Deck 1: Nature, Humanity, and History

Question 1

The several extinct species of humanlike primates that existed from about 4.5 million years ago to 1.4 million years ago were

A) australopithecines.
B) Homo sapiens.
C) Homo erectus
D) Peking man.
E) Homo habilis.

Answer 1

australopithecines.

Question 2

Which of the hominids first developed speech, probably about 50,000 years ago?

A) Homo neanderthalus
B) Homo habilis
C) australopithicines
D) Homo sapiens
E) Homo erectus

Answer 2

Homo sapiens

Question 3

Homo sapiens, the current human species. It evolved in Africa sometime

A) during the Pleistocene Period.
B) between 400,000 and 100,000 years ago.
C) during the Paleolithic Period.
D) with the earliest hominids.
E) during the Great Ice Age.

Answer 3

between 400,000 and 100,000 years ago.

Question 4

Charles Darwin argued that over long periods of time species changed mainly as the result of natural selection and genetic mutation. Darwin called this process

A) evolution.
B) biological determinism.
C) human osteology.
D) logical progression.
E) creationism.

Question 5

Which of the following people believed that the first humans descended from the sky?

A) Yoruba
B) Hopi
C) Maori
D) Deccan
E) Hebrews

Question 6

The ability to walk upright on two legs, characteristic of hominids, is called

A) upright pedalism.
B) dipedalism.
C) biapendigism.
D) bipedalism.
E) twin pedalism.

Question 7

Current archaeological theory supports Louis and Mary Leakey's discovery that the cradle of humanity is located on which continent?

A) Australia.
B) Europe.
C) Asia.
D) Africa.
E) America.

Question 8

Travel between continents in early human diasporas - such as between Siberia and Alaska - was accomplished by

A) horses and pack animals.
B) walking at low tide across sand bars.
C) walking across land bridges.
D) swimming.
E) canoes.

Question 9

Which three traits distinguish humans from apes and other primates?

A) foraging, tool-making, bipedalism
B) opposing thumbs, bipedalism, pastoralism
C) larger brain, opposing thumbs, larynx higher in the neck
D) bipedalism, larger brain, larynx lower in the neck
E) pastoralism, bipedalism, larger brain

Question 10

Which of these the early hominids most closely resembled Homo sapiens?

A) australopithicines.
B) Homo erectus.
C) Homo Neanderthal.
D) Homo habilis.
E) Homo genous.

Question 11

The geological era that occurred between about 2 million and 11,000 years ago was the

A) Polar Vortex Age.
B) Lesser Ice Age.
C) Great Ice Age.
D) Great Thawing Age.
E) Polar Incline.

Question 12

Modern research has found what percentage of human DNA to be identical to that of apes?

A) 10 percent
B) 25 percent
C) 50 percent
D) 99 percent
E) Humans and apes share physical similarities but no common DNA.

Question 13

The biological family that includes humans and humanlike primates is

A) humanid.
B) hominid.
C) Homo habilis.
D) Homo erectus.
E) Homo sapiens.

Question 14

The Neolithic era is associated with which of the following?

A) making tools out of materials including metal.
B) making large rock formations like Stonehenge for religious purposes.
C) an architectural hallmark when people lived in buildings instead of caves.
D) the rise of agriculture.
E) the start of a bilateral trade system.

Question 15

What is not an aspect of culture?

A) shared religious beliefs.
B) learned patterns of expression and action
C) material objects such as dwellings, clothing and tools.
D) shared biological characteristics.
E) similar values.

Question 16

Austrolepithecine "Lucy" was found where?

A) Australia
B) Ethiopia
C) Peking
D) Java
E) Easter Island

Question 17

It is believed that many species of large mammals may have disappeared between 40,000 and 13,000 years ago because of climate change and

A) other natural disasters.
B) human predation.
C) delayed or insufficient genetic adaptation.
D) death from new diseases spread by human migration.
E) predation from nonhuman predators.

