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WorksheetsDomestication Evidence Worksheet Extraction
Total questions: 112
Worksheet time: 56mins
After humans, what are the oldest domesticated animals?
Dogs
Sheep
Goats
Cattle
What is the evidence for management of goats at Tepe Ganj Dareh, Iran? The assemblage shows sheep are mixed male and female, mostly adults, probably hunted; identify the indicator of goat management.
Juvenile male goats were preferentially slaughtered
Adult goats are evenly represented with females
Sheep dung is abundant in the settlement
Cattle dominate the faunal remains
What is the evidence for sheep domestication at Aşıklı Höyük, Turkey? Select all statements that are supported by the site evidence.
Sheep largely replace other animals as a food source by ca. 7500 BC
Juvenile male sheep were preferentially slaughtered
Abundant sheep dung is present in the settlement
Goats are entirely absent from the site
What is the evidence for cannibalism by Homo antecessor at Gran Dolina, Spain? Select all that apply.
Bones of children and adolescents
Processed in same way, with same tools as other animals
Discarded in the same refuse piles
Ritual burials with grave goods indicating reverence
What is the skeletal evidence for a social category of subjugated women in the La Plata River valley ca. AD 1200? Select all that apply.
Some women had little skeletal trauma and were given respectful burials
Others had repeated skeletal injuries and occupational stress markers
They were discarded in refuse dumps after death
Stable isotope signatures showed equal diets across all burials
What is the skeletal evidence for syphilis in the Americas before European contact? Select all that apply.
Skeletons from La Candelaria cave, Coahuila
Distinctive markers of syphilis: erosion of nasal and cranial bone
Presence of European trade goods in burials
Written accounts by Spanish chroniclers
How did Franz Boas organize American anthropology? Choose the grouping he proposed.
Two fields: cultural and physical
Three fields: cultural, linguistic, and physical
Four fields: cultural, linguistic, physical, and archaeology
Five fields: cultural, linguistic, physical, archaeology, and paleoanthropology
What did functional–processual archaeology want to do? Select the best description.
Abandon chronology in favor of ideographic narratives
Retain chronological and distributional studies while combining them with questions about use and behavior
Focus exclusively on ethnography of living societies without using artifacts
Replace culture-historical archaeology with typology alone
What is the basic position of processual archaeology/New Archaeology? Choose the statement that reflects its core stance.
Archaeology is independent of anthropology and should avoid generalization
Archaeology is anthropology; it should posit general rules of human behavior explaining material patterns via cultural adaptations to ecology and competition, with non-adaptive traits being epiphenomenal
Archaeology should focus on unique historical events without seeking laws
Anthropology is descriptive only and cannot generate testable rules
What is the relationship of processual archaeology to evolutionist anthropology?
It rejects evolutionism entirely
It is evolutionist and strictly unilinear
It is evolutionist but multilinear rather than unilinear
It is non-evolutionist and cyclical
Which set lists the three cultural subsystems identified by Lewis Binford?
Technomic, sociotechnic, ideotechnic
Economic, political, religious
Technological, ecological, symbolic
Typological, functional, historical
In which cultural subsystems do artifacts operate, according to Binford?
Only the technomic subsystem
Only the sociotechnic subsystem
Only the ideotechnic subsystem
All of the subsystems
How does processual archaeology seek to reconstruct cultural systems from artifacts? Select the best description.
By cataloging artifact types without interpreting their use
By working out what artifacts were used for and assembling those purposes into an interrelated system connected to the environment
By focusing solely on symbolic meaning detached from ecology
By inferring social hierarchies without reference to material function
Which methods are used to infer artifact purposes? Select all that apply.
Use-wear studies
Experimental archaeology
Ethnoarchaeology
Purely typological classification
How does a use-wear study work? Choose the most accurate description.
Inspect ancient artifacts visually and assign functions by typology
Make copies of archaeological artifacts, use them for hypothesized tasks, observe modifications, and compare that wear to wear on ancient artifacts
Interview living craftspeople about preferred designs
Analyze chemical residues only
What do ethnoarchaeological studies do?
Link behaviors to material outcomes
Focus on ancient texts
Measure only soil chemistry
Map only site boundaries
Where were some of the great survey projects of the 1970s concentrated?
