ant2140 module 11 - making societies
What have archaeologists learned about the presence or absence of violence at Çatal Höyük? there was little evidence of personal violence because feuding families could simply move somewhere else many inhabitants suffered from interpersonal violence resulting in bodily injury as is typical of egalitarian societies, they lived in relative peace for almost 2000 years the absence of any kind of weaponry shows inhabitants did not inflict violence on themselves or outsiders
(INCORRECT) the absence of any kind of weaponry shows inhabitants did not inflict violence on themselves or outsiders
According to the reading, how should the start of the Neolithic period be rethought in terms of why people would form permanent settlements? the role of environmental change in stimulating this new way of life is now better known the Neolithic is now known to have begun later than previously believed, only after everyone fully adopted domesticated plants and animals it was really a political change, given that Neolithic sites all show the emergence of elite rulers it began with a "cultural revolution" in collective religious practices and veneration of sacred places
(INCORRECT) the role of environmental change in stimulating this new way of life is now better known
Which of the following is an example of "cultural violence"? Bog bodies of Europe the Ludlow massacre in Colorado the Modoc Rebellion in California mistreatment and death at the Lawton Prison Camp
Bog bodies of Europe
According to the video, what did a map (copied in the Middle Ages) tell us about the Roman Empire? the boundaries separating the different provinces were carefully demarcated, to distinguish Roman citizens from everyone else Rome saw itself at the center of its domain, connected by roads to its periphery the map focused on the individual cities and towns, which were differentiated in importance by the size of the script Romans were aware of peoples beyond the borders of the empire, including Persia, India, and Sudan
Rome saw itself at the center of its domain, connected by roads to its periphery
Social heterogeneity that results in multiple ranked groups, rather than one single (vertical) order of ranking, is called inequality acephaly hierarchy heterarchy
Social heterogeneity that results in multiple ranked groups, rather than one single (vertical) order of ranking, is called
According to the video, what structural changes to the landscape most dramatically impacted the people under Roman imperial control? a series of great boundary walls in various parts of the empire, including the one built by Hadrian the building of aqueducts to finally bring clean water to town-dwellers the erection of amphitheaters for public spectacles and religious rituals throughout the empire a connected road system, with mile markers locating where any traveler was in space
a connected road system, with mile markers locating where any traveler was in space
What are plausible reason(s) why people would leave the hinterland to move to an early city? the assurance of a longer life span and higher living standard than in the rural hinterland better waste removal systems to eliminate contagious diseases compared to smaller settlements access to more diverse resources and occupational choices none of the answers is correct
access to more diverse resources and occupational choices
According to the video, how did archaeologists determine the social organization at Çatal Höyük? the town leaders lived a little way off the main mound, which was crowded with commoner families because all the houses were the same, either the society was acephalous or else leaders did not distinguish their status with larger or more elaborate houses priests apparently ruled the town, from religious buildings marked by cattle horns in the walls higher status families were distinguished by the greater amount of meat in their diet
because all the houses were the same, either the society was acephalous or else leaders did not distinguish their status with larger or more elaborate houses
Why is interpersonal violence more likely in settled (sedentary) societies than in nomadic ones? by settling in one place, inhabitants will compete for nearby resources and cannot simply move away if conflict arises disease is more endemic in settled communities, which inevitably causes interpersonal violence next-door neighbors typically will not get along with one another, feuding over shared space such societies typically are not organized by kinship ties, so inhabitants don't get along with each other
by settling in one place, inhabitants will compete for nearby resources and cannot simply move away if conflict arises
What have archaeologists learned about the earliest cities? even among these true cities, the forms they took are very different from one another some cities, such as Çatal Höyük, developed even before the evolution of the state products of the "Urban Revolution," all early cities are remarkably similar to each other all of the world's pristine cities emerged alongside rivers in the Old World in the Bronze Age
even among these true cities, the forms they took are very different from one another
Although archaeology has various methods to determine how societies are "made" or come into being, thus far it is unable to explain how societies collapse or fall apart except as the result of natural disasters.
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An unfortunate disciplinary bias in archaeology is that most archaeologists seek to understand how egalitarian societies were maintained for many thousands of years.
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Archaeologists have recently identified the battlefield where the Modoc Indians of California defeated the US Army and forced them to retreat.
