Deck 14: Food Production

Question 1

Preserved seeds, tubers, and leaves are examples of

A) cultigens
B) macrofossils
C) microfossils
D) domesticates
E) agriculture

Answer 1

A

Question 2

What characteristic of wild grasses is NOT likely to have been consciously selected for by foragers in the process of domestication?

A) larger seeds
B) less tough glumes
C) more brittle rachis
D) more grains per seed head
E) structure which shatters less readily

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Explanations for the origins of domestication that argue for the importance of status competition or ideology are known as:

A) environmental approaches
B) humanistic approaches
C) cultural approaches
D) materialist approaches
E) determinist approaches

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Ian Hodder's approach to the origins of agriculture in Europe proposes that it entailed

A) the development of agriculture in the nuclear zone as people become increasingly inclined to the idea of domestication.
B) an increasing emphasis on the human control and domination of nature, in response to a combination with both natural and social mechanisms.
C) settlement of marginal areas due expanding human populations, leading to domestication as people planted seed crops outside of their native range.
D) a fundamental shift in the worldview of people prior to the Neolithic revolution.
E) the need for people to produce a surplus to meet the demands of local kin leaders.

Question 5

Competitive feasting, tribute payments, or offerings to the deities that promoted the development of human agency and, ultimately, of domestication and agriculture is an example of the cultural approach embraced by all of the following except

A) Hodder
B) Braidwood
C) Childe
D) Watkins
E) Binford

Question 6

Domestication may be evident in what aspect of archaeological herd demography?

A) an abundance of young males
B) the predominance of prime-age females
C) equal distribution of males and females
D) equal distribution of all age and sex classes
E) primarily older males and juvenile females

Question 7

What characteristic does NOT represent a common trait of animals suited for domestication?

A) hierarchical herd structure
B) territorial
C) not prone to flight
D) will transfer allegiance to humans
E) even-tempered

Question 8

Pollen is an example of what type of archaeobotanical remains?

A) macrofossil
B) feature
C) microfossil
D) cultigen
E) carbonization

Question 9

What species likely represents the first domesticated animal?

A) cat
B) dog
C) horse
D) cattle
E) sheep

Question 10

Which of the following statements about the origins of domestication is correct?

A) It represents a universal stage in human cultural evolution.
B) It occurred independently in separate areas of the world.
C) It occurred first in the Near East, and then spread or diffused to other areas.
D) It first occurred during the Upper Paleolithic.
E) The earliest centers of domestication are likely in Western Europe.

Question 11

What factor would not have likely influenced or predisposed wild grass seeds to unconscious modification by gatherers?
A) seeds tend to exhibit a great deal of genetic variability

A) seeds from genetic variants end up in the gathering basket less often
B) seeds occur in dense stands
C) seeds exhibit quick reproductive rates
D) rachis normally becomes dry and brittle, enabling the seed to break away easily

Question 12

Environmental approaches for explaining the origins of domestication argue that it represents a more intensive use of the environment caused by:

A) the inherent predisposition of humans to develop domestication in response to environmental triggers
B) society's ability to face increasing resource needs
C) the environmental changes that occurred at the end of the Pleistocene
D) people being unaware of other choices to lifestyles
E) grazing herbivores

Question 13

The Neolithic Revolution is associated with:

A) the development of agriculture
B) the beginning of social differentiation
C) the development of state level societies
D) the transition to intensive hunting and gathering
E) the beginning of fully modern human behavior

Question 14

Which of the following does NOT represent a biochemical signature of diet?

A) the ratio of nitrogen isotopes varying with the overall importance of seafood
B) different photosynthetic processes resulting in varying ratios of carbon
C) strontium and calcium ratios indicating relative importance of meat and plant foods
D) different chemical compositions resulting from photosynthesis in bones of human skeletons
E) unusually low concentrations of lead found in bones of those who drink wine that has been stored in lead containers

Question 15

The change in relationship between humans, animals, and plants whereby they share a mutually beneficial association is known as:

A) agriculture
B) transhumance
C) domestication
D) propagation
E) symbiosis

Question 16

Which statement below best defines the packing model proposed by Binford?

A) Settlement of marginal areas due expanding human populations led to domestication as people planted seed crops outside of their native range.
B) The packing of populations around permanent water sources as a result of increased aridity in the Near East at the end of the Ice Age led to the development of domestication.
C) Dependence on native seed crops in areas of their greatest natural abundance ultimately led to domestication.
D) Increased population density required people to abandon big-game hunting in favor of plant domestication.
E) The development of sedentary villages led to domestication as a means of providing a stable food source.

