Course Introduction
Physical Anthropology Exam
Questions
Physical Anthropology is the scientific study of human evolution, biological diversity, and adaptation. This course explores the origins and development of the human species through the examination of fossil records, genetics, primatology, and the physical variations among modern populations. Students learn about the processes of evolution and natural selection, the relationship between humans and other primates, and the impact of environmental pressures on human biology. Emphasis is placed on understanding how biological factors and cultural practices have shaped human physical form and contributed to the diversity seen in contemporary human populations.
Recommended Textbook
The Essence of Anthropology 3rd Edition by William A. Haviland
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16 Chapters
1823 Verified Questions
1823 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: The Essence of Anthropology
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117 Verified Questions
117 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The detailed description of a particular culture primarily based on fieldwork is called:
A) ethnology
B) ethnography
C) forensic anthropology
D) molecular anthropology
Answer: B
Q2) Anthropologist Elizabeth Guillette's study of the effects of pesticide exposure on children's performance of normal childhood activities in a Yaqui village in northern Mexico is an example of applied medical anthropology.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) The Garbage Project is an example of contemporary _______________. Answer: archaeology
Q4) Any object fashioned by humans is known as a(n) _______________. Answer: artifact
Q5) Comparative cross-cultural research is called _______________. Answer: ethnology
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Chapter 2: Biology and Evolution
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138 Verified Questions
138 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In evolutionary terms, what kind of force is mutation?
A) negative because mutation decreases chances for survival
B) positive because it provides variation for selection
C) neutral because variation does not matter in the long run
D) mutation cannot be evaluated in these terms
Answer: B
Q2) Evolution can be described as:
A) an anti-Creationist account of the origin of life
B) the foundation of culture in contemporary society
C) the major organizing principle of the biological sciences
D) the major organizing principle of the social sciences
Answer: C
Q3) Chimpanzees and humans share what percentage of DNA similarity?
A) 90%
B) 95%
C) 97%
D) 98%
Answer: D
Q4) _______________ is a major organizing principle of biological science.
Answer: Evolution
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Chapter 3: Living Primates
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119 Verified Questions
119 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The sense of smell is vital for _______________ in their location of food sources.
A) ground-dwelling, nocturnal mammals
B) tree-dwelling, diurnal mammals
C) ground-dwelling, diurnal mammals
D) tree-dwelling, nocturnal mammals
Answer: A
Q2) Which of the following topics would best be approached by studying primates in their natural habitat?
A) language-learning skills
B) social dynamics
C) comparative intelligence
D) conceptual capacity
Answer: B
Q3) A creature that is active at night is considered to be:
A) arboreal
B) diurnal
C) noxious
D) nocturnal
Answer: D
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Human Evolution
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106 Verified Questions
106 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why do some primatologists call the Miocene the "golden age of the hominoids"?
Q2) All of the following advantages are conferred by obsidian except:
A) it allows a surgeon greater control over cutting
B) it can be made sharper than conventional sources for blades
C) it is harder than conventional sources for blades
D) it is always very difficult to obtain
Q3) Which of the following countries in Africa has not yielded australopithecine fossils?
A) Egypt
B) Chad
C) South Africa
D) Ethiopia
Q4) Increased meat consumption by our early human ancestors was important for human evolution.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the Oldowan Tool Tradition.
Q6) What advantages did humans gain with the control of fire?
Q7) The earliest human stone tool tradition was the _______________.
Q8) Why does the shape of the pelvis vary between bipeds and other apes?
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Chapter 5: The Neolithic Revolution: The Domestication of Plants
and Animals
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Sample Questions
Q1) The _______________ Hypothesis set the stage for the development of archaeology as a science.
Q2) Microliths could only be made from flint.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following statements is true?
A) Food foraging populations tend to have higher rates of fertility compared to farming populations
B) Farming populations tend to have higher rates of fertility compared to food foragers
C) Food foragers and farming populations have an equal rate of fertility
D) Fertility rates for food foragers and farming populations is not currently known
Q4) The invention of food production occurred in both Mesoamerica and Southwest Asia through:
A) independent invention
B) diffusion
C) shared invention
D) imposition
Q5) How did the spread of food production increase instability in subsistence?
