Problemset
TitleTrue or FalseIntroductory
Text
Question 1
Type:
True/False
The first domesticated animals in Southwest Asia were cattle.
Hint:
The process of animal domestication was a long process, not a speedy event, which first took
place in multiple locations throughout Southwest Asia.
Correct Answer
False
Feedback for True
See Chapter 6, "Domesticating Animals" section.
Feedback for False
Question 2
Type:
True/False
As a result of grain domestication, the rachis portion of the plant was genetically altered from wild, brittle types to
tougher forms.
Hint:
Grain is attached to the stem by a 'joint' called a rachis. The rachis holds the grain seeds in
place, but differs between wild and domesticated species due to selection processes.
Correct Answer
True
Feedback for True
Feedback for False
See Chapter 6, "Domesticating Wheat and Barley" section.
Question 3
Type:
True/False
Elaborate rituals and complex social organization occurred after the advent of agriculture in Southwest Asia.
Hint:
Southwest Asia is home to extraordinary sites straddling the changeover from hunting and
gathering to food production. The elaborate construction and ritual activities at these sites
would have required many people.
Correct Answer
False
Feedback for True
See Chapter 6, "Southwest Asian Farmers (c. 10,000 to 5000 B.C.)" section.
Feedback for False
Question 4
Type:
True/False
Agriculture and animal domestication did not take place in Europe, but spread there from Southwest Asia.
Hint:
The occurrence of farming society in central and western Europe coincided with a cycle of
higher rainfall and warmer winters around 5500 B.C. Cattle herding was also undertaken in
addition to crop cultivation.
Correct Answer
True
Feedback for True
Feedback for False
See Chapter 6, "European Farmers (c. 6500 to 3000 B.C.)" section.
Question 5
Type:
True/False
Unlike the inhabitants of the Old World, Native Americans of the New World domesticated far more animals but fewer
plants.
Hint:
Food production developed independently in the Americas, with the most important staple
crop being maize.
Correct Answer
False
Feedback for True
See Chapter 6, "Early American Agriculture (8000 B.C. onward)" section.
Feedback for False
Question 6
Type:
True/False
The wild ancestor of maize was a perennial grass named teosinte.
Hint:
For maize, the process of domestication may have been an unintentional byproduct of
gathering this wild ancestor in central America.
Correct Answer
True
Feedback for True
Feedback for False
See Chapter 6, "Maize" section.
Question 7
Type:
True/False
Root crops and tubers like the potato played an important dietary role for Andean farmers.
Hint:
At the time of European contact in the 15th century A.D., Andean farmers used hundreds of
potato varieties. Previously, wild potatoes were an important foods source for Andean
foragers.
Correct Answer
True
Feedback for True
Feedback for False
See Chapter 6, "Andean Farmers" section.
Question 8
Type:
True/False
The changeover from wild to domesticated strains of grains like wheat and barley was so rapid that it is unlikely
archaeologists will ever find "transitional" grains in Southwest Asia.
Hint:
Although the broad outlines of the process of domestication can be reconstructed through
controlled experimentation and computer simulation, documenting the actual process of
domestication has proven difficult to recover in the archaeological record.
Correct Answer
True
Feedback for True
Feedback for False
See Chapter 6, "Domesticating Wheat and Barley" section.
Question 9
Type:
True/False
In coastal areas of Peru, maritime resources were so plentiful that gathering, and eventually domesticating, plants did
not take place.
Hint:
The Peruvian coast forms a narrow shelf at the foot of the Andes, and for thousands of years,
coastal communities lived off of the incredible bounty of the Pacific Ocean.
Correct Answer
False
Feedback for True
See Chapter 6, "Andean Farmers" section.
Feedback for False
Question 10
Type:
True/False
Plant remains from the site of Abu Hureyra reveal a shift in climate over time that forced inhabitants of the site to
exploit different resources. A transition in subsistence from foraging nuts in a forested environment to exploiting wild
cereals in a grassland environment can be seen archaeologically.
Hint:
Thanks to excavation and flotation methods, we know a great deal about the foraging
practices of the inhabitants of Abu Hureyra, Syria.
Correct Answer
True
Feedback for True
Feedback for False
See Chapter 6, "Southwest Asian Farmers (c. 10,000 to 5000 B.C.)" section.