Deck 5: Geoarchaeology and Site Formation Processes

Question 1

A marker bed can be useful to archaeologists because:

A) if it has been dated in other sites, it can indicate the age of sediments in a new site.
B) it is specific to a particular site and can therefore provide a detailed environmental reconstruction of that particular site.
C) it generally consists of soft sediments that are easily excavated.
D) None of the answers; a marker bed is only useful to geologists.

Answer 1

if it has been dated in other sites, it can indicate the age of sediments in a new site.

Question 2

The upper part of a soil where active organic and mechanical decomposition of geological and organic material occurs is the:

A) A horizon.
B) B horizon.
C) C horizon.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Answer 2

A horizon.

Question 3

A B horizon is:

A) the upper part of a soil where active organic and mechanical decomposition of geological and organic material occurs.
B) a layer below the A horizon where clays accumulate that are transported downward by water.
C) a layer above the A horizon marked by the leaching clays and the accumulation of organic matter.
D) unaltered or slightly altered parent material.

Answer 3

a layer below the A horizon where clays accumulate that are transported downward by water.

Question 4

Reverse stratigraphy would result from which of the following situations?

A) If a pithouse is constructed in 1000 BP, and in 500 BP another pithouse is constructed on top of the earlier pithouse, and in 300 BP a pueblo is constructed on top of both pithouses.
B) If the construction of a pueblo in 500 BP unearths remains of a pithouse constructed in 1000 BP, and the older pithouse remains are brought to the surface.
C) If rodent disturbance results in the fill of an earlier feature lying beneath the fill of a later feature.
D) Any time natural or cultural disturbance processes act upon an archaeological site.

Question 5

What could account for chronologically older artifacts being found above younger artifacts in a stratigraphic sequence?

A) Faunalturbation (e.g., rodent burrows)
B) Cultural disturbance (e.g., prehistoric digging of a hearth or pit)
C) Graviturbation
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 6

The Mazama ash has been dated at numerous locations in the western US to 6900 years old. This means that if an archaeologist finds the Mazama ash in a stratified context, he or she knows that everything above it is less than 6900 years old, and everything below it is more than 6900 years old. The Mazama ash is an example of a:

A) colluvial sediment.
B) soil horizon.
C) marker bed.
D) sedimentary deposit that has been disturbed, resulting in reversed stratigraphy.

Question 7

A marker bed is:

A) an easily identified stratum that is found in multiple sites in the same region.
B) a stratum unique to a particular archaeological site that is not found anywhere else throughout the region.
C) a stratum that is easily dated by the potassium-argon dating method.
D) a stratum marked by distinctive soil horizons.

Question 8

Most of the strata in Gatecliff rockshelter consist of:

A) sediments brought into the shelter by humans.
B) naturally deposited alluvial and eolian sediments.
C) thick layers of rock from collapse of the shelter roof over time.
D) thick layers of volcanic ash.

Question 9

In an undisturbed deposit, a stone tool found in a stratum overlying a stratum containing potsherds is most likely:

A) older than the potsherds.
B) younger than the potsherds.
C) the same age as the potsherds.
D) impossible to determine whether the stone tool is older or younger than the potsherds.

Question 10

The Law of Superposition states that, in any pile of sedimentary rocks that have not been disturbed by folding or overturning:

A) stratigraphic layers cannot be used to date archaeological sites.
B) stratigraphic layers at the bottom are younger than stratigraphic layers at the top.
C) stratigraphic layers at the bottom are older than stratigraphic layers at the top.
D) soil depth provides a measure of the absolute age of a stratum.

Question 11

Nicolaus Steno argued in his Preliminary Discourse to a Dissertation on a Solid Body Naturally Contained within a Solid (1669) that fossils came to be laid down inside solid rock because the fossils:

A) had grown inside the rock, a common opinion of the time.
B) were older; the rock was originally laid down as a liquid, solidifying around the fossils.
C) were younger; they became trapped inside the rock after the rock had already solidified from its liquid state.
D) and the rock were the same age, both forming together at the same time.

Question 12

Where are the Laetoli footprints today?

A) The footprints were stolen by a looter shortly after their discovery, and their whereabouts are still unknown.
B) The footprints were covered with sediment and left in place, preserved in the ground where they were discovered.
C) The footprints are on display in a Tanzanian museum, where they have been preserved and stabilized.
D) They are gone, completely destroyed by root activity.

Question 13

Archaeological "site formation" refers to:

A) the human actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
B) the natural actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
C) the human and natural actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
D) None of the answers are correct.

Question 14

Mary Leakey's discovery of fossil footprints in volcanic ash at Laetoli was important because:

A) it warned locals of the presence of a nearby active volcano.
B) fossil animal footprints had never before been discovered.
C) the volcanic ash had preserved the footprints of at least two bipedal hominids.
D) it proved that hominids manufactured and used stone tools prior to the origin of bipedalism.

Question 15

Which of the following is an example of a systemic context?

A) An artifact scatter left on the floor of an abandoned pithouse is covered by windblown sediment.
B) A projectile point that had been lost while hunting is carried downstream in a flash flood, becoming part of the archaeological record.
C) A ceramic vessel is manufactured, decorated, and used to cook with.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 16

The age of the Laetoli footprints was determined by:

A) directly dating the footprints themselves.
B) potassium-argon dating.
C) the law of superposition.
D) both potassium-argon dating and the law of superposition.

Question 17

Soil development occurs:

A) anytime soils are deposited by wind or water.
B) when sediment accumulates quickly and is deeply and rapidly buried.
C) when sediments accumulate slowly and undergo in situ chemical and mechanical weathering.
D) anytime sediments are subjected to intense heat or cold over a long period of time.

Question 18

An archaeological context differs from a systemic context in that:

A) An artifact in archaeological context directly reflects the dynamic behavioral system of which it was a part of, while an artifact in a systemic context is a distorted reflection of the behavioral system.
B) An artifact in an archaeological context is no longer a part of the dynamic behavioral system.
C) An artifact in an archaeological context has seldom been reused, while reuse is common in a systemic context.
D) None of the answers; archaeological contexts are systemic contexts.

Question 19

How does sediment generally enter rockshelters?

A) Rocks fall from the shelter's ceiling and dripline.
B) Colluvial sediments enter the shelter from the surrounding hillside.
C) Fine eolian dust from nearby or distant sources blows into the shelter.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 20

The footprints at Laetoli were remarkably well-preserved because:

A) they were made in an ash slurry that quickly hardened and were then buried by volcanic ash soon after they formed.
B) they were slowly buried by volcanic ash after sitting in the open air for a long period of time.
C) they are very young; their preservation is thus solely a function of their age.
D) they were never buried; the Laetolil Beds that preserve the footprints are the youngest of a series of stratigraphic units.

Question 21

An artifact discarded or lost by an earlier population and picked up and reused by a later population is an example of:

A) a reuse process.
B) a reclamation process.
C) a cultural disturbance process.
D) argilliturbation.

Question 22

The example of pithouse construction

A) upholds the law of superposition.
B) indicates that the law of superposition does not apply.
C) indicates archaeological sites can be frozen in time.
D) is not valuable to a discussion of geomorphology.

Question 23

Sediments deposited primarily through the action of gravity on geological material lying on hillsides are called

A) eolian sediments.
B) marker beds.
C) colluvial sediments.
D) soil.

Question 24

Soils are developmental sequences, distinctive layers that develop in place. B horizon refers to

A) the topsoil layer where organic material and rock undergo chemical and mechanical decomposition.
B) the layer where clays accumulate as rainfall and snowmelt transport them downward.
C) a mineral horizon consisting of parent material.
D) the cultural layer between the topsoil and mineral horizon.

Question 25

What information do ice cores taken from several places in the world indicate?

A) The last 10,000 years have been the warmest time on the earth out of the last 100,000.
B) The climate over the last 10,000 years has been surprisingly stable.
C) Both the last 10,000 years have been the warmest time on the earth out of the last 100,000 and the climate over the last 10,000 years has been surprisingly stable.
D) Global temperatures have decreased significantly in the last 100 years.

Question 26

Which of the following formation processes could result in reverse stratigraphy?

A) Faunalturbation
B) Floralturbation
C) Cryoturbation
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 27

Imbrication is a process that results in:

A) an extremely well-preserved archaeological record that directly reflects human behavior.
B) clay-rich soils pushing artifacts upward as the sediment swells and then moves them down as cracks form during dry cycles.
C) stones in a riverbed lying with their upstream ends slightly higher than their downstream ends.
D) stones in a riverbed lying with their upstream ends slightly lower than their downstream ends.

Question 28

An example of a formation process in the archaeological context is:

A) reclamation of an artifact.
B) disturbance of material within a site by earthworm activity.
C) reuse of an artifact.
D) construction of a pithouse.

Question 29

How could an archaeologist tell if flowing water rather than human behavior was responsible for the deposition of artifacts at an archaeological site?

A) Artifacts and unmodified rocks might be imbricated.
B) Artifacts and unmodified rocks might be oriented to the direction of flow.
C) Both artifacts and unmodified rocks might be imbricated and artifacts and unmodified rocks might be oriented to the direction of flow.
D) There is no way to tell, and therefore the artifact assemblage is likely to be misinterpreted.

Question 30

Cryoturbation results in:

A) larger artifacts being pushed to the surface of a site.
B) vertically size-sorted artifacts.
C) the long axis of buried artifacts being oriented vertically.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 31

In most sites, stratigraphy results from a complex interplay between

A) animals and people.
B) people and water.
C) nature and societies.
D) climate and societies.

Question 32

An example of a formation process is:

A) artifact discard, loss, or purposeful burial.
B) artifact reuse or recycling.
C) natural disturbance processes, such as floral- and faunalturbation.
D) All of the answers are correct.

Question 33

Which of the following is the term for a natural formation process in which freeze/thaw activity in a soil selectively pushes larger artifacts to the surface of site?

A) Cryoturbation
B) Argilliturbation
C) Graviturbation
D) Imbrication

Question 34

Artifacts leave the systemic context and enter the archaeological context through

A) loss.
B) discard.
C) animals.
D) loss and discard.

Question 35

Eolian sediments refer to materials transported

A) and accumulated by water.
B) and accumulated by geological movements of the earth.
C) by wind.
D) by humans.

Question 36

Formation processes are:

A) processes by which cultural evolution is recognized in the archaeological record.
B) the ways in which natural depositional processes operate to produce the archaeological record.
C) the ways in which both human behaviors and natural actions operate to produce the archaeological record.
D) processes by which artifacts are transferred from systemic to archaeological contexts.

Question 37

In Gatecliff's master stratigraphy there are 16 living surfaces resulting from

A) human activities.
B) natural flood deposition.
C) geological origin.
D) alluvial sediments.

Question 38

The benefit of marker beds is that

A) they can provide clues to the age of sites with new sediments.
B) they can provide clues to the age of sediments in a new site.
C) they can be used to estimate the date of human materials.
D) they are easily transported back to the laboratory for analysis.

Question 39

The law of superposition gives us the information that the "story" of the past

A) begins at the surface, with succeeding "chapters" lying below.
B) begins at the bottom, with succeeding "chapters" lying above.
C) cannot be read merely from the strata of the earth.
D) is interpreted only through the patient work of the archaeologist.

Question 40

Ice core records tell us all of the following except:

A) that the last 10,000 years have been cooler than the past 100,000 years.
B) that the last 100,000 years have warm.
C) that the last 10,000 years have been the warmest time of the past 100,000 years.
D) that the last 10,000 years have not been stable.

Question 41

Geoarchaeology is the geological study of landforms and landscapes, for instance, soils, rivers, hills, sand dunes, deltas, glacial deposits, and marshes.

Question 42

Natural disturbance processes are the only processes that affect the formation of archaeological sites.

Question 43

Graviturbation is an example of a formation process in the systemic context.

Question 44

Formation processes only occur in the archaeological context, not in the systemic context.

Question 45

Mary and Louis Leaky were famous historic archaeologists who worked in East Africa.

Question 46

Ice core samples indicate that the global temperature has decreased significantly in the last 100 years.

Question 47

A krotovina is evidence of floralturbation.

Question 48

Archaeological sites result from both human behavior and natural processes.

Question 49

The archaeological record is almost always a direct reflection of the human behavior that produced it.

Question 50

An artifact in systemic context is part of an ongoing, dynamic behavioral system.

Question 51

The "Law of Superposition" is also known as "Steno's Law."

Question 52

Hominins are members of the evolutionary line that contains humans and our early bipedal ancestors.

Question 53

By the time an artifact reaches an archaeologist's hand, it has usually long since ceased to participate in the systemic context.