Q&A Hero

Q: Faunal remains in archaeological sites are composed of a. Plant remains. b. Animal bones. c. Pottery artifacts. d. Soil samples.

Q: The principle asserting that the processes now operating to modify the earth's surface are the same processes that operated long ago in the geological past is known as a. Analogy. b. Principle of uniformitarianism. c. Evolution. d. Stratigraphy.

Q: Unlike detectives, archaeologists a. want to know what happened in the past. b. make inferences about the past based on material remains. c. work on sites that are quickly discovered and immediately protected. d. commonly recover objects with unknown functions and meanings.

Q: Ethnoarchaeological research among the Mikea suggests that the more permanent a settlementis: a. The greater range of features it will contain. b. The closer trash dumps will be to habitations structures. c. The more variable posthole diameters will be. d. All of the above.

Q: If you are conducting archaeological excavation in an area where houses were made in a way similar to that inhabited by Madagascar's Mikea, and you find a house structure that has very consistent post diameters (as determined by the post holes left behind, now filled with decayed wood), what could you infer about the house based on ethnoarchaeological research? a. Wood resources were sparse. b. It was used as a temporary foraging structure. c. It was likely a permanent house. d. It was a seasonal habitation.

Q: Kelly conducted ethnoarchaeological research among the Mikea of Madagascar to answer which of the following questions? a. Are different lengths of stay in different types of settlements reflected in the material remains left behind at Mikea sites? b. What are the long-term effects of Mikea slash-and-burn horticulture on soil nutrients? c. Are different subsistence practices reflected in the material remains left behind at Mikea sites? d. All of the above.

Q: The purpose of Binford's ethnoarchaeological research among the Nunamiut Eskimo of Alaska was: a. To document Nunamiut subsistence strategies in order to determine what prehistoric adaptations in other arctic environments may have entailed. b. To determine how the kinship system of the Nunamiut differed from the kinship systems of cultures in non-marginal environments. c. To observe living people and see what remains their activities left behind in an attempt to strengthen inferences from archaeological data. d. To determine the effect of seasonality on Nunamiut hunting practices.

Q: Binford's ethnoarchaeological work with the Nunamiut Eskimo of Alaska demonstrated: a. That it was safe for archaeologists to assume that a difference in artifacts reflects a difference in culture. b. That different artifact assemblages could result from different activities conducted by the same culture. c. The likelihood that different Mousterian tool assemblages were a result of different Neandertal tribes. d. That the same people leave the same kinds of tools at different locations across the landscape.

Q: Microwear traces on stone tools can be difficult to identify due to which of the following? a. Prehistoric resharpening of stone tools. b. Multiple uses of stone tools prehistorically. c. Brief tool use that did not permit formation of distinctive wear traces. d. All of the above.

Q: If you are observing microwear, or minute, often microscopic evidence of use damage on the surface and working edge of an artifact, you are probably observing: a. Striations. b. Microflaking. c. Polish. d. All of the Above.

Q: Newcomer designed blind experiments to test the accuracy of Keeley's high-power microscopy method of identifying stone tool microwear. These experiments: a. Established the validity of Keeley's high-power microscopic method; Keeley was able to correctly identify the microwear on many of the experimental stone tools. b. Determined that while high-power microscopic identifications could always be correctly made on the type of material worked, identifying the area of the tool actually used was much more difficult. c. Showed that while high-power microscopic analysis can be useful, it is not as effective as low-power analysis in determining microwear. d. Showed that high-power microscopic analysis is useless in determining microwear.

Q: Experimental archaeology has been used to determine how stone tools were used in the past. This research has shown: a. That different kinds of use produce different kinds of microflakes on different parts of the tools. b. That stone tool edge damage varied with the type of material being worked (soft materials versus hard materials). c. That different kinds of use result in different kinds of stone tool polish. d. All of the above.

Q: Trying to move stones weighing several tons using only the tools and materials that the ancient Egyptians had available to them, with the goal of determining whether or not Egyptian technology was sufficiently sophisticated to produce monuments like the pyramids, is an example of: a. Experimental archaeology. b. Ethnoarchaeology. c. Analogy. d. Uniformitarianism.

Q: Don Crabtree's experimental flintknapping research: a. Failed to discover any successful ways in which Folsom projectile points could be fluted in spite of decades of research; flintknappers today still don"t understand how to produce a flute. b. Discovered successful ways in which Folsom projectile points could be fluted, and stimulated additional research resulting in the discovery of more successful fluting methods. c. Discovered the purpose of the flute in Folsom projectile points; fluting was part of a pre-hunting ritual designed to ensure hunting success. d. Showed that the fluting of Folsom projectile points was actually a simple process that any minimally skilled flintknapper (by today's standards) could accomplish with relative ease.