Question 18

Most early human activity centered on

A) gathering food.
B) acquiring wealth.
C) construction projects.
D) entertainment.
E) warfare with encroaching clans.

Question 19

Homo habilis got their meat primarily by

A) scavenging from kills made by animals.
B) herding animals off cliffs or into swamps.
C) hunting with bows and arrows.
D) hunting with spears and other thrown weapons.
E) setting traps.

Question 20

The first regular producers of tools were

A) australopithicenes.
B) Homo habilis.
C) Homo erectus.
D) Homo sapiens.
E) Neolithic Man.

Question 21

Cave art is generally understood to represent

A) religious or mythological stories.
B) population counts.
C) an inventory of hunting and gathering.
D) early graffiti.
E) a wide range of possible explanations.

Question 22

Which of the following is not considered a purpose for building Megaliths?

A) altars for human sacrifice.
B) burial chambers
C) astronomic calendars
D) gathering place for tribal elders
E) marking the rising sun for the summer solstice

Question 23

Matrilineal societies were

A) ruled by women.
B) defined by maternal heritage.
C) ruled by men.
D) defined by paternal heritage.
E) defined by a nuclear family.

Question 24

Women played a major role in the transition to crop cultivation because

A) they were unsuited for heavier work.
B) they were the primary gatherers of wild plant foods.
C) only women lived very long in farming settlements.
D) since women did the cooking, it was natural for them to grow the plants.
E) it's easy to do agriculture and raise children at the same time.

Question 25

Scholars feel that earliest domesticated animals were

A) goats.
B) sheep.
C) cats.
D) cattle.
E) dogs.

Question 26

The American continents contained very few domesticated animals because

A) agriculture made domesticated animals unnecessary.
B) the environment made raising animals difficult.
C) natives preferred hunting instead.
D) there were few species suitable for domestication.
E) while there were many appropriate wild species, they were difficult to domesticate.

Question 27

The earliest transition to agriculture was characterized by

A) the advent of specialized tools.
B) an increase in tribal warfare between foraging clans.
C) a decrease in desertification in the Sahara in Africa .
D) increased seed hybridization in the Americas.
E) increased trade routes in the Mediterranean.

Question 28

Pastoralists

A) were happier because their lives were less stressful.
B) were mobile populations without many material goods.
C) used herds for transportation.
D) were entirely carnivorous.
E) viewed animals as sacred totems.

Question 29

The religions of farming communities tended to focus on

A) a sky-god or male deity.
B) an earth mother or female deity.
C) a variety of important gods.
D) nature spirits.
E) moon worship.

Question 30

The Indo-European languages include all of the following except

A) Romance languages (based on Latin).
B) Germanic languages.
C) Celtic languages.
D) Slavic languages.
E) Sino-Tibetan languages.

Question 31

Since the foraging lifestyle was not particularly unpleasant or hard, foragers had a great deal of time left for

A) finding new hunting grounds.
B) religion.
C) socializing, making tools, and creating art.
D) preparing for war.
E) dancing.

Question 32

The change from food gathering to food production that occurred between about 8000 and 2000 B.C.E. was called:

A) the Sedentary Revolution
B) the Industrial Revolutions
C) the Agricultural Revolutions
D) the Neolithic Revolution.
E) both c and

Question 33

Structures and complexes of very large stones constructed for ceremonial and religious purposes in Neolithic times were called

A) lithograms.
B) monoliths.
C) megaliths.
D) pegaliths.
E) permastructures.

Question 34

The earliest representation of cave art was discovered in:

A) from Blombos Cave east of Cape Town, South Africa.
B) the Great Rift Valley of eastern Africa.
C) the Chauvet Cave, in southeastern France
D) Altamira in Spain
E) the Ardèche River Gorge in the Netherlands

Question 35

The greatest change caused by the gradual adoption of agriculture was

A) a major die-off of wild species.
B) major migrations to the temperate zones.
C) a global population increase.
D) a global population decrease.
E) an increase in insect infestation due to monocropping.

