The Distant Past (Topic 1, Lesson 1)

An archaeologist...

• studies how people from the past behaved

• digs up and studies artifacts to learn about people from the past

• studies rocks and the earth

• only studies history

A geologist...

• studies artifacts left behind by people

• studies books and writings from the past

• studies rocks and the earth

• studies only prehistory

Prehistory is...

• the time AFTER writing developed

• the time BEFORE writing developed

A fossil is

• something made by man

• the bones, imprints, or remains of something living from long ago

• only bones

Evidence is...

• proof that something is true

• someone's opinion

• found only in books

An artifact is

• the bones or remains of something that lived long ago

• only something written down

• something manmade that is left behind from people long ago

An anthropologist is

• a scientist who studies rocks and the earth

• a scientist who studies artifacts left behind by people long ago

• a scientist who studies how people behaved long ago

• a scientist who studies dinosaur bones

Which object would an archaeologist NOT study?

• tools

• pottery

• weapons

• computer websites

Archaeologists use several ways to "date" or learn the age of artifacts. Which is NOT one way they date these objects?

• Compare artifacts to other objects found in the same layer of soil.

• They break the artifact into pieces and put them back together.

• Measure radioactive material found in objects.

• They look at DNA evidence to compare these people to other people who lived at the same time.

Which of the following is NOT an example of an artifact?

• a village built in 2000 B.C.

• an arrowhead made by Native Americans

• a pot used for cooking on a campfire

• the bones of a fish from 500 BC found at an ancient campfire site