Q: When discussing projectile points, a "flute" refers to: a. A distinctive characteristic of Clovis and Folsom projectile points. b. A wide, shallow, longitudinal groove on the face of a projectile point. c. The feature that is created by the removal of a channel flake. d. All of the above.

Q: A thin, sharp sliver of stone removed from a larger piece of rock during the flintknapping process is a: a. Projectile point. b. Core. c. Flake. d. Biface.

Q: The purpose of heat-treating stone tool raw material was to: a. Create stone tools by subjecting the raw material to heat, which would cause the material to fracture into usable pieces. b. Make it more difficult for the raw material to be flaked and shaped. c. Improve the flintknapping properties of the raw material. d. Have hot stones that could be used for cooking (e.g., dropped into ceramic vessels).

Q: What happened to the remains of Ishi, the Yahi Indian who lived at the University of California's museum in San Francisco and demonstrated traditional arrow-making and fire-starting for museum visitors? a. His body was autopsied by the university's medical center after his death in spite of his wishes that no autopsy be performed. b. His brain was sent to the Smithsonian Institution so that it could be put "to scientific use", where it sat for nearly 85 years. c. His remains were returned to California's Pit River tribe in 2000, and buried in a secret location. d. All of the above.

Q: Taphonomic research at the Hudson-Meng bison bonebed in northwest Nebraska showed that: a. The ancestors of modern Plains Indians purposely broke open bison skulls to remove the brains for use in tanning hides. b. Natural processes such as incomplete burial and subsequent exposure to sunlight could have caused the tops of the bison skulls to decompose. c. The bonebed was a result of the ancestors of modern Plains Indians running a herd of 500 bison off of a low cliff and subsequently dragging them to a processing area. d. The bonebed was a result of both natural bone accumulation and human hunting practices.

Q: Which of the following is true of the Hudson-Meng site in northwest Nebraska? a. Taphonomic research suggests that humans played little, if any, role in the deaths of the 500 bison at the site. b. The presence of hundreds of projectile points among the bison bone strongly suggests the bison were dispatched by human hunters. c. The presence of unequivocal cutmarks on many of the bison bone provides strong evidence of butchery by humans. d. The fact that most of the bison bones were highly disarticulated and scattered provides evidence of butchering by humans.

Q: Exploring the possible ways to make a projectile point is an example of _________, while observing the way a living group of people make projectile points is an example of _________. a. Experimental archaeology/ethnoarchaeology. b. Middle range research/general theory. c. Ethnoarchaeology/experimental archaeology. d. General theory/middle range research.

Q: Taphonomy is useful to archaeology because it: a. Shows that modern human behavior can be extended into the past, strengthening interpretations of the archaeological record. b. Helps archaeologists separate the effects of natural processes and human behavior on site formation. c. Can determine the most efficient method of tool manufacture, which was most likely the method employed in the prehistoric past. d. Reminds ethnoarchaeologists of their responsibility to the living people that they study.

Q: Studying how a large animal carcass decomposes on an African savannah to determine how long it takes the carcass to disarticulate in different seasons and which bones are carried away by carnivores is an example of: a. Ethnoarchaeology. b. Taphonomy. c. Experimental archaeology. d. Geoarchaeology.

Q: The goal of middle level theory is to: a. Determine whether modern cultures accurately reflect prehistoric cultures. b. Identify gender through stone tool analysis. c. Help build secure inferences from archaeological remains. d. Identify the role of the individual in archaeological research.

Q: Inferring that prehistoric kivas had the same function as kivas used by Puebloan societies today is an example of: a. A formal analogy. b. A relational analogy. c. Low level theory interpretation. d. Both formal and relational analogies.

Q: Formal analogies are strengthened if: a. Many ethnographic cases demonstrate the same pattern, and the archaeological and ethnographic cases have many attributes in common. b. They can be drawn between cultures with drastically different settlement systems, subsistence practices, or economies. c. Close cultural continuity cannot be demonstrated between archaeological and ethnographic cases. d. All of the above.

Q: Analogies justified by similarities in the formal attributes of archaeological and ethnographic objects and features are known as: a. Formal analogies. b. Relational analogies. c. Middle-range analogies. d. Uniformitarian analogies.

Q: Analogies justified on the basis of close cultural continuity between the archaeological and ethnographic cases or similarity in general cultural form are known as: a. Formal analogies. b. Relational analogies. c. Middle-range analogies. d. Uniformitarian analogies.

