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ANTH 202 Study Questions: Chapter 4

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31. Realizing the significance of Ötzi, the "Ice Man", archaeologists scoured the site and recovered: a. clothing, tools, and preserved food. b. clothing, tools, and stomach contents. c. clothing, tools, and a cedar canoe. d. tools, stomach contents, and animal bones.

b. clothing, tools, and stomach contents.

22. Provenience is essential to an artifact's: a. material. b. age. c. context. d. value.

c. context.

40. The following items are necessary in the excavator's tool kit, all except: a. toilet paper. b. root clippers. c. toothpicks. d. a CD player.

d. a CD player.

17. The Folsom site in New Mexico was discovered by: a. George McJunkin, an ex-slave and rancher. b. Jesse Figgins, director of the Colorado Museum of Nature and Science. c. Boucher de Perthes, a French customs official and naturalist. d. A. V. Kidder, Founder of Anthropological Archaeology.

a. George McJunkin, an ex-slave and rancher.

9. Why do archaeologists use a datum point rather than simply measuring from the ground surface? a. The datum point provides a universal reference point that can be used across any archaeological site, allowing archaeologists to easily compare data between excavations. b. While vertical provenience could easily be measured from the ground surface, obtaining accurate horizontal provenience would be much more difficult without a datum point. c. The ground surface does not have the same elevation consistently across a site while a datum point provides a fixed reference. d. Use of a datum point is an archaeological tradition established in the early 20th century; while it serves no useful purpose, it is an example of how outdated excavation methodology is still embedded in archaeology today.

a. The datum point provides a universal reference point that can be used across any archaeological site, allowing archaeologists to easily compare data between excavations.

16. In archeology, a living floor refers to: a. a distinct buried surface on which people lived. b.an indistinct buried surface on which people may have lived. c. a distinct surface on which people still live. d. a distinct surface where living organisms can still be detected.

a. a distinct buried surface on which people lived.

19. It is essential that archaeologists take abundant, accurate, and detailed field notes during excavations because: a. archaeology destroys data as it is gathered; once a site is excavated it cannot be re- excavated. b. federal legislation mandates abundant, accurate, and detailed field notes. c. archaeology students generally learn field techniques from these notes. d. none of the above; it is not essential because archaeologists can always go back and reconstruct the excavation later.

a. archaeology destroys data as it is gathered; once a site is excavated it cannot be re- excavated.

27. While the vertical excavation strategy at Gatecliff was designed to clarify chronology, the horizontal excavation strategy was designed to: a. expose living floors. b. reinforce the artifact typologies in use at the time. c. clarify the site's stratigraphy. d. also clarify chronology, but on a larger scale.

a. expose living floors.

12. A total station: a. is accurate to +/- 3 millimeters. b. is easily affordable by students and professionals alike. c. is roughly the same in terms of accuracy as a line level and a measuring tape. d. All of the answers are correct.

a. is accurate to +/- 3 millimeters.

35. When digging test pits, archaeologists: a. maintain three-dimensional control of the finds. b. record only horizontal coordinates. c. record only vertical coordinates. d. dig round holes.

a. maintain three-dimensional control of the finds.

28. Matrix sorting is a technique: a. that involves hand sorting of processed bulk soil samples for minute artifacts and ecofacts. b. in which large, obvious artifacts are removed prior to screening to prevent the artifacts from being damaged by the screening process. c. that uses fluid suspension to recover tiny burned plant remains and bone fragments. d. in which sediment is placed in a screen and the matrix is washed away with hoses.

a. that involves hand sorting of processed bulk soil samples for minute artifacts and ecofacts.

15. Otzi, the Ice Man of the Alps, provides an example of: a.how cold conditions can inhibit decomposition of organic material by preventing the production of microorganisms that cause decay. b. the peaceful life and death of a Neolithic farmer. c. the importance of archaeological survey in high altitude mountain settings. d.All of the answers are correct.

a.how cold conditions can inhibit decomposition of organic material by preventing the production of microorganisms that cause decay.

10. The antiquity of humans in the New World was established by the Folsom site. Why? a. The dry desert environment of northeastern New Mexico allowed for the best preservation. b. Careful provenience that recorded context: the association of a spear point with the skeleton of an extinct form of bison. c. The age of the site, established by radiocarbon dating charred corn recovered during excavation. d. All of the answers are correct.

b. Careful provenience that recorded context: the association of a spear point with the skeleton of an extinct form of bison.

39. A test excavation would be most appropriate in which of the following situations? a. When determining whether or not field school students understand archaeological field methods. b. When trying to determine a site's potential for answering a research question. c. When a research question must be answered with a limited amount of time and money. d. When a researcher is already knows what to expect during excavations.

b. When trying to determine a site's potential for answering a research question.

30. The process of flotation is based on the principle that: a. the most appropriate screen size for recovering carbonized plant remains and bone fragments is 1/4" mesh. b. carbonized plant remains and very small bone fragments will float when submerged in water, while heavier items (including dirt) will not. c. artifact provenience is the most important information an archaeologist can record during an excavation. d. All of the answers are correct.

b. carbonized plant remains and very small bone fragments will float when submerged in water, while heavier items (including dirt) will not.

36. Waterlogged sites such as Ozette on Washington's Olympic Peninsula demonstrate: a. how water can destroy structures and organic remains that would normally be preserved in dry conditions. b. how organic remains can be remarkably preserved if saturated by water and sealed in an anaerobic environment. c. that archaeologists cannot excavate these kinds of sites. d. the relative ease of underwater excavation compared to excavations on dry land.

b. how organic remains can be remarkably preserved if saturated by water and sealed in an anaerobic environment.

