Deck 9: Roots of Complexity: The Origins of Civilization

Question 1

About when were the upright stones of Stonehenge erected:

A) 4,300 years ago
B) 3,500 years ago
C) 2,000 years ago
D) 1,000 years ago

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Stonehenge is used in Chapter 9 as an emblem of what kind of society:

A) state
B) chiefdom
C) kingdom
D) civilization

Answer 2

B

Question 3

Stonehenge is an example of what characteristic of complex societies:

A) warfare
B) agriculture
C) labor organization beyond the level of the family
D) an economy based on a monetary system

Answer 3

C

Question 4

The largest of the components of Stonehenge are the:

A) bluestones
B) trilithons
C) sarsens
D) lintels

Question 5

The attempt to construct a Stonehenge trilithon by the producers of the science series Nova applied what archaeological technique:

A) experimental archaeology
B) neutron activation analysis
C) optical luminescence
D) dendrochronology

Question 6

Strontium isotope analysis of the bones of the individual called "the Amesbury Archer" shows that he:

A) was born in the same region where he was buried
B) died of a nutritional deficiency
C) though buried at Stonehenge, most likely was born in an area that today is Germany or Switzerland
D) suffered from cancer

Question 7

Strontium isotope analysis of the teeth of cows found in the site of an ancient community just 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) from Stonehenge indicate that these animals were born and raised:

A) near Stonehenge
B) in Scotland and Wales
C) in the Alps
D) all of the above

Question 8

Durrington Walls appears to have been the place where the builders:

A) buried their dead
B) quarried the stone they used in construction of the monument
C) conducted astronomical observations
D) lived, at least during pilgrimages to the monument

Question 9

Most hunting and gathering societies organize their social, political, and economic lives at what level:

A) the state
B) the region
C) the fraternal organization
D) the family

Question 10

In all likelihood, complex societies developed at first in order for people to:

A) build great monuments like Stonehenge and Carnac
B) organize the labor of large groups of people in response to practical challenges
C) respond the threat posed by militarily powerful complex societies in their region
D) all of the above

Question 11

Complex societies developed in response to practical challenges like:

A) the need to increase agricultural output
B) an external threat like a powerful and aggressive neighboring group
C) water control
D) all of the above

Question 12

Rank societies are ones in which:

A) there are a series of socio-political strata
B) there are a few sociopolitical ranks filled by a relatively small number of people
C) all people have equal access to wealth
D) all people pass through a series of ranks as they age

Question 13

In rank societies, leaders attain their rank through:

A) heredity
B) a primitive electoral process
C) force
D) their competence at performing necessary tasks

Question 14

The culture that produced Stonehenge and Carnac was most likely at what level of sociopolitical complexity:

A) chiefdom
B) primitive
C) state
D) nation

Question 15

At the heart of the development of complex societies is a group's ability to:

A) trade over great distances
B) organize labor to build great monuments
C) keep accurate records as a result of the invention of writing
D) produce a food surplus

Question 16

In the view of anthropologist Elman Service, it is the "institutionalization of power" that produces:

A) chiefdoms from rank societies
B) civilizations from chiefdoms
C) nation states from city states
D) all of the above

Question 17

The fact that an agricultural subsistence base is not always a prerequisite for the development of a society complex enough to produce monumentally scaled sites is shown at:

A) Cahokia
B) Mohenjo-daro
C) Stonehenge
D) Göbekli Tepe

Question 18

Large-scale monumental construction has been dated to as many as 11,600 years ago at:

A) Cahokia
B) Göbekli Tepe
C) Giza
D) Mohenjo Daro

Question 19

The subsistence at Göbekli Tepe was based on:

A) horticulture
B) animal husbandry
C) fishing
D) hunting and gathering

Question 20

Large-scale, communal construction projects dating back as many as 9,000 years can be seen in:

A) the pyramid at Saqqara, in Egypt
B) the temple at An Yang, in China
C) the wall at Jericho, in Israel
D) the monument of Stonehenge, in England

Question 21

The oldest earthen mounds in North America have been found at which site:

A) Cahokia
B) Hopewell
C) Poverty Point
D) Watson Brake

Question 22

The monumentally scaled mounds at Watson Brake are about how many years old:

A) 5,000
B) 3,000
C) 2,000
D) 1,000

Question 23

A complex, mound consisting of six segmented, concentric rings of earth was constructed at:

A) Poverty Point
B) Watson Brake
C) Cahokia
D) Moundville

Question 24

Poverty Point is about how many years old:

A) 1,200
B) 2,200
C) 3,200
D) 5,000

Question 25

Çatalhöyük was:

A) the world's first true city
B) the place where einkorn wheat was first domesticated
C) one of the oldest and largest complex settlements in the Neolithic
D) a town mentioned in the Bible whose existence has recently been verified through archaeology

Question 26

Çatalhöyük is about how old:

A) 15,000 years
B) 9,000 years
C) 7,000 years
D) 5,000 years

Question 27

Çatalhöyük consists of about how many interconnected rooms:

A) 100
B) 500
C) 1,000
D) 5,000

Question 28

Estimates gauge Çatalhöyük's peak population at about:

A) 1,000
B) 3,000
C) 6,000
D) 8,000

Question 29

Subsistence at Çatalhöyük was based on:

A) domesticated wheat and barley
B) sheep and cattle
C) wild crops including hackberries, acorns, and pistachios
D) all of the above

Question 30

The burials excavated at Çatalhöyük:

A) reflect a level of social and economic inequality typical of a complex society
B) are suggestive of a matriarchal society with elaborate tombs only for women
C) do not reflect great differences in wealth or status among adults
D) are suggestive of a patriarchal society with elaborate tombs only for men

Question 31

The human burials at Çatalhöyük are commonly found:

A) in mausoleum-like structures called mastabas
B) in cremation jars located adjacent to the village
C) under the rooms of each family's residence
D) in the community trash dump

Question 32

One category of people at Çatalhöyük was buried with elaborate grave goods. That category was:

A) babies
B) adult women
C) elderly men
D) young men who apparently died in battle

Question 33

The size and complexity of the site of Çatalhöyük probably resulted from its:

A) rich agricultural soil allowing for the production of an enormous food surplus
B) its location adjacent to a major source of obsidian
C) contact with the civilization of ancient Egypt
D) all of the above

Question 34

Two- and three-dimensional representations of what animal are found throughout Çatalhöyük:

A) elephants
B) lions
C) dolphins
D) bulls

Question 35

The Hassunan, Samarran, and Halafian were:

A) the earliest Neolithic societies in southeast Asia
B) agricultural societies in Mesopotamia that preceded the development there of the state
C) three early Mesopotamia city-states
D) three Egyptian cultures that joined together to produce the nation of ancient Egypt

Question 36

Communal labor at Samarran sites is represented in the construction of:

A) elaborate graves
B) canals
C) enormous walls around their settlements
D) all of the above

Question 37

The T-shaped buildings found at Samarran sites were used:

A) for the communal storage of grain
B) as the palaces of the developing elite
C) as forts when the villages were attacked by aggressive neighbors
D) all of the above

Question 38

The tholoi of Halafian sites were used for:

A) for the communal storage of grain
B) as the palaces of the developing elite
C) as forts when the villages were attacked by aggressive neighbors
D) all of the above

Question 39

The term Olmec refers to:

A) an ancient culture of lowland Mesoamerica characterized by ceremonial centers with large earthworks, finely carved jade sculptures, and massive basalt carvings of human heads
B) a prehistoric Mesoamerican complex state characterized by large urban centers, great armies, and sumptuous pyramid burials
C) a unifying artistic pattern in South America that provided the "social glue" that allowed for the evolution of the Inca civilization
D) the complex civilization of ancient Cambodia

Question 40

The Olmec appear to have been:

A) a unified kingdom
B) a city-state-based civilization
C) a loose affiliation of chiefdoms sharing an art style
D) inspired by the Aztecs

Question 41

The major Olmec ceremonial centers were:

A) Samarra, Halaf, and Hassuna
B) Ur, Uruk, Warka
C) Tikal, Tenochtitlan, and Palenque
D) San Lorenzo, Tres Zapotes, and La Venta

Question 42

San Lorenzo is located, as archaeologist Richard Diehl phrases it, on:

A) "one of the best pieces of real estate in the Olmec world"
B) "land where only the strong could survive"
C) "the only habitable land in all of Vercruz"
D) "a mountain where gold literally flows from out of the ground"

Question 43

The large, carved basalt heads that characterize the Olmec probably are:

A) depictions of actual Olmec rulers
B) depictions of prehistoric African visitors to the New World
C) Olmec gods
D) representations of the first Spanish visitors in the sixteenth century

Question 44

How many Olmec heads have been discovered:

A) 5.
B) 17
C) 55
D) hundreds

Question 45

Olmec subsistence was based on:

A) hunting, fishing, and shellfish collecting
B) agriculture, especially wheat, rye, and barley
C) animal husbandry, especially of llamas and alpacas
D) agriculture, especially maize, manioc, beans, and sunflower

Question 46

The Olmec raised domesticated dogs whose primary purpose appears to have been as:

A) hunting companions
B) the sport of dog fighting
C) scavengers of trash
D) food for the Olmec

Question 47

The Olmec iconography includes:

A) a written, hieroglyphic language
B) images of feathered serpents, flying snakes, and bipedal crocodiles
C) depictions of a half-human, half-jaguar god
D) bearded gods, implying contact with Europeans before the voyages of Christopher Columbus

Question 48

Olmec sites like San Lorenzo and La Venta are aptly characterized as:

A) flourishing cities
B) mining towns
C) regal-ritual centers
D) agricultural villages

Question 49

Population estimates for Olmec ceremonial centers are generally:

A) fewer than 2,000
B) more than 5,000
C) between 10,000 and 20,000
D) more than 250,000

Question 50

Places like La Venta, San Lorenzo, and Laguna de los Cerros likely became important centers because:

A) rich farm land produced surplus wealth concentrated in the hands of a few
B) of their location near the extremely valuable basalt sources in the Tuxtla Mountains
C) of their proximity to the large urban centers of the southern Maya
D) all of the above

Question 51

Regal-ritual centers like La Venta and San Lorenzo were effectively:

A) city-states
B) population centers that served as the hub of religious, social, economic, and political activities of geographically broad regional polities
C) ghost towns, ceremonial centers occupied only infrequently, during times of ceremony
D) outposts of Olmec culture far to the west of their homeland

Question 52

Within the geographic confines of the New World, a significant innovation of the Olmec was:

A) agriculture based on maize, beans, and squash
B) a sedentary way of life
C) densely settled, urban life
D) a system of writing

Question 53

The origins of the Olmec can be traced back about how far:

A) 8,000 years
B) 3,400 years
C) 1,800 years
D) 1,000 years

Question 54

Among the monumental works of the Olmec were the:

A) transportation and carving of enormous basalt sculpted heads
B) construction of huge earthen mounds
C) construction of elaborate water supply and drainage systems
D) all of the above

Question 55

Public architecture in the form of pyramids, platforms, and plazas can be traced back about how far in South America:

A) before 5,000 years ago
B) after 4,000 years ago
C) 3,250 years ago
D) 2,650 years ago

Question 56

The Norte Chico region of coastal Peru has been identified as:

A) the place where agriculture began in South America
B) the ancestral homeland of the Inca
C) the area where metallurgy originated in South America
D) the area where complex societies first developed in South America

Question 57

Caral is:

A) an Olmec capital
B) one of the oldest examples of a complex society in the New World
C) a Maya city-state
D) the art style of Chavin de Huantar