Humid tropical forests worldwide
Arid environments such as Mesopotamia, the Valley of Mexico, the Valley of Oaxaca, and the Tehuacan Valley
Northern European wetlands
High-latitude tundra only
What did those survey projects reveal about early urbanism? Select all that apply.
Growth of cities accompanied decline in rural regions
Population movement was more important than population growth
Urbanization always increased rural prosperity
Urban expansion was driven solely by natural increase
What does middle-range theory seek to do?
Explain only grand evolutionary stages
Make inferences linking statics (observable archaeological record) and dynamics (unobservable past behavior)
Reject linking material remains to behavior
Focus solely on site discovery
How did experimental work with a dead elephant in the 1970s support the hypothesis of pre-Clovis people in northern North America?
It proved mammoths were domesticated
Butchering an elephant with stone tools and expedient bone tools produced wear and skeletal damage similar to that documented for mammoths at Old Crow Flats and other sites
It showed elephants could be butchered only with metal tools
It demonstrated that cut marks cannot be distinguished from natural damage
How does lidar work and what does it reveal? Choose the best explanation.
A ground surveyor sketches features by eye
An aircraft-mounted laser emits pulses; the sensor measures return time to calculate distance, producing a processed 3D model of the ground
A satellite photographs color imagery only
A drone records audio reflections from terrain
Which features are detectable with lidar? Select all that apply.
Roads
Buildings
Agricultural terraces
Plazas
What kinds of information can geochemical analysis of soils reveal? Select all that apply.
Concentrations of different elements and chemicals
Activities carried out in different spaces
Precise artifact manufacturing dates
Exact species of all plants at a site
Why is survey important in archaeology? Choose the best reason.
It replaces excavation entirely and eliminates analysis
Careful survey helps identify and define sites and enables questions about relationships among sites and landscapes, with or without destructive excavation
Survey is mainly for making maps for tourists
Survey is used only after full excavation is complete
What is a cropmark?
Area where vegetation grows differently because of buried structures or depressions affecting plant nutrition
A mark left by farm equipment tires
A boundary line between crop fields
A region with unusually high rainfall
How is the infrared spectrum represented in satellite imagery?
False color
Grayscale
True color only
Thermal shading
How can false color infrared images reveal buried architecture?
By highlighting vegetation stress patterns over buried features in the infrared spectrum
By directly imaging stone walls underground
By measuring soil pH from space
By detecting magnetic anomalies
Which of the following are questions asked by modern settlement archaeology? Select all that apply.
What were sites used for?
How did they interact with each other?
How were they placed on the landscape?
How were travel and communication facilitated or impeded?
What was population genetics in the Holocene?
Which of the following are examples of high-altitude remote sensing? Select all that apply.
Aerial photography
Satellite imaging
Lidar
Ground-penetrating radar
Dendrochronology
According to experimental archaeology, how were the moai of Easter Island transported to their destinations?
Dragged on sleds
Rolled on log rollers
“Walked” with ropes, rocking back and forth
Floated on rafts around the island
Can you make a functional knife from frozen feces?
Yes
No
What is a geographic information system (GIS)?
A system for organizing data electronically based on location
A device that measures soil acidity
A method for excavating artifacts
A photographic technique for aerial mapping
Which topics can be investigated using GIS? Select all that apply.
Density of sites or artifacts
Relationships and visibility among sites or buildings
Modeling of travel cost, hydrology, and vegetation
Estimating oxygen isotopes in bones
Which kinds of data does GIS use? Select all that apply.
Raster (pixels)
Vector (mathematical shapes)
Tabular (artifact type, age, etc.)
Audio recordings
What is a lithic artifact made of?
Stone
Bone
Wood
Metal
What can lithic analysis tell us about past human behaviors? Select all that apply.
Transmission of skills and ideas
Adaptation and problem-solving
Cognitive evolution
Resource acquisition and trade
Dietary fiber content of plants
Can we define archaeological cultures using stone tools?
Yes, but be aware of different tools needed for different tasks
No, stone tools are too variable to inform culture
Only if metal tools are also present
Yes, but only by typology alone
Which are general kinds of lithic analysis? Select all that apply.
Typology
Use-wear analysis
Compositional analysis
Production analysis
Radiocarbon dating
Be able to define: Which statement best defines chert?