Q: A sipapu is: a. A small pit in a kiva located along the wall opposite the ventilator shaft. b. The place where the Hopis are said to have emerged into this world from the underworld. c. The place through which Hopi communication with the supernatural world takes place. d. All of the above.

Q: Which of the following is an example of reasoning through uniformitarian principles, rather then simple analogy? a. Ethnographic data on the hunting and gathering Shoshone in Nevada suggest that in the 19th century the Shoshone lived in groups of about 25 people; therefore prehistoric people who lived in the same area with the same economy also lived in groups of about 25. b. Ethnographic data from all over the world show that hunter-gatherers live in groups of about 25 people; therefore prehistoric hunter-gatherers in the deserts of Nevada also lived in groups of about 25 people. c. It has been demonstrated using ethnographic data that in a variety of different kinds of environments a group of hunter-gatherers of about 25 people contains about 7 active hunters and this number is sufficient to ensure that someone comes home with game each day; increasing the number of hunters beyond 7 increases the amount of food needed for the group but does not appreciably increase the chance that some hunter will come home with game; thus we argue that prehistoric hunter-gatherers also lived in groups of about 25 people. d. Ethnographic data on highly nomadic hunter-gatherers in desert environments who depend heavily on plants for food rather than on animals show that they live in groups of about 25 people; since prehistoric foragers in the Great Basin deserts were highly nomadic and heavily dependent on plant foods we argue that prehistoric peoples there lived in groups of 25 people.

Q: Experimental archaeology provides archaeologists with bridging arguments, ways to make inferences about past behavior from material remains. Which of the following is not an example of experimental archaeology? a. Using British schoolboys to see if they could move stones similar to those used to build Stonehenge. b. Using a stone tool to scrape hide and then examining microwear present on the tool's edge to determine the type of wear caused by hide-scraping. c. Using seriation to construct a way to date archaeological sites based on painted pottery styles. d. Throwing hafted spearpoints into elephant carcasses to determine their capacity for penetration.

Q: A geologist observes glacial moraines and striations in an area that is today not glaciated. The geologist interprets those features as evidence of past glacial activity. He or she is utilizing: a. Middle level theory. b. The principle of uniformitarianism. c. A relational analogy. d. All of the above

Q: In geology, the principle of uniformitarianism asserts: a. That the processes that modified the earth's surface in the past are unknowable because they cannot be directly observed. b. That the processes now operating to modify the earth's surface are the same as those of the geologic past. c. That the processes now operating to modify the earth's surface cannot simply be assumed to be the same as those of the geologic past, but must be demonstrated to be the same. d. That geologic processes are distinct from archaeological processes and that uniformitarianism only applies to geologic processes.

Q: There is no single "correct" typology.

Q: Morphological types become useful temporal types if their frequencies change significantly through time and they are restricted in space.

Q: Archaeological phases are the same across large geographic regions and large spans of time.

Q: An archaeological culture is the same thing as an ethnographic culture.

Q: Mousterian artifacts are frequently associated with the remains of Homo erectus.

Q: Projectile point types are usually named after the archaeologist who discovered them.

Q: Temporal types are morphological types that have been empirically demonstrated to span a specific period of time.

Q: If you were developing a stone tool typology based on attributes such as the object's use (i.e. scraper vs. projectile point), you would be using functional types.

Q: Temporal types help define the phases that then become the basic slices of time that archaeologists use to reconstruct the past.

Q: If you were developing a lithic typology based on attributes such as shape (e.g., corner-notched versus side-notched projectile points), you would be using morphological types.

Q: A functional type is a morphological type that has specific chronological meaning for a particular region.

Q: Conservation and cataloging of artifacts after excavation is very time consuming; as a rule of thumb, archaeologists spend 3 to 5 weeks or more cleaning, conserving, and cataloging for every week spent excavating.

Q: The principles of archaeological typology include: a. creating groups based on one or more attributes that maximize differences within each group. b. creating groups based on one or more attributes that minimize differences within each group. c. using subjective and nonreplicable processes. d. being "correct."

Q: Phases are a term archaeologists use to refer to a. culturally homogeneous units within a single site. b. archeological cultures. c. basic archaeological building blocks for regional synthesis. d. temporal types.

Q: The concept of culture areas a. has roots in the late nineteenth century. b. is ushered in with New Archaeology in the "60s. c. was first outlined in Phillips' influential book, Method and Theory in American Archaeology (1958). d. is based on the understanding of Cottonwood Triangular points.

Q: Stone tools found in Neanderthal cave sites, divided into 63 types, including a variety of points, scrapers, knives, handaxes, and denticulates are termed a. Bordes, after the French archaeologist b. Mousterian c. Dibble, after the University of Pennsylvania investigator d. Proximal

Q: Attributes are a. measurable and observable qualities of an object. b. differences like size and notch position. c. finite characteristics with set rules governing their number. d. measurable and observable qualities of an object, such as size and notch position.

