Archaeology and Humanity’s Story:

A Brief Introduction to World Prehistory

Chapter 11 Test Bank—Shang China

Multiple-Choice Questions (30)

1. Bronze was ____________________________.

A) possessed by Erligang commoners

B) naturally deposited on the banks of the Yangtze River

C) the most significant ritual metal in Shang China

D) too soft to be used for practical tools

2. Qin Shi Huang was the founder of the ________________ Dynasty in 221 BC.

A) Qin

B) Shang

C) Huang He

D) Banpo

3. Which material provides the best, though indirect, evidence of agricultural surpluses?

A) Animal bone

B) Pottery

C) Chipped stone scrapers

D) Fire-cracked rock.

4. _______________________ was not a Neolithic settlement in China.

A) Anyang

B) Xinglonggou

C) Jiahu

D) Bashidong

5. The Yangtze River region was associated with early ________________________.

A) potato farming

B) barley surpluses

C) banana arboriculture

D) rice cultivation

6. Oracle bones were interpreted by _____________________.

A) priestesses

B) diviners

C) the emperor

D) the emperor’s royal guards

7. Lady Hao was ________________________.

A) a consort to a Shang king

B) a military commander

C) buried with bronze weaponry

D) All of the above

8. Taosi was _________________________________________.

A) a Confucian painter

B) a Longshan Culture walled site

C) a Shang warlord

D) a Neolithic hilltop site

9. How did China differ from Mesopotamia in terms of political complexity?

A) China had centralized leadership, unlike Mesopotamia and Egypt, which were egalitarian.

B) China had the benefit of agricultural surpluses.

C) Egypt and Mesopotamia had divinely ordained leaders.

D) Complex Chinese polities emerged in several regions.

10. What is millet?

A) A domesticated grain

B) A riverine fish, common in the Huang He

C) The ceremonial robe worn by Shang elites

D) A fermented beverage

11. ____________________ was the center (literally and figuratively) of the Erlitou Culture.

A) Etowah

B) Erlitou

C) Endor

D) Erligang

12. Kaolin is _________________________.

A) the titled bestowed upon deceased ancestors

B) a flat stone used to process roots and tubers in southern China

C) a type of clay used to make white pottery

D) an artificial sweetener

13. Banpo and ________________ were both Yangshao Culture Neolithic villages.

A) Jiangzhai

B) Beijing

C) Zhengzhou

D) Tsingtao

14. Erlitou featured a 2000-piece turquoise and jade mosaic of a __________________.

A) horse

B) tiger

C) panda

D) dragon

15. Zhengzhou was the main city of the _________________ Culture.

A) Erligang

B) Hohokam

C) Erlitou

D) Nabta Playa

16. The beginning of Shang China is usually designated as ________________________.

A) 2850 BC

B) 1600 BC

C) 220 BC

D) AD 770

17. The morphology of cow ______________ bones is particularly conducive to divination (i.e., they are a good shape to work with).

A) rib

B) shoulder

C) leg

D) jaw

18. Taotie means _______________________.

A) male and female combined

B) the way of the pig

C) two-eyed

D) serpent tongue

19. ________________ was not a frequently used ceremonial material in Shang China.

A) Sapphire

B) Bronze

C) Jade

D) Turquoise

20. Shang royals ________________________________.

A) ate only once a week as a form of ritual fasting

B) hunted and gathered food for their families

C) produced and harvested food for their households

D) received food as tribute

21. According to written records, most Shang sacrificial victims were _____________________.

A) war captives

B) male descendants of Shang rulers

C) disgraced elites

D) adulterers and petty thieves

22. There were many uses for bronze in Shang China, but most was formed into _________________.

A) warrior statues

B) ceremonial vessels

C) armor for the kings soldiers

D) nose rings

23. _________________ was a walled settlement of the Longshan Culture.

A) Xibalba

B) Plo Koon

C) Haojiatai

D) Angkor Wat

24. The Shang were conquered by the ________________ Dynasty in 1045 BC.

A) Qin

B) Yangshao

C) Shanghai

D) Western Zhou

25. ___________________ was the most important ritual aspect of Shang society.

A) Speaking in tongues

B) Priesthood

C) Ancestor worship

D) Shamanic trance

26. ________________ dating to 10,000–5000 BC was discovered at Zengpiyan Cave.

A) Sago palm

B) An avocado pit

C) Zebra bone

D) Taro root

27. Anyang is also referred to as ________________________.

A) Yinxu

B) Bodhidharma

C) Xinglonggou

D) Adena

28. Anyang was _______________________.

A) a Neolithic oasis

B) a mountaintop palace

C) a late Shang capital

D) Erlitou’s largest pyramid

29. With the exception of Jiahu, Peiligang Culture sites are usually dominated by ____________.

A) long-grain rice

B) maize

C) chicken wings

D) millet

30. Chinese writing was probably __________________________________.

A) borrowed from Mayan glyphs

B) the result of a long, gradual process

C) not necessary until the Qin Dynasty

D) developed in the Paleolithic

/Questions (10)

1. In Shang China, elites held control over the distribution of bronze vessels. (

2. Imperial China was extremely successful, existing until AD 1911. (

3. The region around the Mekong River was critically important for Shang China. (

4. Although there is little evidence to support this interpretation, some researchers have proposed that cowrie shells were used as money. (

5. Impressions of maize cobs are found on pottery fragments at Xiaohuangshan. (

6. Foxtail millet was a type of millet produced in Neolithic China. (

7. There is no archaeological evidence of horse sacrifice in China. (

8. The Yangshao culture followed Shang culture. (

9. In Shang China, the high god was referred to as Ti. (

10. The Neolithic Jiahu site featured pottery with fermented rice residue. (

1. What are two early domesticated plant crops associated with China?

2. What are three early domesticated animals associated with China?

3. What kinds of defensive elements were incorporated into the design of Longshan Culture (and later) settlements?

4. What is the taotie motif?

5. What is scapulimancy?

6. What were the two main rivers on which early Chinese states depended? Which river does Chapter 11 primarily focus on?

7. Residue analyses of pottery from Jiahu indicated the production of what beverage?

8. Oracle bones were often large bovid scapulae. What other animal part was used for this ritual process?

9. How were archaeologists able to interpret the agricultural production of Jiangzhai village and its distribution between households?

10. The Tomb of Qin Shi Huang contained thousands of ____________________________.

1. Discuss the process of oracle bone divination and its role in Shang society.

2. How was bronze produced and utilized in the later Chinese societies covered in Chapter 11?

3. What do the details of the adult male buried at Xishuipo reveal about social divisions in Yangshao Culture? How do you interpret the burial’s unusual features?

4. Erlitou Culture set in motion a settlement pattern that would continue, in larger form, into later periods. How was Erlitou Culture centered on the Erlitou site?

5. Briefly describe the events that occurred after the end of the Shang Dynasty. When did China become an Empire? When did it cease to be an Empire?