Deck 4: Afroeurasias Moving Frontiers: Farmers, Herders, and Charioteers, 3000-1000 B.C.E.

Question 1

The rapid growth in the world's population from 8000 B.C.E to 1000 B.C.E can best be explained by which of the following?

A) advances in agricultural production, such as animal plowing
B) the isolation of settlements in and around Afroeurasia
C) the increased use of copper
D) All these answers are correct.

Answer 1

advances in agricultural production, such as animal plowing

Question 2

In addition to weaponry and warfare, the production of bronze

A) gave rise to a diverse set of occupations and more versatile economies.
B) contributed heavily to the domestication of horses and the development of horseback riding.
C) allowed women to obtain positions of power in society.
D) caused city dwellers to take up agricultural pursuits.

Answer 2

gave rise to a diverse set of occupations and more versatile economies.

Question 3

What about bronze made it a superior metal?

A) It was far cheaper to produce than other metals.
B) Bronze was easier to cast, more durable, and capable of holding an edge.
C) Bronze was found in abundance in nature.
D) It took little skill to work with bronze.

Answer 3

Bronze was easier to cast, more durable, and capable of holding an edge.

Question 4

The presence of weapons and precious metals and gems in ancient tombs tells us what about these societies?

A) Weapons and precious goods were in abundance.
B) Certain individuals held higher status and could afford to be buried with their prized possessions.
C) Individuals hoped to safeguard these items for future generations.
D) The demand for such items was low and could therefore be easily discarded.

Question 5

The worship of the bull god in Cretan society indicates that

A) there was one dominant religion throughout Afroeurasia.
B) Cretan society prized masculinity and was largely patriarchal.
C) Cretans were monotheistic.
D) Cretans had contact with Egypt and adopted elements of Egyptian religious belief.

Question 6

How did the rise of powerful aristocracies in the eastern Mediterranean during the third millennium B.C.E contribute to the growth of trade in the region?

A) Aristocrats paid for exploratory expeditions to far-flung lands.
B) Aristocrats used traders as emissaries.
C) Aristocrats sought luxury goods to show off their wealth and status.
D) Aristocrats used trading vessels to move military convoys

Question 7

The existence of megaliths along Europe's Atlantic coast from Britain to Spain tells us what about early European societies?

A) There was an exchange of both goods and ideas among early European peoples.
B) A single empire controlled this region during the third and second millennia B.C.E.
C) Early European peoples had little contact with other lands.
D) Early European peoples shared a single religion.

Question 8

Which modern-day countries occupy the territory that formed the Oxus civilization?

A) Greece, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq
B) France, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands
C) China, Myanmar, India, and Nepal
D) Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan

Question 9

Oracle bones were used by which of the following civilizations?

A) Oxus
B) Shang
C) Cretan
D) Minoan

Question 10

One important part of Shang religious belief was

A) the existence of a single all-powerful deity.
B) that Shang rulers were divine representatives.
C) ancestor worship.
D) the idea that only the wealthy could access the divine spirit.

Question 11

Which of the following best describes pastoral nomadism?

A) a type of social organization in which kinship groups move from region to region with their herds
B) an artistic movement depicting nomadic peoples
C) the aggregation of large population centers in urban settings
D) a society characterized by rigid social structures and a powerful central authority

Question 12

The domestication of horses, beginning in the Pontic-Caspian steppe, resulted in which of the following?

A) an increase in the mobility of populations who mastered horseback riding
B) the ability to herd larger quantities of animals
C) the development of the chariot
D) All these answers are correct.

Question 13

Which of the following distinguished pastoral nomadic societies from permanent settlements?

A) Pastoral nomads adhered to a strict social hierarchy.
B) Pastoral nomads remained largely isolated and had little contact with other lands and peoples.
C) Pastoral nomadic societies were relatively egalitarian compared to more settled populations.
D) Pastoral nomads constructed large urban centers.

Question 14

The Indo-European family of languages originated in which region?

