Practice questions

1. Which of the following geological processes will contribute to burial of an archaeological site? a) Faulting. b) Erosion. c) Deposition. d) Superposition. 2. Human skeletal remains can tell us about which of the following? a) Occupation. b) Health and disease. c) Diet. d) All of the above. 3. Which of the following describes the shared set of beliefs, morals, laws, customs, and knowledge of a group of people? a) Culture. b) Processualism. c) Theory. d) Ideology. 4. Which of the following is NOT a technique that could be used to find archaeological sites? a) Ground penetrating radar (GPR). b) X-ray diffraction. c) Aerial photography. d) Light detection and ranging (LIDAR). 5. In which of the following cases would conducting an excavation of a site be unethical? a) The site is about to be destroyed by construction. b) The site has previously been excavated using modern techniques and results published in detail. c) It is located in a World Heritage Site. d) All of the above. 6. The observation of superimposed sedimentary layers at an archaeological site is known as: a) superposition. b) stratigraphy. c) geology. d) chronology. 7. The Pompeii Premise is the idea that: a) archaeological sites represent a single snapshot of human activities frozen in time. b) burial by volcanic ash can lead to excellent preservation of organic remains. c) there are natural and cultural processes that contribute to formation of archaeological sites. d) all of the above 8. By studying the size of an archaeological site, the number of buildings, and human remains in combination, it is possible for archaeologists to reconstruct:

A. ancient disease loads. B. ancient trade routes. C. approximate population sizes. D. exact population sizes. 9. Analysis of isotopes plays a role in: A. radiometric dating. B. reconstructing past climate. C. reconstructing human diet. D. all of the above. 10. Which renowned archaeologist is known for providing the first synthesis of world prehistory? A. Grahame Clark. B. Lewis Binford. C. Mary Leakey. D. Ian Hodder. 11. Which of the following geological processes will uncover a buried archaeological site? A. Deposition. B. Superposition. C. Volcanic eruptions. D. Erosion. 12. Which of the following is NOT a radiometric dating technique? A. Radiocarbon dating. B. U-series dating. C. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. D. Potassium/Argon dating. 13. The geological epoch spanning the last ~12,000 years is known as: A. Pleistocene. B. Miocene. C. Neolithic. D. Holocene. 14. Which of the following techniques could be used to find archaeological sites? A. Aerial photography. B. Thermoluminescence C. X-ray diffraction. D. All of the above 15. Which of the following features might be used to distinguish between different strata at an archaeological site? A. Sediment colour. B. Sediment texture. C. Sediment grain size. D. All of the above.

16. The Pompeii Premise does not apply to most archaeological sites because: a) there are complex natural and cultural processes that contribute to formation of archaeological sites. b) most archaeological sites represent snapshots of human activities frozen in time. c) it is specific only to historical archaeological sites. d) All of the above. 17. The half-life of radiocarbon is: a) 2865 years. b) 5730 years. c) 11460 years. d) 22920 years. 18. The geological epoch spanning ~2.5 million years ago to ~12,000 years ago is known as the: a) Holocene. b) Miocene. c) Pleistocene. d) Paleolithic. 19. Which of the following describes the shared set of beliefs, morals, laws, customs, and knowledge of a group of people? a) Culture. b) Processualism. c) Theory. d) Ideology. 20. As discussed in the lecture, the Uluburun shipwreck is archeologically significant because: a) it confirms the presence of advanced seafaring technology during the Bronze Age b) it confirms the existence of widespread trade networks during the Bronze Age c) it confirms that ancient Greeks invaded Turkey during the Trojan War d) it confirms the presence of slave trading networks in Africa and the Middle East

Week 6: Archaeology of the Intangible 26 QUESTIONS 1. Sacred places, or places that connect humans and deities, consist only of manmade structures such as temples, pyramids and cathedrals. a. True. b. False. 2. What is analogy? a. A process of inference where phenomena/objects similar in one respect are assumed to be similar in other respects. b. A process of inference where phenomena/objects are classified into a series of similar types. c. A process of inference where phenomena/objects are classified and arranged in an assumed order of evolutionary development. d. A process of inference where phenomena/objects similar in more than one respect are assumed to be derived from a system of cultural evolution. 3. Complete the following sentence: “Ideology………. a. is a key feature of most early farming societies. b. is a set of doctrines, myths and beliefs used to control society. c. is a set of cultural practices that leads inevitably to human sacrifice. d. is not observable in the archaeological record. 4. Which of the following sources do archaeologists use to understand beliefs and practices relating to death and burial? a. Grave goods found with the body. b. The position and treatment of the body and body parts. c. The architecture and location of the burial and its associated structures. d. All of the above. 5. Approximately when did people start to produce art in Europe? a. 10,000 years ago when the Holocene Epoch started. b. 15,000 years ago when the Ice Age started. c. 30,000 years ago during the Pleistocene Epoch. d. 200,000 years ago when the first anatomically modern humans appeared. 6. The female archaeologist who made a substantial contribution to the field of stratigraphic analysis, and whose excavation at Jericho changed the way archaeologists understood the Neolithic in the Levant was: a. Dorothy Garrod. b. Gertrude Bell. c. Kathleen Kenyon. d. Mary Leakey

7. Aztec and Mayan cities contained ceremonial and ritual complexes of pyramids, ball courts and (stelae) statues arranged to reflect astronomical entities (stars, moon, sun position etc). How were these used ideologically by the rulers of these polities? a. As centres of sacrifice. b. As centres for trade and exchange of goods via systems of tribute. c. As astronomical observatories. d. As a place for public demonstrations of religious observance, proving that the leaders had the power to communicate with the gods, and thus deserved political authority. 8. Marija Gimbutas interpreted the presence of voluptuous female figurines in archaeological sites from 30,000 to 5,000 years ago as evidence of a widespread Mother Goddess religion liked to female political authority. The excavations at Catalhoyuk have since confirmed Gimbutas’ theory. a. True. b. False. 9. Archaeologists should keep an open mind concerning the nature of the sacred in past cultures. Knowledge of traditional Aboriginal beliefs show that what feature(s) could be held to have sacred value? a. Aquatic landscapes. b. Trees. c. Mountains. d. All of the above. 10.Archaeologists have no chance of producing a coherent, critically verifiable understanding of ancient belief and artistic practices because these cannot be unambiguously observed in the material record. a. True. b. False. 11.Cognitive archaeology is concerned with: a. The study of ancient artwork b. The study of ancient subsistence. c. The study of the past using ancient subsistence d. The study of past ways of thought 12.Wall paintings at Catalhoyuk were found painted and re-painted between many layers of plaster in buildings, suggesting that they were produced for use over short periods of time. Using Indian ethnoarchaeology, what did Nicole Boivin suggest about the painted plaster layers? a. That they were painted for the use of a hierarchical elite as part of their ideological social control. b. That they were painted for use during key stages in the life of individuals, such as initiations, births and other rites of passage. c. That they were painted as part of religious worship of the mother goddess. d. That they were painted for permanent display