Q: In a typology abstract, descriptive properties are called a. morphological types. b. temporal types. c. functional types. d. artifact types.

Q: The delineation of patterns in material culture through time and space and the patterns of which are what the archaeologist will eventually try to explain or account for is referred to as a. types. b. context. c. matrix. d. space-time systematic.

Q: Typology is/are a. the systematic arrangement of material culture into types. b. the catalogued artifacts in a museum. c. another term for stone artifacts. d. a form of conservation technique.

Q: The novice's first job in the lab of an archaeological investigation is almost often a. piecing together ceramics. b. writing down minute number on artifacts or labels and entering the information into a database. c. analyzing pollen or residues of blood, plants, or other materials. d. reconstruction of skeletal remains.

Q: Archaeology differs from ethnology in that archaeology a. studies cultural evolution and culture change over a century or two. b. can address the entire history of humanity. c. deals with the space of continents or hemispheres. d. can address the entire history of humanity and deals with the space of continents or hemispheres.

Q: The following were concerns regarding the excavation and conservation of the Hunley: a. The location of the Hunley was a mystery until a magnetometer was used to locate it. b. The ship would have quickly corroded unless it was sprayed with water after it was raised. c. Keeping the carbonate layer intact was critical to the preservation of the vessel. d. All of the above.

Q: Characteristics of the Mousterian culture include: a. A culture from the Middle Paleolithic period. b. Appeared throughout Europe between 30,000 and 10,000 years ago. c. Mousterian artifacts are frequently associated with Neanderthal human remains. d. Both A and C

Q: Which of the following is known to be true of Shoshone pottery? a. It appears suddenly in many parts of the Desert West at about AD 1300 and similar pottery is manufactured until about AD 1860. b. The pottery was introduced by a migrating Shoshone population that replaced existing desert populations. c. The shift to pottery manufacture by Shoshone people was a direct result of changing environmental conditions that made ceramic vessels more efficient. d. All of the above.

Q: Which of the following is true of the space-time systematics of North American archaeology? a. Space-time systematics is still the main focus of archaeological research, as basic spatial and temporal changes in material culture remain undocumented for much of North America. b. Space-time systematics has been largely worked out, and no longer preoccupies archaeology as it did in the first half of the 20th century. c. Space-time systematics is not very useful for North American archaeology, because material culture remained unchanged for long periods of time in many places. d. While space-time systematics has dominated European archaeology for the past century, its utility for North American archaeology is just now being recognized.

Q: Why is an understanding of space-time systematics a crucial first step in understanding why people did what they did in the past? a. Space-time systematics automatically explains why prehistory took the course that it did; in other words, explanatory hypotheses are built into space-time systematics. b. Research questions generated by space-time systematics are easily answered because the necessary data have already been collected. c. It is impossible to understand why cultures change without first documenting temporal and spatial change in artifact types. d. All of the above.

Q: If the frequencies of morphological types change significantly through time, and can be demonstrated to be restricted in time, the morphological types can be also be useful as: a. Evidence of migration and subsequent population replacement. b. Evidence of a shift in ancient peoples' "mental templates." c. Temporal types. d. Functional types.

Q: Which of the following Great Basin projectile point series are arranged in the correct chronological order from youngest to oldest? a. Desert Side-notched, Rosegate series, Elko Corner-notched, Gatecliff Contracting Stem. b. Rosegate series, Elko Corner-notched, Gatecliff Contracting Stem, Cottonwood Triangular. c. Gatecliff Contracting Stem, Elko Corner-notched, Desert Side-notched, Rosegate series. d. Cottonwood Triangular, Elko Corner-notched, Rosegate series, Desert Side-notched.

Q: Total length, axial length, maximum width, basal width, maximum thickness, midsection thickness, proximal shoulder angle, notch opening, and neck width are examples of projectile point: a. Phases. b. Components. c. Attributes. d. Types.

Q: In discussing temporal types, the text mentioned Cottonwood Triangular projectile points, which are essentially un-notched Desert Side-notched points. Why were Cottonwood Triangular points left un-notched? a. They were "war arrows", left un-notched so that they would remain in a body even after the shaft was pulled out. b. They were unfinished, intended to be later notched. c. They were made by novices or children who were not adept at notching points. d. None or any of the above; we do not know for certain why they were left un-notched.

Q: If you are excavating a culturally homogeneous stratum or set of strata within a single site, you are excavating a(n): a. Component. b. Assemblage. c. Temporal type. d. Period.

