Question 1

Wood rats nests are useful for reconstructing the environment around their nests because they:

Accepted Answer

A)   travel great distances (kilometers)  from their nests to collect materials.
B)   travel no more than 100 meters from their nests to collect materials.
C)   build their nests in water saturated areas, thus ensuring the preservation of organic materials.
D)   only utilize a very limited range of plant species when building their nests. B

Question 2

Phytoliths are most useful for identifying:

Accepted Answer

A)   regional, rather than local patterns of vegetation.
B)   plants that were domesticated prehistorically since their phytoliths differ significantly from those of wild plants.
C)   the abundance of different kinds of grasses; not all plants produce phytoliths.
D)   the abundance of all plants present at a site; all plants produce phytoliths. C

Question 3

If you are using a skeletal collection of modern fauna, of both sexes and different ages, to identify specimens in an archaeofauna, you are using a:

Accepted Answer

A)   macrobotanical assemblage.
B)   palynological collection.
C)   comparative collection.
D)   phytolith assemblage. C

Question 4

In general, bias in preservation makes reconstructing the plant component of ancient diets more difficult than reconstructing the meat component.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 5

Since wood rats collect plant material for their nests from as much as two kilometers away, they are good indicators of the regional environment.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

The nests of wood rats are useful for paleoenvironmental reconstruction because they can preserve a record of environmental change for:

Accepted Answer

A)   decades.
B)   hundreds of years.
C)   thousands of years.
D)   hundreds of thousands of years.

Question 7

Archaeologists who analyze faunal assemblages are commonly known as:

Accepted Answer

A)   palynologists.
B)   zooarchaeologists.
C)   paleoecologists.
D)   paleoethnobotanists.

Question 8

Which of the following would a zooarchaeological study not involve?

Accepted Answer

A)   Establishment that bones are left behind by people by looking for cut marks, fragments, and burning.
B)   Identify bones to element, taxon, sex and age using a comparative collection.
C)   Count the bones using NISP and MNI.
D)   Disregard symbolic importance in interpreting the past.

Question 9

Macrobotanical remains are likely to be preserved if they were:

Accepted Answer

A)   deposited in arid climates or dry caves.
B)   deposited in waterlogged contexts, such as wells or shipwrecks.
C)   burned and carbonized.
D)   All of the answers are correct.

Question 10

Using palynological data, Haynes and Mehringer concluded that the climate at the Lehner Clovis site in southeastern Arizona 11,000 years ago was:

Accepted Answer

A)   only slightly wetter and cooler than today, followed by a rapid shift toward drier conditions.
B)   only slightly drier and warmer than today, followed by a rapid shift toward wetter conditions.
C)   much drier and warmer than today; only a large shift in temperature and precipitation would have caused such a different environment at the site.
D)   much wetter and cooler than today; only a large shift in temperature and precipitation would have caused such a different environment at the site.

Question 11

Phytoliths are small stone tools, normally inset into pieces of bone or wood to form a long working edge.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 12

Based on ethnoarchaeological evidence, Hill suggested that hunters at Agate Basin killed most of the animals individually,

Accepted Answer

A)   far from camp.
B)   near water.
C)   in high elevations.
D)   close to camp.

Question 13

Zooarchaeology brings an historical perspective to decisions as to which species to save. One way is to

Accepted Answer

A)   demonstrate how past human predation and landscape alteration affected animal populations.
B)   demonstrate how present human populations are destroying ancient species.
C)   demonstrate how ancient species fed ancient populations.
D)   foster conservation efforts to protect endangered species.

Question 14

If an archaeologist is analyzing tiny silica particles that were originally contained in plants, he or she is analyzing:

Accepted Answer

A)   macrobotanical remains.
B)   phytoliths.
C)   coprolites.
D)   lipids.

Question 15

At the highland site of Chavín de Huántar, Peru a decline in the abundance of deer bones over time and a simultaneous increase in the percentage of llama leg bones tracks a temporal change in diet and trade that shows occupants of the site shifted from doing their own hunting to being supplied with dried meat. This interpretation is based on faunal analysis but also ethnoarchaeological research with living peoples in the Andes Mountains.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 16

The raw number of identified bones per species in an archaeofauna is known as the MNI.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

The ritual importance of Chavin de Huántar through time; the local community in size.

Accepted Answer

A)   decreased/increased
B)   increased/decreased
C)   decreased/decreased
D)   increased/increased

Question 18

What do fluctuations in pollen percentages in a pollen diagram indicate?

Accepted Answer

A)   Changes in frequencies of animal remains present at a site
B)   Changes in the types of domesticated plants that prehistoric populations relied upon
C)   Changes in local and regional plant densities
D)   Climatic change in the form of decreasing temperatures and increasing moisture content

Question 19

At Agate Basin, the NISP count suggests that were more important than .

Accepted Answer

A)   elk/rabbit
B)   dog/skunk
C)   bison/pronghorn
D)   camel/dog

Question 20

Hastorf and Johannessen argue that changes in the types of fuel used through time in the Upper Mantaro area of Peru are best explained by:

Accepted Answer

A)   changes in the abundance of high quality versus low quality fuel caused by environmental change.
B)   increasing population density that denuded the landscape of trees, forcing people to rely more and more on low quality fuel through time.
C)   forced fuel management programs mandated by an elite social class.
D)   a combination of materialistic and ideological explanations.

Exam 9: People Plants and Animals In The Past

Wood rats nests are useful for reconstructing the environment around their nests because they:

Phytoliths are most useful for identifying:

If you are using a skeletal collection of modern fauna, of both sexes and different ages, to identify specimens in an archaeofauna, you are using a:

In general, bias in preservation makes reconstructing the plant component of ancient diets more difficult than reconstructing the meat component.

Since wood rats collect plant material for their nests from as much as two kilometers away, they are good indicators of the regional environment.

The nests of wood rats are useful for paleoenvironmental reconstruction because they can preserve a record of environmental change for:

Archaeologists who analyze faunal assemblages are commonly known as:

Which of the following would a zooarchaeological study not involve?

Macrobotanical remains are likely to be preserved if they were:

Using palynological data, Haynes and Mehringer concluded that the climate at the Lehner Clovis site in southeastern Arizona 11,000 years ago was:

Phytoliths are small stone tools, normally inset into pieces of bone or wood to form a long working edge.

Based on ethnoarchaeological evidence, Hill suggested that hunters at Agate Basin killed most of the animals individually,

Zooarchaeology brings an historical perspective to decisions as to which species to save. One way is to

If an archaeologist is analyzing tiny silica particles that were originally contained in plants, he or she is analyzing:

The raw number of identified bones per species in an archaeofauna is known as the MNI.

The ritual importance of Chavin de Huántar through time; the local community in size.

What do fluctuations in pollen percentages in a pollen diagram indicate?

At Agate Basin, the NISP count suggests that were more important than .

Hastorf and Johannessen argue that changes in the types of fuel used through time in the Upper Mantaro area of Peru are best explained by: