Archeology quiz answers

The post-Pleistocene, or the Holocene geological epoch that began roughly 13,000 bp and continues to the present, brought a number of significant changes. These changes would greatly impact the course of cultural evolution. Select from the options below what those changes were.

retreating ice glaciers across the northern hemisphere, rising ocean levels, warmer drier climate, extinction of the megafauna

Who were the first agriculturalists?

natufians

Levallois tool technology was an important advancement over all previous tool manufacturing traditions (e.g. Oldowan or Acheulean) for the following reasons (might be more than one):

1. Shift from production of core tools to blade tools 50% 2.More efficient use of stone 50% (Feder in chapter 5 talks about Levallois tools, and I talk about them in video lecture 5.)

Since archaeology cannot observe the archaeological record "in-the-making", archaeologists rely upon analogy to infer what past activities are responsible for the spatial and temporal patterns we observe in the present. The primary sources are historical documents, ethnography,

1. ethnoarchaeology 2. experimental archaeology

If the Multi-regional Model for human evolution is correct, then we should expect to find in the archaeological record the following (more than one):

1.Early versions of anatomically modern Homo sapiens should be found in many different regions of the old world. 2.There should be continuity in regional artifact types, showing a gradual evolution from archaic types to more sophisticated technologies. 3.Dating skeletal remains should show little or no chronological overlap between pre-modern and modern humans.

Establishing dates for archaeological materials is very important. There are, however, many different types of absolute dating methods and which one an archaeologist uses depends upon two important factors: type of material and the anticipated age of the material. Match the absolute dating methods below with the descriptions of the type of material they work on and the date ranges they work for.

1.organic materials, in/direct dating, date range of up to 40,000 years bp - Carbon 14 Dating 2.volcanic rock, indirect dating, date range of 100,000 bp - 4-5 billion years ago - Potassium-Argon (K/Ar) Dating 3.timbers (wood), date range of up to 10,000 bp - 1. Dendrochronology

When and how the Americas were first populated is the subject of some uncertainty amongst archaeologists. However, most archaeologists firmly agree that the Americas south of Alaska and all the way to the tip of South America were settled by at least the following date:

14,000 Bp

Mesa Verde and Chaco were built by a people called the "Ancient Enemies" by the Navajo. While we no longer use the Navajo word to refer to this culture, what do we call this culture of the Southwest United States?

Ancestral Puebloans

What was the name of the landmass that connected Asia and Alaska during most of the Pleistocene, and most recently between 35,000 and 11,000 bp? At least one major migration of people from E. Asia passed across this "bridge" into the New World.

Beringia

Put the civilizations that arose in South America in chronological order (some may have overlapped, but there was a progression).

Moche (earliest), Wari, Chimu, Inca

From the options listed below, select all of the traits that the Maya civilization possessed.

Hieroglyphic writing system 25% Calendar systems 25% Carved stelae 25% Stepped pyramids 25%

Unlike any other culture we've studied, the Inca developed a novel form of 3-dimensional or physical 'writing'. This system of knotted strings was called what (single word)?

Khipu (I also accepted a wide range of spelling variations, e.g. Quipo, kihpu, etc.)

Which of the following options was the name of the Aztec capital?

Tenochtitlán

Match the following cultures of the American Southwest with where they thrived (in terms of present-day states).

The Four Corners regions of Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. - Ancestral Puebloans 33.33% The Sonoran desert of southern Arizona - The Hohokam 33.33% The highlands of eastern Arizona, western New Mexico and northern Mexico. -The Mogollon 33.33%

Match the civilization or city with the correct description.

Their ruler Moctezuma met the Spanish conquistadors. - The Aztecs 25% A monumental and rigidly planned city in South America. - Chan Chan 25% A monumental and rigidly planned city in Mesoamerica. - Teotihuacan 25% Were decentralized and dispersed when the Spanish arrived. - The Maya 25%

When the Maya civilization is described as "collapsing" around 850 AD, select which two (2) of the following best describes what happened to their civilization.

They shifted to the north into present-day Yucatan and established post-Classic sites like Chichen Itzá and Uxmal. 50% Sites of the classic period were abandoned, and the Maya became less centralized, but they continued to live throughout SE Mexico, Belize and Guatemala (to this day). 50%

Flood control was a crucial technology that enabled the rise of which civilization of the Old World?

indus valley

These two materials were particularly important for the rise of the Shang Civilization in China. Both ____ metal and _____ stone were symbols of rank for the Shang.

bronze, jade

Monk's Mound was the name of the largest truncated pyramid in ________, which was the largest settlement of the Temple Mound Builders and the first city in North America.

cahokia

Several types of plants were eventually domesticated in the Americas. List the three most important ones, the triumvirate that supported civilization in North and South America.

corn, beans, squash

With written language we move from the prehistoric to the historic age. What was the name of the world's first written language?

cuniform

The region of Mesoamerica where the Maya civilization developed was so nutrient-rich that the Maya did not need to undertake complex irrigation works for agriculture

false

When testing the implications for either the Replacement Model or the Multi-regional Model of human evolution, current evidence lends more support for the Multi-regional Model.

false

In our survey of the rise of civilizations of the Old World, we encounter a typical pattern in the archaeological record that pre-dates and leads to the rise of these states. Select all of the following which we found in every region just prior to the emergence of true civilization:

increasing density of settlements, larger and more complex architecture, differentiation of burials indicating emergence of social stratification

Of all of the early civilizations in the Old world that we have examined, which single civilization demonstrated the greatest amount of standardization and planning in its urban architecture and city layout?

indus valley

The rise of state societies is the hallmark of civilization. While "civilization" is somewhat difficult to define, archaeologists list 10 key characteristics, 5 of which are more visible in the archaeological record. From the options below select three of the characteristics that archaeologists find as evidence for a civilization.

monumental public works, a writing or recording system, large dense settlements or cities of over 5,000 people

In the New World we see the first complex societies emerging in Mesoamerica and South America. The Norte Chico region in Peru with the site of Caral appears to be the earliest. The more well known and only slightly later complex societies were the _____in Mesoamerica and the ______of South America in the Andes

olmec, chavin

During the European Mesolithic/American Archaic/Japanese Jomon period during the early Holocene we see the same pattern of increased cultural adaptation to diverse, regional environmental conditions.

true

The origins of writing in early Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus Valley developed from the need to keep track of goods and food and other materials, essentially from accounting.

true

There are competing theories for how modern Homo sapiens evolved. The Replacement Model proposes that anatomically modern humans evolved in just one place, Africa, and then moved throughout the Old World, out competing and replacing premodern humans who went extinct.

true