Deck 6: Environment, Subsistence, and Diet

Question 1

The remains of large animals,such as sheep or cows,found on archaeological sites help us build a picture of past human diet.These remains are known as

A)Microfauna
B)Macrobotanical
C)Macrofauna
D)Geomorphs
E)Phytoliths

Answer 1

Macrofauna

Question 2

The term ________ refers to what people were eating at a particular time and the term ________ refers to what people were eating over a longer period of time

A)diet;meal
B)diatom;meal
C)microfauna;macrofauna
D)meal;diet
E)macrofauna;microfauna

Answer 2

meal;diet

Question 3

Although ice core analysis suggests that the next ice age should be 15,000 years in the future,_________ appears to be having an effect on the normal cycle of the earth's temperature

A)the tilt of the earth
B)human activity
C)solar flares
D)continental drift
E)changes in the orbit of the earth

Answer 3

human activity

Question 4

Isotopic analysis of human tooth enamel or bone collagen relies on

A)the presence of phytolithis
B)whether the person ate sugar or not
C)reading the chemical signature left in the body by different foods
D)the amount of calcium a person consumed in later life
E)how well an individual cared for their teeth

Question 5

Once people began to cultivate cereals,they preferentially selected varieties that

A)retained their seeds until they could be harvested
B)lost their seeds easily in wind or rain
C)had small or tough seeds
D)were less nutritious than their wild ancestors

Question 6

After retrieving a core,the layers may be analyzed in two ways.First,scientists study the presence or absence and fluctuations of different foraminiferan species.Second,using a mass spectrometer,they analyze the

A)fluctuations in the ratio of stable oxygen isotopes 18 and 16 in the calcium carbonate of the foraminiferan shells
B)fluctuations in the ratio of nitrogen isotopes 15 and 14 in the calcium carbonate of the foraminiferan shells
C)fluctuations in the ratio of pollens to foraminifera through time
D)fluctuations in the amino acids of bone collagen in the foraminifera
E)all of the above

Question 7

There are various indicators useful for the identification of domesticated animals in archaeological contexts,such as

A)the presence of such tools as plows and yokes
B)the presence of certain deformities and diseases among the animal remains
C)changes in animal DNA
D)all of the above
E)a and b only

Question 8

Commonly found preserved in ash layers,pottery,and on stone tools and even teeth,minute particles of silica derived from plant cells that survive after the rest of the organism is decomposed are known as

A)pollen grains
B)phytoliths
C)eoliths
D)coprolites
E)foraminifera

Question 9

Microscopic abrasion on human teeth provides clues to general types of food intake.Abrasive particles in food leave striations on the tooth enamel that

A)form the core of phytolith analysis
B)eventually cause the enamel to decay
C)show if a person prepared their own food
D)are directly related to the meat and vegetation in a person's diet
E)tell the exact location of a food source

Question 10

The quest for food is also known as

A)domestication
B)macrofauna
C)subsistence
D)pallonology
E)taphonomy

Question 11

This method used in archaeological investigations separates organic material from soil based on the general principle that the lighter organic material floats in water

A)flotation
B)submersion
C)inundation
D)irrigation
E)pallonization

Question 12

Which of the following is not an example of macrobotanical remains

A)a grape pip
B)a charred pumpkin seed
C)a phytolith
D)a piece of charcoal
E)all of these are macrobotanical remains

Question 13

Animal sex may be identified based on bone remains of

A)antlers
B)large canines
C)penis bone
D)female pelvic structure
E)All of the above

Question 14

Pollen grains are

A)the tiny male reproductive bodies of flowering plants
B)the minute particles of silica derived from the cells of plants
C)the outermost protective layer of the skin of leaves or blades of grass
D)fossilized unicellular algae
E)none of the above

Question 15

The most favorable sediments for the preservation of pollen are

A)arid loess sediments
B)frozen tundra
C)acidic and well-watered tropical sediments
D)sandy sediments
E)acidic and poorly aerated peat bogs and lake beds

Question 16

Tree-ring growth varies with the climate and is known to

A)be strong in winter but decline to nothing in the spring
B)be strong in spring but decline to nothing in the winter
C)be quite consistent all year round
D)only occur in the middle of summer
E)only occur during the typhoon

Question 17

The study of pollen grains,developed by Norwegian geologist Lennart von Post,is commonly known as

A)geomorphology
B)palynology
C)archaeobotany
D)paleoethnobotany
E)microbotany

Question 18

Excavations at the Boarding School site in northern Montana,carried out with help from the local Blackfoot tribe,found evidence of a typical hunting practice used for thousands of years in North America,with three layers of bones,each representing one episode.This site was a

A)bison drive site
B)moose corral
C)antelope kill site
D)jackrabbit snare
E)quail snare

Question 19

Diatoms are

A)the tiny male reproductive bodies of flowering plants
B)the minute particles of silica derived from the cells of plants
C)the outermost protective layer of the skin of leaves or blades of grass
D)single-cell algae that have a cell wall of silica
E)none of the above

Question 20

In order to understand the stratigraphy of sediment on the ocean floor,ships use a ___________ to extract a thin column of sediment for later laboratory analysis.

