Q&A Hero

Q: In order to infer ancient social and political organization, it is important to remember that material culture reflects symbolic meaning as well as functional behaviors.

Q: The differential participation of males and females in the various social, economic, political, and religious institutions of a group is termed a. Gender ideology. b. Berdaches. c. Gender role. d. Sexual dichotomy.

Q: Anthropologists distinguish between gender and sex. Sex refers to a. Culturally constructed ideas about sex differences. b. The human capability to reproduce. c. Inherited biological differences between males and females. d. Biological differences that are not inherited.

Q: Members of the Tahitian villages were organized into competing chiefdoms ruled by a "sacred chief." Below the "sacred chiefs" were a. Other "sacred chiefs." b. Small chiefs. c. Sub-chiefs. d. The "sacred chief" was the only ruling chief.

Q: That material culture reflects symbolic meanings as well as functional behaviors a. Makes archaeological patterning easy to understand. b. Makes archeological patterning difficult to understand. c. Makes it impossible infer ancient social and political organization from artifacts. d. Makes it easy to tell if objects are best interpreted in terms of their symbolic or functional meanings.

Q: Physical, face to face associations of people are referred to by archeologists as a. Non-residential groups b. Residential groups c. Residences d. Non-residences

Q: Archaeologists know that the pottery wheel is associated with a. The horse drawn cart b. Craft specialization c. Marketing of pottery d. Craft specializations and marketing of pottery.

Q: We know much about what Maya hieroglyphs mean because a. Maya left written explanations. b. Maya epigraphers can read the hieroglyphs. c. Maya hieroglyphs are exactly the same as Egyptian hieroglyphs. d. We do not confuse hieroglyphs with art.

Q: Which of the following sourcing studies are not used to demonstrate the geographic scale of an economic and/or political organization? a. Obsidian b. Clay c. Temper d. Soil

Q: The socially recognized network of relationships through which individuals are related to one another by ties of descent (real or imagined) and marriage is known as a. Family ties. b. Descent. c. Kinship. d. Hierarchy.

Q: In the reconstruction of social and political organizations archaeologists remember a. Artifacts were merely utilitarian items. b. Artifacts carried no social meanings. c. Artifacts carried symbolic meanings that reflect elements of social and political organization. d. It is not necessary to have well-supported ethnographic analogy.

Q: Petrographic and instrumental neutron activation analysis conducted on Micronesian pottery determined which of the following? a. Pottery found on the atolls was all manufactured on the high island of Yap, confirming an ancient trade network between Yap and outlying atolls. b. Pottery found on the atolls was all manufactured locally; each atoll had its own source of high quality clay from which ceramic vessels were manufactured. c. Although the clay used to manufacture most of the pottery came from the high island of Yap, the actual manufacture of pottery took place on the atolls. d. It was impossible to determine the particular high island that was the source of the clay used to manufacture Micronesian pottery because the islands have such similar geologic histories.

Q: A technique used to determine the source of pottery by identifying the trace element composition of the clay or temper used to manufacture the pot is: a. Petrographic analysis. b. Instrumental neutron activation analysis. c. Energy dispersive x-ray fluorescence. d. Any or all of the above.

Q: The current sourcing method used to fingerprint obsidian, and used by Richard Hughes to verify James Griffin's determination that obsidian in the Ohio Hopewell mounds had come from Obsidian Cliff in Yellowstone National Park some 2400 kilometers away is: a. Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). b. Petrographic analysis. c. Microscopic observation of thin sections. d. X-ray fluorescence (XRF).

Q: Petrographic analysis involves: a. Shooting an x-ray beam onto lithic raw material causing the electrons to become excited and emit fluorescent energy. b. Trace element analysis of lithic raw material to obtain a "fingerprint" and identify source. c. Identifying the mineral composition of a pot's temper and clay through microscopic analysis of thin sections of the pottery. d. All of the above; petrographic analysis refers to all techniques that attempt to source ceramic or lithic raw material.

Q: The cultural tradition that is found primarily in the Ohio River Valley and its tributaries dating between 200 BC and AD 400, that constructed geometric earthworks and effigy mounds, and that is known for its elaborate mortuary rituals is: a. Mississippian. b. Moundville. c. Hopewell. d. Southeastern Ceremonial Complex.