Q: If you are analyzing a collection of artifacts of one or several classes of materials (stone tools, ceramics, bones) that comes from a defined context such as a site, feature, or stratum, you are analyzing a(n): a. Component. b. Assemblage. c. Phase. d. Period.

Q: Which of the following is true of archaeological phases? a. They are defined by temporal types. b. They are blocks of time characterized by one or more distinctive artifact types. c. They further divide and refine archaeological periods. d. All of the above.

Q: Archaeologists divide prehistory into periods based on: a. The appearance of a new cultural group in the area of interest. b. The appearance of trade goods and exotic raw material types that indicate interaction between groups. c. Changes in a culture's ideology, as reflected in ceremonial items. d. Changes in observable material culture, such as house form, pottery, or subsistence.

Q: An archaeological culture: a. Is the same thing as an ethnographic culture. b. Is an accurate reflection of how prehistoric people viewed themselves. c. Is a region within a culture area whose material culture differed from that of other regions. d. All of the above.

Q: Which of the following do we know to be true about Desert Side-notched points and Cottonwood Triangular points? a. They both post-date AD 1300. b. Desert Side-notched points were designed for hunting bighorn sheep, while Cottonwood Triangular points were designed for hunting rabbits. c. Cottonwood Triangular points were unfinished, intended to be later notched, while Desert Side-notched points were already finished. d. Each represents a different cultural group living side by side at Gatecliff.

Q: The morphological projectile point types defined at Gatecliff became temporal types when: a. Surface projectile point finds corresponded to point types found in stratified deposits. b. A series of radiocarbon dates determined the geological sequence at Gatecliff, and time ranges could then be assigned to the projectile point types. c. Dendrochronological dating assigned exact years to projectile point types. d. Thermoluminescence dated the stratified deposits in which the different projectile points were discovered.

Q: The typology of the French archaeologist Franois Bordes classified Mousterian tools into 63 types which occurred in set frequencies, creating four fundamental patterns. Bordes argued that these four patterns reflected four different cultural groups of Neandertals. Bordes' typology: a. Assumed that the stone tools were in their final intended form, rather than in forms that resulted from resharpening. b. Was completely wrong, illustrating how poorly constructed typologies can lead a researcher astray. c. Has stood the test of time; different "tribes" of Neandertals are still thought to have been responsible for the different patterns of Mousterian artifacts. d. Categorized morphological variation improperly; proper categorization would have resulted in a correct interpretation of the assemblages.

Q: The "Frison Effect" explains the change in the shape of stone tools as a result of: a. Different cultural groups occupying the same site at different times. b. Different mental templates of different flintknappers within the same cultural group. c. Tool resharpening. d. Differences in stone tool typologies.

Q: Which of the following measurements could provide useful information about an artifact's size? a. Length. b. Width. c. Weight. d. All of the above.

Q: The number of attributes recorded during artifact analysis: a. Is limited by the number of measurements possible, which is generally very few. b. Is generally limited to those that are necessary to accomplish the purpose of the typology. c. Is generally limited to those that provide an accurate description of artifact size, such as length, width, and thickness d. Is generally as many as possible, so that future analysts will not have to re-examine the artifacts to obtain the data they need to answer different research questions.

Q: If you are defining measurable or observable qualities or characteristics of an artifact that distinguish it from another on the basis of its size, surface texture, form, material, method of manufacture, or design pattern, you are defining: a. The Frison Effect. b. Projectile point types. c. Components. d. Attributes.

Q: The goal of the Gatecliff projectile point typology was: a. To distinguish between arrow and dart points (in other words, to determine functional differences). b. To determine differences in the frequencies of raw material types used in projectile point manufacture through time. c. To define temporal types that could then be used to estimate the age of surface assemblages. d. None of the above; the Gatecliff typology had no goal and illustrates the problems inherent in typologies that are not associated with particular research questions.

Q: A good typology will: a. Minimize differences within each created type and maximize differences between each type. b. Maximize differences within each created type and minimize differences between each type. c. Result in abundant overlap between types. d. Only be replicable by the archaeologist who created it.

Q: If ceramic vessels are grouped together based on the fact they were all used as storage containers, in spite of the fact that design elements indicate they are from different time periods, then they have been grouped according to: a. Functional type. b. Morphological type. c. Temporal type. d. Space-time systematics.

Q: You are excavating a site in the Great Basin and you find a stratum that contains only Elko points. This indicates to you that the stratum dates to a particular period. The Elko point, in this example, can be referred to as a(n): a. Functional type. b. Temporal type. c. Seriated type. d. Morphological type.