34. If an artifact is said to be in situ, it is: a. missing. b. in place. c. in the process of being analyzed. d. embedded in an animal bone.

b. in place.

14. When archeologists refer to the place where an artifact, ecofact, or feature was found during survey or excavation, they use the term: a. provenience. b. in situ. c. strata. d. position.

b. in situ.

38. By recording the provenience of all artifacts encountered in situ during Gatecliff's excavations, the archaeologists were trying to: a. document differences in artifact sequences through time. b. obtain information that would allow them to reconstruct the activities that took place on discrete living floors. c. determine the depth of time represented by the deposits in the rockshelter. d. speed up the excavation process without losing important information.

b. obtain information that would allow them to reconstruct the activities that took place on discrete living floors.

25. An artifact's provenience is: a. the geologic source of the raw material from which the artifact was manufactured. b. the artifact's location relative to a system of spatial data collection. c. the facility where the artifact is currently stored. d. how the artifact was used in the prehistoric past.

b. the artifact's location relative to a system of spatial data collection.

5. Provenience refers to: a. the relationship of an artifact, ecofact, or feature to other artifacts, ecofacts, features, and geologic strata in a site. b. the artifact's location relative to a system of spatial data collection. c. the position of the archaeologist when documenting a site. d. an outdated way to map a site.

b. the artifact's location relative to a system of spatial data collection.

37. The period of the Ice Age known as the Pleistocene ended about: a. 25,000 years ago. b. 100,000 years ago. c. 10,000 years ago. d. 1.5 million years ago.

c. 10,000 years ago.

18. Natural levels are preferable to arbitrary levels because: a. arbitrary levels can potentially jumble together artifacts that come from different natural strata and thus different periods of time. b. the depth of natural levels is determined by statistical sampling strategies, while arbitrary levels are chosen subjectively. c. arbitrary levels follow the natural stratigraphy, which may not be able to distinguish between occupational surfaces. d. natural levels are much simpler and faster to excavate than arbitrary levels.

c. arbitrary levels follow the natural stratigraphy, which may not be able to distinguish between occupational surfaces.

26. Water-screening is an especially useful technique when: a. the deposits are coarse-grained and have low clay content. b. artifacts are expected to be large and not easily broken, as water screening can be very destructive. c. artifacts are expected to be small and/or difficult to find without washing. d. tiny fragments of carbonized plant remains must be recovered.

c. artifacts are expected to be small and/or difficult to find without washing.

11. The Folsom site is important in the history of American archaeology because: a. it was the first site that was excavated using the stratigraphic method, a breakthrough in archaeological technique that allowed for chronological control. b. it finally disproved the Myth of the Moundbuilders, establishing that Native Americans had indeed built the earthworks of the eastern United States. c. it proved the extent of human antiquity in the Americas. d. at a time when most American archaeologists were concentrating on American prehistory, it demonstrated the importance of historic archaeology.

c. it proved the extent of human antiquity in the Americas.

20. The difference between a natural level and an arbitrary level is: a. natural level is a vertical subdivision and an arbitrary level is a horizontal subdivision. b. natural level is a horizontal subdivision and an arbitrary level is a vertical subdivision. c. natural level is a vertical subdivision based on natural breaks in sediments and arbitrary level is a vertical subdivision used only when natural strata are lacking or more than 10 cm deep. d. irrelevant. Natural levels are no longer used in archeology, only arbitrary levels are used.

c. natural level is a vertical subdivision based on natural breaks in sediments and arbitrary level is a vertical subdivision used only when natural strata are lacking or more than 10 cm deep.

2. The key to maintaining information about an artifact's context is to record: a. archaeologist's name. b. artifact's material. c. provenience. d. date of discovery.

c. provenience.

33. When an archaeologists refers to a datum point he or she means: a. the zero point that is not fixed so that it can be used as a moveable reference point. b. the zero point that is fixed, but cannot be used as a reference point. c. the zero point that is fixed and can be used as a reference point. d. that the archaeologist is using an outdated system to record a site.

c. the zero point that is fixed and can be used as a reference point.

8. A total station, or EDM, is a device that: a. allows the boundaries of archaeological sites to be objectively determined. b. efficiently and accurately analyzes artifacts found during survey. c. uses a beam of infrared light bounced off a prism to determine an artifact's provenience. d. uses triangulation from radio waves received from satellites to determine your position, either in terms of latitude and longitude or the UTM grid.

c. uses a beam of infrared light bounced off a prism to determine an artifact's provenience.

23. Let's say you are excavating a site. You are being pretty careful, and are using 1/4" mesh screens to sieve the dirt after it is removed by a trowel and dustpan from the site. You find a few very small but well-preserved fish bones. The next day: a. you decide to stop using trowels and start using dental tools for the excavation; you are probably not recovering many fish bones because they are being inadvertently destroyed by troweling. b. you conclude that people in the past were not using minnows and you cease excavation. c. you fear that the 1/4" mesh of the screen may allow most of the very small fish bones to pass through; you decide to switch to 1/8" mesh, and maybe even screen a sample of dirt through 1/16" mesh to see if you are finding few bones because they are not present, or because the screening method is systematically losing them. d. you realize that fish were not being used prehistorically and decide that a single backhoe trench through the site will probably give you a sufficient amount of remains of other animals to permit you to test your hypothesis.

c. you fear that the 1/4" mesh of the screen may allow most of the very small fish bones to pass through; you decide to switch to 1/8" mesh, and maybe even screen a sample of dirt through 1/16" mesh to see if you are finding few bones because they are not present, or because the screening method is systematically losing them.

. When archaeologists dig excavation units, they are concerned with: a. horizontal provenience. b. vertical provenience. c. keeping the walls of the unit straight and perpendicular. d. All of the answers are correct.