A) the Pontic-Caspian steppe
B) Southeast Asia
C) the Americas
D) ancient Egypt

Question 15

The Hittite empire was centered in what is now

A) Israel.
B) Spain.
C) Turkey.
D) Syria.

Question 16

Hittite rulers were

A) largely women.
B) representatives of the divine storm god.
C) chiefs of nomadic tribes.
D) wealthy traders who formed the elite of a merchant ruling class.

Question 17

Hammurabi united which territory during his reign?

A) Mesopotamia
B) the Indus valley
C) the Pontic-Caspian steppe
D) the Oxus valley

Question 18

Which of the following best describes Hammurabi's Code?

A) a religious text
B) a military handbook
C) a collection of legal precedents
D) taxation guidelines

Question 19

The terms Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom refer to which state?

A) Greece
B) China
C) Babylonia
D) Egypt

Question 20

Egyptian pharaohs maintained power through which of the following?

A) advances in chariot technology
B) an efficient and extensive bureaucracy
C) extensive trade networks
D) All these answers are correct.

Question 21

Which of the following groups threatened Egyptian rulers during the second millennium B.C.E.?

A) the Hyksos and the Nubians
B) the Cretans and the Minoans
C) the Hittites
D) the Amorites

Question 22

Which of the following is an example of how the kingdoms of Southwest Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean avoided warfare?

A) Rulers adopted a common religion, which promoted peace.
B) Marriages between different royal families promoted alliances.
C) Rulers focused more heavily on advances in agriculture than on advances in military technology.
D) Rulers feared that warfare would disrupt trade.

Question 23

The presence of large quantities of gold, silver, and bronze unearthed in Mycenaean tombs tells us what about this early Greek civilization?

A) Mycenaeans placed little value on precious metals.
B) Mycenaeans offered gifts of gold and silver to please the gods.
C) A class of Mycenaean aristocrats amassed great wealth.
D) Mycenaeans were largely self-sufficient and interacted little with other peoples.

Question 24

Which of the following describes the Vedas?

A) a group of Greek gods known for their military prowess
B) ancient Egypt's aristocratic class
C) the Hittite military elite
D) hymns and prayers orally passed on by Indic priests

Question 25

The social hierarchy described in the Rig Veda is believed to be the precursor to which of the following?

A) the caste system
B) apartheid
C) the enslavement of those captured by military conquest
D) the belief that rulers are divine representatives

Question 26

How did the rise of chariot warfare affect women in the second millennium B.C.E.?

A) Women gained authority as notable warriors.
B) Women obtained great economic gains, as they were the primary manufacturers of chariots.
C) Chariot warfare led to a rise in patriarchy and a decline in matriarchy.
D) Chariot warfare had little effect on women

Question 27

Chariots gained widespread use from the Mediterranean to East Asia. What does this tell us about the second millennium B.C.E.?

A) Different peoples developed chariots independently of one another.
B) A well-developed network of communication existed across Afroeurasia.
C) Chariots were inexpensive and easily obtainable.
D) A single ruler attempted to conquer the lands from Southwest Asia to ancient China.

Question 28

As a result of climatic change in the central Sahara during the second millennium B.C.E.,

A) large populations migrated there to take advantage of the fertile soil.
B) the native populations were wiped out by a series of ecological disasters.
C) new farming techniques were developed to accommodate the increase in rainfall.
D) populations left the increasingly arid region for more hospitable territory.

Question 29

From the increasingly arid Sahara, peoples migrated to

A) Mycenae.
B) the Sudan and the Nile valley.
C) the Levant.
D) the Pontic-Caspian steppe.

Question 30

Trypanosomiasis, transmitted by the tsetse fly, resulted in which of the following?

A) the migration of herding peoples into eastern Africa
B) innovations in treatment of the disease
C) mass slaughter of cattle by herding peoples to prevent spread of the disease
D) a movement of peoples to the Sahara, where the tsetse fly could not survive

Question 31

The Khoisan family of languages largely disappeared as a result of which of the following?

