ASB 337 Final Exam Study Guide

Question 1 The origins of agriculture occurred in which period? Answer a. Paleoindian b. Archaic c. Classic d. Postclassic Question 2 The beginning of the Archaic period corresponds with a. the end of the Pleistocene b. the disappearance of megafauna such as mammoths c. (a) and (b) d. none of the above Question 3 Agriculture originated through botanical changes and involved no change in technology or settlement. True False Question 4 Archaeologists can study the origins of agriculture by recovering plant remains that are thousands of years old. True False Question 5 A crop portfolio is a. an index of a plant's response to moisture. b. a mix of crops chosen to minimize vulnerability to environmental conditions. c. the amount of money that Mesoamerican farmers kept on hand to buy seeds at market. d. the kind of money that Archaic farmers used Quiz 1b: Archaic Foraging and Collecting Compared to the preceding period, climate during the Archaic a. was warmer b. was more arid c. had more distinct seasonal differences in precipitation and temperature x d. all of the above Question 2 Archaic population shifted their subsistence strategies toward a. Greater use of big-game animals b. Lower-ranking, "weedy" plants with small seeds c. (a) and (b) are correct d. none of the above x Question 3 The earliest domesticated plants were gourds and squashes rather than maize. True False Question 4 Maguey (also known as agave or century plant) a. was mainly used for fiber to make ropes and nets x b. was a drought-resistant food source that reduced vulnerability to famine c. only grew in the best-watered areas d. was most useful in high-rainfall environments Question 5 The cave site of Guilá Naquitz a. was inhabited by a macroband b. contained the earliest dated maize in Mesoamerica at ca. 4250 BCE c. was a resting site for Archaic goat herders d. contained no evidence of agriculture Question 6 The probable region of origin for the ancestor of modern maize is a. the Southern Maya Lowlands b. the Valley of Oaxaca c. Tamaulipas d. the Rio Balsas valley Question 7 Early maize cobs from Tehuacan sites are only 3 cm long. True False Question 8 Maize came into being in a few a. years b. decades c. centuries x d. millenia Question 9 Maize originated from plant that had only a single row of kernels on its cobs (spikes) True False Question 10 The difference between direct and indirect dating is a. that indirect dating obtains a date from a different site than the one where the plant material was found, similarly to cross-dating of ceramics. b. that indirect dating obtains a date from different part of the deposit than the one in which the plant material was found. c. that indirect dates depend on eccentricities in the lunar orbit. d. that indirect dating relies on the association of datable wood in stratigraphic association with the plant material rather than obtaining the date from the plant material itself.