This sample exam can be used to test your knowledge. This semester, I will be asking fewer multiple/choice and true/false questions and more short answer questions. The list of short answer questions that you should prepare will be posted separately.
1. Computer simulations suggest that the prevailing winds and currents in the eastern Pacific may well have carried a drifting Polynesian sailing vessel to the immediate vicinity of Easter Island.
A. True
B. False
2. The Polynesian expansion across the Pacific was primarily from
A. east to west
B. west to east
C. north to south
D. south to north
3. The Polynesians are believed to have arrived on Easter Island at about
A. 500 B.C.
B. 1200 B.C.
C. A.D. 500
D. A.D. 1400
4. On Easter Island, the sooty tern figured prominently in
A. oral tradition concerning the origin of the first settlers on the island
B. fights over access to the richest bird breeding grounds
C. the diet of the islanders
D. selection of the Birdman
5. The statues on Easter Island were generally positioned
A. in the interior of the island, facing the sea
B. along the coast, facing the sea
C. adjacent to Rano Raraku, facing inland
D. along the coast, facing inward
6. The ariki and the moai both possessed
A. moai kava kava
B. sacred eggs
C. mana
D. toki
7. The pukao
A. were tools used to carve statues
B. appear on only some moai
C. may represent headdresses
D. were the traditional chiefs on Easter Island
E. B and C
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8. Mitochondrial DNA extracted from skeletons on Easter Island suggests the possibility that at least some early residents of the island may have come from South America, thus supporting the argument of Thor Heyerdahl.
A. True
B. False
9. The end of moai production on Easter Island was most likely a result of
A. decline in surplus food production
B. disease brought by islanders returning from slavery in Peru
C. deforestation
D. A and C
E. all of the above
10. The moai are believed to have represented
A. the deities worshiped by the Easter Islanders
B. visitors from South America and later Europe and North America
C. each year's Birdman, going back almost 1000 years
D. high ranking ancestors
11. Redistribution is a term that refers to
A. a process for balancing moai on platforms
B. collection and allocation of resources by a central authority
C. methods of increasing agricultural production through intensification
D. the shift in power from the ariki to the mata toa
12. True or false? Although experiments in moving moai vary in their approach, they are consistent in their conclusion that statues were too unstable to be transported in an upright position.
A. True
B. False
13. True or false? The decline in the seabird population of Easter Island appears to have been caused entirely by the rats that were released on the island.
A. True
B. False
14. Easter Islanders protected delicate garden plants from harsh winds by the use of
A. shields made from tapa
B. manavai
C. rano
D. tangata
15. The Hare Moa on Easter Island
A. were small statues of human figures that predated the moai
B. protected valuable property from theft
C. are stone towers whose function is unknown
D. were a response to predation by birds of prey and rats
16. Examination of pollen from sediment cores taken from crater lakes on
Easter Island has provided strong evidence in favor of
A. a change in climate from wetter to drier
B. a period of considerably colder weather in the 1600's
C. a decline in human population after about 1680
D. large scale deforestation
E. a decline in fish, suggesting over-exploitation
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17. The Kohau Rongo Rongo appear to have functioned primarily as
A. symbols of the warlords' power and authority
B. larger and more elaborate versions of the moai kava kava that many families had in their homes
C. burial places for the elite members of society
D. means of recording oral traditions and chants
18. Analysis of the teeth of Vikings in Greenland has pointed to
A. a decline in lifespan
B. dietary changes
C. a significant decline in average temperature
D. poor oral hygiene and periodontal disease
19. True or false? Changes in the distributions of cold-loving and warmthloving flies helped to establish a decline in temperature near the end of the Viking occupation of the Western settlement.
A. True
B. False
20. The primary cause of the failure of the Viking settlement in Greenland was
A. a deteriorating climate
B. harassment by the Inuit
C. a failure to adapt
D. widespread erosion
E. disease
21. Decline in hay crop production in Greenland in the 14th century A.D. resulted from
A. erosion
B. a drop in temperature
C. over-grazing
D. all of the above
22. True or false? The primary reason for lack of contact between the Vikings in Greenland and the Inuit appears to have been the language barrier.