Page 7
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Chapter 6: The Emergence of Cities and States
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112 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) In Eurasia and Africa, ushered in the age of _______________ that was marked by the production of tools made by this metal.
Q2) The first emperor of which civilization was buried with 7,000 life-size terra cotta figures?
A) Indonesia
B) Mesopotamia
C) Japan
D) China
Q3) One example of applied archaeology is lecturing to Marines about the cultural heritage of the locations where they will be deployed.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Maya written records are called _______________.
Q5) In 2003 in the Henan Province of China, archaeologists discovered evidence of writing in the form of:
A) signs carved into tortoise shells
B) knotted strings
C) clay tablets
D) bark etchings
Q6) What is action theory?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Modern Human Diversity: Race and Racism
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124 Verified Questions
124 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Intelligence tests are a subject of controversy.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Franz Boas believed that inferior races could progress.
A)True
B)False
Q3) _______________ is a practice of assigning a child to the race of the minority parent. It is also known as the "one drop rule."
Q4) What is the relationship between race and culture? Discuss how these terms are used interchangeably and how they affect each other.
Q5) Minute variations of _______________ give each of us a unique genetic fingerprint.
Q6) All of the following are true statements except:
A) the majority of genetic variation exists within groups
B) no one group is genetically distinct for any particular trait
C) differences between individual populations is greater than that between individuals
D) racial categories tend to be devised in an arbitrary manner
Q7) Human biological variation is best expressed as a _______________.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: The Characteristics of Culture
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the difference between sex and gender?
A) sex is the accumulation of all biological differences between individuals
B) sex is the combination of cultural meanings assigned to the biological differentiation between the genders
C) gender is the combination of cultural meaning assigned to the biological differentiation between the sexes
D) there is no difference between these concepts
Q2) Sexuality and sexual behavior are primarily biological rules.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A society's cultural features fall within all of the following categories except:
A) infrastructure
B) interstructure
C) social structure
D) superstructure
Q4) Compare and contrast the difference between "culture" and "society."
Q5) Describe the ethnicity that is exhibited by traditional Amish communities in the United States.
Q6) The most important symbolic aspect of any culture is _______________.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Language and Communication
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Sample Questions
Q1) All of the languages in Europe belong to the Indo-European family.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How does telecommunication impact language systems? Provide examples of telecommunications that contribute to language loss or language revival.
Q3) Why should anthropologists study animal communication? What might we learn about ourselves from observing other animals? Consider non-human primates among your responses, specifically citing the work in Project Chantek.
Q4) The sounds and gestures of language are classified as:
A) proxemics
B) signs
C) metaphors
D) symbols
Q5) What is an "eyebrow flash"?
A) a smiley face
B) a signal made with two fingers
C) using one's hands to cover and then reveal the eyes
D) rapid eyebrow movement
Q6) What are the four primary ways by which humans effectively communicate?
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Social Identity, Personality, and Gender
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102 Verified Questions
102 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) _______________ training creates community members whose idea of selfhood transcends individualism.
Q2) Among traditional foragers, gender typecasting begins very early.
A)True
B)False
Q3) An individual's sense of place in time is termed his/her:
A) normative orientation
B) object orientation
C) spatial orientation
D) temporal orientation
Q4) The term that many North American Indians prefer for a transgendered individual is:
A) bakla
B) two-spirits
C) two-way
D) fa'afafines
Q5) Although National Character Studies are no longer considered scientifically valid, how might anthropologists develop a way to study "cultures-at-a-distance" given the new forms of technology that exist today?
Q6) Among the _______________ Margaret Mead found that women dominated men.
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Chapter 11: Subsistence and Exchange
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Sample Questions
Q1) _______________ is a transaction between two parties whereby goods and services of roughly equivalent value are exchanged.