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Archaeology provides little information on warfare other than the weapons that were left behind in battle.
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Based on its size and the number of adobe mounds, Cahuachi must have been a city, capital of a Nazca state.
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Because in our modern socio-political system wealth inequality is the only form of social ranking, archaeologists should focus their attention on such wealth inequality in the past.
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Because Çatal Höyük was an egalitarian society, the inhabitants lived in relative peace for almost 2000 years.
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Both archaeological and ethnographic studies of egalitarian societies reveal that they have the least incidence of internal conflict or violence compared to complex societies.
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Egalitarian societies typically have the least social inequality, although they may exhibit degrees of vertical differentiation.
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Excavations at Jenné-jeno in Western Africa reveal it once headed a political empire that included Timbuktu.
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In complex societies, some social groups enjoy higher ranks or privileges over others, but only the chief has absolute power over his people.
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In egalitarian societies, as the label implies, everyone is treated the same, and there is no social differentiation.
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People were attracted to move to cities because there was less conflict and violence in urban settings than in villages.
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The Aztecs were among the first known group to establish prisoner-of-war camps, where the guards delighted in torturing the prisoners.
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The Colorado Coalfield War Archaeological Project has investigated the deaths of dozens of Chinese migrants who participated in the miner's strike.
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The Rosetta Stone in Egypt was erected to commemorate the pharaoh's rebellion against the Romans, even though this was just propaganda and they actually were defeated.
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The cities of Teotihuacan and Mohenjo-Daro reveal powerful central control over civic life, but they are most notable for the lavish palaces and royal tombs.
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The city of Teotihuacan suffered so much damage when its defensive walls were breached in the 6th century that it never recovered.
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Using settlement pattern analysis in Chaco Canyon, archaeologists determined that the largest sites, the "town pueblos," were home to many hundreds of high-status residents.
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V. G. Childe's "Urban Revolution" refers to the earliest development of cities, appearing in the Old World only during the late Iron Age.
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Wherever slavery exists, the enslaved peoples are singled out for their different race or ethnicity.
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The Grand Challenges for Archaeology that deal with societal formations emphasize all of the following, EXCEPT (which one is not correct?): what processes drive the emergence of urbanism (cities) how small-scale communities become politically more complex how some societies in the past avoided or delayed the emergence of hierarchy and social inequality why and how social inequalities emerge and persist
how some societies in the past avoided or delayed the emergence of hierarchy and social inequality
According to the video, how did coinage impact the Roman empire? Select the two correct answers: it represented the power of the empire because coins displayed the head of the emperor it helped to unify the empire, because everyone from Britain to the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea used the same coinage for buying and selling coins emphasized the social hierarchy, because only the middle- and upper-classes had access to them it eventually bankrupted the empire when the silver mines ran out
it represented the power of the empire because coins displayed the head of the emperor it helped to unify the empire, because everyone from Britain to the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea used the same coinage for buying and selling
Early cities have special characteristics that distinguish them from other types of settlements, including all of the following, EXCEPT (which one is incorrect?): roads or paths through the city to efficiently move people and goods in and out most of the inhabitants were full-time farmers, needed to sustain the city's other residents set-aside public spaces for administrative, religious, or economic purposes, such as markets large populations, usually more densely packed than in smaller settlements many had marked boundaries or even walls, such as at Uruk in Mesopotamia
most of the inhabitants were full-time farmers, needed to sustain the city's other residents
Acts of violence or destruction categorized as "war" are typically waged against an outside group, as opposed to internal "feuding."
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Analysis of the graves of the laborers who built Akhetaton revealed the many of them were overworked children.
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Archaeologists interpret a society as ranked if some members had better graves or houses than other members.
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As archaeologists continue to intensively excavate sites around the world, they are discovering far more variation than their simple typologies can account for.
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Despite the problems of urban-dwelling, the advantages of greater access to resources and occupations may have drawn people to cities in the past, just as they do today.
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Empires form a territorial expansion of the state by force, controlling multiple societies under their rule.
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Fissioning is a common solution in egalitarian societies to avoid or resolve internal conflict.
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From evidence of ancestor recognition or veneration archaeologists can suggest the existence of descent groups such as lineages or clans.
