Archaeology and Humanity’s Story:

A Brief Introduction to World Prehistory

Chapter 5 Test Bank— Hunting, Gathering, Foraging, Farming, and Complexity

Multiple-Choice Questions (25)

1. ____________________ is another name for the Late Epipaleolithic period in the Levant.

A) Natufian

B) Tunisian

C) Acheulian

D) Neimoidian

2. PPN is an abbreviation of _________________________.

A) Proto-Pottery Natufian

B) Paleoamerican Pleistocene Niche

C) Paleolithic Pottery Nodule

D) Pre-Pottery Neolithic

3. The theory for the origins of agriculture that supposes harsh climate caused humans and animals to cluster together near water sources is the:

A) Readiness theory.

B) Oasis theory.

C) Population pressure theory.

D) Younger Dryas Theory.

4. Göbekli Tepe in Turkey is famous for its ________________________.

A) micro-pyramids

B) llama burials

C) pillars with carved animal motifs

D) depictions of alien spacecraft

5. At the end of the Ice Ages, the Pleistocene is followed by the ___________________.

A) Holocene

B) Oligocene

C) Megacene

D) Neocene

6. In the New World, the Paleoamerican period is followed by the ______________________.

A) Neoamerican

B) Medieval

C) Folsom

D) Archaic

7. Sunflowers were domesticated in _________________.

A) China

B) North America

C) South America

D) Europe

8. The area that Robert Braidwood called the “Fertile Crescent” is located in ______________.

A) North Africa

B) the Middle East

C) the Andes

D) the Tehuácan Valley

9. Surprisingly, evidence from Belgium and Siberia suggests that dogs may have been domesticated as early as ______________________.

A) 1.5 million cal BC

B) 730,500 cal BC

C) 134,060 cal BC

D) 29,700 cal BC

10. The Epipaleolithic occurred ___________ the Upper Paleolithic in the Middle East.

A) after

B) before

C) during

D) None of the above

11. ____________________ is a PPNA site in Jordan.

A) Altamira

B) Dhra’

C) Monte Verde

D) Zhoukoudian

12. Some __________________ sites in the Levant include plastered human skulls.

A) Denisovan

B) Chatelperronian

C) PPNB

D) Paleoamerican

13. The Archaic (or Preceramic) period in the New World corresponds approximately to the ____________________ period in Europe.

A) Iron Age

B) Renaissance

C) Miocene

D) Mesolithic

14. Which of these plant foods was first domesticated in Africa?

A) Millet

B) Peanut

C) Quinoa

D) Maize

15. Hunter-gatherer-forager groups are generally ___________________.

A) class based

B) farmers

C) egalitarian

D) politically complex

16. Food surpluses often create conditions conducive to ______________________.

A) egalitarianism

B) berry-picking

C) high mobility

D) social complexity

17. Political complexity is a term used to describe societies for which __________________ have replaced kin groups in societal organization.

A) social classes

B) families

C) small households

D) shamans

18. Weeding, selective collection, and selective hunting are viewed by Bruce Smith as components of ________________________.

A) evolutionary ecology

B) postprocessualism

C) niche construction theory

D) Marxism

19. You would most likely find ___________________ at a site dating to the Levantine Epipaleolithic.

A) Acheulian handaxes

B) turkey bones

C) microliths

D) sheet copper

20. ____________ appear to have been domesticated around 8000 cal BC in the Zagros Mountains region.

A) Bananas

B) Goats

C) Chickens

D) Llamas

21. The region called the Levant includes all of these modern nation-states except:

A) Greece

B) Israel

C) Lebanon

D) Syria

22. The “Old World” includes:

A) Mexico

B) Canada

C) Europe

D) South America

23. ‘Ain Ghazal in Jordan was occupied during all of the ______________.

A) Dmanisi

B) Upper Paleolithic

C) PPNB

D) Pleistocene

24. ______________________ is an unusual site with T-shaped pillars decorated with motifs of snakes, aurochs, gazelle, and felines.

A) Göbekli Tepe

B) Duvensee

C) Xihuatoxtla Shelter

D) Chauvet Cave

25. ___________________ is a term used to refer to hunter-gatherer-forager groups in the Middle East between 23,000 and 9600 cal BC.

A) Epipaleolithic

B) Mesolithic

C) Neolithic

D) Gravettian

/Questions (10)

1. Increasing population size and density is known as population pressure. (

2. A feasting model for the origins of agriculture is applicable in all contexts. (

3. The “New World” includes Mexico. (

4. Nuts are a particularly useful resource for hunter-gatherer-foragers because of their oil and fat content. (

5. Potatoes were first domesticated in Kenya. (

6. The first animals domesticated by humans were cattle. (

7. The Levant is located in the Middle East. (

8. The control of nature through its manipulation is an example of a processual theory. (

9. The wild ancestor of modern maize is teosinte. (

10. The largest animals domesticated in the Americas are Turkeys. (

1. Why is it necessary to use the term “hunter-gatherer-forager”?

2. Why is domestication sometimes referred to as artificial selection?

3. What is the relationship between agriculture and social complexity?

4. PPNB sites in the Levant sometimes include carefully prepared plastered skulls. How have these been interpreted?

5. What attributes of gray wolves may have made them candidates for early domestication?

6. Briefly describe the readiness theory for agricultural development .

7. Name four common foods that were domesticated in the New World.

Corn (maize), beans, squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, sunflower seeds, turkey, tomatoes, peppers, and potentially others.

8. Describe the feasting model for the development of agriculture.

9. Broadly speaking, how did the climate change at the Pleistocene to Holocene transition?

10. How would you interpret a scatter of small shells with symmetrical holes in them?

1. Describe the process of domestication using gray wolves and teosinte as examples. How did human behavior transform these species?

2. How can social complexity and stratification be identified in the archaeological record?

3. If the initial interpretations of Göbekli Tepe are correct, what is so unusual about the site?

4. Explain niche construction theory (NCT) as applied to the origins of food production.

5. How can we identify political complexity in the archaeological record?