Question 17

A cultigen is defined as

A) a domesticated plant under human control
B) an animal species which is dependent on humans
C) a wild plant which is predisposed to domestication
D) the symbiotic relationship between humans and plants
E) a society which raises domesticated plants

Question 18

Domestication is defined as:

A) the propagation and exploitation of plants and animals by humans
B) the process of teaching animals to be tame
C) the presence of genetic changes that render plants and animals dependent on humans
D) the intensive use of plants and animals by humans
E) the process of intentionally growing plants

Question 19

Agriculture is defined as:

A) the propagation and exploitation of plants and animals by humans
B) the process of teaching animals to be tame
C) the presence of genetic changes that render plants and animals dependent on humans
D) the intensive use of plants and animals by humans
E) the process of intentionally growing plants

Question 20

The proposition that increased aridity in the Near East at the end of the Ice Age led to the development of domestication around permanent water sources is known as the

A) Water storage model
B) Oasis theory
C) Neolithic revolution
D) Dry zone model
E) Marginal Zone model

Question 21

What factor below does not account for the relative unimportance of farming in much of the New World prior to the arrival of Europeans?

A) An agricultural diet was not nutritionally superior.
B) Maize was difficult to harvest and process by hand.
C) Many groups continued to utilize hunting and gathering to supply sufficient protein.
D) The most productive domesticates were difficult to introduce to temperate areas.
E) New World cereal grasses required less space per plant, thus making a large extent of farming an unnecessary waste of time.

Question 22

What is the relationship between the adoption of agriculture and climate change in South America?

A) The presence of serious periodic droughts inhibited the development of agriculture.
B) Periodic droughts led to the production of crops that could be stored for future shortages.
C) Agriculture was adopted to minimize shortfalls in marine resources due to disruptions during El Niño years.
D) The relative stability in climate in South America favored the development of agriculture and domestication.
E) Persistent troughs of atmospheric high pressure caused high rainfall patterns supporting agriculture.

Question 23

Which statement best describes the primary difference in patterns of domestication in the New and Old Worlds?

A) Plant domestication was relatively unimportant in the New World.
B) Animal domesticates were more numerous in the Old World.
C) Most Old World plant domesticates were more productive.
D) Maize constituted one of the staple crops in the Old World.
E) Animals were not domesticated in the New World.

Question 24

Which of the following statements does not describe the development of plant domestication in the Near East?

A) It was preceded by a hunting and gathering economy based on small-grain grass and cereal seeds.
B) It coincides with a cooler and dryer climate.
C) It is associated with the human dispersal of cereal grasses to the stream valleys.
D) Epipaleolithic foraging cultures, such as Kebaran and Natufian, took the first steps toward agriculture.
E) Small- grained grass and wild cereal seeds were not important in earlier hunter gathered diets

Question 25

The earliest plant crops in China were

A) rice and wheat
B) millet
C) rice and yams
D) wheat and yams
E) barley

Question 26

The switch from hunting and gathering to agriculture in Egypt has been explained as the result of

A) diffusion from the Near East
B) increasing sedentism
C) population nucleation along the Nile due to reduced rainfall
D) the lack of sufficient animal resources
E) profuse pastures across the region

Question 27

Which statement(s) best describe the nature of domestication and cultivation in the southwest United States?

A) When compared to eastern North America it represents an independent center of domestication.
B) It did not include crops such as maize and beans.
C) The earliest domesticates included barley.
D) Reliance on domesticated products failed to support increased populations.
E) One regional tradition developed as a result.

Question 28

What archaeological feature associated with the development of agriculture has been interpreted as indicative of the development of economically and socially cohesive communities in the Near East?

A) compounds of small round shelters
B) storage facilities
C) multiroom rectangular houses
D) communal burial sites
E) communal agricultural fields

Question 29

The expansion of Bantu-speaking peoples through much of sub-Saharan Africa has been tied to what process?

A) the introduction of bananas, taro, and Asian yams
B) the development of efficient slash and burn agricultural techniques
C) the introduction of Near Eastern cereal crops
D) the development of pastoralism
E) conquest by militaries

Question 30

New World domesticates include an important triad of crops that eventually came together in the milpa intercropping system. These domesticates include beans, squash and

A) white potatoes
B) pumpkins
C) quinoa
D) maize
E) sunflowers

Question 31

The seemingly sudden appearance of fully domesticated sheep, goats, wheat, and barley in southeastern Europe, along with a host of specific Near Eastern cultural traits is evidence for

A) the influence of eastern Asia on the development of agriculture in Europe
B) both the migration of farmers and diffusion of the idea of agriculture from the Near East
C) the independent development of agriculture in this region
D) the presence of single, Near Eastern point of origin for domestication and agriculture
E) interaction between indigenous hunter-gatherers and colonizing farmers

Question 32

Which of the following statements best describes the process of the adoption of domestication in Mexico?

A) It occurred rapidly due to the productive potential of the plants.
B) It occurred gradually, largely because the crops offered greater predictability in resources.
C) It occurred gradually, because maize required a long acclimation period.
D) It was largely the product of diffusion from South America.
E) It occurred rapidly as a result of the migration of farmers from South America.

Question 33

The bottle gourd appears to have a much different origin than other New World domesticates. Which of the following explains its origins?

A) It floated across the Atlantic Ocean from Africa, where it occurs in the wild.
B) AMS radiocarbon dates of samples and analyses of DNA markers indicate the gourd was carried from Asia by PaleoIndian colonists.
C) It was packed on the back of dogs which accompanied the first humans into the New World.
D) It spread with guinea pigs and Muscovy ducks from western South America.
E) No scientific explanations have been reached as to the origins.

Question 34

Maize is far from an ideal crop. Why? A. the presence of lysine and niacin
B) the ability to produce and store a surplus, thus leading to hoarding and warfare
C) the increase in protein, at the expense of carbohydrates
D) an increase in a chemical leading to iron deficiency
E) need for specialized technology associated with maize agricultural activities

Question 35

What features characterize the transition to the Neolithic pattern in northern Europe?

A) It was preceded by substantial ideological shifts, particularly the development of monuments.
B) It represents a gradual transition from intensive Mesolithic hunting and gathering.
C) It occurred rapidly and likely preceded ideological changes.
D) It was preceded by a long period of dependence on wild plant resources.
E) It is primarily the result of the migration of farmers from the Near East.

Question 36

Agriculture in Asia likely occurred

A) earliest in south Asia
B) in east Asia, then diffused to other locations
C) independently in east and south Asia
D) as a result of diffusion from the Near East
E) only in south Asia

Question 37

The development of population density and overall cultural elaboration in the southwestern United States occurred as a result of:

A) the diffusion of maize agriculture migrating northward from Mexico
B) the development of an intensive system of agriculture based on local plant crops and irrigation
C) the introduction of intensive agriculture from the eastern Woodlands
D) the development of complex trade networks throughout the region
E) the distribution of Post-Uto-Aztecan language speakers.

Question 38

Which of the following does NOT represent a New World domesticate?

A) maize
B) barley
C) potatoes
D) peanuts
E) quinoa

Question 39

Which of the following did NOT characterize the Neolithic lifeways that transformed the central and northern regions of Europe?

A) farmers cultivated cereals and legumes, raised cattle and pigs, and collected wild hazelnuts
B) settlements consisted of sturdy timber-framed longhouses
C) harvested crops were stored in longhouses that served as barns
D) wooden fences were unable to confine livestock from planted fields, thus limiting the amount of plantings farmers could make
E) fertility of soils could be maintained with simple manuring

Question 40

Researchers agree that the earliest farming cultures in Europe likely resulted from

A) the independent development of domestication
B) the migration of farmers from the Americas
C) the diffusion of crops and the idea of agriculture
D) millet cultivation in northern China
E) overexploitation of animals by hunters

Question 41

What characteristics do successfully domesticated animal species tend to share?

Question 42

There were few New World herd animals that were capable of being domesticated.

Question 43

Macrofossils offer direct evidence for important archaeological research reconstructing hunter-gatherer lifeways.

Question 44

Domestication in eastern North America and the Mississippian Complex is the result of diffusion from Mexico.

Question 45

How does the concept of symbiosis apply to discussions of plant and animal domestication? Describe a significant connection between human culture and a particular plant or animal species to illustrate the idea of symbiosis.

Question 46

Animals are less mobile than plants.

Question 47

The Old World constitutes the main center for the development of domestication.

Question 48

What features define an environmental theory of domestication? Provide an example to illustrate your answer.

Question 49

Macrofossils do not typically survive even where macrofossils can.

Question 50

Animal domestication differs from plant domestication, and probably varies from one animal species to another.

Question 51

What is meant by the term "Neolithic Revolution"?

Question 52

Distinguish between domestication and agriculture. Begin with a careful definition of each term.

Question 53

What features define a cultural theory of domestication? Provide an example to illustrate your answer.

Question 54

What types of information can the different archaeological traces of plants tell researchers?

Question 55

What archaeological evidence supports domestication and agriculture?

Question 56

Explain the importance of archaeobotanical studies to the scientific understanding of ancient human plant use.

Question 57

How does the process of animal domestication differ from plant domestication?

Question 58

Ian Hodder's proposition that the origins of European agriculture entailed an emphasis on the human domination of nature is an environmental theory.

Question 59

Childe's Oasis model implies that humans were predestined to develop agriculture.

Question 60

Environmental explanations of domestication typically propose that some change altered a population's ability to feed its members.

Question 61

What is meant by domestication and agriculture? How can archaeologists identify the presence of plant and animal domestication in the archaeological record?

Question 62

Discuss the development of domestication in the Old World. What domesticates are developed, and what seem to be the underlying motivations for the shift from a hunting and gathering lifestyle to one based on food production?

Question 63

Explain major ways in the development of farming in the New World.

Question 64

What was so "revolutionary" about the Neolithic? Discuss some of the fundamental differences between Middle Stone Age (Mesolithic or Epipaleolithic) and Neolithic lifeways.

Question 65

Compare and contrast the various theories used to explain the appearance of agriculture. What features define them as either environmental or cultural? What are the advantaged and drawbacks of each approach?

Question 66

What challenges are present in tracing Africa's Neolithic past?

Question 67

Why did cattle herding take priority over farming in much of East Africa?

Question 68

Describe the products of New World farmers.