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Hegemonic empires, such as the Romans, are easier to trace in the archaeological record than non-hegemonic empires.
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Heterarchy refers to societies with multiple forms of social differentiation, which need not be ranked into a single absolute hierarchy.
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Household archaeology is a "bottom-up" approach to social organization to overcome the bias of top-down approaches.
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Human sacrificial victims often accompanied royal dead in their graves, or were used to sanctify or safeguard certain buildings.
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In capitalist states social organization is stratified into ranked classes based on wealth.
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In ranked societies, non-elite members typically have a moral obligation to pay tribute or service to the elite members.
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In stratified societies, every person is assigned to a ranked social stratum or level, with fewer members in the highest ranked stratum.
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People living in settled communities are likely to experience more conflicts and less mobility than nomadic groups.
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Skull trauma was a common bone pathology among the residents of Çatal Höyük.
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Structural violence refers to institutions that marginalize some groups, such that direct violence against them is normalized.
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The circumstances of the death of Őtzi, the "Iceman," is a good example of interpersonal violence in early societies.
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The erection of massive defensive structures such as walls or ditches indicate the presence of long-term hostilities with outside groups.
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The failure to detect evidence of social ranking within a long-lived community may indicate the existence of leveling mechanisms.
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Today anthropologists classify all societies into three types based on the degree of social inequality exhibited in the entire society.
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When it comes to examining societies, the Grand Challenges for Archaeology emphasize social inequality and urbanism, characteristics of modern Western society that may not apply so well to ancient societies.
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What do the settlements of Jericho and Çatal Höyük have in common? the early residents rebuilt their dwellings in the same place, creating an elevated mound all are early farming sites that lacked any pottery, the people using stone vessels instead the inhabitants built defensive walls to protect them from raids by non-farming peoples they all had very early temples, demonstrating the power of religion in attracting inhabitants to settle
the early residents rebuilt their dwellings in the same place, creating an elevated mound
What is the principal means by which archaeologists assess societal relationships at the regional scale? the study of wealth inequality at the regional level the study of differential burial treatments the use of settlement archaeology the study of the relative house sizes within a settlement
the use of settlement archaeology
What problems do archaeologists encounter in attempting to understand the origins of social inequality across the world? Select the two correct answers: there is far more variation than can be accounted for with our simple classification systems archaeologists haven't devised any way to measure the degree of inequality within a single society archaeologists had focused too long on the top of the political hierarchy, not the other levels archaeologists have concentrated too much on the religious or cosmological reasons for inequality
there is far more variation than can be accounted for with our simple classification systems archaeologists had focused too long on the top of the political hierarchy, not the other levels
According to the reading, why are early communities such as Çatal Höyük "mysterious"? it turns out that, surprisingly, most of these settlements were built by foragers, rather than farmers they evoke the obvious but often overlooked question: Why would people want to permanently live in such close proximity to one another? there is still much about them that archaeologists do not know many of them were devoted to the worship of a mysterious "Fertility Goddess"
they evoke the obvious but often overlooked question: Why would people want to permanently live in such close proximity to one another?
What has been an advantage of "household archaeology" since the 1970s? this bottom-up approach to social organization focuses on the lives of average residents this is a method for differentiating the social statuses of individual members of a society this set of techniques was developed to distinguish the individual houses at "tell" (mound) sites using this approach, archaeologists have been able to recognize "middle class" families at a site
this bottom-up approach to social organization focuses on the lives of average residents
According to the reading, what has the study of micromorphology (microscopic analysis of structures) revealed about the building of Çatal Höyük? tiny bits of obsidian ground into the floors are evidence that some of the "houses" were actually obsidian workshops where craftsmen made tools individual families may have made their own mud bricks rather than relying on specialized masons failure to plaster the mud brick walls is what caused them to collapse, requiring constant rebuilding it is evident that houses were rarely swept and debris became embedded in the floors
tiny bits of obsidian ground into the floors are evidence that some of the "houses" were actually obsidian workshops where craftsmen made tools
What have archaeologists learned about early empires? all empires send out colonies to create a contiguous territory beyond the capital city they preceded the development of the state (stratification) they were ethnically homogeneous, as in the case of the Chinese, Sumerian, and Roman empires virtually all were created by the use of force
virtually all were created by the use of force