Q: If a person goes to the natural source area of a raw material and either extracts the material him- or herself or trades for it or for finished products, he or she is engaging in: a. Direct acquisition. b. Down-the-line trade. c. Raw material sourcing. d. The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex.

Q: Analyses of burial populations from Mississippian sites indicate: a. Clear status differences among men and women, as well as among classes, reflected by types and abundance of grave goods. b. That men ate more meat than women, and that high status men ate more meat than low status men. c. That although the elite had access to resources that low status individuals did not, the quality of life of low status individuals did not appear negatively affected. d. All of the above.

Q: By assuming that the treatment of people in death reflects their status and roles in life, the data from more than 3000 burials at Moundville indicates that: a. Moundville society was egalitarian. b. Moundville society was ranked, most likely a chiefdom. c. House structures as well as burials were unrelated to the status of people at Moundville. d. Moundville society was matrilineal; females were buried with many more grave goods than males.

Q: The name of the cultural tradition that was widespread across much of the eastern United States from AD 800-1500, engaged in intensive village-based maize horticulture, and constructed earthen platform mounds is: a. Mississippian. b. Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. c. Moundville. d. All of the above.

Q: An egalitarian society: a. Is a society in which people generally have equal access to critical, life-sustaining resources. b. Contains roughly as many valued positions as there are persons capable of filling them. c. Recognizes status on the basis of gender and age. d. All of the above.

Q: A social system in which positions of status are limited, and thus where not everyone of talent may achieve high status or prestige is called a(n): a. Ranked society. b. Egalitarian society. c. Nonresidential group. d. Residential group.

Q: Schillaci and Stojanowski (University of New Mexico) argue from their analysis of the Pueblo Bonito burial population that the people of Pueblo Bonito practiced bilocal rather than matrilocal residence because: a. Ethnographic analogy suggests that the presence of prestigious grave goods accompanying both male and female skeletons at Pueblo Bonito is characteristic of bilocal residence patterns. b. Mitochondrial DNA studies showed that males were more closely biologically related than females. c. Analysis of cranial traits showed that the male sample possessed greater variation than the female sample, a pattern not expected within a matrilocal residence pattern. d. Analysis of cranial traits showed that the female sample possessed greater variation than the male sample, a pattern not expected within a matrilocal residence pattern; bilocal residence was also common among the eastern pueblos at the time of European contact.

Q: Why has Peter Peregrine (Lawrence University) suggested that Chacoan pueblo society practiced matrilocal residence? a. The small size of Chacoan pueblos (<60 square meters) lies within the size limits of ethnographically documented matrilocal residences. b. The side-by-side spatial arrangement of pueblo rooms reflects social solidarity, which ethnographic data suggest is characteristic of matrilocal residence. c. Bioarchaeological analysis of Chacoan burial populations has shown that females are more genetically similar to each other than are males; this means that females stayed in their village of origin while males migrated from elsewhere. d. All of the above.

Q: Clusters of residences among the Mikea people in Madagascar reflect: a. Matrilineal descent groups, with clusters of families consisting of older women, sisters, and their husbands. b. Patrilineal descent groups, with clusters of families consisting of older men, brothers, and their wives c. A mixture of descent groups, with an equal chance of members belonging to a patrilineage or a matrilineage d. Status differences, with groups at the north end of a settlement having higher status than those at the south end.

Q: With patrilocal residence, commonly associated with patrilineal descent: a. A newly married couple lives in the groom's village of origin. b. A newly married couple lives in the groom's mother's village of origin. c. A newly married couple lives in the bride's village of origin. d. A newly married couple lives in the bride's father's village of origin.

Q: A set of lineages that claims to share a distant, often-mythical ancestor is called a: a. Moiety. b. Clan. c. Kinship system. d. Berdache.

Q: The standard kinship system in North America as well as in many other industrialized nationsis: a. Patrilineal descent. b. Matrilineal descent. c. Bilateral descent. d. Mostly patrilineal descent, with an almost equal amount of bilateral descent.

