ARCHAEOLOGY ESSENTIALS THEORIES, METHODS, AND PRACTICE 3RD BY COLIN - Test Bank - Updated

Chapter 2 Questions

1. Objects used, modified or made by people are known as

a)              artifacts

b)             geofacts

c)              ecofacts

d)             typologies

e)              sites

2. The material immediately surrounding an artifact, usually some sediment such as gravel, sand, or clay, is known as the

a)              dirt

b)             find spot

c)              site

d)             matrix

3. Archaeological sites may be defined quite simply as

a)              places where the landscape has changed significantly over time

b)             places that are recorded by ancient writers

c)              places where significant traces of human activity are identified

d)             places where excavated artifacts are displayed

e)              none of the above

4. Organic and environmental remains, or ecofacts, which were not made by humans but still provide information about the past include such items as

a)              animal bones, plant remains, pottery fragments

b)             soils, sediments, animal bones, plant remains

c)              stone tools, weapons, pottery

d)             soils sediments, animal bones, stone tools, weapons, pottery

e)              none of the above

5. Features, essentially non-portable artifacts, include such things as

a)              hammers, chisels, and arrowheads

b)             animal bones, plant remains, and other ecofacts

c)              small villages, houses, and palaces

d)             advertisements and the main presentation

e)              postholes, hearths, and storage ditches

6. An artifact’s context includes its

a)              matrix

b)             provenience

c)              association with other finds

d)             all of the above

e)              both b and c

7. Formation processes affect the way in which finds came to be buried and what happened to them after their burial. A good example of a natural formation process would be

a)              gradual burial of a feature by wind-borne soil

b)             the sudden fall of ash over Pompeii

c)              slow accumulation of river sediment over a feature

d)             gradual burial of an artifact by sand

e)              all of the above

8. An example of an artifact made of inorganic materials is

a)          a plant fiber basket

b)          a stone tool

c)          an animal bone comb

d)          a wood flute

e)          none of the above

9. Typically, the most destructive types of climate for organic materials are

a)              tropical climates

b)             polar climates

c)              temperate climates

d)             it makes little difference

10. Temperate climates are not usually conducive to organic preservation at archaeological sites because of

a)              variable temperatures and fluctuating precipitation

b)             steady humidity

c)              hyper-aridity

d)             water saturation

11. At Ozette, the extraordinary preservation of such organic materials as wooden containers, baskets, weaving equipment, and fishing and hunting equipment, was the result of

a)              a glacier covering the settlement

b)             a mudslide covering the settlement

c)              a volcano burying the settlement in ash

d)             an earthquake causing the settlement to sink

12. The Pazyryk bodies, found in ________________, were so well preserved by their constant frozen state that archaeologists not only recovered linen shirts, aprons, and stockings but could also see tattoos

a)              southern Siberia 

b)             southern Sinai

c)              South Africa

d)             southern Botswana

e)              South Carolina

13. Exceptional preservation of “tzi,” or the “Iceman,” found in the Alps in 1991, allowed documentation of his health, past injuries, tattoos, and diet.  Radiocarbon dates suggest he lived at about __________

a)              300 bc

b)             300 ad

c)              3300 bc  

d)             10,000 bc

e)              13,000 bc