anthropology old test questions
Which of the following was a characteristic shared by recent foraging communities?
They lived in marginal environments that were of little interest to food-producing societies.
Which informal political process involves the "naturalization" of cultural inequalities?
hegemony
anthropology as a discipline is meant to be
holistic
cultural resource management
in some cases allows for destruction of sites if they are not significant
Aside from a shift towards larger populations, what primary socio-cultural change distinguishes ranked agricultural communities from egalitarian farming villages?
inherited social differences
which of the following is not true in relation to anthropological fieldwork?
it involves answering very broad general questions
________ refers to the specialized set of terms and distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups.
local vocabulary
An anthropologist in a business setting would most likely be involved in which of the following activities?
market research
The practical application of anthropological theory is constantly incorporating new fields of study into the discipline some of these include education, urbanization, economics, politics, and ______________.
medical
Which of the following is NOT a consequence of domestication and sedentism?
more diverse food intake
The idea that cultural diversity is beneficial and desirable to society is called _____
multiculturalism
What ethnic religious group within Bosnia was mainly targeted during the Bosnian War in 1992-1995?
muslim slavs
Although Darwin became the best-known evolutionist, the idea of evolution had been around well before him. Darwin's key contribution was to propose a mechanism that drives evolution, which is known as
natural selection
the change in the coloring of the peppered moth in England following industrialization is an observed example of
natural selection
which of the following statements are true?
no animals have the complexity of language and elaborated cultural abilities to the extent that humans have
anthropology can be useful in all settings except:
none of the above
H. erectus displayed different teeth than the australopiths because
of dietary changes
All of the following are descendants of A. afarensis except
A. anamensis
What evidence supports the Assimilation Out of Africa model?
all of the above
One of the costs of food production is
environmental degradation
when did the earliest cultures begin to adopt sedentism?
12,000 ya
Skeletal material from ________, the earliest widely accepted hominin genus, indicates a capacity for upright, bipedal locomotion.
Ardipithecus
Recall the mechanisms of genetic evolution discussed in Unit 1 textbook readings. In terms of modern human variation, what is the relationship between gene flow and the existence of clines between human populations?
Gene flow, the exchange of genetic material across populations, results in clines, which are gradual shifts in gene frequencies between neighboring groups.
Homo floresiensis is one of the species of the genus Homo that followed a different path of evolution. Why is that?
Limited resources on a bounded island environment resulted in a small body size.
Which of the following describe Western perceptions when comparing religion and secularism?
all of the above
Archaeologists were mentioned in class as being employed by all but which of these organizations?
NGOs
Which is TRUE of non-industrial societies?
Non-industrial societies own their means of production, so had a more direct ties to production.
Race is a biological category because:
Race isn't a biological category so none of the above.
What does it mean that kinship, like race, is culturally constructed?
Some genealogical kin are considered to be relatives whereas others are not, and the rules underlying such considerations vary across cultures.
Which of the following is a trend characteristic of primate evolution?
all of the above
Religion and change are explained by
acculturation, diffusion, and innovation.
which of the following concepts is NOT a part of the theory of evolution?
acquired traits
Regarding human capacity for culture, anthropologists agree that
although individuals differ in their emotional and intellectual capacities, all human populations have equivalent capacities for culture.
In North America, the relatively high incidence of extended family households for people in lower economic positions is
an important strategy used by the urban poor to adapt to poverty.
The causes of the rise in global temperatures are mainly ________, which means they are caused by humans and their activities.
anthropogenic
Which term refers to an object, event, or other expressive form that evokes an aesthetic reaction?
art
A descent system that includes individuals from both the mother's and father's line of descent is called:
bilateral
According to the AAA statement on race, inequalities among "racial" groups are the consequence of all of the following EXCEPT
biological inheritance
which ape would most likely display matriarchal or female rule?
bonobo
which of the following is not part of human language?
call systems
In the textbook, what term is used to describe a centralized, ranked society with a single leader and a redistributive economy?
chiefdom
What is the name of the political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power for an extended time?
colonialism
Modern cultures are primarily the result of:
colonialism, interlinked world systems, and globalization
Homogamy, marriage within the royal family, and marriage within one's own kin group are all types of...
endogamy
Which term refers to the spread of one dominant culture at the expense of others?
cultural imperialism
which of following statements about is culture is true?
culture is an adaptive strategy, but it can also prove to be maldatpive
An anthropologist has just arrived at a new field site and feels overwhelmed with a creepy, profound feeling of alienation, of being without some of the most ordinary, trivial (and therefore basic) cues of his culture of origin. What term best describes what he is experiencing?
culture shock
Which of the following is NOT a reason for polygamous marriage?
ensure children receive adequate education
Which was NOT one of the first primate traits to evolve?
decreased sociality
what do ethnographers do?
draw on varied techniques to create a picture of otherwise alien lifestyle
Which of the following refers to a system of resource production, distribution, and consumption?
economy
What is the anthropological term for the process through which culture is learned and shared across generations?
enculturation
what is not an attribute of culture?
exculsive
Which of the following is an outcome of deindustrialization in the United States as a result of being a wealthy core nation in the world system?
fewer jobs in the U.S., as they are replaced by machines and foreign competitors
what is not a way culture can change?
focal learning
Which country would you be most likely to find a Neanderthal skeleton in?
france
Which of the following scholars had an important role in establishing unity of general anthropology in the USA?
franz boas
Which term or phrase refers to a person's identification of self by others as male, female, or something else?
gender identity
Humans do not show much diversity in which of the following areas?
genetics
Of the following, ________ is NOT an australopithecine.
habilis
what is the main touch organ in primates?
hand
nthropology is a science, yet it has been suggested that anthropology is among the most humanistic of all academic fields. This is because
of its fundamental respect for human diversity.
Which of the following is NOT part of the four evolutionary trends of early hominins?
opposable thumbs
We have learned that reliance on culture has increased in the course of human history. Yet the fact and mechanisms of evolution remain a key part of our human present and future because
people haven't stopped adapting biologically
The path from foraging to food production was one that people followed independently in at least seven world areas. According to your textbook, one of these areas is what is now southern Egypt, where excavations at Nabta Playa
provide evidence for the "African cattle complex," in which cattle were used economically for their milk and blood rather than killed for their meat, except on ceremonial occasions.
One of the key social developments seen in the formation of early states concerns the development of social differences based on activities and economics, what is this process known as?
social stratification
what are the two types of archeological fieldwork?
systematic survey and excavation
There is much debate among scientists about when, where, and how anatomically modern humans achieved behavioral modernity. Some researchers believe that
that instead of a sudden event in Europe due to a mutation, behavioral modernity resulted from a slow process of cultural accumulation within Africa, where Homo sapiens became fully human long before 45,000 years ago
At the end of the last ice age when the climate was slowly warming, a wider range of plant and animal life was being hunted, gathered, collected, caught, and fished. This is referred to as
the broad-spectrum revolution
What is the Domestic-Public Dichotomy?
the differentiation between the home and the outside world
What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
the idea that language influences the way people think
Like Mesopotamia and China, many early civilizations came to rely on metallurgy. Aside from metallurgy, a skill that set the early civilizations of Peru's Andes apart was
their pottery techniques.
Which of the following is NOT true of the Mahu?
they are Two-Spirit
Art is not ________.
uniform across cultures
Based on the textbook, which of the following factors affected both the rise and the fall of ancient chiefdoms and states?
warfare