conditions.
C) much drier and warmer than today; only a large shift in temperature and precipitation would have caused such a different environment at the site.
D) much wetter and cooler than today; only a large shift in temperature and precipitation would have caused such a different environment at the site.

Question 20

What would the MNI be for the following hypothetical assemblage of adult bison bones: 4 left humeri, 2 left femura, 4 right femura, 5 skulls, and 6 left scapulae?

A) 21
B) 4
C) 6
D) 5

Question 21

Which of the following would a zooarchaeological study not involve?

A) Establishment that bones are left behind by people by looking for cut marks, fragments, and burning.
B) Identify bones to element, taxon, sex and age using a comparative collection.
C) Count the bones using NISP and MNI.
D) Disregard symbolic importance in interpreting the past.

Question 22

Pollen helps reconstruct past environments because

A) plants grow all over the world.
B) different plant species produce differently shaped pollens.
C) humans have always survived on plants.
D) pollen is spread by wind, birds and animals.

Question 23

Zooarchaeology brings an historical perspective to decisions as to which species to save. One way is to

A) demonstrate how past human predation and landscape alteration affected animal populations.
B) demonstrate how present human populations are destroying ancient species.
C) demonstrate how ancient species fed ancient populations.
D) foster conservation efforts to protect endangered species.

Question 24

A faunal assemblage consists of the plant remains recovered from an archaeological site.

Question 25

Based on ethnoarchaeological evidence, Hill suggested that hunters at Agate Basin killed most of the animals individually,

A) far from camp.
B) near water.
C) in high elevations.
D) close to camp.

Question 26

The nests of wood rats are useful for paleoenvironmental reconstruction because they can preserve a record of environmental change for:

A) decades.
B) hundreds of years.
C) thousands of years.
D) hundreds of thousands of years.

Question 27

Organic substances such as fats, oils, and waxes that resist mixing with water and are found in both plant and animal tissues are called:

A) lipids.
B) coprolites.
C) phytoliths.
D) bioderms.

Question 28

According to Hastorf and Johannessen's findings, what accounted for change in Wanka II times?

A) Inka took over and restructured the location of the production system.
B) Cultivation was chosen to alleviate the fuel shortage.
C) Tree taxa begin to show up that were absent before.
D) Ideology associated with planting of certain trees was a factor.

Question 29

The sources of plants that help reconstruct ancient diets include

A) macrobotanical remains.
B) phytoliths.
C) plant nurseries.
D) macrobotanical remains and phytoliths.

Question 30

Lipids can provide information about the types of foods people consumed prehistorically. In order to identify food residues, lipids can be extracted from:

A) cooking vessels.
B) faunal remains.
C) stone tools.
D) phytoliths.

Question 31

Rodent- and rabbit-size animals are classified in which one of five standard animal size classes?

A) Class 1
B) Class 2
C) Class 3
D) Class 4

Question 32

Phytoliths are most useful for identifying:

A) regional, rather than local patterns of vegetation.
B) plants that were domesticated prehistorically since their phytoliths differ significantly from those of wild plants.
C) the abundance of different kinds of grasses; not all plants produce phytoliths.
D) the abundance of all plants present at a site; all plants produce phytoliths.

Question 33

William Spencer discovered the Agate Basin site

A) similar to the way George McJunkin found the Folsom site in New Mexico.
B) using aerial reconnaissance.
C) using random sampling.
D) through happenchance excavation.

Question 34

The ritual importance of Chavin de Huántar through time; the local community in size.

A) decreased/increased
B) increased/decreased
C) decreased/decreased
D) increased/increased

Question 35

The appendicular skeleton refers to

A) head, mandibles.
B) vertebrae, ribs.
C) sacrum.
D) everything else other than head, mandibles, vertebrae, ribs, and sacrum.

Question 36

In order to understand exactly what a person ate within a 24 hour period, the most useful source of data would be:

A) phytolith analysis.
B) macrobotanical analysis.
C) pollen analysis.
D) coprolite analysis.

Question 37

At Agate Basin, the NISP count suggests that were more important than .

A) elk/rabbit
B) dog/skunk
C) bison/pronghorn
D) camel/dog

Question 38

Hastorf and Johannessen argue that changes in the types of fuel used through time in the Upper Mantaro area of Peru are best explained by:

A) changes in the abundance of high quality versus low quality fuel caused by environmental change.
B) increasing population density that denuded the landscape of trees, forcing people to rely more and more on low quality fuel through time.
C) forced fuel management programs mandated by an elite social class.
D) a combination of materialistic and ideological explanations.

Question 39

Wood rats nests are useful for reconstructing the environment around their nests because they:

A) travel great distances (kilometers) from their nests to collect materials.
B) travel no more than 100 meters from their nests to collect materials.
C) build their nests in water saturated areas, thus ensuring the preservation of organic materials.
D) only utilize a very limited range of plant species when building their nests.

Question 40

In more humid conditions, plant remains generally are preserved only when they have been

A) buried.
B) burned.
C) soaked in water.
D) None of these answers are correct.

Question 41

By looking at levels of sex hormones such as testosterone and progesterone in coprolites, we can determine whether they were produced by a man or a woman.

Question 42

Phytolith analysis is most useful for reconstructing arboreal (tree) vegetation.

Question 43

Wood rats urinate all over their nests, forming a lacquer-like covering on the nest that promotes the preservation of organic materials.

Question 44

The links between patterns in the faunal assemblage and interpretations depends on experimental archaeology and ethnoarchaeology.

Question 45

Since wood rats collect plant material for their nests from as much as two kilometers away, they are good indicators of the regional environment.

Question 46

Phytoliths are small stone tools, normally inset into pieces of bone or wood to form a long working edge.

Question 47

Pollen analysis is used primarily for reconstructing past regional environments.

Question 48

Although the analysis of plant remains from archaeological sites can provide important information about the economies of prehistoric populations, a drawback of plant remains is that they cannot be used to infer ritual significance or ideology.

Question 49

In general, bias in preservation makes reconstructing the plant component of ancient diets more difficult than reconstructing the meat component.

Question 50

At the highland site of Chavín de Huántar, Peru a decline in the abundance of deer bones over time and a simultaneous increase in the percentage of llama leg bones tracks a temporal change in diet and trade that shows occupants of the site shifted from doing their own hunting to being supplied with dried meat. This interpretation is based on faunal analysis but also ethnoarchaeological research with living peoples in the Andes Mountains.

Question 51

The raw number of identified bones per species in an archaeofauna is known as the MNI.