Question 1

An individual's age under 25 can be determined by

Accepted Answer

A)  tooth eruption patterns. 
B)  tooth wear. 
C)  patterns of bone wear. 
D)  bone fusion.

Question 2

Studies of some of the skeletal data of Neanderthals have concluded:

Accepted Answer

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

Question 3

Biological anthropologists today agree that Neanderthals did not interbreed with modern humans and were instead an evolutionary dead end.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 4

If an archaeologist is studying ancient patterns of disease and disorders, he or she is studying:

Accepted Answer

A)  bioarchaeology. 
B)  paleopathology. 
C)  mortality profiles. 
D)  paleodemography.

Question 5

Bone breakage patterns would be good indicators of interpersonal violence and perhaps even warfare. Unfortunately, healed bone breaks are virtually indistinguishable from unbroken bone in prehistoric populations.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 6

The idea that the origin of all modern humans can be traced to a single African ancestor ("Eve"):

Accepted Answer

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 answers are correct.

Question 7

Although we still have much to learn about the rates at which DNA mutates, current studies show that

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 8

Coprolites from the New World that are 12,000 or more calendar years old:

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 9

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?

Accepted Answer

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

Question 10

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:

Accepted Answer

A)  50,000 years ago. 
B)  100,000 years ago. 
C)  200,000 years ago. 
D)  300,000 years ago.

Question 11

Harris lines and dental hypoplasias can be used by bioarchaeologists to make inferences about

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 12

Human bone is formed by complex interrelationships among the environment, behavior, physiology, and cultural behavior.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 13

Archaeological research has conclusively proven which of the following about the earliest occupation of the New World?

Accepted Answer

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 answers; the timing and nature of the initial colonization of the New World is still very much up in the air.

Question 14

Bioarchaeologists can distinguish male from female skeletons, but only for adults, not young children.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 15

How does the sciatic notch of females differ from that of males?

Accepted Answer

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.

Question 16

You analyze the stable isotopes from an assemblage of human bones from Canada, and find a high ratio of Nitrogen-15 to Nitrogen-14 and a low ratio of Carbon-13 relative to Carbon-12. You should conclude that these people ate a lot of corn and very little meat.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 17

The best place for a bioarchaeologist to look to determine the sex of human skeletal remains is the:

Accepted Answer

A)  skull. 
B)  pelvis. 
C)  sacrum. 
D)  dentition.

Question 18

How is mechanical stress, or workload, detectable in the human skeleton?

Accepted Answer

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 answers are correct.

Question 19

Bioarchaeology is a specialty that straddles the fields of archaeology and human biology.

Accepted Answer

A) True 
 B)False

Question 20

If a bioarchaeologist is looking at the fusion of epiphyses on a human skeleton, he or she is most likely trying to determine:

Accepted Answer

A)  race. 
B)  age. 
C)  sex. 
D)  paleopathology.

Exam 10: Bioarchaeological Approaches To The Past

An individual's age under 25 can be determined by

Studies of some of the skeletal data of Neanderthals have concluded:

Biological anthropologists today agree that Neanderthals did not interbreed with modern humans and were instead an evolutionary dead end.

If an archaeologist is studying ancient patterns of disease and disorders, he or she is studying:

Bone breakage patterns would be good indicators of interpersonal violence and perhaps even warfare. Unfortunately, healed bone breaks are virtually indistinguishable from unbroken bone in prehistoric populations.

The idea that the origin of all modern humans can be traced to a single African ancestor ("Eve") :

Although we still have much to learn about the rates at which DNA mutates, current studies show that

Coprolites from the New World that are 12,000 or more calendar years old:

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?

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:

Harris lines and dental hypoplasias can be used by bioarchaeologists to make inferences about

Human bone is formed by complex interrelationships among the environment, behavior, physiology, and cultural behavior.

Archaeological research has conclusively proven which of the following about the earliest occupation of the New World?

Bioarchaeologists can distinguish male from female skeletons, but only for adults, not young children.

How does the sciatic notch of females differ from that of males?

You analyze the stable isotopes from an assemblage of human bones from Canada, and find a high ratio of Nitrogen-15 to Nitrogen-14 and a low ratio of Carbon-13 relative to Carbon-12. You should conclude that these people ate a lot of corn and very little meat.

The best place for a bioarchaeologist to look to determine the sex of human skeletal remains is the:

How is mechanical stress, or workload, detectable in the human skeleton?

Bioarchaeology is a specialty that straddles the fields of archaeology and human biology.

If a bioarchaeologist is looking at the fusion of epiphyses on a human skeleton, he or she is most likely trying to determine: