Human Origins and Prehistory
Test Preparation
Course Introduction
This course explores the evolutionary journey of humankind, tracing the biological and cultural development of early hominins through to the emergence of complex prehistoric societies. Students will examine fossil evidence, archaeological discoveries, and genetic data to understand the origins and adaptations of our species. Topics include early human ancestors, the development of language, tool-making technologies, migration patterns out of Africa, and the impact of environmental changes on human evolution. Through interdisciplinary approaches, the course provides insights into how prehistoric lifeways have shaped modern human diversity and society.
Recommended Textbook
Window on Humanity A Concise Introduction to General Anthropology 6th Edition by Conrad Kottak
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1072 Verified Questions
1072 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: What Is Anthropology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Ethnology is
A)the study of human speech sounds.
B)the comparative, generalizing aspect of cultural anthropology.
C)the most important subfield of anthropology.
D)the study of ancient ethnic groups.
E)a synonym for ethnography.
Answer: B
Q2) The experience of hyperventilation upon reaching a high altitude environment illustrates a long-term physiological adaptation to high altitude.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) __________ defines the processes by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses.
A)Ethnology
B)Ethnography
C)Cultural resource management
D)Adaptation
E)Phenotype
Answer: D
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Chapter 2: Culture
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Sample Questions
Q1) The emergence of agriculture in of the Middle East and in Mexico is an example of A)acculturation.
B)enculturation.
C)independent invention.
D)colonization.
E)diffusion.
Answer: C
Q2) ____________ defines processes that are causing nations and people to be increasingly interlinked and mutually dependent.
A)Acculturation
B)Diffusion
C)Globalization
D)Enculturation
E)Independent invention
Answer: C
Q3) The Internet has hindered the process of globalization.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Doing Anthropology
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60 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Systematic survey and excavation are basically redundant methods that generate the same kinds of data.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The Tsimane of Bolivia are the most studied indigenous people in the Western Hemisphere.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) The __________ technique was developed specifically because kinship and marriage relationships are so important in nonindustrial societies.
A)life history
B)participant observation
C)genealogical method
D)interview schedule
E)network analysis
Answer: C
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Evolution, Genetics, and Human Variation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Gene flow between populations tends to prevent speciation.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Rather than attempting to classify humans into racial categories, biologists and anthropologists are
A)denying the existence of any biological variation among humankind.
B)attempting to create new categories based only on blood type.
C)confident that earlier racial classifications are still valid.
D)trying to verify anthropometric data from the turn of the century.
E)seeking to explain why specific biological variations occur.
Q3) Natural selection cannot work without A)a stable environment.
B)basic similarity in the target organisms.
C)constant gene frequencies.
D)variation.
E)homeostasis.
Q4) Explain how the modern anthropological approach to the study of human biological diversity differs from racial classification,
Q5) Discuss some of the problems underlying phenotype-based racial classifications.
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Chapter 5: The Primates
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Sample Questions
Q1) Anthropoids became the most numerous primates during the Oligocene epoch. A)True
B)False
Q2) The first hominoids fossils are from the A)Oligocene.
B)Miocene.
C)Pliocene.
D)Pleistocene.
E)Holocene.
Q3) Ancient anthropoids began to have fewer offspring that required longer and more attentive care, which selected for A)pair bonding.
B)a greater capacity for brachiation.
C)a diet focused on nuts and tubers.
D)increased reliance on arboreality (life in trees), which protected offspring from predators.
E)support from a social group.
Q4) Proconsul had apelike teeth and an apelike body. A)True B)False
Page 7
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Chapter 6: Early Hominins
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Sample Questions
Q1) Oldowan tools were made by striking flakes off the sides of cobbles.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Sexual dimorphism is less pronounced in modern humans than in the australopithecines.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The first hominins appear during the ___________ epoch.
A)Oldowan
B)Miocene
C)Würm
D)Pleistocene
E)Oligocene
Q4) The presence of very large molars and a sagittal crest on top of the skull is evidence of
A)adaptation to cold climates.
B)the earliest use of domesticated plants.
C)humanlike brain organization.
D)a dramatic increase in hunting activity.
E)adaptation to a diet based on tough, fibrous, and gritty vegetation.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: The Genus Homo
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Sample Questions
Q1) ____________ does not characterize a typical Neandertal skull.
A)A broad face
B)A large brow ridge
C)Huge front teeth
D)Small nasal cavities
E)An average cranial capacity larger than that of modern humans
Q2) Unlike the Mousterian, which included a great variety of stone tool types, Upper Paleolithic tool traditions included only a few kinds of implements.
A)True
B)False
Q3) __________ was the first hominin species to expand its range outside of Africa.
A)H.erectus
B)A.afarensis
C)H.sapiens
D)A.africanus
E)H.sapiens neanderthalensis
Q4) Citing both biological and cultural evidence, discuss the major similarities and differences between the sociocultural means of adaptation employed by Australopithecus and H.erectus.
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Chapter 8: The First Farmers
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Sample Questions
Q1) Scholars believe that food production first began in the Middle East in the A)marginal areas.
B)alluvial desert.
C)hilly flanks.
D)desert oases.
E)high plateau.
Q2) Compared to the Middle East, food production emerge in the New World approximately
A)30,000 to 40,000 years later
B)3,000 to 4,000 years later
C)30,000 to 40,000 years earlier
D)3,000 to 4,000 years earlier
E)the same time
Q3) Compared to wild plants, the seeds of domesticated plants are larger and less likely to break free from the stalk and disperse.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The Natufians were the first people to domesticate sorghum and millet.
A)True
B)False
Page 10
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Chapter 9: The First Cities and States
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Sample Questions
Q1) The statement, __________, is not true.
A)"Çatal Hüyük was first planned and built by the Jomon"
B)"the dwellings at Çatal Hüyük were entered through the roof"
C)"Çatal Hüyük was probably the largest Neolithic settlement in the Middle East"
D)"the dead were buried beneath house floors"
E)"Çatal Hüyük may have had as many as 10,000 inhabitants"
Q2) Summarize Carneiro's multivariate model of state formation.Identify the variables that are involved, and how are they interrelated.
Q3) __________ describes the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is today Iraq and southwestern Iran.
A)Mesopotamia
B)Mesolithic
C)Mesoamerica
D)Mesozoic
E)Mesoderm
Q4) Teotihuacan and Çatal Hüyük were two of the earliest towns in the Middle East.
A)True
B)False
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Language and Communication
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Sample Questions
Q1) _________ refers to the arrangement and order of words in phrases and sentences.
A)Syntax
B)Lexicon
C)Grammar
D)Phonology
E)Morphology
Q2) The study of the forms in which sounds combine to form words and their meaningful parts is
A)phonology.
B)syntax.
C)morphology.
D)lexicon.
E)grammar.
Q3) The term diglossia refers to linguistic groups that use only two basic color terms (black and white or dark and light).
A)True
B)False
Q4) Explain what historical linguists study, and discuss how historical linguistics is relevant to anthropology.
Page 12
Q5) Describe how people communicate without speaking.
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Chapter 11: Making a Living
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most present-day foragers
A)primarily fish for subsistence.
B)are wholly dependent on welfare supplied by state-level societies.
C)live largely in isolation from food-producing neighbors and the influence of the state.
D)live in marginal environments.
E)adopted foraging after abandoning more advanced subsistence strategies.
Q2) Paying taxes is an example of
A)generalized reciprocity.
B)balanced reciprocity.
C)the market principle.
D)redistribution.
E)negative reciprocity.
Q3) Discuss the major differences between industrial and nonindustrial modes of production.
Q4) Societies with the same adaptive strategy also tend to have comparable modes of production.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 12: Political Systems
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Sample Questions
Q1) In band societies, __________ determines the amount of respect or status that an individual enjoys.
A)rank ascribed at birth
B)culturally valued personal attributes
C)the individual's possessions and their monetary value
D)the amount of labor that the individual can extract from his or her spouse and children
E)genealogical relationships to apical ancestors
Q2) Describe to what extent modern foragers serve as the basis for reconstructions of social, political, and economic organization among ancient hunter-gatherer bands.Justify your answer.
Q3) Status in chiefdoms and states is based primarily on differential access to resources. A)True
B)False
Q4) Population control in states refers to police and military forces.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe at least two methods of social control and two methods of resistance.Give examples.
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Chapter 13: Families, Kinship, and Marriage
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Sample Questions
Q1) List ways that industrialism affected North American family organization.
