Multiple Choice Questions

Chapter 1 Multiple Choice Questions 1.Which of the following was not a contribution to the discovery of ‘deep time’?a.Boucher de Perthes’s discovery of ancient axe heads and bones of extinct mammals b.Charles Lyell’s book on the principles of geology c.Darwin’s publication “On the Origin of Species” d.travels of Giovanni Battista Belzoni throughout England and Ireland and his knowledge of hydraulics

• Hugh Falconer’s visit to Abbeville to examine evidence from French gravel pits

ANS: d PG: 4 OBJ: Factual LO: 3

2.Most historians ascribe the label of “first archaeologist” to:

• Petrarch.
• Ciriaco de’ Pizzicolli.
• Nabonidus.
• Boucher de Perthes.
• Giovanni Battista Belzoni

ANS: c PG: 2 OBJ: Factual LO: 1 3.The last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, Nabonidus, is frequently known as the “first

archaeologist” because:

• He was the first documented prehistoric individual to show an interest in the past.
• He tried to answer questions about the past by looking at the physical remains of the

past.

• He employed modern archaeological field techniques in his excavations.
• He worked within an explicit theoretical paradigm.
• He coined the word, archaeology.

ANS: b PG: 2 OBJ: Applied LO: 1 4.Petrarch is considered perhaps the most influential individual of the early Renaissance

because he:

• Traveled extensively to exotic lands and conducted meticulous excavations, increasing

public interest in the past.

• Considered the remote past an ideal of perfection, and argued that moral philosophy

could be found within ancient classical civilizations.

• Argued that the concept of God had become increasingly irrelevant to explanations of

the natural world.

• Discovered ancient Paleolithic handaxes in association with extinct mammal

skeletons, thereby establishing the antiquity of humanity.

• disregarded the ancient texts so as not to use the past to justify their own actions.

ANS: b PG: 3 OBJ: Applied LO: 2 Archaeology Down to Earth, 5e Robert Kelly, David Hurst Thomas (Test Bank, All Chapters. 100% Original Verified, A+ Grade) 1 / 4

• The abbreviation “AD” referring to age in an archaeological or historic context means:
• In the year of the Lord.
• After death.
• Approximate death.
• Nothing; there is no literal translation.
• Common Era

ANS: a PG: 3 OBJ: Factual LO: 1

• The abbreviation “BC” referring to age in an archaeological or historic context means:
• By Century
• Before Common Era
• Before Christ
• Before Coming
• By Christian Era

ANS: c PG: 3 OBJ: Factual LO: 1

• Charles Lyell’s 1865 book The Geologic Evidences for the Antiquity of Man was important

because it:

• Documented the fact that humans had lived with now-extinct animals in the distant

past.

• Provided evidence that humans had been on the earth for a far shorter time than other

scholars of the time suggested.

• Argued for an extremely young age of the earth (not more than 6000 years old).
• Finally showed that the “ancient ax heads” discovered in river gravels were nothing

more than naturally fractured river cobbles.

• Showed that the remote antiquity of humankind would not be accepted by the scientific

community

ANS: a PG: 4 OBJ: Applied LO: 3

• Which of the following dates is the youngest?
• AD 1066
• 1066 BC
• AC 1066
• 1066 BP
• BP 1066

ANS: a PG: 3 OBJ: Conceptual LO: 1

• Archbishop James Ussher (1581-1656) was responsible for which of the following?
• Establishing the antiquity of man by recognizing ancient handaxes associated with

extinct mammal bones.

• Promoting the concept of organic evolution at a time when most scholars rejected

evolutionary thought. 2 / 4

• Conducting intensive excavations aimed at resolving the question of human antiquity.
• Calculating the age of the earth based on biblical genealogy, and concluding that

Creation occurred on October 22, 4004 BC.

• suggested the process by which modern people could have arisen from ancient primate

ancestors.

ANS: d PG: 4 OBJ: Factual LO: 2

• The year AD 1859 was an important year in the history of human thought because it was the

year that:

• Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species.
• The scientific community refused to support the remote antiquity of humankind.
• Ussher concluded that creation began at sunset on Saturday, October 22, 4004 BC.
• de Perthes found ancient axe heads in the gravels of the Somme River.
• Pizzicolli established the modern discipline of archaeology

ANS: a PG: 4 OBJ: Factual LO: 2

11. Classical archaeology is:

• The branch of archaeology that studies the classical civilizations of the Mediterranean,

such as Greece and Rome, and the Near East.

• Archaeology as it was practiced in classical times in places such as Greece and Rome

and the Near East.

• That period in the history of American archaeology in which antiquarianism

dominated the goals of archaeology.

• That period in the history of American archaeology in which Lewis Binford and his

students dominated archaeological method and theory.

• no longer practiced as a field in modern times.

ANS: a PG: 5 OBJ: Factual LO: 5

12. Americanist archaeology is:

• A movement within American archaeology that argues for more American

archaeologists to focus their research on America, rather than working in different geographic regions.

• A somewhat derogatory term used by archaeologists from other countries to refer to

that type of archaeology practiced only in America.

• The same thing as any other kind of archaeology, but refers to archaeology occurring

only in the United States.

• The brand of archaeology that evolved in close association with anthropology in the

Americas.

• has caused fundamental issues related to the ethical treatment of archaeological

remains in Europe.

ANS: d PG: 5 OBJ: Factual LO: 5

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13. A “midden” is:

• any kind of artifact that has been discarded by prehistoric populations.
• a refuse deposit resulting from human activities.
• any kind of historic artifact.
• a specific kind of storage structure used by prehistoric populations.
• a fragment of pottery.

ANS: b PG: 7 OBJ: Factual LO: 5

14. “Stratigraphy” is:

• The study of a site’s artifact assemblage.
• The thorough and detailed documentation of archaeological excavations.
• The procedure by which archaeological sites are professionally mapped.
• A site’s physical structure produced by the deposition of geological and/or

cultural sediments into layers.

• A method of excavating deep trenches in bedrock

ANS: d PG: 10 OBJ: Factual LO: 5

• A. V. Kidder (1886-1963) demonstrated that potsherds are archaeologically important

because they can provide evidence of:

• Cultural relationships among various prehistoric groups.
• The types of food contained in the original clay storage vessel.
• Prehistoric ceramic manufacturing technology.
• Potsherds are of no archaeological importance; they are simply broken pieces of

pottery.

• equally as important variations in architectural styles.

ANS: a PG: 8 OBJ: Conceptual LO: 5

16. An “antiquarian” is someone who is interested in:

• Reconstructing the lifeways of commoners in classical ancient civilizations such as

Greece and Rome.

• Detailed documentation of the context in which prehistoric artifacts are found.
• Ancient objects strictly for their artistic value, rather than for the information they

provide about the people or culture that produced them.

• Everything that artifacts can tell us about the past.
• Ancient objects strictly for the information they provide about the culture or people,

not their artistic style.

ANS: c PG: 6 OBJ: Conceptual LO: 4

• The contribution of women to the development of Americanist archaeology is best summed

up by which statement?

• Women contributed nothing; it wasn’t until the 1960s during the fight for civil rights

that any women were accepted into the archaeological community and allowed to

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