Deck 1: What Is Physical Anthropology?

Question 1

Primates are a group of mammals that have:

A)fingernails and forward-facing eyes.
B)no fingernails and a long snout.
C)complex behavior and small brains.
D)simple behavior and varied forms of locomotion.

Answer 1

fingernails and forward-facing eyes.

Question 2

Physical anthropologists study what type of science?

A)astrological
B)biological
C)social
D)biological and social

Answer 2

biological and social

Question 3

Why is the hyoid bone important to the study of anthropology?

A)It is found only in carnivores.
B)It is found only in organisms with speech.
C)It provides information about the vocal structure of hominins.
D)Through careful measurement,it can differentiate between individuals with a corn-based diet versus those with a hunter-gatherer diet.

Answer 3

It provides information about the vocal structure of hominins.

Question 4

There is a hypothesis that the origin of human bipedalism was linked to a shift from life in the trees to life on the ground in the grasslands of Africa.Which of the following is true about this hypothesis?

A)It has been upheld by subsequent scientific data on human origins.
B)It was developed in consultation with genetic and fossil evidence.
C)It has been rejected recently subsequent to new fossil evidence.
D)It has become a scientific law.

Question 5

How is biocultural anthropology different from cultural anthropology?

A)Biocultural anthropology combines cultural studies with archaeology.
B)Biocultural anthropology studies the interrelationship between culture and what humans have inherited genetically.Cultural anthropology studies diverse cultures and societies.
C)It is strictly a biological science.
D)It considers culture to be a byproduct of our biological histories.

Question 6

An archaeological field school is announced in your anthropology course.The description says that you will travel to Belize to learn about the lives of the ancient Mayans.What,primarily,do you expect to learn during this field school?

A)what species of nonhuman primate occupies this region
B)how current populations of immigrants have changed local dialects
C)how to excavate and study material culture
D)how to socially navigate life in a Central American setting

Question 7

Which of the following key attributes of human uniqueness developed after 10,000 to 11,000 years ago?

A)bipedalism
B)dependence on domesticated food
C)complex material culture
D)nonhoning chewing

Question 8

After AD 1000,the people of St.Catherines Island acquired corn agriculture,and farming became the mainstay of their diet. What physical changes did this cause?

A)They became taller and better nourished,and signs of disease nearly disappeared.
B)While people became generally larger in size and healthier,the corn diet caused more dental disease.
C)Their bodies became more fit because they had less work to do in acquiring food and could exercise in other ways.
D)They became shorter and had smaller skulls and limb bones,more dental disease,and more infections.

Question 9

What makes it possible for humans to accumulate an amazing amount of information over long periods of time?

A)social learning
B)education
C)social media
D)mimicry

Question 10

Physical anthropologists view how humans come to be the way they are as the result of:

A)their biological makeup.
B)both evolutionary history and their own individual life histories.
C)their genes;their environment has very little effect.
D)their environment;their genes have very little effect.

Question 11

What is a hypothesis?

A)the same thing as a theory
B)a testable statement that could potentially explain specific phenomena observed in the natural world
C)a statement that concerns scientific facts assumed to be true
D)a statement unable to be refuted by future investigations

Question 12

Why is bipedalism considered one of the hallmarks of hominid evolution?

A)It was the first evolutionary development that distinguished humans from other animals.
B)It was possible only after the advent of simple material culture.
C)It followed brain expansion in human evolution.
D)It allowed hominids to come out of the trees and make tools 10 mya.

Question 13

How is a theory different from a hypothesis?

A)A hypothesis explains observations and cannot be refuted by new evidence.
B)A theory is an explanation based upon controversial facts.
C)A theory is an explanation that has been carefully examined and tested.
D)A theory has been less thoroughly tested than a hypothesis.

Question 14

Which of the following is true about the scientific method?

A)It relies on making hunches about the natural world.
B)It involves empirical data collection and hypothesis testing.
C)It is used to support preconceived notions or theories.
D)It seeks to establish the absolute scientific truth.

Question 15

What can be learned from studying a population through time?

A)We can learn that lifestyles do not change over time.
B)We can learn that diets,and therefore human biology,change through time.
C)We can learn that consuming the wrong foods over time does little to population health.
D)We can learn that human physiology does not change through time.

Question 16

Through which of the following activities do archaeologists differentiate themselves from other anthropologists?

A)studying primate evolution
B)devoting most of their efforts to recovering artifacts and building museum collections
C)studying past human societies by focusing mostly on their material remains
D)primarily studying the evolution of language

Question 17

Before AD 1000 what did the people of St.Catherines Island eat?

A)They ate wild animals,fish,and wild plants.
B)They ate bison and salmon.
C)They were vegetarians and ate wild plants exclusively.
D)They ate mostly fruit.

Question 18

What activity does bipedalism in primates describe?

A)walking on two feet
B)walking on four feet
C)walking using two legs and a tail
D)swinging from branch to branch

Question 19

Which aspects of humans do physical anthropologists focus on?

A)the role of culture in shaping human behavior
B)human physiology as observed in laboratory studies
C)human biology and behavior in the past and present
D)the processes behind human behaviors as revealed by artifacts

Question 20

Which of the following is a good description of what physical anthropologists do?

A)work in the laboratory to understand the genetic relationships among different groups of mammals
B)seek out and excavate sites that have fossil evidence of dinosaurs and other extinct species
C)live with various groups of people for extended periods of time,to learn their language and customs
D)use bones and other materials to study a diversity of ancient and living human populations and primates

Question 21

The study of physical anthropology varies in that some physical anthropologists study:

A)the potential for life on other planets.
B)the disappearance of languages as small groups are assimilated into larger groups.
C)extinct and living species of primates.
D)changes in marine life.

Question 22

Which is the study of evolution and variation in humans?

A)physical anthropology
B)archaeology
C)linguistic anthropology
D)cultural anthropology

Question 23

What are the four branches of anthropology?

A)archaeology,geology,geography,and biology
B)physical anthropology,biological anthropology,cultural anthropology,and linguistic anthropology
C)cultural anthropology,linguistic anthropology,geology,and physical anthropology
D)physical anthropology,archaeology,cultural anthropology,and linguistic anthropology

Question 24

Discuss the steps of the scientific method.

Question 25

What increased early humans' chances of hunting success?

A)Hunting was led by females.
B)Hunting was conducted with lithic tools and cooperative strategies.
C)Hunting was always well planned with a diagram.
D)Hunting strategies were developed to include children as bait.

Question 26

Which of the following is Franz Boas known for?

A)his early influence on Darwin's theory of natural selection
B)his understanding of environment and biology as insignificant in the study of human cultures
C)his inability ever to conduct his own fieldwork,curiously
D)his union of the study of culture,language,and biology,and the founding of American anthropology

Question 27

What is human production of stone or lithic tools an example of?

A)linguistic comprehension
B)subsistence strategies
C)material culture
D)ideology

Question 28

Discuss the six key attributes that make humans unique relative to other species.

Question 29

Discuss the difference between a hypothesis and a theory.Why is the distinction important?

Question 30

Discuss the value of the scientific method in our society.

Question 31

What did Boas propose that anthropologists could learn about through careful observations and attention?

A)race,morality,and primitive religions
B)primitive humans and their societies
C)morality,human variation,and cultures
D)cultures,societies,and peoples' biology

Question 32

Franz Boas studied which of the following?

A)the Inuit (Eskimos)of Baffin Island
B)the townspeople of Minden,Germany
C)the farmers of St.Catherines Island
D)the chimpanzees of Gombe,Tanzania

Question 33

Provide an imaginary example of the proper use of the scientific method.

Question 34

Why is physical anthropology considered an interdisciplinary science?

A)A specific set of disciplines,including anatomy and linguistic studies,are required of all students who intend to go into this discipline.
B)Compared to other areas of science,physical anthropology is one of the largest fields.
C)Physical anthropologists often incorporate other fields of study such as chemistry or geology to facilitate their research.
D)Physical anthropology comprises four different branches: bioanthropology,archaeology,cultural anthropology,and linguistics.

Question 35

What were people on St.Catherines Island like just before the arrival of the Spanish?

A)They were primarily fishermen.
B)They were hunter-gatherers.
C)They became the first farmers of the region.
D)Their health had been worse before the Spanish arrived.

Question 36

How did Boas lay the foundation for scientific anthropology?

A)relying on the scientific method
B)evaluating cultures from a personal perspective
C)using genetics to develop theories on human variation
D)demonstrating the variation in humans as a result of moral differences

Question 37

What makes us human?

A)physiology,culture,and planning
B)biology,culture,and religion
C)physiology,behavior,and religion
D)biology,culture,and behavior

Question 38

To be called a forensic anthropologist,what must a scientist do?

A)focus on skeletal analysis of individuals
B)study skeletal remains from past human populations
C)study the evolution of human skeletal traits
D)work primarily with soft tissue,as opposed to bone and teeth

Question 39

There are six aspects of humanity that together define humans as different from other primates.Of these,which are unique to humans and not found in other primates?

A)speech and arboreal life
B)the use of material culture and the loss of a honing canine
C)hunting as a way of getting food
D)domestication of plants and animals

Question 40

What about a disadvantaged social environment would physical anthropologists focus on in their research?

A)minimal access to communication technology
B)the lack of a sophisticated transportation system
C)poor-quality nutrition available to infants and children
D)poor literacy rates