Anthropology 3 - Cultural Anthropology
Quiz #2 - Spring 2011
Please print your name and mark your answers to the multiple choice questions on the scantron sheet provided. Type your
answers to the ‘written questions’ on separate sheets (see instructions below). This is a take-home quiz due Tuesday, 12 April at
the beginning of class. A quiz that is submitted late will have 10 points deducted from the overall score.
Multiple choice questions (2 points)
1) Charles Darwin:
a) invented the concept of biological evolution
b) invented the science of biology
c) developed a theory that allowed for the role of God in the evolution of life
d) discovered a viable mechanism for evolutionary change, that is, the concept of “natural selection”
e) none of the above
2) Louis Henry Morgan, a nineteenth century _________, who is often considered the father of American anthropology, developed
a theory of cultural evolution which today is referred to as _________.
a) lawyer – cultural ecology
b) doctor – diffusionism
c) armchair anthropologist – unilinear evolution
d) explorer – historical particularism
e) missionary – kinship evolution
3) The two primary theories of cultural change are:
a) invention and climate change
b) diffusion and migration
d) population growth and diffusion
e) migration and invention
c) environmental change and population growth
4) In lecture the point was made that the terms sex and gender as used in American colloquial language are ______ .
a) often misused
b) usually used correctly
c) interchangeable
d) both b and c
e) both a and c
5) One of the critical goals of cultural anthropology as an academic discipline is to:
a) explain the differences and similarities among the ways of life in different human societies
b) increase the level of culture in particular human societies
c) place large numbers of cultural anthropologists in political offices
d) determine the direction of human evolution
e) none of the above
6) What form of supernatural belief system is most frequently found in foraging (i.e., hunter-gatherer or band) societies?
a) communal
b) animism
c) cargo cult
d) monotheistic
e) polytheistic
7) The human tendency to view one’s own culture as best and superior and to judge the behavior and beliefs of culturally different people
by one’s own standards. As discussed in class, this trait is a primary impediment to our understanding and acceptance of other
cultures. This behavior is referred to as:
a) egotism
b) altruism
c) violence
d) ethnocentrism
e) relativism
8) The first art is dated to c. _________ and located in what is now __________,
a) 30,000 B. P. – France
b) 42,000 - Peru
c) 120,000 – Middle East
d) 65,000 – Africa
e) 70,000 – Pyrenees Mountains
9) Which of the following concept is not culturally constructed?
a) race
b) gender
c) kinship
d) sex
e) sexual norms
10) The term __________ is used to refer to the tasks and activities that a culture assigns to each sex.
a) sexual roles
b) sex stereotypes
c) gender stereotypes
d) gender roles
11) Detail analyses of the so-called Venus figurines show that:
a) almost all the depictions are obese, probably pregnant young women
b) most are in actually depictions of males
c) they depict a wide range of women, similar to the range of women in a living population
d) most are aged women, suggesting that Upper Paleolithic society highly valued women
e) they were used in ritual sacrifice of women
e) sex duties
12) The term for renderings painted on cave walls, rock-shelters, or rock outcrops is:
a) portable art b) abstract art c) stone art
d) pictograph
e) petroglyphs
13) What does the debate about Neanderthals relation to anatomically modern humans focus on?
a) whether Neanderthals are genetically directly related to modern humans or are they a distinct species of archaic Homo sapiens
b) whether Neanderthals were human or a Home erectus hybrid
c) whether Neanderthals made microlithic tools
d) whether Neanderthals are the isolated ancestors of the Caucasian race or more general ancestors
e) whether Neanderthals are the founders of the Native American population
14) Which of the following is correct about the food-producing traditions of Mesopotamia and Mesoamerica?
a) Food production occurred as a gradual process in Mesopotamia but was revolutionary in Mesoamerica
b) In Mesoamerica, goats, sheep, and pigs were domesticated, while in Mesopotamia, only the dogs were domesticated
c) Food production emerged in Mesoamerica thousands of years prior to Mesopotamia
d) Maize was the staple grain in Mesopotamia, while the primary grain in Mesoamerica was wheat
e) Large domesticated animals played an important role in Mesopotamia but were absent from Mesoamerica
15) The herding of animals is referred to as _________. There are two basic types of this economic strategy ________ and ________.
a) horticulture; nomadic and foraging
b) agricultural domestication; foraging and transhumance
c) foraging; nomadic
and seasonal rounds
d) pastoralism; nomadic and transhumance
e) none of the above
16) To say that anthropology is holistic means that anthropologists consider all parts of a subject in their studies, including:
a) objects and acts regarded as holy by various peoples
b) the whole personality of any particular individual
c) integration of past, present, and the future, including biology, history, culture and environmental factors in explaining human
behavior and the assumption that there is an interrelationship between all these parts
d) studying every culture in the world in great detail
e) the efforts to find holes in particular theories
17) In most traditional societies the recognition and acceptance of more than two gender roles is?