A. True
B. False
23. Pollen analyses that reveal a significant decline in willow and birch when the Viking colonies were established point to
A. slash and burn agricultural methods
B. harvesting for construction and hearths
C. harvesting for ironworking
D. B and C
E. all of the above
24. Comparative analysis of the contents of the middens of the Inuit and
Vikings revealed that
A. the Vikings failed to make efficient use of the animals they ate and thus wasted valuable resources
B. the Vikings never consumed fish or wild game
C. there were significant differences in the quantity of flies, indicating a difference in how thoroughly the bones were cleaned
D. cannibalism was occasionally practiced by the Vikings, but apparently not by the Inuit
E. A and B
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25. True or false? Tracking of temperature changes in Greenland during the time of the Viking settlements was made possible by analysis of oxygen isotopes in ice cores.
A. True
B. False
26. True or false? One factor related to the failure of the Western settlement in Greenland may have been the competing interests of farmers and absentee landlords.
A. True
B. False
27. A prehistoric burial is an example of a(n)
A. artifact
B. feature
C. ecofact
D. anomaly
28. Reliable radiocarbon dates may be obtained for materials no older than about
A. 10,000 years
B. 50,000 years
C. 200,000 years
D. 500,000 years
E. 2,000,000 years
29. An artifact found exactly where it was used is said to be in __________ context.
A. derived
B. disturbed
C. secondary
D. primary
30. The sex of a skeleton is most reliably determined by the
A. skull
B. teeth
C. pelvis
D. humerus
E. mandible
31. True or false? An example of an ecofact would be an awl made out of an antler or bone.
A. True
B. False
32. A bone recovered from an archaeological site is found to contain one-half the quantity of radiocarbon found in a fresh bone. The archaeological specimen is therefore about how old?
A. 5,700 years
B. 11,400 years
C. 22,800 years
D. unknown because bone cannot be dated by the radiocarbon method
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33. Ratios of carbon-13 to carbon-12 are used by archaeologists to
A. date organic artifacts
B. learn about the diet of ancient people
C. date inorganic artifacts
D. determine cause of death for ancient people
34. An epiphysis is useful to the determination of
A. the type of plants that grew at a site
B. the average height of a prehistoric population
C. the correct order of the strata that make up a site
D. age at death
35. If we classify a collection of soda cans on the basis of the writing painted on them, we have made use of what type of attribute?
A. form
B. stylistic
C. technological
D. functional
36. The term given to the precise location of an artifact within a site, using x, y, and z coordinates is
A. provenience
B. association
C. strata
D. context
E. index
37. Harris lines and dental enamel hypoplasia are used by archaeologists to
A. identify the species of animal remains in their sites
B. determine the sex of a skeleton
C. indicate the presence of malnutrition
D. provide indications of the type of foods a person consumed
38. An example of experimental archaeology would be
A. measuring the amount of carbon isotopes in a specimen
B. examining a skeleton for signs of inner ear disease
C. replicating methods by which large objects might have been transported in the past
D. testing a hypothesis about the past by conducting an excavation to obtain relevant data
39. True or false? If an arrowhead is found embedded in the rib of a mammoth, we say that the two are in association.
A. True
B. False
40. Which of the following processes often results in a change in the archaeological context of an artifact?
A. erosion
B. discard
C. manufacture
D. use
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You must confine your answers to space provided – I stop reading at the end of the last line. Printing is recommended -- if I have trouble reading your answer, you may not get credit for it.
41. What single factor was most responsible for the environmental degradation that led to the decline of Easter Island civilization?
______________________________________________
42. Why did the Birdman rise in prominence on Easter Island at the apparent expense of the ariki? What did this shift in power signify?
_____________________________________________________________________________
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43. What was the major cause of erosion on Easter Island and what led to it?
____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
44. List two specific problems caused by this erosion.
1. ________________________________________________________________
2. ________________________________________________________________
45. There can be no doubt that the people who settled Easter Island developed a very successful adaptation – one that led to great achievements over the course of a millennium. Not so for the Vikings in Greenland. What evidence can you cite to support the claim that the Vikings’ way of life more or less doomed them from the start?
______________________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________________
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