Quiz - Environmental Archaeology

  1. Some sediments on the ocean floor consist of an ooze containing microfossils known as
    Planktonic foraminifera
  2. Archaeologists can trace changes in environmental conditions through time by studying ___________ extracted from the sea bed.
    Cores
  3. Cores obtained from stratified ice sheets can provide invaluable information on
    Climatic oscillations
  4. Polynesian sea-faring migrations were brought to an end by _____________ which may have caused a sharp increase in storms.
    The Little Ice Age
  5. It is thought that the onset of ENSO (El Nińo/Southern Oscillation) may have helped shape the emergence of civilizations on the
    South American coast
  6. A rise in the level of the land relative to the sea caused by the relaxation of Ice Age conditions is a process known as
    Isostatic uplift
  7. The topography of a submerged coastal plain can be traced off shore by using which scientific method?
    Echo-sounding
  8. In northern Australian, changes in ________ and technology may be reflected in the region's art, including images of new species such as the barramundi.
    Sea-level
  9. ___________ uses the methods and concepts of earth sciences to examine processes of earth formation, soil and sediment patterns
    Geoarchaeology
  10. Thick layers in _______, which are periglacial phenomena, represent warm years
    Varves
  11. The channel of the _____________ River is not incised into the land and therefore has the tendency to change its course from time to time.
    Indus
  12. Stalagmites and stalactites are collectively known as __________ and can be used for an accurate assessment of past climate.
    Speleothems
  13. The study of the form and development of the landscape is known as
    Geomorphology
  14. Karl Butzer has distinguished three groups of cultural deposits: primary, secondary and tertiary. Primary cultural deposits are those which accumulate on the surface from human activity, while secondary cultural deposits are best described as
    Primary deposits which have undergone modification, either through physical displacement or a change in the use of an activity area
  15. A technique used to identify minerals present in the raw materials of an artifact, or to identify clay minerals in sediments, is known as
    X-ray diffraction analysis
  16. ______, a wind-blown sediment, has been found on about 10 percent of the world's land surface.
    Loess
  17. Palynology, or the study of pollen grains, was developed by the Norwegian scientist,
    Lennart van Post
  18. The most favorable sediments for the preservation of pollen are _______ and _________ peat bogs.
    Acidic, poorly aerated
  19. __________________ are minute particles of silica from plant cells which survive after the rest of the plant has decomposed.
    Phytoliths
  20. The species of ancient ______ can usually be identified despite changed in their shape caused by charring or waterlogging.
    Seeds
  21. Small animals, or ______________, are better indicators of climate and environmental change than large species because they adapt more quickly.
    Microfauna
  22. Large animals, or _______________, help build up a picture of past human diet
    Macrofauna
  23. Archaeologists should bear in mind that the choice of a site in ancient times may have been dictated by what Ernest Burch refers to as the
    Nonempirical environment
  24. One of the first ways in which people modified their living places was by
    The controlled use of fire
  25. Casts of the hollows left by trees at Poppaea's villa at Oplontis, near Pompeii, provided important information about gardening techniques, especially
    Grafting
  26. Site Exploitation Territory (SET) is based on the assumption that
    The further the resource area is from the site, the less likely it is that the resource will be exploited
  27. A ________________ is used to extract a thin column of sediment 'a sea core' from the ocean floor for analysis in reconstructing climates.
    Piston corer
  28. Recent investigations on agricultural production suggest that there were no ____________ in the Kuk highlands about 6000 years ago.
    Pigs
  29. What type of human impact at Chaco Canyon brought about the transformation of the local environment and may have contributed to its eventual abandonment?
    Deforestation
  30. Palynologists have recently discovered that Easter Island had _______________ before human arrival.
    Forests of large palms
  31. Sea cores provide climatic information through the analysis of organic molecules in the ocean waters. True or False?
    False
  32. El Nińo events seem to have occurred throughout history, not just in recent decades. True or False?
    True
  33. Diatoms are useful for identifying whether ancient bodies of water were fresh, brackish or salt, but not for finer grained analytical questions, such as the level of water salinity or nutrient status. True or False?
    False
  34. The reconstruction of the coastline in the vicinity of Franchthi Cave made it possible to understand changes in diet. True or False?
    True
  35. Fossil ice wedges are proof of a past warming and of the depth of permafrost. True or False?
    False
  36. Analyses of soils and sediments can provide data on long-term processes of deposition and erosion. True or False?
    True
  37. Loess works as a climate indicator because it is only deposited during periods of relatively warm, wet climate. True or False?
    False
  38. Paleoentomology is the study of ancient words. True or False?
    False
  39. Archaeologists are using GIS to learn how Cahokia and other settlements were distributed in relation to environmental features. True or False?
    True
  40. Site Catchment Analysis (SCA) is the technique for studying the area around a site that would have been exploited by the occupants. True or False?
    True
Author
Anonymous
ID
88083
Card Set
Quiz - Environmental Archaeology
Description
From Archaeology: Theories, Methods and Practice (4th edition), 2006, Renfrew and Bahn, Thames & Hudson
Updated