a) never apparent
b) common
c) not acceptable
d) acceptable
e) both b and d
18) The concept of race:
a) has been found to be inadequate for scientifically meaningful classification of humans
b) has great scientific utility but no political implications
c) is agreed on by both biological and cultural anthropologists to be very useful in analyzing human behavior
d) explains the biological variation and cultural differences in the human species
e) is the same as the concept of ethnicity
19) The original inhabitants of particular territories are referred to as:
a) slaves
b) primate peoples
c) indigenous peoples
d) tribal peoples
e) both b and d
20) The term Neolithic Revolution, coined by V. Gordon Childe, primarily refers to the:
a) transition to state level society
b) transition to complex hunting and gathering societies
c) use of
complex technology
d) domestication of plants and animals
e) development of complex burial practices
21) The branch of applied anthropology that focuses on social issues in, and the cultural dimension of, economic development is
known as:
a) development anthropology
b) economic anthropology
c) functional anthropology
d) capitalist
anthropology
e) international anthropology
22) Most animals communicate through a system of:
a) grammar
b) syntax
c) calls
d) speech
e) random sounds
23) A mixed language that develops to ease communication between members of different cultures in contact through trade or
colonization is known as:
a) dialect
b) creole language
c) hyper language
d) pidgin language
e) blended language
24) A theory discussed in class that might explain the development of human language involves:
a) asking for sexual favors
b) gossip between males and their female relatives concerning the behavior of their mate
c) need for ritual communications
d) interest in kinship associations
e) none of the above
25) The first evidence of domestication of plants and animals is found in ________ at about ________ years ago.
a) China; 17,500 B.P.
b) North America; 500 B.P.
c) Western Asia, 10,500 B.P.
d) Europe, 55,000 B.P.
e) East Asia, 16,000 B.P.
26) The first animal to be domesticated was the ______.
a) cow
b) pig
c) horse
d) sheep
e) dog
27) The area of the brain where the motor control of speech is located is known as:
a) Wernickes’s area
b) Schnick’s area
c) Broca’s area
d) Cornell’s area
28) The study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures, and facial expression is known as:
a) hidden language
b) kinesics
c) unspoken language
d) dialects
e) none of the above
e) none of the above
29) Distinctions between pre-industrialized and industrialized civilizations are:
a) former are based on police and military coercive force and latter elite class
specialization
d) former – human and animal traction and latter – fossil fuels
power.
b) former – farming and latter – craft
e) former fossil fuels and latter – water
30) The main subsistence strategy for most of human existence was:
a) hunting and gathering
b) agriculture.
e) industrialize
d) pastoralism
c) horticulture
31) In lecture it was noted that symbolic behavior in many different forms (e.g., music, art, religion, etc.) was first exhibited by _______.
a) Homo sapiens sapiens
b) Homo erectus
c) Australopithecus afarensis
d) Homo habilis
e) Homo sapiens neanderthalensis
32) Chiefdoms
a) require elaborate hydraulic systems if they are to grow into states
b) are the most common social arrangement
c) are never sedentary
d) are stratified societies
e) are involved in cannibalistic religious practices
33) Research on communication skills of nonhuman primates reveals that:
a) a verbal language is instinctual
b) they develop region specific call system
c) they can’t fake a call, that is, calls are stimulus based
d) they have a universal grammar
e) they are capable of speech similar to humans with enough training
34) The scientific study of a spoken language involves several interrelated areas of analysis. These include:
a) syntax, ethnosemantics, lexicon, phonology
b) ethnosemantics, syntax, lexicon, morphemes
c) ethnoscience, syntax. phonemes, lexicon
d) phonemes, lexicon, syntax. grammar
e) lexicon, phonology, morphology, syntax
35) What is the term for a social status that is not automatic; that comes through choices, actions, efforts, talents, or accomplishments;
and that may be positive or negative?
a) ascribed status
b) ethnicity
c) situational status
d) privilege
e) none of the above
36) The term ________ refers to the physical destruction of an ethnic or religious group through mass murder.
a) genocide
b) forced assimilation
c) ethnocentrism
d) racial cleaning
e) racist expulsion
37) Horticulture is an economic system that involves:
a) intensive irrigation
b) large numbers of labors to maintain the infrastructure
c) use of simple tools for gardening
d) industrial technology
e) both b and d
38) In what kind of society does differential access to strategic resources based on social stratification and craft specialization occur?
a) clans
b) foraging
c) chiefdoms
d) tribes
e) bands
39) The traditional idea that ‘a woman’s place is in the home’ derives from:
a) attitudes developed among middle- and upper-class Americans as industrialism spread after 1900
b) the universal attitude that women need to be kept in their place because they are sexually promiscuous
c) the worldwide view of the sexual division of labor
d) the preindustrial era attitude of male superiority
e) both a and b
40) In what kind of society do anthropologists most typically find forced female genital operations (that is, genital mutilating) to
prevent women from enjoying sexual intercourse.
a) patrilineal - patrilocal
b) patrilineal – neolocal
c) matrilineal – patrilocal
d) patrilineal – matrilocal
e) matrilineal – matrilocal
Essay Questions (10 points each)
Answer any two of the three questions listed below. Each written answer should be a minimum of 1 to 2 pages in length. The
format must be doubled-spaced, using 12 point font, and one inch margins on all sides, with your name and relevant course information in
top left corner (name/course info. section should be single-spaced). You will be graded down if you do not follow these instructions.
Your answers should demonstrate your comprehension of the subject material. Any questions, feel free to email me. 
1) The ability to communicate using a complex language system was often seen as a hallmark of being human, however, some
research over the last 30 years has altered this perspective. Discuss in detail the issues, research methods, and results related to
this situation as discuss in class, textbook, and review sheet.
2) How are sexuality, sex, and gender related to each other? What are the differences between these three concepts? Provide an
argument about why anthropologists are uniquely positioned to study the relationship between sexuality, sex, and gender
in society.
3) Discuss hominid biological and socio-cultural evolution, beginning with our earliest ancestors c. 4 mya through to the Upper
Paleolithic period. You might discuss: environment, population, disease, subsistence strategies, physical adaptations, and
cultural changes (i.e., new adaptive traits or cultural innovation such as control of fire, tool types, language, etc.).