Question 58

The complex of pyramids, platforms, and plazas at Caral is about how old:

A) 8,000 years
B) 6,000 years
C) 4,500 years
D) 2,500 years

Question 59

How old is the earliest evidence for metallurgy in South America:

A) 10,300 years
B) 5,200 years
C) 3,100 years
D) 1,500 years

Question 60

Caral with its large monumental structures and clear evidence of social, political, and economic complexity at about 5,000 years ago is:

A) unique in South America, there being no other evidence for monumental architecture or cultural complexity at this time
B) inexplicable, likely the result of contact with Old World, trans-Pacific visitors
C) the predictable result of a people adapting to the exceptionally rich environment of the North Chico region of Peru
D) one of about 20 similarly complex societies developing at this time in the North Chico region of Peru

Question 61

What likely led to the increasing economic importance of sites like Kotosh and Chavín de Huántar:

A) their rich agricultural soil
B) their location along natural trade routes
C) their location adjacent to the significant obsidian sources of the Konya Mountains
D) all of the above

Question 62

What were the first metals produced in South America:

A) copper and bronze
B) bronze and brass
C) copper and iron
D) copper and gold

Question 63

Chavin was:

A) the first empire in prehistoric South America
B) a unifying religion and art style in prehistoric South America
C) the earliest city in South America, dating to more than 2,500 years ago
D) an art style likely inspired by the Olmec to the north

Question 64

Chavin iconography begins its spread in South America about when:

A) 1,000 years ago
B) 3,000 years ago
C) 5,000 years ago
D) 10,000 years ago

Question 65

Included in the iconography of Chavin was the often stylized depiction of:

A) felines
B) birds of prey
C) snakes
D) all of the above

Question 66

During its existence, the site of Chavín de Huántar:

A) remained an important ceremonial center with a small population mostly of priests
B) lost its importance as a ceremonial center as sites situated on the economically richer coast became increasingly important
C) grew in size until it became one of the earliest urban settlements in South America
D) became the capital of the Inca empire

Question 67

Among the technological innovations of Chavin were:

A) bronze and brass metallurgy
B) gold-silver alloys, soldering, and sweat welding
C) cold hammering of copper objects
D) the smelting of copper ore and the casting of copper objects

Question 68

Chavin iconography:

A) likely facilitated the integration of different peoples into a larger political entity
B) supports a hypothesis of contact between the Olmec and the people of South America
C) implies the existence of a supreme political ruler symbolized by the Staff God
D) represents the earliest form of writing in ancient South America

Question 69

The sculpture today known as the Lanzón is believed to be:

A) the chief god of the Olmec
B) the depiction of an ancient Chavin warrior
C) the chief god of Chavín de Huántar
D) an Inka depiction of a Spanish conquistador

Question 70

What was the purpose of using the ancient megalithic monument of Stonehenge in the Prelude of Chapter 9?

Question 71

How can we measure the geographical reach of Stonehenge? Where did the people who were buried there come from? How do we know? What does this information tell us about the geographic reach of Stonehenge?

Question 72

What is meant by the term "complex society?"

Question 73

Why and how is organizing a large labor force more difficult than organizing the labor of a small group of immediate family members? What does this have to do with the evolution of complex societies?

Question 74

What does Göbekli Tepe imply about the development of complexity? What is surprising about the site?

Question 75

What do sites like Watson Brake and Poverty Point imply about the development of complexity? What is surprising about these sites?

Question 76

Considering the fact that most people work harder and relinquish at least some control over their own lives in complex societies, why might such societies have developed at all?

Question 77

What sorts of practical concerns or challenges faced by ancient people may have led to the development of complex societies?

Question 78

Why and how would complex societies devote so much of their energies to the production of great monuments with no practical purpose?

Question 79

What was the significance of Çatalhöyük? Describe the site. What are the implications of its size, complexity, and organization? Why did it develop?

Question 80

What are the roots of complexity in Mesopotamia?