Anthropology Exam Material Questions
and Answers
physical anthropology - Answer-fossil remains of human ancestors
linguistic anthropology - Answer-patterns of speech in different social situations
archaeology - Answer-material remains left behind by humans (e.g. arrowheads)
cultural anthropology - Answer-interactions between different residents of the same
neighborhood
paleoanthropology - Answer-comparing fossilized 200,000-year-old primate remains to
modern human anatomy
historic archaeology - Answer-cataloguing artifacts discovered in an 1800s shipwreck
off the coast of Istanbul
prehistoric archaeology - Answer-describing the importance of objects found in ancient
Native American burial mounds
primatology - Answer-observing chimpanzee tool use
sociolinguistics - Answer-studying the differences between words students use in the
classroom and with friends
descriptive linguistics - Answer-working to convert a spoken language into a written one
for the sake of preservation
historic linguistics - Answer-analyzing how acronyms used in text messaging have
changed common patterns of speech in the United States
b. flexible accumulation - Answer-A company that used to be based solely in the United
States now has factories in the United States plus Mexico, Guatemala, and Indonesia.
Which key dynamic of globalization is at work in this example?
a. uneven development
b. flexible accumulation
c. increasing migration
d. offshore production
a. cultural anthropologist - Answer-A foreign corporation is interested in building a new
factory in Bolivia and wants to know how to ensure positive interactions between local
,workers and corporate management. Which type of anthropologist should the company
contact?
a. cultural anthropologist
b. physical anthropologist
c. linguistic anthropologist
d. ethnologist
d. increasing migration - Answer-A hundred years ago in the United States, most
college-age adults envisioned living and working near the town where they grew up.
Today, many more college-age adults envision living and working in a location away
from the town where they grew up. Which key dynamic of globalization best explains
this phenomenon?
a. flexible accumulation
b. time-space compression
c. building connections
d. increasing migration
a. uneven development - Answer-A hydroelectric dam is built in Haiti to provide electric
power to those who can afford it. The Haitian citizens who had lived in the valley where
the dam is built are relocated to a mountainous location that makes it very difficult for
them to make a living sufficient to afford electricity. Which key dynamic of globalization
does this story best illustrate?
a. uneven development
b. flexible accumulation
c. increasing migration
d. rapid change
a. ethnology. - Answer-Ana has started a project comparing ethnographic data about
educational techniques in Lesotho to data about educational techniques in New York
City. This process is known as:
a. ethnology.
b. participant observation.
c. historical linguistic analysis.
d. historical archaeology.
c. linguistic anthropologist - Answer-Anil is an anthropologist who studies how words
transmitted via social media have been used both to resist and to uphold power during
recent revolutionary periods in Libya, Egypt, and the Sudan. Anil would most likely
classify himself as a(n):
a. physical anthropologist
b. cultural anthropologist
, c. linguistic anthropologist
d. archaeologist
a. how cultures change over time. - Answer-Anthropology began with the study of
largely isolated small-scale communities, seeing them in an isolated context. Now,
however, globalization changed anthropology, not just around cultural interactions or in
the use of what are called multi-sited ethnographies, but also in regards to
a. how cultures change over time.
b. the increasing isolations between cultures due to technological change.
c. how cultures themselves have changed geographic borders.
d. the disappearance of unspoiled and undiscovered cultures.
d. The study of humans across all time periods. - Answer-Anthropology is described as
a "holistic" field, and we study the entire picture of human life around the world. So
many of the challenges we are dealing with today may often lead us to ignore which
crucial aspect of humanity, something that anthropologists also include in their work?
a. The study of humans in ways that other disciplines overlook.
b. The study of human and environmental symbiosis.
c. The study of human and animal interaction.
d. The study of humans across all time periods.
b. how all humans are connected. - Answer-Anthropology's global approach coupled
with a focus on both people and power structures also helps us understand
a. how power structures can be changed.
b. how all humans are connected.
c. how narrow the perspectives of other social sciences really are.
d. how humans might adapt to climate change.
b. archaeologist - Answer-April is excited to see a display of arrowheads and other
stone tools in a local museum. She wants to learn more about some of the tools. Which
type of anthropologist should she contact?
a. primatologist
b. archaeologist
c. paleoanthropologist
d. physical anthropologist
d. physical anthropologist - Answer-Augusto the farmer encounters several bones while
plowing his field and wants to know if the bones are human. Which type of
anthropologist should he call?
