1. Archaeological “site formation” refers to:
a. the human actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
b. the natural actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
c. the human and natural actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
d. None of the answers are correct.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
2. What could account for chronologically older artifacts being found above younger artifacts in a stratigraphic
sequence?
a. Faunalturbation (e.g., rodent burrows)
b. Cultural disturbance (e.g., prehistoric digging of a hearth or pit)
c. Graviturbation
d. All of the answers are correct.
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: Site Formation Processes: How Good Sites Go Bad
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.02 - What is the law of superstition? How can it be
violated?
OTHER: PICKUP
3. The Law of Superposition states that, in any pile of sedimentary rocks that have not been disturbed by folding or
overturning:
a. stratigraphic layers cannot be used to date archaeological sites.
b. stratigraphic layers at the bottom are younger than stratigraphic layers at the top.
c. stratigraphic layers at the bottom are older than stratigraphic layers at the top.
d. soil depth provides a measure of the absolute age of a stratum.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.02 - What is the law of superstition? How can it be
violated?
OTHER: PICKUP
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, 4. In an undisturbed deposit, a stone tool found in a stratum overlying a stratum containing potsherds is most likely:
a. older than the potsherds.
b. younger than the potsherds.
c. the same age as the potsherds.
d. impossible to determine whether the stone tool is older or younger than the potsherds.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.02 - What is the law of superstition? How can it be
violated?
OTHER: PICKUP
5. Nicolaus Steno argued in his Preliminary Discourse to a Dissertation on a Solid Body Naturally Contained
within a Solid (1669) that fossils came to be laid down inside solid rock because the fossils:
a. had grown inside the rock, a common opinion of the time.
b. were older; the rock was originally laid down as a liquid, solidifying around the fossils.
c. were younger; they became trapped inside the rock after the rock had already solidified from its liquid state.
d. and the rock were the same age, both forming together at the same time.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.02 - What is the law of superstition? How can it be
violated?
OTHER: PICKUP
6. Mary Leakey’s discovery of fossil footprints in volcanic ash at Laetoli was important because:
a. it warned locals of the presence of a nearby active volcano.
b. fossil animal footprints had never before been discovered.
c. the volcanic ash had preserved the footprints of at least two bipedal hominids.
d. it proved that hominids manufactured and used stone tools prior to the origin of bipedalism.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
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, 7. The footprints at Laetoli were remarkably well-preserved because:
a. they were made in an ash slurry that quickly hardened and were then buried by volcanic ash soon after they
formed.
b. they were slowly buried by volcanic ash after sitting in the open air for a long period of time.
c. they are very young; their preservation is thus solely a function of their age.
d. they were never buried; the Laetolil Beds that preserve the footprints are the youngest of a series of
stratigraphic units.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
8. The age of the Laetoli footprints was determined by:
a. directly dating the footprints themselves.
b. potassium-argon dating.
c. t he law of superposition.
d. both potassium-argon dating and the law of superposition.
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
9. Most of the strata in Gatecliff rockshelter consist of:
a. sediments brought into the shelter by humans.
b. naturally deposited alluvial and eolian sediments.
c. thick layers of rock from collapse of the shelter roof over time.
d. thick layers of volcanic ash.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: Reading Gatecliff’s Dirt
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.02 - What is the law of superstition? How can it be
violated?
OTHER: PICKUP
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, 10. Where are the Laetoli footprints today?
a. The footprints were stolen by a looter shortly after their discovery, and their whereabouts are still unknown.
b. The footprints were covered with sediment and left in place, preserved in the ground where they were
discovered.
c. The footprints are on display in a Tanzanian museum, where they have been preserved and stabilized.
d. They are gone, completely destroyed by root activity.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
11. A marker bed is:
a. an easily identified stratum that is found in multiple sites in the same region.
b. a stratum unique to a particular archaeological site that is not found anywhere else throughout the region.
c. a stratum that is easily dated by the potassium-argon dating method.
d. a stratum marked by distinctive soil horizons.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: Reading Gatecliff’s Dirt
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
12. A marker bed can be useful to archaeologists because:
a. if it has been dated in other sites, it can indicate the age of sediments in a new site.
b. it is specific to a particular site and can therefore provide a detailed environmental reconstruction of that
particular site.
c. it generally consists of soft sediments that are easily excavated.
d. None of the answers; a marker bed is only useful to geologists.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: Reading Gatecliff’s Dirt
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 4
a. the human actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
b. the natural actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
c. the human and natural actions responsible for the creation of an archaeological site.
d. None of the answers are correct.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
2. What could account for chronologically older artifacts being found above younger artifacts in a stratigraphic
sequence?
a. Faunalturbation (e.g., rodent burrows)
b. Cultural disturbance (e.g., prehistoric digging of a hearth or pit)
c. Graviturbation
d. All of the answers are correct.
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: Site Formation Processes: How Good Sites Go Bad
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.02 - What is the law of superstition? How can it be
violated?
OTHER: PICKUP
3. The Law of Superposition states that, in any pile of sedimentary rocks that have not been disturbed by folding or
overturning:
a. stratigraphic layers cannot be used to date archaeological sites.
b. stratigraphic layers at the bottom are younger than stratigraphic layers at the top.
c. stratigraphic layers at the bottom are older than stratigraphic layers at the top.
d. soil depth provides a measure of the absolute age of a stratum.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.02 - What is the law of superstition? How can it be
violated?
OTHER: PICKUP
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 1
, 4. In an undisturbed deposit, a stone tool found in a stratum overlying a stratum containing potsherds is most likely:
a. older than the potsherds.
b. younger than the potsherds.
c. the same age as the potsherds.
d. impossible to determine whether the stone tool is older or younger than the potsherds.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.02 - What is the law of superstition? How can it be
violated?
OTHER: PICKUP
5. Nicolaus Steno argued in his Preliminary Discourse to a Dissertation on a Solid Body Naturally Contained
within a Solid (1669) that fossils came to be laid down inside solid rock because the fossils:
a. had grown inside the rock, a common opinion of the time.
b. were older; the rock was originally laid down as a liquid, solidifying around the fossils.
c. were younger; they became trapped inside the rock after the rock had already solidified from its liquid state.
d. and the rock were the same age, both forming together at the same time.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.02 - What is the law of superstition? How can it be
violated?
OTHER: PICKUP
6. Mary Leakey’s discovery of fossil footprints in volcanic ash at Laetoli was important because:
a. it warned locals of the presence of a nearby active volcano.
b. fossil animal footprints had never before been discovered.
c. the volcanic ash had preserved the footprints of at least two bipedal hominids.
d. it proved that hominids manufactured and used stone tools prior to the origin of bipedalism.
ANSWER: c
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 2
, 7. The footprints at Laetoli were remarkably well-preserved because:
a. they were made in an ash slurry that quickly hardened and were then buried by volcanic ash soon after they
formed.
b. they were slowly buried by volcanic ash after sitting in the open air for a long period of time.
c. they are very young; their preservation is thus solely a function of their age.
d. they were never buried; the Laetolil Beds that preserve the footprints are the youngest of a series of
stratigraphic units.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
8. The age of the Laetoli footprints was determined by:
a. directly dating the footprints themselves.
b. potassium-argon dating.
c. t he law of superposition.
d. both potassium-argon dating and the law of superposition.
ANSWER: d
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
9. Most of the strata in Gatecliff rockshelter consist of:
a. sediments brought into the shelter by humans.
b. naturally deposited alluvial and eolian sediments.
c. thick layers of rock from collapse of the shelter roof over time.
d. thick layers of volcanic ash.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: Reading Gatecliff’s Dirt
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.02 - What is the law of superstition? How can it be
violated?
OTHER: PICKUP
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 3
, 10. Where are the Laetoli footprints today?
a. The footprints were stolen by a looter shortly after their discovery, and their whereabouts are still unknown.
b. The footprints were covered with sediment and left in place, preserved in the ground where they were
discovered.
c. The footprints are on display in a Tanzanian museum, where they have been preserved and stabilized.
d. They are gone, completely destroyed by root activity.
ANSWER: b
REFERENCES: The Law of Superposition
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
11. A marker bed is:
a. an easily identified stratum that is found in multiple sites in the same region.
b. a stratum unique to a particular archaeological site that is not found anywhere else throughout the region.
c. a stratum that is easily dated by the potassium-argon dating method.
d. a stratum marked by distinctive soil horizons.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: Reading Gatecliff’s Dirt
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
12. A marker bed can be useful to archaeologists because:
a. if it has been dated in other sites, it can indicate the age of sediments in a new site.
b. it is specific to a particular site and can therefore provide a detailed environmental reconstruction of that
particular site.
c. it generally consists of soft sediments that are easily excavated.
d. None of the answers; a marker bed is only useful to geologists.
ANSWER: a
REFERENCES: Reading Gatecliff’s Dirt
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ARCH.KELL.17.05.01 - What is geoarchaeology?
OTHER: PICKUP
Copyright Cengage Learning. Powered by Cognero. Page 4