Q2) __________ refers to sexual relations with someone considered to be a close relative.
A)Levirate
B)Sororate
C)Polyandry
D)Incest
E)Exogamy
Q3) Compare endogamy and exogamy and determine how absolute the distinction is between the two.Use examples to illustrate your argument.
Q4) Members of a clan claim (but cannot demonstrate) descent from a common apical ancestor.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Discuss the major similarities and differences between nuclear families, extended families, and descent groups (e.g., lineages and clans).
Q6) Discuss the general patterns found in the family organization of foragers.
Q7) Discuss ways in which kinship and descent help human populations adapt to their environments.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Gender
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Sample Questions
Q1) Domestic violence against women is prevalent in patrilineal-patrilocal societies because women are isolated from their supportive kin.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Male-female avoidance among the Etoro was linked to beliefs about the cycle of birth, physical growth, maturity, old age, and death.
A)True
B)False
Q3) __________ is not part of the patrilineal-patrilocal complex.
A)Patrilineality
B)Patrilocality
C)Warfare
D)Reduced gender stratification
E)Male supremacy
Q4) Gender stratification refers to an unequal distribution of socially valued resources, power, prestige, and personal freedom between men and women.
A)True
B)False
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Page 16
Chapter 15: Religion
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Sample Questions
Q1) The largest religion in the world, in terms of number of practitioners, is A)Buddhism.
B)Islam.
C)Judaism.
D)Hinduism.
E)Christianity.
Q2) The religious specialist most frequently found among foraging bands is a A)full-time practitioner.
B)shaman.
C)witch.
D)priest.
E)totem.
Q3) By participating in a ritual, performers signal that they accept a common social and moral order.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Belief in mana, or mana-like forces, is a primitive form of religion found only among tribal societies.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 16: Ethnicity and Race
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Sample Questions
Q1) Define the term social race, and explain how this concept differs from "race" as perceived by the average American.
Q2) Cultural colonialism is a process of external assimilation that occurs when a developing nation-state requests financial support from a First World nation-state.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The anti-Basque campaign waged during the Franco dictatorship in Spain is an example of
A)forced assimilation.
B)cultural relativism.
C)status ascription.
D)multiculturalism.
E)an imagined community.
Q4) Multiculturalism is the opposite of assimilationism.
A)True
B)False
Q5) No hypodescent rule developed in Brazil.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 17: Applying Anthropology
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Q1) Non-Western medicine does not maintain a sharp distinction between biological and psychological illnesses.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Businesses are no longer interested in hiring applied anthropologists now that people buy and sell a majority of goods over the Internet.
A)True
B)False
Q3) __________ refers to the beliefs, customs, specialists, and techniques aimed at ensuring health and curing illness.
A)Disease theory
B)Medical anthropology
C)Health care system
D)Shaman
E)Psychosemantics
Q4) During World War II, the U.S.government recruited anthropologists to study Japanese and German culture.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 18: The World System and Colonialism
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Q1) Modern colonialism began
A)following World War II.
B)with the fall of Rome.
C)during the European "Age of Discovery."
D)because of the Bolshevik Revolution.
E)at the end of the Seven Years' War.
Q2) The spread mining in Papua New Guinea contributed to the destruction of
A)neighboring nation-states.
B)peasants who are of the same ethnicity as the ruling elite.
C)indigenous economies, ecologies, and populations.
D)the coral reefs.
E)None of the above is correct.
Q3) __________ refers to wealth or resources invested in business with the intent of producing a profit.
A)Stock
B)Proletariat
C)Caste
D)Bourgeoisie
E)Capital
Q4) List some of the major differences between British and French colonial policies.
Page 20
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Chapter 19: Anthropologys Role in a Globalizing World
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Q1) __________ is most likely to convince an indigenous people to help prevent deforestation.
A)Saving global biodiversity
B)Slowing global warming
C)It is good for the globe
D)Preventing erosion in farmland
E)Helping the government secure a place in the European Union
Q2) Most migrants live independently, severing all ties to their home communities and identities.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The deliberate physical extinction of a group is
A)ethnocide.
B)genocide.
C)indigenocide.
D)cultural imperialism.
E)acculturation.
Q4) Discuss the evidence for climate change and the specific evidence that climate change is at least partially human-driven.List the human factors that influence climate change.
21
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