Q: If a biological father has little to do with his biological offspring, and instead spends most of his time with his sister's children who call him by a term meaning "father" rather than "uncle," the descent system of these people is most likely: a. Patrilineal. b. Matrilineal. c. Bilateral. d. Any or all of the above.

Q: The socially recognized network of relationships through which individuals are related to one another by ties of descent (real or imagined) and marriage is called: a. A moiety. b. A lineage. c. Kinship. d. Bilateral descent.

Q: The argument that females depicted in Classic Maya stelae occupied similar and complimentary roles to those of males, and that these Maya stelae depict a prehistoric cargo system, is based on: a. Translation of Maya hieroglyphics that describe the operation of cargo systems. b. Historically linked ethnographic analogy. c. Oral tradition; although Maya today do not participate in cargo systems, a record of their past participation has been preserved through storytelling. d. All of the above.

Q: The primary method for reconstructing male and female activities from the archaeological record comes from: a. Ceramic analysis. b. Lithic (including groundstone) analysis. c. Ethnographic analogy. d. Gender ideology.

Q: Ethnographic data from a variety of societies around the world has shown which of the following about men's and women's roles in ceramic manufacture? a. When pottery is made by hand, it is usually made by women; when pottery is made on a wheel, it is usually made by men. b. When pottery is made by hand, it is usually made by men; when pottery is made on a wheel, it is usually made by women. c. When pottery is made on a wheel, men and women participate equally in the manufacturing process; women dominate the manufacturing process when pottery is made by hand. d. When pottery is made by hand, men and women participate equally in the manufacturing process; women dominate the manufacturing process when pottery is made on a wheel.

Q: Roughly what percent of professional archaeologists today are women? a. 2%. b. 10%. c. 25%. d. 50%.

Q: William Webb (1882-1964) excavated hundreds of burials at the Indian Knoll site in western Kentucky. How did Webb explain the presence of hunting weapons in the graves of women and children at the site? a. Women and children hunted in life; they were therefore interred with the objects they would need in the afterlife. b. Burial ritual; the artifacts were symbols of grief rather than objects that the interred used during life because women and children would not have hunted. c. Misinterpretation of the archaeological evidence; the "hunting weapons" were not hunting weapons at all, but rather tools used to process plants. d. All of the above; his interpretations of the site changed through time.

Q: The difference between gender roles and gender ideologies is: a. Gender roles are the culturally prescribed behaviors associated with men and women, while gender ideologies are the culturally prescribed values assigned to the tasks and status of men and women. b. Gender roles are highly variable among cultures, while gender ideologies are constant among all cultures. c. Gender roles are constant among all cultures, while gender ideologies are highly variable. d. None of the above; the terms are interchangeable.

Q: Berdaches were: a. Recognized by their cultural group as a third gender. b. Men who chose to live as women, performing women's traditional roles. c. Also known as "two-spirits" in some Plains Indian societies. d. All of the above.

Q: Margaret Conkey and Janet Spector pointed out which of the following biases in archaeology? a. The fact that plant remains are rarely preserved at archaeological sites while animal bones and stone tools are often abundant, leading archaeologists to overestimate the importance of meat in prehistoric diets. b. The fact that when archaeologists only study projectile points and ignore associated debitage, or debris, from the manufacture of stone tools, they end up with a biased view of prehistoric technological organization. c. The fact that archaeologists tend to impose the current political organization of their culture onto prehistoric political organizations without sufficient data to justify their inferences. d. The fact that archaeologists once viewed the world largely in terms of men's activities and perceptions, while the contributions of women were downplayed; this view was projected into prehistory, resulting in a strong androcentric bias in archaeology.

Q: If you live in a society in which two or more local groups are organized under a single highly ranked individual, you live in a(n): a. Egalitarian society, b. Patrilineal society. c. Chiefdom. d. Any or all of the above.

Q: Political organization can be defined as: a. The culturally prescribed behavior associated with men and women which can vary from society to society. b. The rules and structures that govern relations within a group of interacting people. c. A society's formal and informal institutions that regulate a population's collective acts. d. A network of relationships through which individuals are related to one another by ties of descent.

Q: Anthropologists refer to the rules and structures that govern relations within a group of interacting people as: a. Residence patterns. b. Social organization. c. Residence rules d. Kinship systems.