a. linguistic anthropologist
b. cultural anthropologist
and Answers
physical anthropology - Answer-fossil remains of human ancestors
linguistic anthropology - Answer-patterns of speech in different social situations
archaeology - Answer-material remains left behind by humans (e.g. arrowheads)
cultural anthropology - Answer-interactions between different residents of the same
neighborhood
paleoanthropology - Answer-comparing fossilized 200,000-year-old primate remains to
modern human anatomy
historic archaeology - Answer-cataloguing artifacts discovered in an 1800s shipwreck
off the coast of Istanbul
prehistoric archaeology - Answer-describing the importance of objects found in ancient
Native American burial mounds
primatology - Answer-observing chimpanzee tool use
sociolinguistics - Answer-studying the differences between words students use in the
classroom and with friends
descriptive linguistics - Answer-working to convert a spoken language into a written one
for the sake of preservation
historic linguistics - Answer-analyzing how acronyms used in text messaging have
changed common patterns of speech in the United States
b. flexible accumulation - Answer-A company that used to be based solely in the United
States now has factories in the United States plus Mexico, Guatemala, and Indonesia.
Which key dynamic of globalization is at work in this example?
a. uneven development
b. flexible accumulation
c. increasing migration
d. offshore production
a. cultural anthropologist - Answer-A foreign corporation is interested in building a new
factory in Bolivia and wants to know how to ensure positive interactions between local
,workers and corporate management. Which type of anthropologist should the company
contact?
a. cultural anthropologist
b. physical anthropologist
c. linguistic anthropologist
d. ethnologist
d. increasing migration - Answer-A hundred years ago in the United States, most
college-age adults envisioned living and working near the town where they grew up.
Today, many more college-age adults envision living and working in a location away
from the town where they grew up. Which key dynamic of globalization best explains
this phenomenon?
a. flexible accumulation
b. time-space compression
c. building connections
d. increasing migration
a. uneven development - Answer-A hydroelectric dam is built in Haiti to provide electric
power to those who can afford it. The Haitian citizens who had lived in the valley where
the dam is built are relocated to a mountainous location that makes it very difficult for
them to make a living sufficient to afford electricity. Which key dynamic of globalization
does this story best illustrate?
a. uneven development
b. flexible accumulation
c. increasing migration
d. rapid change
a. ethnology. - Answer-Ana has started a project comparing ethnographic data about
educational techniques in Lesotho to data about educational techniques in New York
City. This process is known as:
a. ethnology.
b. participant observation.
c. historical linguistic analysis.
d. historical archaeology.
c. linguistic anthropologist - Answer-Anil is an anthropologist who studies how words
transmitted via social media have been used both to resist and to uphold power during
recent revolutionary periods in Libya, Egypt, and the Sudan. Anil would most likely
classify himself as a(n):
a. physical anthropologist
b. cultural anthropologist
, c. linguistic anthropologist
d. archaeologist
a. how cultures change over time. - Answer-Anthropology began with the study of
largely isolated small-scale communities, seeing them in an isolated context. Now,
however, globalization changed anthropology, not just around cultural interactions or in
the use of what are called multi-sited ethnographies, but also in regards to
a. how cultures change over time.
b. the increasing isolations between cultures due to technological change.
c. how cultures themselves have changed geographic borders.
d. the disappearance of unspoiled and undiscovered cultures.
d. The study of humans across all time periods. - Answer-Anthropology is described as
a "holistic" field, and we study the entire picture of human life around the world. So
many of the challenges we are dealing with today may often lead us to ignore which
crucial aspect of humanity, something that anthropologists also include in their work?
a. The study of humans in ways that other disciplines overlook.
b. The study of human and environmental symbiosis.
c. The study of human and animal interaction.
d. The study of humans across all time periods.
b. how all humans are connected. - Answer-Anthropology's global approach coupled
with a focus on both people and power structures also helps us understand
a. how power structures can be changed.
b. how all humans are connected.
c. how narrow the perspectives of other social sciences really are.
d. how humans might adapt to climate change.
b. archaeologist - Answer-April is excited to see a display of arrowheads and other
stone tools in a local museum. She wants to learn more about some of the tools. Which
type of anthropologist should she contact?
a. primatologist
b. archaeologist
c. paleoanthropologist
d. physical anthropologist
d. physical anthropologist - Answer-Augusto the farmer encounters several bones while
plowing his field and wants to know if the bones are human. Which type of
anthropologist should he call?
a. linguistic anthropologist
b. cultural anthropologist