Q2) Aymara Indians adapted to high altitude have a pulmonary diffusing capacity to oxygenate blood that is how much greater than someone adapted to the lowlands?
A) 10%
B) 30%
C) 50%
D) 70%
Q3) As similar case studies, the Cheyenne and the Comanche are best depicted as examples of:
A) parallel adaptation
B) evolutionary adaptation
C) consequential adaptation
D) convergent adaptation
Q4) Among the Ju/'hoansi, the owner of game is:
A) the individual who hunts the game
B) the individual whose arrow killed it
C) all adult members of the band
D) all adult male members of the band
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Chapter 12: Sex, Marriage, and Family
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Sample Questions
Q1) Single-parent households are a phenomenon associated only with post-industrial societies.
A)True
B)False
Q2) All societies have rules to govern sexual behavior.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following is a significant reason for lower divorce rates prior to 1800 in Western societies?
A) more material possessions and more children in marriages
B) a high mortality rate
C) men and women did not argue as much as they do now
D) women were more valuable than they are now
Q4) The structures of marriage and the family are cultural phenomena.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The incest taboo is a permanent cultural law.
A)True
B)False
Q6) What is the anthropological definition of marriage?
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Kinship and Other Methods of Grouping
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Sample Questions
Q1) Symbols from which some clan groups claim mythical origin and common descent are called:
A) matriclans
B) diasporas
C) totems
D) matrix symbols
Q2) ________________ indicators are things such as wealth, dress, and residential location that indicate social classes.
Q3) Cross-cousins and parallel-cousins are created by the _______________ kinship system.
Q4) Hindu castes are distinguished by:
A) age and occupation
B) occupation and symbolic status of purity
C) symbolic status of purity and social class
D) religious status and symbolic class
Q5) The degree of mobility in a stratified society is related to the kind of:
A) family organization
B) class statuses
C) occupation classes
D) religious organization
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Chapter 14: Politics, Power, and Violence
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112 Verified Questions
112 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the primary difference between a rule of law and a rule of custom?
A) laws employ overt coercion
B) customs employ overt coercion
C) laws involve few legal claims
D) customs involve legal sanctions
Q2) Which is likely to be the oldest form of political organization?
A) chiefdom
B) band
C) tribe
D) state
Q3) Kapauku are most associated with the herding of:
A) cattle
B) goats
C) sheep
D) pigs
Q4) A _______________ control is an external control through open coercion.
Q5) Wars have only become a significant problem among societies since the invention of ____________________________.
Q6) Describe an uncentralized political system. Give at least six characteristics.
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Q7) The Chinese attempt to annihilate Tibetan identity is a form of
Chapter 15: Spirituality, Religion, and the Supernatural
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104 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why is there so much controversy over clitoridectomy?
A) it is a non-Western religious practice
B) it is extremely dangerous to women's health
C) it causes women to have too much fertility
D) it allows women to practice birth control
Q2) The concepts of mana, manitou, and wakonda are all associated with:
A) fundamentalism
B) monotheism
C) animism
D) animatism
Q3) In anthropology, marriage rituals are almost always classified as:
A) rites of union
B) rites of transition
C) rites of intensification
D) rites of passage
Q4) Rites of passage include all of the following stages except:
A) incorporation
B) transformation
C) transition
D) separation
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Global Changes and the Role of Anthropology
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Sample Questions
Q1) The recent rise in global urbanization has been fueled mainly by:
A) rise of state societies
B) mining
C) mechanized farming
D) rural-to-urban migrations
Q2) Globally, although there is structural violence, equality is increasing rapidly.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In the United Nations 1966 Covenant on Human Rights, it states that ethnic groups within nation-states:
A) are encouraged to assert their independence and right of self-determination
B) should use technological advance to further develop their cultures
C) need to assimilate to the dominant cultures
D) have group rights
Q4) The Basque struggle in Spain is an example of a _______________ movement.
Q5) How does the United States promote its business interests worldwide?
Q6) Pluralistic societies tend to be more stable over time.
A)True
B)False
Q7) An estimated ______________ national groups exist in the world today.
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