Archaeology and Humanity’s Story:

A Brief Introduction to World Prehistory

Chapter 8 Test Bank—Eastern North America

Multiple-Choice Questions (30)

1. These rivers were critical to the lives of ancient people in Eastern North America except:

A) the Indus River.

B) the Mississippi River.

C) the Missouri River.

D) the Ohio River.

2. _____________ was introduced to Eastern North America from Mexico/Mesoamerica during the Woodland period.

A) Wild goosefoot

B) Maize

C) Sunflower

D) Marsh elder

3. _____________ were introduced to Eastern North America from Mexico/Mesoamerica during the Woodland period.

A) Knotweed seeds

B) May grass seeds

C) Marsh elder seeds

D) Beans

4. Late Archaic peoples in Eastern North America were _________ dependent on food production economies than their contemporaries in the Southwest.

A) less

B) more

C) A and B

D) None of the above

5. __________________, a Late Archaic period site in Kentucky, featured more than 1100 burials.

A) Indian Knoll

B) Chetro Ketl

C) Blombos Cave

D) Boxgrove

6. The social complexity of the Late Archaic is reflected by _________ building.

A) midden

B) mound

C) pithouse

D) chariot

7. The people who built the mounds of Poverty Point beginning in 1750 cal BC were primarily _____________________.

A) Neandertals

B) hunter-gatherer-foragers

C) pastoralists

D) intensive agriculturalists

8. The Poverty Point site centered on _________________________.

A) four step pyramids

B) T-shaped stone pillars with animal motifs

C) mammoth bone dwellings

D) a series of concentric earthen ridges

9. Late Archaic sites in the coastal Southeast sometimes included monumental rings composed of _______________.

A) mammoth bone

B) turquoise

C) clam and oyster shell

D) copper discs

10. The Early Woodland period began around ______________________.

A) 2187 cal BC

B) 1000 cal BC

C) AD 1

D) the Phoenix Basin

11. The ________________ tradition emerged during the Early Woodland in Eastern North America.

A) Oldowan

B) Solutrean

C) Hohokam

D) Adena

12. The Early Woodland was followed by the ___________________ about 200 cal BC.

A) Minoan period

B) Spanish conquest

C) Middle Woodland period

D) Poverty Point period

13. The ________________ followed the Adena tradition and had a similar emphasis on mound building.

A) Hopewell tradition

B) Goodwill tradition

C) Mogollon tradition

D) Colonial period

14. ___________________ is often described as the largest precontact city in the Americas north of Mexico.

A) Indian Knoll

B) Cahokia

C) Sapelo Island

D) Pueblo Bonito

15. Which of these artifacts was found in great quantities at the Hopewell Site?

A) Copper earspools

B) Sankara stones

C) Mimbres bowls

D) Chachapoyan fertility idols

16. In Eastern North America, the Middle Woodland period was followed by the ___________________ after AD 400.

A) Younger Dryas

B) Late Woodland

C) Pioneer Period

D) Neolithic

17. Hopewell material culture included animal effigies, such as a(n) ______________ pipe.

A) raven

B) ostrich egg shell

C) silver

D) horse bone

18. Cahokia’s largest mound is called _____________ Mound.

A) Monk’s

B) Birdman’s

C) Pharaoh’s

D) Serpent

19. Members of the Hopewell Interaction Sphere acquired _________________ from the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean.

A) copper

B) macaw feathers

C) marine shell

D) turquoise

20. Elite members of society probably had the most influence at _______________________.

A) Indian Knoll

B) Poverty Point

C) Sapelo Island Shell Ring Complex

D) Cahokia

21. Chunkey appears to have had social consequences in Eastern North America. What is it?

A) A social hierarchy

B) A game

C) A domesticated seed

D) A religious symbol

22. At Cahokia, ________________ contained elite burials.

A) Mound 72

B) Sima de los Huesos

C) Cougar Canyon

D) Birdman’s Tomb

23. Which of these images was not common in imagery from the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex?

A) Snakes

B) Males wearing costumes

C) Bison

D) Decapitations

24. Which of these sites was not part of “Greater Cahokia”?

A) East St. Louis Site

B) Etowah

C) Mound City Site

D) All of the above

25. Based on ethnohistoric records and archaeological evidence, Mississippian women focused on ___________________.

A) hunting and fishing

B) woodworking

C) food preparation tasks

D) making bows and arrows

26. Based on ethnohistoric records and archaeological evidence, Mississippian men focused on ___________________.

A) hunting and fishing

B) grinding and cooking

C) field preparation

D) collecting wild foods like nuts and shellfish

27. Floodplain areas around Cahokia were particularly well suited for ___________ agriculture.

A) barley

B) dry

C) maize

D) terrace

28. The Poverty Point earthworks were constructed using:

A) alien tractor beams.

B) digging sticks and baskets.

C) draft animals.

D) copper ploughs.

29. Burials including adult males with removed heads and hands may reflect _______________.

A) trophy-taking

B) birth defects

C) egalitarian culture

D) maize agriculture

30. Mississippian period peoples ground paints on ____________________.

A) nut shells

B) stone palettes

C) chunkeys

D) baskets

/Questions (10)

1. The Hopewell tradition is a clearly-defined multiregional culture with little variation. (

2. The bow and arrow was introduced to Eastern North America during the Late Woodland, about AD 1400. (

3. Sunflower was an early plant domesticate in the North American East. (

4. The Natchez are descended from earlier Mississippian cultures. (

5. The shape of chunkey can be accurately described discoid. (

6. Sub-Mound 51 at Cahokia included evidence of feasting. (

7. Unlike Chaco Canyon, Cahokia had easy access to permanent rivers and streams. (

8. Moundville, a Late Mississippian period site, is located in present-day Alabama. (

9. Cahokia was abandoned in part due to diseases carried by Spanish Conquistadors. (

10. Members of the Hopewell Interaction Sphere acquired copper from the Great Lakes region. (

1. Describe Adena mound burials.

2. What was the most extraordinary aspect of Poverty Point?

3. Why do archaeologists use the term Hopewell Interaction Sphere instead of “Hopewell Culture”?

4. What are some common artistic images in the “Southeastern Ceremonial Complex”?

5. What exotic material, imported from the Great Lakes region, played a major role in the ritual and ceremony of Eastern North America?

6. What were two general interpretations of the Sapelo Island Ring Complex?

7. What is chunkey? What roles did this game play in the social life of Cahokia?

8. How does Monk’s Mound at Cahokia compare to the Pyramid of Cheops at Giza in terms of size?

9. How were Late Mississippian groups affected by Spanish diseases in the mid-AD 1500s?

10. How do archaeologists interpret the function of Cahokia’s “Woodhenge”?

1. Burials throughout Eastern North America provide evidence of differences in social status. What are some material remains (and patterns) that might signify an elite individual?

2. Describe some advantages that allowed Cahokia to sustain a much larger population than Chaco Canyon.

3. Describe the site of Moundville and its relationship with Cahokia.

4. What does the spatial arrangement of mounds at Poverty Point reveal about social relations and ranking at the site?

5. How can archaeologists distinguish feasting from everyday subsistence at sites in Eastern North America?