A)sounding drill
B)paleomagnetometer
C)piston-corer
D)varve corer
E)none of the above

Question 21

Pollens are best preserved in arid zones,particularly loess or sandy sedimentary deposits.

Question 22

Microfauna (small animals)tend to be better indicators of climate and environmental change because

A)they are sensitive to oscillations in climate and adapt relatively quickly
B)they accumulate naturally,so they reflect the immediate environment
C)they are accumulated at a site through human or animal predation
D)a and b are correct
E)none of the above

Question 23

At the site of Pompeii archaeologists have been able to recover a significant amount of information about individual meals.

Question 24

Archaeologists are rarely interested in ancient wind because it has had very little impact on human activity.

Question 25

No domesticated plants were cultivated in North America until they were introduced soon after the arrival of colonists from the Old World.

Question 26

Archaeologists working on bones from Lower Paleolithic sites found that,when looked at through a scanning electron microscope,marks on bones made by carnivores were more __________ than marks made by stone tools

A)v-shaped
B)rounded
C)likely to have parallel lines at the bottom
D)violent
E)slicing

Question 27

Experimental evidence suggests that the transition from wild to domestic plants could have been complete within

A)only one seasonal cycle
B)the period before the last Ice Age
C)5,000 to 10,000 years
D)only 20 to 200 years
E)a matter of days

Question 28

The age an animal was at death is usually assessed through the study of its teeth.

Question 29

Plant impressions are

A)the way that humans in the past felt or perceived their natural environment
B)the silica cell walls of plants that remain after the rest of the plant has decayed
C)outline or shapes of plants found in artifacts such as worked clay
D)another name for fossil pollen
E)devices that help separate waterlogged plant remains from soil

Question 30

The first type of remains used by 19th-century archaeologists to understand climate in prehistoric periods were

A)animal remains
B)fossil pollen remains
C)phytoliths
D)isotopes in human tooth enamel
E)deep sea cores

Question 31

Once a piece of wood is burnt and becomes charcoal it is impossible for archaeologists to even guess what type of tree it came from.

Question 32

Wood that is said to be desiccated has been preserved due to

A)extreme wetness
B)artificial polymers
C)fire and charring
D)extreme cold or dryness
E)all of the above

Question 33

Insect exoskeletons are resistant to decomposition and can be considered likely indicators of past climactic conditions.The study of ancient insects is called

A)phytolythology
B)palonology
C)micromorphology
D)geomorphology
E)paleoentomology

Question 34

Diatoms are useful for identifying whether ancient bodies of water were fresh,brackish or salt,but not for finer-grained analytical questions,such as the level of water salinity or nutrient status.

Question 35

Fluctuations in ancient fauna can have other causes than the influence of either climate or people.

Question 36

Analysis of plant residues on artifacts can help to define the function of the vessels being studied.

Question 37

Ancient wood,when preserved,can be a useful indicator for understanding human use of this material,but it must be burned (charcoal);desiccated or waterlogged wood is not very useful.

Question 38

The only incontrovertible proof that a particular plant or animal species was actually consumed by people in the past comes from

A)traces in human stomach contents of fecal matter
B)phytoliths from ancient pottery
C)cut marks on animal bones or plant matter
D)changes in the DNA of plants and animals due to domestication
E)all of the above

Question 39

The study of the diet of larger civilizations

A)is too complex for modern archaeologists to study
B)is based entirely on scientific analysis and tests
C)is aided by the presence of written records and/or art depicting agriculture
D)can not be aided by ethnographic information
E)none of the above

Question 40

The study of the past human use of animals is called

A)archaeobotany
B)paleontology
C)micromorphology
D)zooarchaeology
E)faunology

Question 41

Discuss the different ways that faunal remains may be used for environmental and climatic reconstructions.Which are better indicators of climate and environmental change,microfauna or macrofauna? Why? Include in your essay discussion of the different remains that are preserved,how they are studied,and the limitations of each type.

Question 42

Discuss the different ways that plant remains may be used for environmental and climatic reconstructions.Include in your essay discussion of the different microbotanical remains that are preserved,how they are studied,and the limitations of each type.

Question 43

Discuss the difference between individual meals and diets.How are each represented in the archaeological record? What methods do archaeologists use to shed more light on these concepts?

Question 44

Human teeth are some of the hardest tissues in the body and they survive in extremely good condition.What are some of the methods used to study diet from human teeth and what can these methods tell us about how and what humans ate in the past?