A) Its speakers all perished after a volcanic eruption in the second millennium B.C.E.
B) Its speakers were all conquered by Indo-European peoples.
C) It gradually died out as its speakers migrated from the Great Lakes region of East Africa to the Sudan.
D) It was replaced by the Nilo-Saharan and Afroasiatic languages of peoples fleeing the central Sahara.

Question 32

Which of the following best describes shifting agriculture?

A) the movement of agricultural populations to highly populated urban centers
B) a synonym for pastoral nomadism
C) the movement of farming communities to allow for the recovery of delicate soil
D) a technique in which horses are used to find fertile soil

Question 33

Shifting agriculture contributed to which of the following migratory movements?

A) the Bantu into southern Africa
B) the peoples of the Pontic-Caspian steppe into southeastern Europe
C) the Shang Chinese into Southeast Asia
D) the Babylonians into the Levantine coast

Question 34

What does archaeological evidence coupled with linguistic analysis tell us about Bantu-speaking peoples in the third and second millennia

A) The Bantu remained largely stationary in western Africa.
B) Bantu-speaking populations were conquered by migrating herders from the central Sahara.
C) A great migration of Bantu-speaking peoples took place during this time period throughout southern and eastern Africa.
D) Bantu speakers were largely foraging populations with under-developed agricultural practices.

Question 35

What do we know about the religious beliefs of Bantu-speaking peoples?

A) They were monotheistic.
B) They venerated a pantheon of female gods.
C) They believed in a supreme god as well as a host of lesser deities and ancestral spirits.
D) They worshiped a warrior god and regularly offered ritual sacrifices in return for protection in battle.

Question 36

The Formosa Strait separates which two land masses?

A) mainland China and Taiwan
B) India and Pakistan
C) Thailand and Vietnam
D) Greece and Turkey

Question 37

The invention of the outrigger canoe enabled which of the following?

A) the rapid growth of naval powers during the Bronze Age
B) the ability of Mediterranean fisherman to fish in deeper waters
C) the dispersion of peoples throughout Southeast Asia
D) the transport of large goods from China to the Mediterranean

Question 38

Volcanic activity throughout Southeast Asia resulted in which of the following?

A) the lack of organized colonies within the "ring of fire"
B) the presence of rich and fertile soil
C) the sustained use of foraging as a means of subsistence
D) All these answers are correct.

Question 39

During the third and second millennia B.C.E., Austronesian farming communities replaced native foraging populations throughout Southeast Asia because

A) native foraging populations voluntarily left to seek out new dwellings.
B) volcanic eruptions wiped out all of the region's native populations.
C) Austronesian farming practices were far more effective in sustaining larger populations than was foraging.
D) Austronesian farmers killed all of the region's native populations as they settled from island to island.

Question 40

The shipwreck of Uluburun tells us what about the second millennium B.C.E.?

A) The dominant civilizations of the time had little contact with one another.
B) An extensive network of trade and exchange of ideas existed throughout Afroeurasia.
C) Ships were relatively primitive structures capable of only short journeys.
D) Ships were the primary means of military conquest.

Question 41

Which of the following best describes the difference between extensive and intensive growth?

A) Extensive growth is marked by large population centers such as cities, while intensive growth is marked by the proliferation of small farm and herding communities.
B) Extensive growth is the result of surplus farm goods capable of supporting larger populations, while intensive growth results from advances in wagon technology.
C) Intensive growth is defined by the movement of peoples from urban dwellings to rural ones, while extensive growth is defined by the movement of rural populations to urban locales.
D) Intensive growth is characterized by the concentration of populations in cities due to advances in agricultural production, while extensive growth is characterized by the expansion of herding and farming populations.

Question 42

The wide-scale introduction of bronze in the third and second millennia B.C.E. led to which of the following?

A) a temporary decrease in the world's population
B) a move from large population centers to smaller agricultural communities
C) a rise in highly developed social and political organization
D) a decrease in the world's food supply

Question 43

The invention of the traction plow in the third millennium B.C.E. was significant because it

A) enabled farmers to plough larger sections of land in a shorter amount of time.
B) enabled the children of farmers to pursue other trades, as fewer hands were needed on the farm.
C) led to a temporary decline in the world's population, due to its inefficiency.
D) encouraged city dwellers to take up farming as a reliable source of income.

Question 44

Which of the following were the major trade goods of the Mediterranean during the third and second millennia B.C.E.?

A) horses and sheep
B) rice and medicinal herbs
C) amber and silver
D) olive oil, wine, and wheat

Question 45

Minoan art suggests what about the status of women in that society?

A) Women were revered as divine entities.
B) Minoan women were often fierce warriors.
C) Minoan women enjoyed more equality than did women in other civilizations.
D) Women held little political authority and were segregated from men socially.

Question 46

Which of the following best describes the significance of the Oxus River civilization?

A) Oxus rulers maintained their reign for more than a thousand years.
B) The Oxus civilization was responsible for the first system of writing in Afroeurasia.
C) Bronze metallurgy was invented in the Oxus River valley.
D) Oxus merchants set up a system of trade that spanned from the Indus valley to the Mediterranean.

Question 47

Archaeological sites at Erlitou and Sanxingdui reveal that

A) . the Yellow and Yangzi valleys remained largely undeveloped until the first millennium B.C.E.
B) foraging persisted as the primary form of food collection in the Yellow and Yangzi valleys well into the second millennium B.C.E.
C) several complex and highly developed civilizations existed in China before the Shang dynasty.
D) Chinese civilization remained largely isolated from international trade networks during the Bronze Age

Question 48

Which of the following best describes the purpose of oracle bones in Shang China?

A) Oracle bones contained the records of ritual communications between Shang rulers and ancestral spirits.
B) Oracle bones provide evidence of periodic ritual human sacrifice in Shang China.
C) Oracle bones were objects of art only available to the wealthy classes.
D) Oracle bones were a form of currency in Shang China.

Question 49

Which of the following best describes a "secondary product"?

A) Secondary products are the waste materials produced by craftsmen and artisans.
B) Secondary products are goods such as milk and wool obtained from animals.
C) Secondary products are those with relatively little value.
D) Secondary products are non-exportable goods.

Question 50

The invention of the chariot led to which of the following?

A) the rise of several matriarchal societies across Afroeurasia
B) the end of pastoral nomadism, as warriors founded large settlements
C) a decline in ship building, as chariots provided an easier form of transportation between regions
D) the ability of warriors to conquer larger territories across greater distances

Question 51

Explain the ways in which the invention of bronze metallurgy and the traction plow in the third millennium B.C.E. affected society across Afroeurasia.

Question 52

Describe how the increase in trade from the Mediterranean to East Asia during the third and second millennia B.C.E. helped transform the many civilizations populating Afroeurasia. How did trade affect the social, cultural, and economic landscape?

Question 53

What is the importance of the Shang dynasty to early Chinese civilization? What are some of the major characteristics of the Shang empire that mark it as distinct, and what connects it to the larger story of Afroeurasia during the Bronze Age?

Question 54

Compare and contrast pastoral nomadism to permanent agricultural settlements. Discuss the social, political, and economic structures of each type of society. How did they differ, and why? Describe the different ways in which these two types of societies interacted with one another.

Question 55

Discuss the significance of the domestication of horses and the invention of the chariot during the third and second millennia B.C.E. What does the presence of structurally similar chariots from the Mediterranean to China tell us about the various civilizations dotting the Afroeurasian landscape?

Question 56

Discuss the system of international relations that sprang up from the Eastern Mediterranean to Mesopotamia. Which issues and concerns predominated as these states interacted with one another, and how did they resolve or attempt to prevent conflict in the region?

Question 57

Describe how the time period discussed in this chapter was a period of growing cultural and linguistic diversity as well as a period of expanding contact and exchange between peoples. Provide examples of how the many peoples of Afroeurasia grew increasingly distinct from one another and how they became connected to one another despite vast distances and challenges to communication and travel.