A dense, fine-grained siliceous rock that fractures conchoidally and was commonly used for toolmaking
A coarse-grained volcanic rock formed from slow cooling magma
An organic sediment composed of plant fibers compacted over time
A metamorphic rock produced by heat and pressure transforming limestone
Be able to define: Which statement best defines burin?
A prismatic core prepared for blade production
A flake tool with a chisel-like edge created by removing a burin spall, used for engraving or working bone/antler
A hammerstone used to strike platforms
A grinding stone used to polish surfaces
Be able to define: Which statement best defines biface?
A core with flakes removed from only one face
A tool flaked on both faces to create a symmetrically sharpened edge
A polished stone axe with no flake scars
A ground stone slab used for milling
Be able to define: Which statement best defines microlith?
A large handaxe used for heavy chopping
A small, retouched stone segment or bladelet often used as part of a composite tool
A massive core left over after flake removal
A grinding implement for pigments
Be able to define: Which description correctly distinguishes sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rock?
Sedimentary forms from deposited particles; igneous solidifies from molten material; metamorphic results when existing rock is altered by heat and/or pressure
Sedimentary forms from lava; igneous compacts from sediments; metamorphic forms only underwater
Sedimentary and metamorphic are both volcanic; igneous is organic
Metamorphic forms from weathered sediments; igneous forms from fossils; sedimentary forms from heat alone
Know the chronological sequence of: Which option gives the correct order from earliest to latest for the Oldowan, Acheulean, Mousterian, and Aurignacian?
Oldowan → Acheulean → Mousterian → Aurignacian
Acheulean → Oldowan → Aurignacian → Mousterian
Mousterian → Aurignacian → Oldowan → Acheulean
Aurignacian → Mousterian → Acheulean → Oldowan
According to use-wear analysis, what was the obsidian blade from the royal tomb at El Zotz probably used for?
Cutting through bone
Scraping hides
Drilling shell beads
Harvesting cereals
What are three methods for compositional analysis of stone tools? Select all that apply.
Macroscopic
Elemental (e.g., INAA)
Petrographic
Stratigraphic correlation
Elemental and petrographic are both compositional analysis.
True
False
What processes does production analysis explore? Select all that apply.
Manufacture
Retouching
Discard
Post-depositional weathering
To what larger economic questions are those processes relevant? Select all that apply.
Resource acquisition
Economic exchange
Mortuary ritual
Iconographic style
Be able to define: Which statement best defines knapping?
Thermally altering rock to change its color
Striking and applying pressure to detach flakes from a core to shape stone tools
Grinding a stone surface to polish it
Embedding small stone pieces in resin to form ornaments
Be able to define: Which statement best defines a flake scar?
A natural weathering crack on a stone
The negative impression left on a core or tool after a flake has been removed
The microfracture caused by heat treatment
A polished facet produced by grinding
Be able to define: In lithic terminology, what does proximal vs. distal refer to on a flake?
Proximal is the end near the striking platform; distal is the far end away from the platform
Proximal is the sharpest edge; distal is the dullest edge
Proximal refers to the heavier face; distal to the lighter face
Proximal means cortex-free; distal means cortex-rich
Be able to define: Which statement best defines striking platform?
The prepared surface on a core where the blow is delivered to detach a flake
The flat surface used to display finished tools
The base the tool rests on during grinding
The handle attached to a blade
Be able to define: Which statement best defines cortex in lithic analysis?
The fresh, unweathered interior of a rock
The external weathered rind of a raw material nodule often present on early flakes
A resin used to haft tools
The microcrystalline structure of obsidian
Be able to define: Which statement best describes debitage and core?
Debitage are the flakes and waste produced during knapping; the core is the parent piece from which flakes are removed
Debitage are only finished tools; the core is a polishing stone
Debitage refers to cortex; the core is the striking platform
Debitage are hammerstones; the core is a burin
What are some sources of data about ancient environments, plants, and animals? Select all that apply.
Sediments
Ice cores
Tree and coral rings/layers
Macroscopic plant and animal remains
Pollen and spores
What are additional sources of data about ancient environments? Select all that apply.
Phytoliths
Lipids, proteins, other residues
Modern satellite imagery only
Written historical chronicles only
How and why was the climate of the Sahara region different between ca. 14,500 and 5500 BP than it is now? What primary mechanism drove the wetter conditions?
Earth’s axial wobble tilted the northern hemisphere more toward the Sun, strengthening monsoonal circulation and increasing rainfall over the Sahara
A global volcanic winter reduced evaporation, making the Sahara wetter
Human irrigation projects created artificial lakes
Sea level fall exposed land that drew in moisture from the oceans
During ca. 14,500–5500 BP in the Sahara, which outcome occurred as a result of increased rainfall?
Rivers and lakes formed, making the region more hospitable
Sand dunes expanded and vegetation collapsed
Permanent ice sheets developed across North Africa
Coastal erosion drastically reduced freshwater availability
In the lithic illustration with two face views and a center profile, what length does the scale bar indicate?
40 mm
30 mm
50 mm
100 mm
In the lithic illustration with face views flanking a thin center drawing, what view is represented by the narrow center drawing?
Profile view showing thickness
Plan view from above
Cross-section cut through the middle
Close-up micrograph
In the triangular bifacial tool illustration, what length does the scale bar indicate?
50 mm
40 mm
25 mm
100 mm
In the triangular bifacial tool illustration with a center profile, which statement best describes the flaking pattern visible on the two faces?
Bifacial reduction with retouch scars on both faces
Unifacial reduction on only one face
Ground and polished surfaces without flake scars
Natural cobble with intact cortex and no modification
Select the methods of knapping or flaking that are correctly identified in lithic technology.
Direct percussion
Bipolar percussion
Indirect percussion
Pressure flaking
Thermal annealing
How did Traci Ardren and colleagues demonstrate that Chunchucmil traded directly with obsidian sources in the Maya highlands?
By showing that Chunchucmil had larger quantities of obsidian than nearer large centers along proposed overland routes, inconsistent with down‑the‑line trade
By finding written Maya records describing caravans arriving from the highlands
By establishing that Chunchucmil produced its own obsidian locally
By documenting that obsidian was absent from all sites closer to the highlands
Which description best characterizes Göbekli Tepe?
A Neolithic ritual site in southern Turkey with megalithic circular structures and residences, built around 9500 BC
A Bronze Age palace complex in Mesopotamia dating to 2000 BC
A Chalcolithic mining settlement in Anatolia dating to 4500 BC
A Neolithic farming village in the Nile Delta dating to 7000 BC
What does the sculptural iconography at Göbekli Tepe depict?
Scavengers and carnivores with human remains
Scenes of crop harvesting and granaries
Domestic herds within fenced enclosures
Astronomical constellations carved into pillars
What is notable about Göbekli Tepe in terms of subsistence and chronology?
It was built by hunter‑gatherers before the adoption of farming
It represents the first city founded after widespread agriculture
It is the earliest site known for bronze metallurgy
It was established by pastoralists long after farming was common
Which description best identifies Çatal Höyük?
The largest Neolithic settlement known in the Near East (about 5,000–8,000 people), occupied ca. 7500–5700 BC in southern Turkey, with tightly packed domestic structures entered through roof doors
A small Mesolithic camp in northern Turkey dating to ca. 9000–8500 BC
A Bronze Age hillfort in central Anatolia dating to ca. 2000–1500 BC
A Neolithic lakeside village in Greece dating to ca. 6500–6000 BC
Select the features that characterize ritual life at Çatal Höyük.
Shrines incorporated into houses with no public temples
Plastered bovine and human skulls
A "Great Goddess" figure associated with animals
Large stone ziggurats used for communal worship
Royal tombs beneath central plazas
What was one of the main sources of Çatal Höyük’s prosperity?
Obsidian from a nearby volcano traded with Mesopotamia
Extensive bronze production and export
Gold mining within the settlement
Maritime trade in olive oil
Which lines of evidence indicate that Umm Dabaghiyah traded with Çatal Höyük? Select all that apply.
Obsidian traceable to Çatal Höyük
Large quantities of onager bone suggesting hide export
Written correspondence in cuneiform tablets
Shared monumental architecture with identical plans
Select the characteristics associated with the Naqada archaeological culture.
Upper and later Lower Egypt, ca. 4400–3000 BC
Ceramics and copper working
Political unification of Upper Egypt
Slate palettes depicting war and conquest with early hieroglyphic writing
Mass production of iron tools
What is the Narmer palette?
A slate palette from “Dynasty 0” depicting Narmer’s conquest of Lower Egypt and the unification of Egypt
A clay tablet listing grain rations from Old Kingdom Egypt
A painted papyrus showing the daily life of Middle Kingdom farmers
A bronze mirror inscribed with a queen’s name from New Kingdom Egypt
Which features characterize Neolithic China? Select all that apply.
Glossy black pottery and early copper/bronze
Cultivation of millet, rice, and wheat
Domestication of pigs, dogs, sheep, goats, cattle, and silkworms
Divination practices and human sacrifice with settlement hierarchies
Major site Shimao with walls, long‑distance trade, jade, and human sacrifice
Which field focuses on identifying and interpreting plant remains from archaeological contexts?
Archaeobotany
Zooarchaeology
Human osteology
Geoarchaeology
Which field analyzes animal remains from archaeological sites to reconstruct past human–animal interactions?
Zooarchaeology
Archaeobotany
Human osteology
Epigraphy
Which field studies human skeletal remains to infer health, demography, and behavior?
Human osteology
Archaeobotany
Zooarchaeology
Iconography
What is domestication of plants or animals?
Permanent artificial selection for desired traits
Temporary training of animals for seasonal tasks
Random natural selection without human influence
Short‑term captivity without breeding
What features are commonly included in domestication syndrome in animals? Select all that apply.
Changes in hormones, neurotransmitters, and brain structure
Increased docility with decreased fear and aggression
Neotenous morphology and behavior
Alterations in coat, ears, and tail
More frequent fertile periods
On present evidence, what species developed Oldowan tools?
Homo habilis
Australopithecus garhi
Homo erectus
Homo neanderthalensis
Which species developed Acheulean tools—only west of eastern Asia?
Homo erectus
Homo habilis
Homo neanderthalensis
Australopithecus garhi
What is some evidence for advanced intelligence of Homo neanderthalensis? Select all that apply.
Use of ornaments such as scallop shells and raven wings
Creation of a bone flute
Long-term care shown for injured individuals (e.g., Shanidar Cave man)
Exclusive reliance on Oldowan tools
Domestication of cave bears for food storage
Be able to define: Disruptive selection. Which statement best describes disruptive selection?
Selection that favors extreme phenotypes at both ends of a trait distribution
Selection that favors the average phenotype and reduces variation
Random changes in allele frequencies due to chance
Movement of alleles into or out of a population via migration
Be able to define: Stabilizing selection. Which statement best describes stabilizing selection?
Selection that favors the average phenotype and reduces variation
Selection that favors extreme phenotypes at both ends of a trait distribution
Random changes in allele frequencies due to chance
Increase in mating success due to traits attractive to mates
What are some sources of evidence about human evolution? Select all that apply.
Skeletal remains
Artifacts
Genetic data
Weather forecasts
To what genus do modern humans and our extinct near relatives, like Neanderthals and Denisovans, belong?
Homo
Australopithecus
Pan
Paranthropus
What genus was ancestral to Homo?
Australopithecus
Paranthropus
Gorilla
Pongo
What is an allele?
One of two or more possible versions of a gene
A protein that controls gene expression
A chromosome pair
A trait produced by the environment
What is biological evolution?
Change in allele frequency within a population
Development of an individual from embryo to adult
Increase in organismal complexity over time
Creation of new species through hybridization alone
How does allele frequency change? Select all that apply.
Gene flow
Genetic drift
Natural selection
Sexual selection
Cell differentiation
What are two types of genetic drift? Select all that apply.
Genetic bottleneck
Founder effect
Natural selection
Gene flow
What is apatite?
Mineral component of bones and teeth
Organic protein in cartilage
Type of fossilized wood
Volcanic glass used for tools
How do strontium and oxygen isotope analysis of dental and skeletal apatite reveal different things about life history? Select all correct statements.
Dental apatite forms once in early childhood
Skeletal apatite is continually remodeled throughout life
Isotopic analysis of teeth indicates where a person lived in early childhood
Isotopic analysis of bone indicates where a person lived in the years before death
What did isotope analysis of skeletons from Teotihuacan reveal about the life histories of people buried in the Zapotec (Oaxacan) neighborhood there?
Ethnically Zapotec children traveled from Teotihuacan to Oaxaca at an early age and later returned to live their lives in Teotihuacan, unlike most Teotihuacanos who stayed in Central Mexico
Most Zapotec children remained in Central Mexico for life, while Teotihuacanos moved to Oaxaca only in old age
Zapotec adults migrated permanently to eastern Asia during midlife
Isotope evidence showed no mobility differences between Zapotecs and Teotihuacanos
Where did H. neanderthalensis live?
Europe and the Middle East
Eastern Asia
Flores and other Indonesian islands
Sub-Saharan Africa only
Where did H. altaiensis (Denisovans) live?
Eastern Asia
Europe and the Middle East
Flores and other Indonesian islands
Australia
Where did H. floresiensis (hobbits) live?
Flores and maybe other islands in Indonesia
Eastern Asia
Europe and the Middle East
Southern Africa
When did anatomically modern H. sapiens emerge?
ca. 300 kya
ca. 30 kya
ca. 3 mya
ca. 3 kya
What are the three major models for H. sapiens’ rise to global dominance? Select all that apply.
Out-of-Africa or replacement
Multiregional
Partial replacement
Punctuated equilibrium of tool styles
Genetically speaking, modern indigenous Europeans are mostly a mix of which three ancient populations?
European Hunter-Gatherers (Mesolithic)
Early European Farmers (Neolithic agriculturalists from Anatolia)
Steppe Pastoralists (Bronze Age herders from the Pontic Steppe)
Phoenician maritime traders from the Levant
How do the movements and interactions of those populations correspond to archaeological cultures?
Linear Pottery associated with Early European Farmers
Corded Ware pottery associated with Steppe Pastoralist invasions
Bell Beaker pottery spread through both migration and communication, in different times and places
Minoan palace culture associated with Mesolithic hunter-gatherers
What technological and cultural changes contributed to the Early European Farmers’ migration into Europe?
Domestication of wheat and barley
Domestication of sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle
Ground stone blades and ceramics
Large-scale bronze weaponry before farming
What changes contributed to the Steppe Pastoralists’ migration into Europe?
Wheeled vehicles
Bronze tools and weapons
Earlier exposure to plague (Yersinia pestis) giving time for acquisition of some resistance
Widespread adoption of sailing ships
What technologies and cultural changes contributed to the expansion of people speaking Bantu languages in Africa south of the Sahara Desert?
Yam domestication
Ceramics
Ironworking (later)
Horse domestication
What are the three models for the initial peopling of the Americas, and which one is most likely correct?
Beringian
Solutrean
Pacific Coastal
What are the three major indigenous language groupings in the Americas, and when did their first speakers arrive?
Eskimo-Aleut, about AD 1000
Na-Dene, about 2850 BC
Amerind (everything else!), a very long time ago
Indo-European, about AD 1500
What distinguishes the Clovis stone tool culture?
Bifacial blades produced using outre passe pressure flaking
Unifacial microliths set in bone handles
Ground stone axes with drilled hafts
Copper blades hammered from native metal
What is an older stone tool culture in the Americas, and where has it been found?
El Jobo, in South America
Folsom, in the Arctic
Acheulean, in North America
Solutrean, in the Andes
Why is the Cerro Toluquilla site, in Mexico, important?
Human footprints in a layer of ash dated to perhaps 30,000 years ago
Earliest maize cobs dated to 10,000 years ago
First bronze metallurgy in the Americas
Oldest cave art in the Western Hemisphere
Why are the caves of Chiquihuite and Coxcatlan, also in Mexico, important?
Stone tools dated to ca. 26,000 and ca. 30,000 years ago
Earliest domesticated llamas outside South America
Presence of written glyphs from 5000 years ago
Discovery of obsidian glass production workshops
When were the first humans in Australia, on what kind of evidence?
By 50,000 years ago based on stone tools from dated layers in caves and rockshelters
By 20,000 years ago based on bronze artifacts from river terraces
By 70,000 years ago based on written records
By 35,000 years ago based on DNA from domesticated cattle