Question 36

A society where the rule of women prevails is called a

A) matriarchy.
B) patriarchy.
C) maternalism.
D) paternalsim.
E) matrilineality.

Question 37

Farming was probably a more difficult way of life than foraging because

A) you had to stay in one location year-round.
B) the diet was less diverse.
C) farmer first worked to clear and cultivate land before a crop was available
D) changes in weather were unpredictable.
E) none of these.

Question 38

Recent discoveries of large stones and burial chambers may indicate

A) an interest in astronomy.
B) an interest in measuring time.
C) increased warfare.
D) ceremonial and religious purposes.
E) a change in religious focus.

Question 39

Most early agricultural communities had a staple crop based on

A) grain or rice.
B) sheep and goats.
C) pumpkins, squash, or gourds.
D) oranges and mushrooms.
E) berries and nuts.

Question 40

A significant difference between Jericho and Çatal Hüyük was

A) Jericho had no walls around the city
B) Çatal Hüyük had no doors on its buildings.
C) Jericho was made of mud while Çatal Hüyük was made of bricks
D) Çatal Hüyük was much smaller.
E) There is no evidence of trade in Çatal Hüyük.

Question 41

Identify the following term(s).
bipedalism

Question 42

Identify the following term(s).
Cave Art

Question 43

Describe the different ways that people have sought to understand their origins, from the origin or creation myths to the work of natural scientists such as Charles Darwin, the Leakeys, DuBois, Dart, and Pei.

Question 44

Identify the following term(s).
Great Rift Valley

Question 45

Identify the following term(s).
Homo sapiens

Question 46

Identify the following term(s).
Homo erectus

Question 47

Identify the following term(s).
evolution

Question 48

Identify the following term(s).
culture

Question 49

Identify the following term(s).
matrilineal

Question 50

Explain the process by which humans migrated from Africa to eventually populate the earth.

Question 51

Identify the following term(s).
Great Ice Age

Question 52

Identify the following term(s).
Paleolithic

Question 53

How can the cave paintings, stone carvings, and creation myths of ancient civilizations allow us to understand their values?

Question 54

Identify the following term(s).
Agricultural Revolution

Question 55

Identify the following term(s).
hominid

Question 56

Metalworking of gold and silver in the late Neolithic period was used for

A) making metal-tipped weapons.
B) decoration or in ceremonies.
C) agricultural purposes.
D) making cooking implements.
E) royal jewelry only.

Question 57

Explain the difference between Stone Age (Paleolithic) and New Stone Age (Neolithic) life. How did the "new technology" affect human development?

Question 58

Identify the following term(s).
Neolithic

Question 59

Identify the following term(s).
Homo habilis

Question 60

Identify the following term(s).
Louis and Mary Leakey

Question 61

Using Map (in the textbook) 1.2, relate the areas of farming (cereals and roots) to warmth of climate; contrast such farming with foraging in the more extreme geoclimatic zones.

Question 62

According to Map (in the textbook) 1.1, at their peak, glaciers covered a third of the earth's surface and contained so much frozen water that ocean levels were lowered by over 450 feet (140 meters). Where were land bridges exposed during this period?

Question 63

What is the most plausible explanation for the advent of the Agricultural Revolution?

Question 64

Why did Neolithic peoples form permanent settled communities? What were the advantages and disadvantages of those communities?

Question 65

Describe the development of gender roles and social life in the earliest records of human society.

Question 66

Describe the conditions leading to the transition from food gathering to food cultivation. Also, briefly describe the differences and similarities in agriculture around the world.

Question 67

What three unique traits do humans possess that apes do not?

Question 68

On Map (in the textbook) 1.2, find the broad areas where Homo sapiens sapiens relied on (a) hunting and (b) pastoralism for their food supply. In addition, indicate the species of animals that were being domesticated.

Question 69

According to Map (in the textbook) 1.1, which shows the probable migration routes of humans, why are certain areas devoid of population settlements?

Question 70

The discovery of the remains of creatures that were both humanlike and apelike was initially upsetting because: