ANTH 202 Exam #3 Questions and Answers Already Passed
Bioarchaeology - Answers the archaeological study of human remains, emphasizing the preservation of
cultural and social processes in the skeleton
Ancient DNA - Answers genetic material preserved in archaeological remains of bones and plants that
can be studied for information about past genetic relationships
Demography - Answers The scientific study of population characteristics.
enamel hypoplasia - Answers incomplete or defective formation of the enamel of either primary or
permanent teeth; result may be an irregularity of the tooth form, color, or surface
Harris Lines - Answers horizontal lines near the ends of long bones indicating episodes of physiological
stress
bone entheses - Answers It is the region where a tendon, ligament, joint capsule, fascia or muscle
attaches to the bone. It is a transition tissue whose function, besides being a soft tissue anchor, is to
transfer the stress in these areas of attachment to the adjacent bone, and vice versa.
Stable isotopes in bones and teeth - Answers Stable isotopes found in bones and teeth, primarily carbon
(C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), and strontium (Sr), can be analyzed to reveal information about an
individual's diet, geographic location, and environmental conditions they lived in throughout their life,
as these isotopes are incorporated into bone and tooth structure based on the food and water they
consumed during development; essentially acting as a record of their past environment and diet.
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) - Answers The Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was enacted to outline a requirement and process for
museums and federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items (including human
remains) to lineal descendants, culturally affiliated Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations.
cultural affiliation - Answers in NAGPRA, "a relationship of a shared group identity which can be
reasonably traced historically or prehistorically between a present day Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian
organization and an identifiable earlier group."
Sex vs. Gender - Answers sex is biological; gender is the predetermined roles for men and women in the
community
Kinship - Answers A social bond based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption
Achieved vs. Ascribed Status - Answers achieved - acquires on basis of merit or effort/action, changeable
ascribed - by birth, unchangeable, unearned, lifelong, assigned to people or groups based on traits
beyond control
, Egalitarian vs. ranked societies - Answers An egalitarian society is one where everyone has relatively
equal access to resources and power, with no fixed social hierarchy, while a ranked society has a social
hierarchy where individuals and groups are ranked based on status or lineage, though there may still be
relatively equal access to basic needs; essentially, egalitarian societies strive for equality, while ranked
societies have established social tiers.
Cognitive Archaeology - Answers the study of past ways of thought and symbolic structures from
material remains
hunter-gatherers - Answers Nomadic groups whose food supply depends on hunting animals and
collecting plant foods
civilization - Answers A society with cities, a central government, job specialization, and social classes
cosmology - Answers study of the universe as a totality; theory of the origin and structure of the
universe
Symbol - Answers A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object
representing something abstract.
Iconography - Answers the images and symbolic representations that are traditionally associated with a
person or a subject
Experimental Archaeology - Answers Experiments designed to determine the archaeological correlates
of ancient behavior; may overlap with both ethnoarchaeology and taphonomy.
Unilineal Evolution - Answers The no longer accepted view that all cultures change or evolve along the
same pathway, usually one of increasing complexity
multilinear evolution - Answers Theory that similar places developed similar cultures without being
connected
Historical Particularism - Answers The idea, attributed to Franz Boas, that cultures develop in specific
ways because of their unique histories.
Keeling Curve - Answers a graph that plots the ongoing change in concentration of carbon dioxide in
Earth's atmosphere since the 1950s
Pleistocene - Answers The most recent epoch of the Late Cenozoic Ice Age, beginning about 1.8 million
years ago and marked by as many as 20 glaciations and interglaciations of which the current warm
phase, the Holocene epoch, has witnessed the rise of human civilization.
Holocene - Answers The current interglaciation period, extending from 10,000 years ago to the present
on the geologic time scale.
Antrhopocene - Answers the current historical era in which human activity is reshaping the planet in
permanent ways
Bioarchaeology - Answers the archaeological study of human remains, emphasizing the preservation of
cultural and social processes in the skeleton
Ancient DNA - Answers genetic material preserved in archaeological remains of bones and plants that
can be studied for information about past genetic relationships
Demography - Answers The scientific study of population characteristics.
enamel hypoplasia - Answers incomplete or defective formation of the enamel of either primary or
permanent teeth; result may be an irregularity of the tooth form, color, or surface
Harris Lines - Answers horizontal lines near the ends of long bones indicating episodes of physiological
stress
bone entheses - Answers It is the region where a tendon, ligament, joint capsule, fascia or muscle
attaches to the bone. It is a transition tissue whose function, besides being a soft tissue anchor, is to
transfer the stress in these areas of attachment to the adjacent bone, and vice versa.
Stable isotopes in bones and teeth - Answers Stable isotopes found in bones and teeth, primarily carbon
(C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O), and strontium (Sr), can be analyzed to reveal information about an
individual's diet, geographic location, and environmental conditions they lived in throughout their life,
as these isotopes are incorporated into bone and tooth structure based on the food and water they
consumed during development; essentially acting as a record of their past environment and diet.
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) - Answers The Native American
Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was enacted to outline a requirement and process for
museums and federal agencies to return certain Native American cultural items (including human
remains) to lineal descendants, culturally affiliated Indian tribes, or Native Hawaiian organizations.
cultural affiliation - Answers in NAGPRA, "a relationship of a shared group identity which can be
reasonably traced historically or prehistorically between a present day Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian
organization and an identifiable earlier group."
Sex vs. Gender - Answers sex is biological; gender is the predetermined roles for men and women in the
community
Kinship - Answers A social bond based on common ancestry, marriage, or adoption
Achieved vs. Ascribed Status - Answers achieved - acquires on basis of merit or effort/action, changeable
ascribed - by birth, unchangeable, unearned, lifelong, assigned to people or groups based on traits
beyond control
, Egalitarian vs. ranked societies - Answers An egalitarian society is one where everyone has relatively
equal access to resources and power, with no fixed social hierarchy, while a ranked society has a social
hierarchy where individuals and groups are ranked based on status or lineage, though there may still be
relatively equal access to basic needs; essentially, egalitarian societies strive for equality, while ranked
societies have established social tiers.
Cognitive Archaeology - Answers the study of past ways of thought and symbolic structures from
material remains
hunter-gatherers - Answers Nomadic groups whose food supply depends on hunting animals and
collecting plant foods
civilization - Answers A society with cities, a central government, job specialization, and social classes
cosmology - Answers study of the universe as a totality; theory of the origin and structure of the
universe
Symbol - Answers A thing that represents or stands for something else, especially a material object
representing something abstract.
Iconography - Answers the images and symbolic representations that are traditionally associated with a
person or a subject
Experimental Archaeology - Answers Experiments designed to determine the archaeological correlates
of ancient behavior; may overlap with both ethnoarchaeology and taphonomy.
Unilineal Evolution - Answers The no longer accepted view that all cultures change or evolve along the
same pathway, usually one of increasing complexity
multilinear evolution - Answers Theory that similar places developed similar cultures without being
connected
Historical Particularism - Answers The idea, attributed to Franz Boas, that cultures develop in specific
ways because of their unique histories.
Keeling Curve - Answers a graph that plots the ongoing change in concentration of carbon dioxide in
Earth's atmosphere since the 1950s
Pleistocene - Answers The most recent epoch of the Late Cenozoic Ice Age, beginning about 1.8 million
years ago and marked by as many as 20 glaciations and interglaciations of which the current warm
phase, the Holocene epoch, has witnessed the rise of human civilization.
Holocene - Answers The current interglaciation period, extending from 10,000 years ago to the present
on the geologic time scale.
Antrhopocene - Answers the current historical era in which human activity is reshaping the planet in
permanent ways
