2 Archaeology: Preservation, Context, and Key Discoveries

Although the American Southwest did not produce true humanly created mummies as in Egypt, its arid environment nonetheless promoted exceptional preservation because pueblo dwellers buried their dead:

A. in dry cairns and barrows

B. in dry caves and rock shelters

C. in waterlogged caves and rock shelters

D. in deep pits

E. in special ceremonial kivas

B. in dry caves and rock shelters

An artifacts context includes all of the following EXCEPT:

A. itself

B. its matrix

C. its creator or maker

D. its association with other finds

E. its provenince

C. its creator or maker

Archaeological researchers sometimes create modern-day stone tools to study the different cutting marks that they leave on materials like bone, animal meat, and plant fibers. Which one of the following options best describes this type of archeological research approach?

A. inconsequential archaeology

B. excavation archaeology

C. extraterrestrial archaeology

D. experiential archaeology

E. experimental archaeology

E. experimental archaeology

At the archaeological site of Ozette, the extraordinary preservation of organic materials resulted from which of the following?

A. an earthquake causing the settlement to sink

B. a volcano burying the settlement in ash

C. a glacier covering the settlement

D. a mudslide covering the settlement

E. a waterslide created to amuse prehistoric children at the settlement

D. a mudslide covering the settlement

Bod bodies, primarily individuals who met a violent death (such as Tollund Man from Denmark), are the best known fines from peat bogs in northwestern Europe, where they typically date to the:

A. iron age

B. Paleolithic

C. industrial age

D. medieval age

E. renaissance

A. Iron Age

Features, essentially non-portable artifacts, include which of the following?

A. advertisements and the main presentation

B. hammers, chisels, and arrowheads

C. animal bones, plant remains, and other ecofacts

D. postholes, hearths, and storage ditches

E. small villages, houses, and palaces

D. postholes, hearths, and storage ditches

Must farm in Cambridgeshire, in the east of England, provides and important example of waterlogged preservation. The site is best described as:

A. an Iron Age village that slowly sank into the marshlands

B. a Bronze Age farmyard

C. an Iron Age complex of university buildings along the River Cam

D. a Bronze Age settlement damaged by fire

E. a Neolithic homestead burnt and buried

D. a Bronze Age settlement damaged by fire

Original human behavior activities are a type of cultural formation process. Which of the following IS NOT an example of this type of activity?

A. use and distribution of goods

B. manufacturing of tools

C. disposal of a broken tool

D. the destruction of a settlement during a mudslide

E. acquisition of raw material

D. the destruction of a settlement during a mudslide.

Peat bogs and wetlands are probably best known for preserving human remains. Case studies in Chapter 2 illustrate that all of the following have also been recovered from archaeological sites in wetlands EXCEPT:

A. fishing nets.

B. wooden carts.

C. prehistoric paper playing cards.

D. boats.

E. wooden trackways.

C. prehistoric paper playing cards.

The exceptional preservation of "Ötzi," or the "Iceman," found in the Alps in 1991, allowed researchers to study his health, history of past injuries, tattoos, and diet. Radiocarbon dating suggests that he lived in about:

A. 13,000 BCE.

B. 3300 BCE.

C. 1300 BCE.

D. 10,000 BCE.

E. 300 CE.

B. 3300 BCE

The material immediately surrounding an artifact, usually sediments or soils made up of some combination of gravel, sand, or clay, is referred to as the:

A. dirt

B. matrix

C. site

D. inclusions

E. find spot

B. matrix

What is the major archaeological problem with waterlogged finds, particularly those made out of wood?

A. Wood is adequately preserved under all environmental conditions, making waterlogged wood redundant.

B. Currently, we have no scientific methods to preserve them.

C. They are always too big to fit inside museum laboratories.

D. They deteriorate rapidly once removed from the water.

E. Modern-day archaeologists do not know how to remove them from the water.

D. They deteriorate rapidly once removed from the water.

What is the most destructive type of climate for organic materials?

A. a climate with a high degree of seasonal variation

B. The type of climate makes little difference to the preservation of organic materials.

C. a tropical climate

Correct

D. a polar climate

E. a temperate climate

C. a tropical climate

Which of the following provides an accurate definition of the termtaphonomy?

A. The study of processes that affect the burial and preservation of material in the archaeological record.

Correct

B. The study of processes that led to the creation of artifacts and ecofacts prior to their existence in the archaeological record.

C. The study of how animals and plants are classified and named.

D. The study of processes that led to the formation of past societies.

E. The study of past agricultural techniques.

A. the study of processes that affect the burial and preservation of material in the archaeological record

Why are temperate climates not usually conducive to organic preservation within the archaeological record?

A. Because of steady humidity.

B. Because of water saturation.

C. Because of hyper-aridity.

D. Because of variable temperatures and fluctuating precipitation.

E. Because of varying and unpredictable levels of animal activities.

D. Because of variable temperatures and fluctuating precipitation

Dry environments prevent decay through the shortage of water. Without water, micro-organisms can survive and flourish, helping to preserve organic remains.

True

False

False

Metals like gold, silver, and lead corrode easily and do not survive well in the archaeological record.

True

False

False

Natural formation processes include such activities as plowing, building structures, or making tools.

True

False

False

Provenince is the exact position of a find within the matrix.

True

False

True

Sea water is potentially very destructive, but archaeologists can often use electrolysis to preserve artifacts recovered from under the sea, as long as they are coated with a thick hard casing of metallic salts.

True

False

True