Question 1

The idea that the human mind evolved under the selective pressures faced by the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of Ice-age humans is an important aspect of

Accepted Answer

A) the hydraulic hypothesis 
B) cataclysm studies 
C) Marxist archaeology 
D) evolutionary archaeology 
E) the empathetic method

Question 2

In migrationist and diffusionist explanations of the past,a "people" is defined as

Accepted Answer

A) a human grouping that is smaller than a band 
B) a sense of personal identity that cannot be seen in the archaeological record 
C) a well-defined ethnic group 
D) individuals who are genetically related to one another 
E) none of the above

Question 3

The New Archaeology is considered to be a challenge to Processual Archaeology

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

Before the New Archaeology,changes observed in the archaeological record were often explained by the idea of

Accepted Answer

A) migration 
B) the environment 
C) class struggle 
D) cognition and identity 
E) all of the above

Question 5

Around the 12th century BC,the Phoenicians developed a simplified phonetic script to write their Semitic language.By the early 1st millennium BC,the script was adapted by the Greeks to write their language,and the Greek alphabet was later modified in Italy to write Etruscan and Latin.It was through Latin that our own alphabet (known as the Roman alphabet)came to much of Europe,and later the rest of the world.This is a positive example of ____________

Accepted Answer

A) Marxism 
B) diffusion 
C) praxis 
D) postmodernism 
E) environmentalism

Question 6

When the Spanish reached Mexico in the early 16th century they found

Accepted Answer

A) dense populations of Maya-speaking people 
B) sparse Maya-speaking small settlements 
C) no people and the ruined remains of the Maya collapse 
D) an empty landscape 
E) the Classic Maya civilization at its height

Question 7

The concept of __________ has been introduced to permit discussion of the role of the individual in promoting change

Accepted Answer

A) agency 
B) cognition 
C) symbol 
D) critical theory 
E) structuralism

Question 8

Marxist archaeology seeks to understand processes of change in human history through the study of contradictions between the forces of production and social organization.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 9

Emphasizing the scientific methodology of problem statement,hypothesis formulation,and subsequent testing,______________ is an approach that stresses the dynamic relationship between the social and economic aspects of culture and the environment in understanding culture change

Accepted Answer

A) Marxist archaeology 
B) structuralist archaeology 
C) culture-historical archaeology 
D) postprocessual archaeology 
E) processual archaeology

Question 10

Most scholars believe that the Maya collapse was monocausal.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 11

A common criticism of the early New Archaeology (functional-processual archaeology)was that the importance of ideological and symbolic aspects of societies was ignored or undervalued.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

Which of the following has been put forth as a monocausal explanation for the origins of a state

Accepted Answer

A) the hydraulic hypothesis 
B) population growth 
C) warfare 
D) all of the above 
E) none of the above

Question 13

Compare migrationist and diffusionist explanations for change,such as the appearance of a new kind of pottery or new decorative motifs,to processual explanations for change.How does a processual approach differ from such traditional explanations?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Compare migrationist and diffusionist explanations for change,such...

Question 14

A notable feature of Lewis Binford's work on the origins of farming was its generality: he was seeking to explain the origins of agriculture worldwide.His is an example of a _________ approach to archaeology

Accepted Answer

A) post-modern 
B) Marxist 
C) diffusionist 
D) processual 
E) all of the above

Question 15

Using a traditional Migrationist approach,it is argued that each archaeological culture is the manifestation,in material terms,of a specific

Accepted Answer

A) people or ethnic group 
B) environmental event 
C) religious tradition 
D) distribution of resource 
E) social inequality

Question 16

The Classic Maya kings portrayed themselves as great guarantors of prosperity and stability,but during the critical 8th and 9th centuries leading up to the Maya collapse they were unable to deliver on these promises because of

Accepted Answer

A) the superior technology of the conquering Spanish 
B) the degradation of an ecosystem already pushed beyond its limits by overpopulation 
C) the superior technology of the conquering Aztec 
D) the introduction of new diseases causing massive depopulation of the region 
E) the arrival of Quetzalcoatl from central Mexico who brought a new religious cult to the area

Question 17

The idea that European Megaliths were used by elders and community leaders to manipulate the members of society into the continued recognition of their social status is an example of a

Accepted Answer

A) Postprocessual explanation 
B) Functional-processual explanation 
C) Marxist explanation 
D) Migrationist or Diffusionist explanation 
E) New Archaeology explanation

Question 18

The short-term intentions of individuals can be referred to as agency.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 19

Later archaeological critiques of diffusionist explanations have shown that migrations

Accepted Answer

A) did not occur in the past and cannot be used to explain cultural change 
B) are far more obvious in the archaeological record than once thought 
C) did occur but are not as easy to detect in the archaeological record as once believed 
D) are the only explanation for most cultural change 
E) could account for most of the archaeological record

Question 20

Robert Carneiro,a major proponent of ______________,emphasized the importance of environmental constraints and territorial limitations to explain the origins of the state

Accepted Answer

A) ecological determinism 
B) environmental circumscription 
C) punctuated equilibria 
D) structuralist approaches 
E) systems thinking

Exam 10: Explanation in Archaeology

The idea that the human mind evolved under the selective pressures faced by the hunter-gatherer lifestyle of Ice-age humans is an important aspect of

In migrationist and diffusionist explanations of the past,a "people" is defined as

The New Archaeology is considered to be a challenge to Processual Archaeology

Before the New Archaeology,changes observed in the archaeological record were often explained by the idea of

When the Spanish reached Mexico in the early 16th century they found

The concept of __________ has been introduced to permit discussion of the role of the individual in promoting change

Marxist archaeology seeks to understand processes of change in human history through the study of contradictions between the forces of production and social organization.

Emphasizing the scientific methodology of problem statement,hypothesis formulation,and subsequent testing,______________ is an approach that stresses the dynamic relationship between the social and economic aspects of culture and the environment in understanding culture change

Most scholars believe that the Maya collapse was monocausal.

A common criticism of the early New Archaeology (functional-processual archaeology)was that the importance of ideological and symbolic aspects of societies was ignored or undervalued.

Which of the following has been put forth as a monocausal explanation for the origins of a state

Compare migrationist and diffusionist explanations for change,such as the appearance of a new kind of pottery or new decorative motifs,to processual explanations for change.How does a processual approach differ from such traditional explanations?

A notable feature of Lewis Binford's work on the origins of farming was its generality: he was seeking to explain the origins of agriculture worldwide.His is an example of a _________ approach to archaeology

Using a traditional Migrationist approach,it is argued that each archaeological culture is the manifestation,in material terms,of a specific

The Classic Maya kings portrayed themselves as great guarantors of prosperity and stability,but during the critical 8th and 9th centuries leading up to the Maya collapse they were unable to deliver on these promises because of

The idea that European Megaliths were used by elders and community leaders to manipulate the members of society into the continued recognition of their social status is an example of a

The short-term intentions of individuals can be referred to as agency.

Later archaeological critiques of diffusionist explanations have shown that migrations

Robert Carneiro,a major proponent of ______________,emphasized the importance of environmental constraints and territorial limitations to explain the origins of the state