Deck 4: Doing Archaeology and Biological Anthropology

Question 1

In an example of how microscopic evidence in studying the past can yield surprising results that may overturn long-held assumptions,Williamson's analysis of microscopic residues stuck to the edges of cutting tools found at a cave site in South Africa revealed that

A) 50 percent of the residues were from plants, contradicting the prevailing assumption that such tools were used mainly to hunt and butcher animals.
B) all of the residues were from butchered animals, but most of the butchering had been performed by women and not by men.
C) 30 percent of the residues were from plants, suggesting a slow transition from vegetarian to carnivorous diets.
D) 50 percent of the residues were from domesticated plants, pushing back the date of plant domestication from 10,000 to 40,000 years ago.
E) 30 percent of the residues were from human flesh, suggesting cannibalism.

Answer 1

50 percent of the residues were from plants, contradicting the prevailing assumption that such tools were used mainly to hunt and butcher animals.

Question 2

Advances in technology enable archaeologists to gather evidence that is not visible to the naked eye.One example of such microscopic evidence is the study of

A) phytoliths, microscopic organic remains of common early plant domesticates.
B) starch grains that solidify into crystals and therefore do not decay.
C) microanthropometric remains.
D) microstratigraphic layers.
E) phytoliths, microscopic crystals found in many plants that are inorganic and do not decay, which means that they can reveal which plants were present at a given site even when no other plant remains survive.

Answer 2

phytoliths, microscopic crystals found in many plants that are inorganic and do not decay, which means that they can reveal which plants were present at a given site even when no other plant remains survive.

Question 3

The utility of stratigraphy for dating purposes is based on the fact that

A) all environmental forces leave behind the same kind of soil deposit.
B) the depth and order of undisturbed soil strata reflect the age of their deposition.
C) higher strata are usually older than lower strata in undisturbed soil.
D) soil strata are uncluttered by bones, stones, and artifacts.
E) once in the soil, there are very few things that can damage or disturb bones.

Answer 3

the depth and order of undisturbed soil strata reflect the age of their deposition.

Question 4

The American Anthropological Association's Code of Ethics

A) applies differently to the different types of anthropology.
B) is applicable only to research being conducted in the United States.
C) is the result of a UN resolution designed to ensure that human rights are respected in the field of U.S. anthropology.
D) is too broad for most anthropologists to find it useful.
E) is designed to ensure that all anthropologists are aware of their obligations to the field of anthropology, the host communities that allow them to conduct their research, and society in general.

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT one of the fields of study mentioned in the textbook as part of the multidisciplinary approaches used in physical anthropology and archaeology?

A) remote sensing
B) metaphysics
C) genetics
D) paleontology
E) palynology

Question 6

Paleopathology is the study of

A) the biological and geological processes by which dead animals become fossils.
B) ancient environments using samples of ancient pollen.
C) hominin evolution and human life as revealed by the fossil record.
D) disease and injury in skeletons from archaeological sites.
E) the evolution of linguistic communication through ancient speech sounds and texts.

Question 7

The legal and scientific debates that arose after the discovery in 1996 of a skeleton dubbed Kennewick Man illustrates all of the following EXCEPT

A) that sometimes questions of ownership of and access to physical and archaeological remains place anthropologists and indigenous people in opposing camps.
B) the ineffectiveness of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act, which has no real legal or political recognition.
C) the often complicated ethical implications of unearthing human remains and attempting to reconstruct their physical and cultural identities.
D) the fact that not everyone appreciates anthropology all the time.
E) that scientific knowledge is not politically or culturally neutral.

Question 8

All of the following are true about the work of paleoanthropologists EXCEPT that they

A) study human evolution through the fossil record.
B) do not have to worry about ethical and legal concerns, because they are dealing with the remains of dead humans.
C) often work in a team with archaeologists.
D) often work in another country (in the case of U.S. paleoanthropologists) and are required by the American Anthropological Association's Code of Ethics to establish truly collaborative relations with colleagues in that country.
E) try to infer the relation between the physical and cultural features of the remains they are examining.

Question 9

Systematic survey and excavation

A) are techniques of the past that have been replaced by remote sensing and digital photography.
B) are the two major components of fieldwork in molecular anthropology.
C) are the two major components of fieldwork in archaeology and paleoanthropology.
D) are techniques that have been discouraged because they lead to negative environmental impacts.
E) yield better results when the study team is small.

Question 10

Which excavation technique provides more information about the context of the artifacts,fossils,or features discovered?

A) removing the soil in consistent amounts
B) surface collection and mapping
C) excavating multiple test pits
D) screening and floating
E) digging through the strata one layer at a time

Question 11

The specialist among a team of scientists at an excavation site who focuses on the study of ancient plants through pollen samples taken from the site is most likely a

A) paleopathologist.
B) palynologist.
C) phytologist.
D) pollenologist.
E) paleontologist.

Question 12

Under what conditions are fossils most likely to form?

A) acidic soils
B) geologically inactive regions
C) regions with lots of scavengers
D) newly forming sediments
E) maritime environments

Question 13

Which of the following is NOT one of the kinds of archaeology discussed in this chapter?

A) classical archaeology
B) historic archaeology
C) underwater archaeology
D) linguistic archaeology
E) colonial archaeology

Question 14

Why do archaeologists use flotation?

A) to identify regional settlement patterns
B) to recover very small remains like fish bones and seeds
C) to control for the location of artifacts in three-dimensional space
D) to establish relative chronologies
E) to study the processes of stratigraphy

Question 15

The principle of superposition states that in an undisturbed sequence of strata,

A) the oldest layer is on the top.
B) the oldest layer is on the bottom.
C) the stratigraphic techniques are useful only if the soils have a high content of sandstone.
D) the youngest layer is the least disturbed by environmental changes such as erosion.
E) the oldest layer is the shallowest in the sequence.

Question 16

Data collected using systematic surveys do NOT typically address which of the following questions?

A) What is the relative chronology of the layers exposed during excavation?
B) How big are the sites in a given region?
C) How many people lived in a certain area?
D) What kinds of buildings existed in a given region?
E) Where are the archaeological sites located?

Question 17

Molecular anthropology

A) uses microscopic phytolithic analysis to study molecular evolution.
B) uses genetic analysis of a DNA sequence to assess evolutionary links.
C) is the specialty of the most important member of an archaeological excavation project.
D) uses archaeological survey techniques to gather its data.
E) studies early hominins through fossil remains.

Question 18

Informed consent refers to

A) U.S. anthropologists' signed commitment to the American Anthropological Association that they will abide by the organization's laws and regulations.
B) a host country's leaders' agreement that the specified research is to be carried out.
C) people's agreement to take part in research after they have been fully informed about its purpose, nature, funding, procedures, and potential impact on them.
D) a coercive agreement between anthropologists and study participants that characterized much of the dubious and unethical research practices of the past.
E) a signed contract between anthropologists and their academic institutions regarding the potential monetary value of the data they will collect in the field and how they will safeguard it.

Question 19

Which of the following researchers would most likely NOT be part of a paleoanthropological research team?

A) geologist
B) palynologist
C) paleoecologist
D) chemist
E) psychotherapist

Question 20

What term refers to the study of the processes that affect the remains of dead animals?

A) necrology
B) autopsy
C) degradation
D) osteology
E) taphonomy

Question 21

Remote sensing refers to carrying out excavations in distant locations.

Question 22

Paleoanthropologist Christopher Stringer once noted that "absence of evidence does not necessarily prove evidence of absence." Why is this important to keep in mind when assessing the use of fossils to study the past?

A) Taphonomy is not a true science, because it lacks accuracy.
B) The fields of paleontology and paleoanthropology have established a chronology of the evolution of life.
C) The failure to find a fossil species in a particular place does not necessarily mean that it did not live there.
D) Paleontology and paleoanthropology are humanistic disciplines.
E) The fossil record is a complete sample of all the plants and animals that ever lived.

Question 23

What kind of absolute dating technique is used to date volcanic rock?

A) fluorine absorption analysis
B) thermoluminescence
C) carbon-14
D) electron spin resonance
E) potassium-argon

Question 24

Informed consent refers to people's agreement to take part in research after they have been fully informed about its purpose,nature,funding,procedures,and potential impact on them.

Question 25

Anthropometry is the study of human culture using satellite imagery.

Question 26

What kind of dating technique is fluorine absorption analysis?

A) absolute
B) relative
C) radiometric
D) chronologic
E) radioactive

Question 27

Paleopathology is the study of disease and injury in skeletons.

Question 28

Physical anthropology and archaeology both involve multidisciplinary approaches to research.

Question 29

Dendrochronology is an absolute dating method based on the comparison of tree-ring growth patterns and is also useful

A) in areas with varying environmental patterns.
B) with any type of tree species.
C) because it provides information about climatic patterns in specific regions.
D) because it provides useful information for protecting water sources.
E) in dating samples of more than 1 million years of age.

Question 30

Molecular anthropology studies evolutionary links using genetic analysis.

Question 31

Which of the following statements about techniques used in dating fossil remains is NOT true?

A) The potassium-argon technique is used to date inorganic substances such as rock.
B) Carbon-14 techniques are used to date organic material.
C) Potassium-argon dating is most accurate on specimens over 500,000 years old.
D) Carbon-14 dating is most accurate on specimens more than 70,000 years old.
E) Electron spin resonance is used to date rocks and minerals between 1,000 and 1,000,000 years old.

Question 32

Anthropologists who study the past do not have to worry so much about ethical concerns,since their studies do not concern living people.

Question 33

A ________ is a biological lineage defined by a specific cluster of genetic traits that occur together.

A) tribe or nation
B) mutation
C) haplogroup
D) "genetic clock"
E) duplogroup

Question 34

The Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)gives ownership of Native American remains to living Native Americans.Under this act,

A) museums must return all materials to Native American tribes and are not allowed to keep any Native American skeletal remains.
B) museums are required to return remains and artifacts to any tribe that requests them and can prove a "cultural affiliation" to the remains.
C) DNA analysis of all human skeletal remains is prohibited.
D) any contemporary Native American tribe is considered to be culturally affiliated with all Native American remains or artifacts.
E) museums must destroy any remains they do not repatriate to living Native Americans.

Question 35

Palynology is the study of ancient animals through fossil remains.

Question 36

Radiometric dating techniques available to anthropologists

A) work only for nonhuman primates, because genus Homo had culture.
B) have caused a re-evaluation of the fossil record since their 1991 development.
C) can only be used to date inorganic materials that are more than 1 million years old.
D) do not work well for hominin fossils, because such fossils are too young for the effective range of the techniques.
E) establish a probable date for fossils by calculating radioactive decay in the specimen found or the rocks surrounding it.

Question 37

The so-called Piltdown man was once considered an unusual and perplexing human ancestor,but it turned out to be the jaw of a young orangutan attached to a Homo sapiens skull.What dating technique exposed the Piltdown fraud?

A) fluorine absorption analysis
B) potassium-argon
C) carbon-14
D) electron spin resonance
E) thermoluminescence

Question 38

What are both carbon-14 and potassium-argon dating techniques based on?

A) radioactive decay
B) stratigraphic associations
C) reversals of magnetic fields
D) accumulations of mineral salts
E) relative as opposed to absolute dating

Question 39

The American Anthropological Association's Code of Ethics is applicable only to research being conducted in the United States.

Question 40

The most reliable evidence in studying the past is that which is visible to the naked eye.Anything microscopic is too small to be considered reliable.

Question 41

Archaeological anthropologists excavate sites to gain a better understanding of the regional patterning of the molecular record.

Question 42

Taphonomy is the science that examines the ways in which sediments accumulate in layers.

Question 43

The study of ancient human,or hominin,diversity involves reconstructions based on collecting,analyzing,and dating physical and archaeological remains.Actual human behavior does not fossilize,except in the form of its material products,such as tools.Consider the ways you currently rely on electronic technologies to communicate with others and to read,write,and do research.For archaeologists in the distant future,how might this challenge their attempts to learn about the past?

Question 44

What are the different kinds of research that fall under physical anthropology? How is such a wide range of topics linked?

Question 45

Historical archaeologists use written records to supplement the archaeological record.

Question 46

In what ways are physical anthropology and archaeology multidisciplinary? Why is this important to know?

Question 47

Flotation is a technique used by archaeologists to recover very small remains from an excavation.

Question 48

Experimental archaeologists try to replicate ancient techniques under controlled conditions.

Question 49

Classical archaeologists focus on archaeological sites that are threatened by development.

Question 50

What are the two ways in which archaeologists collect information in the field? What kinds of information does each technique collect? What are the limitations of each technique?

Question 51

A haplogroup is a biological lineage defined by a specific cluster of genetic traits that occur together.

Question 52

How are fossils formed? Where are they found? How representative is the fossil record?

Question 53

Systematic survey refers to the archaeological technique of systematically digging through the cultural and natural stratigraphy of an archaeological site.

Question 54

Electron spin resonance is used to date organic material from archaeological sites.

Question 55

Digging according to arbitrary levels is quicker but less refined than digging according to the site's stratigraphy.

Question 56

NAGPRA dictates the ownership of physical and archaeological remains and sometimes places anthropologists and indigenous peoples at odds with one another.

Question 57

Absolute dating uses stratigraphy to establish a time frame in relation to other strata.

Question 58

Colonial archaeologists study pre-Columbian cultures of the Americas.

Question 59

What are the different kinds of archaeology?

Question 60

What are the ethical obligations of archaeologists and physical anthropologists working in foreign countries? In what situations can complicated conflicts of interest arise?

Question 61

How do researchers date the past? What are the limitations of each dating technique?

Question 62

What is molecular dating? What is the basic assumption upon which this technique is based? Can you think of other potential applications of this technique beyond those mentioned in the text?