Q: Genetic material found in a cell's nucleus that is primarily responsible for an individual's inherited traits is called a. Gene b. Mitochondrial DNA c. Nuclear DNA d. Molecular DNA

Q: Christy Turner observed in human bones from Chacoan sites in the Four Corners region of the Southwest a. Evidence of bear stone tool cut marks in places that suggest flesh was stripped from them. b. Abraded surfaces similar to that produced by stirring boiling bones in a ceramic pot. c. Evidence that people were killed and eaten by bears. d. Both A and B

Q: Although we still have much to learn about the rates at which DNA mutates, current studies show that a. The ratios of carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bone affect the DNA. b. Stature affects the rate. c. DNA studies are important in reconstructing the past. d. DNA studies will soon be obsolete.

Q: Iron deficiency leaves a distinctive spongy appearance on a. Eye orbits. b. Bone fusion. c. The skull. d. Tooth enamel.

Q: An individual's age under 25 can be determined by a. Tooth eruption patterns. b. Tooth wear. c. Patterns of bone wear. d. Bone fusion.

Q: Larsen was interested in how well the people of Stillwater Marsh lived because a. He wanted to show how "brutish" hunters-gatherers were. b. He wanted to show that hunter-gatherers worked very hard. c. He wanted to show that the hunter-gatherers had barely enough food to eat. d. He wanted to use the skeletal data to provide a more objective assessment of foraging lifeways.

Q: Ancient cultural practices mix human skeletal remains together, making it difficult to group skeletal remains by individual. Some examples of this mentioned in the text include a. Bundle burials where the bodies were placed in a communal grave. b. Bodies laid out together in a charnal house to decompose. c. Bodies laid to rest in a river where the current scattered the remains. d. Both A and B

Q: In the U.S. conducting research on American Indian remains is a sensitive issue and raises major ethical issues. Which of the following statements is true? a. Some modern archaeologists believe we should stop analyzing human remains. b. Many museums curate both Indian and non-Indian remains; the proportion of non-Indian skeletons outweighs the Native American skeletons. c. Reburying non-Native American remains seems to be a disrespectful thing to do. d. Archaeologists began curating Native American remains in museum collections very recently.

Q: Studies of from various modern human populations have found: a. Living Native Americans are not related to northern Asia b. Living Native Americans are descendants of a separate migratory wave from Europe. c. Living Native Americans are unlike Europeans, making an ancient migration from Europe as well as from Asia unlikely. d. modern human populations are close knit.

Q: Studies of some of the skeletal data of Neanderthals have concluded: a. They are different from modern Europeans. b. There is continuity between Neanderthals and modern Europeans. c. Similarities with Native American populations. d. Modern human capabilities to use symbols

Q: Coprolites from the New World that are 12,000 or more calendar years old: a. Are some of the earliest evidence of a presence in North America. b. Are extremely rare. c. Suggest that the peopling of the Americas can be explained by only one migration of people from northeastern Asia. d. Are too poorly preserved to provide bioarchaeologists with any meaningful data.

Q: Christy Turner's extensive research on variability in the crown and root areas of human teeth found: a. That pre-contact North American Indian teeth are less similar to pre-contact South American Indian teeth than they are to pre-contact Eskimo and Aleut Indian teeth. b. That the teeth of all North and South American Indians are remarkably similar, suggesting a single migration from northern Asia at the end of the last Ice Age. c. That modern and pre-contact American Indian teeth are most similar to the teeth of northern Asians, and that three major Native American groups could be identified, suggesting at least three migrations. d. No similarity between the teeth of modern and pre-contact American Indians and the teeth of people from northern Asia.

Q: Archaeological research has conclusively proven which of the following about the earliest occupation of the New World? a. Clovis was the first and only migration into North America, from which all native peoples of the New World descended. b. The earliest occupants of the New World traveled from Asia, across the Bering land bridge, through the ice-free corridor between the continental ice sheets sometime during the height of the last glacial between 25,000 and 10,000 years ago. c. The earliest occupants of the New World traveled along the western coast of North America, bypassing the interior and making it all the way to Tierra del Fuego; Clovis was a later migration from Asia adapted to terrestrial hunting and was the first to occupy the interior of North America. d. None of the above; the timing and nature of the initial colonization of the New World is still very much up in the air.

Q: The "Out of Africa" hypothesis of modern human origins suggests that the earliest modern humans fanned out of Africa to replace other hominids in other parts of the Old World roughly: a. 50,000 years ago. b. 100,000 years ago. c. 200,000 years ago. d. 300,000 years ago.

Q: The idea that the origin of all modern humans can be traced to a single African ancestor ("Eve"): a. Is based on evidence from mitochondrial DNA. b. Is accepted by nearly all biological anthropologists today. c. Means that Neanderthals and modern humans most likely interbred. d. All of the above.

Q: Which of the following is true of mitochondrial DNA? a. It is present in the nucleus of every cell. b. It is only transferred from mother to offspring. c. It mutates at a much slower rate than nuclear DNA. d. All of the above.

Q: Schoeninger interpreted the greater range of nitrogen isotope ratios in the Stillwater burial population compared to the Pecos or Ontario populations as reflecting: a. Greater dietary variability in the Pecos and Ontario populations than in the Stillwater population. b. Greater dietary variability in the Stillwater population than in the Pecos and Ontario populations c. The fact that the Stillwater population had an increasing dependence on meat through time d. An individual's age or sex; in the Stillwater population, children ate less meat than adults and males ate more meat than females.

Q: If stable isotope analysis is conducted on a human skeleton that during life consumed a diet rich in C4 plants such as maize and very little meat, then the isotopic ratios of the bones would show: a. A high ratio of 12C to 13C. b. A high ratio of 13C to 12C. c. A high ratio of 15N to 14N. d. A high ratio of 13C to 15N.

Q: The Stillwater Marsh burial population had a remarkably low percentage of dental caries because: a. Grit from plant food ground on metates was incorporated into their diet; this grit acted as a natural abrasive and helped to clean their teeth. b. They ate very little meat, largely subsisting on maize agriculture. c. They were strictly hunter-gatherers, and so their diet was very low in simple carbohydrates and starches. d. None of the above; the Stillwater Marsh burial population had an extremely high percentage of dental caries because their diet was high in carbohydrates.

Q: The best bone for determining stature from human skeletal material is: a. The tibia. b. The femur. c. The ulna. d. The radius.

Q: The Stillwater burial population was not an ideal candidate for a paleodemographic study because: a. The Stillwater burial population consisted almost entirely of adults; because children were not represented, little could be said about the paleodemography of the population. b. Paleodemography works best with skeletal samples derived from different biological populations, and the Stillwater burials represented only one biological population. c. Paleodemography works best with a skeletal sample representing only a few years or decades, and the Stillwater burials dated to a time period of 600 years or longer. d. Most of the individuals in the Stillwater burial population were older than 50 years old, and so younger adults were not represented.

Q: How is mechanical stress, or workload, detectable in the human skeleton? a. Through signs of osteoarthritis in which the cartilage between joints wears away, often because of overuse of the joint. b. Through growth arrest features, such as Harris lines and enamel hypoplasias. c. Through mortality profiles that depict the various ages at death of a burial population. d. All of the above.

Q: You are excavating a Native American human burial site which contains both males and females. After obtaining permission from current Native American tribes believed to have descended from these people, you analyze the bones. You notice a higher rate of osteoarthritis in the lumbar vertebrae of the female skeletons in comparison to the male skeletons. What might you conclude from this evidence? a. That females were doing more intense walking than the males, traveling far distances to gather plants. b. That females were putting more stress on their backs, perhaps from grinding corn or carrying children. c. That females did not have access to the same amount of high quality food as males, and were thus suffering from malnutrition. d. All of the above.

Q: What can bioarchaeologists determine from enamel hypoplasias? a. How old a child was when the growth arrest event took place. b. The duration of the period of stress which resulted in the hypoplasia. c. Whether they resulted from physical trauma to the face, parasitic infection, or malnutrition. d. Both A and B.

Q: Eburnation is: a. A symptom of iron deficiency anemia in which the skull takes on a porous appearance. b. A horizontal linear defect in tooth enamel indicating an episode of physiological stress. c. A sign of osteoarthritis in which the epiphyses of long bones are worn smooth, causing them to take on a varnish-like appearance. d. A sign of osteoarthritis in which bones develop a distinct "lipping" at the point of articulation.

Q: If a bioarchaeologist finds evidence of osteoarthritis in which bones have developed a distinct "lipping" at the point of articulation, he or she has found: a. Osteophytes. b. Enamel hypoplasias. c. Eburnation. d. Harris lines.

Q: If an archaeologist is studying ancient patterns of disease and disorders, he or she is studying: a. Bioarchaeology. b. Paleopathology. c. Mortality profiles. d. Paleodemography.

Q: Which of the following is true of the Bushmen of southern Africa? a. They reject the name "Bushmen" (which they acquired from the Dutch) today because of its derogatory origin and meaning. b. They prefer to call themselves the San, !Kung, or Ju/"hoansi, indigenous names that refer to all Bushmen as a whole. c. There is no indigenous term for the Bushmen as a whole, because there are many different groups of Bushmen. d. They have been the subject of very little anthropological investigation, and as a result little is known of their culture and history.

Q: Which of the following is true of iron deficiency anemia? a. It can be induced by a lack of red meat in the diet, chronic diarrhea, or parasites. b. It can cause porotic hyperostosis, which results in the surface of the skull taking on a spongy appearance. c. It can cause cibra orbitalia, which results in the bone of the upper eye sockets taking on a spongy appearance. d. All of the above.

Q: If a bioarchaeologist is looking at the fusion of epiphyses on a human skeleton, he or she is most likely trying to determine: a. Race. b. Age. c. Sex. d. Paleopathology.

Q: You are examining a burial site, and are interested in the diet of the people, in particular, how much meat people were consuming on a daily basis. What might you examine? a. Quantity of groundstone in the burials. b. Levels of Nitrogen-15 relative to Nitrogen-14 in the bones. c. Size of muscle attachments on bones. d. Levels of Carbon-13 relative to Carbon 12 in the bones.

Q: Harris lines and dental hypoplasias can be used by bioarchaeologists to make inferences about a. Disease and malnourishment in old age. b. Activity levels and diet of men and women. c. Disease and malnourishment during infant-to-adolescent growth periods. d. The amount of meat in the diet of prehistoric populations.

Q: What could a bioarchaeologist look at to determine the age at death of a juvenile human skeleton? a. Tooth eruption patterns. b. Patterns of bone fusion. c. Patterns of wear on the pubic symphysis. d. Tooth eruption and bone fusion patterns.

Q: Why is it possible to assess age at death from tooth eruption patterns in juvenile human skeletons? a. Because the pattern and timing of crown formation and tooth eruption is consistent among human populations. b. Because although the timing of crown formation and tooth eruption varies among human populations, it varies at known rates. c. It is only possible if the sex of the individual is also known, because tooth eruption patterns differ between males and females. d. None of the above.

Q: What could a bioarchaeologist look at to determine the age at death of a mature human skeleton (>30 years old)? a. Tooth eruption patterns. b. Patterns of bone fusion. c. Paleopathologies such as osteoarthritis and enamel hypoplasias. d. Patterns of wear on the pubic symphysis.

Q: The first thing a bioarchaeologist would do when analyzing a human skeletal assemblage would be to: a. Confirm that all the bones in the assemblage were human. b. Calculate MNI and NISP. c. Determine the sex and age at death of the individuals represented. d. Determine any paleopathology present in the individuals represented.

Q: How does the sciatic notch of females differ from that of males? a. It is narrower in females and wider in males. b. It is wider in females and narrower in males. c. It is more sensitive to periods of physiological stress in females than in males. d. It is more sensitive to mechanical stresses in females than in males.

Q: The best place for a bioarchaeologist to look to determine the sex of human skeletal remainsis: a. The skull. b. The pelvis. c. The sacrum. d. The dentition.

Q: Bioarchaeologists study: a. Macrobotanical remains from archaeological sites in order to interpret past interactions between human populations and plants. b. Faunal assemblages from archaeological sites in order to determine past interactions between human populations and animals. c. The human biological component of the archaeological record. d. All of the above; bioarchaeologists study all aspects of ancient life (plant, animal, and human) in archaeological contexts.