Evolutionary Anthropology Practice Questions
Course Introduction
Evolutionary Anthropology explores the biological and cultural evolution of humans and our closest relatives, integrating insights from genetics, fossil evidence, primate behavior, and archaeology. The course examines the processes that have shaped human diversity, adaptation, and social organization over time. Students will investigate key concepts such as natural selection, adaptation, speciation, and the evolutionary history of primates, including both extinct hominins and modern humans. By combining perspectives from biology, anthropology, and archaeology, the course provides a comprehensive understanding of human origins and the evolutionary mechanisms underlying our species' development.
Recommended Textbook
Physical Anthropology and Archaeology 4th Canadian Edition by Carol R. Ember
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14 Chapters
447 Verified Questions
447 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: What Is Anthropology?
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29 Verified Questions
29 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Early studies in anthropology in English Canada focused on studies of rural and small-town communities.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Paleoanthropologists study how and why contemporary human populations vary biologically.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) A distinguishing feature of anthropology as a discipline is its approach is more
A) holistic.
B) focused.
C) applied.
D) generalized.
E) practical.
Answer: A
Q4) What are the four sub-fields of anthropology?
Answer: Physical anthropology, archaeology, socio-cultural anthropology, linguistics.
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Chapter 2: Uncovering the Past: Tools and Techniques
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30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Where a newly discovered site is relatively disturbed, the excavation of test pits at intervals across the site might provide a better understanding of the sites extent.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) Which of the following is an example of a subsurface technique?
A) Field walking.
B) Field Surveying
C) Test pitting.
D) Aerial photography.
E) Satellite Imagery.
Answer: C
Q3) Middens are of particular interest to archaeologists because they provide a cross-section of material culture.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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4
Chapter 3: Reconstructing the Past: Analysis and Interpretation
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32 Verified Questions
32 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Regardless of what artifacts of made of, they are analysed for A) their size and shape.
B) how they were made.
C) their form or type.
D) all of the above
E) A and C only
Answer: D
Q2) In their study of the Mayan Empire, anthropologists Dr. Lori Wright, Dr. Christine White and Dr. Katherine Emory all demonstrated using stable isotope analysis that
A) reduced food resources led to demographic collapse.
B) ecological factors led to the demographic collapse.
C) deer meat was the source of demographic collapse.
D) ecological factors did not play a role in demographic collapse.
E) economic factors resulted in demographic collapse.
Answer: D
Q3) Phytoliths may be collected from artifacts, teeth, and feces.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Historical Development of Evolutionary Theory
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32 Verified Questions
32 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Humans were classified in the order Primates, along with monkeys and apes, by
A) Linnaeus.
B) Lamarck.
C) Darwin.
D) Aristotle.
E) Plato.
Q2) Once speciation has occurred
A) evolution can still be reversed.
B) the new species can no longer mate with other species related to the parent population.
C) offspring of the new species are not viable.
D) mutations are limited.
E) offspring are sterile.
Q3) A single species can consist of multiple genera.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Lewis Henry Morgan argued that "primitive societies" represented degeneration.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What is one adaptations to terrestrial life exhibited by reptiles?
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Modern Evolutionary Theory
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37 Verified Questions
37 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In individuals with heterozygous genotypes, it is always the dominant alleles that are passed from parents to offspring.
A)True
B)False
Q2) How does the founder effect lead to genetic drift?
Q3) A long, two-stranded molecule shaped like a double helix is the structure of A) proteins.
B) ribonucleic acid (RNA).
C) uracil and adenine.
D) deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
E) cytosine and guanine.
Q4) Chromosomes are built of DNA.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Another cause of the shuffling of parental genes is crossing-over.
A)True
B)False
Q6) How does the idea of punctuated equilibrium contrast with the traditional view on the pace of speciation?
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Chapter 6: Human Variation
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Sample Questions
Q1) Humans require vitamin D to incorporate calcium and ensure the proper growth and development of bones and teeth -- the more vitamin D, the better.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Recent diseases like SARS and the West Nile virus had impacts not unlike a virgin soil epidemic.
A)True B)False
Q3) Research by psychologist Phillipe Rushton of the University of Western Ontario
A) shows Europeans and their descendants have the largest brains among modern human populations.
B) shows that East Asians have the fastest maturation rates among modern human populations.
C) has been dismissed by the general anthropological and broader scientific communities.
D) divides the human species into five biological races.
E) has been widely praised by anthropologists for its objective assessment of human variation.
Q4) Provide an argument against applying racial classifications to humans.
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Chapter 7: The Living Primates
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34 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Field studies of primate behaviour indicate that males usually attempt to mate with any females ready to mate.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Old World monkeys are more closely related to New World monkeys than they are to apes and humans.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In large groups of rhesus monkeys, behaviour seems to be determined by a degree of biological relatedness.
A)True
B)False
Q4) An endocast is a
A) the base of the skull.
B) fossilized impression of the brain.
C) structure in the throat to prevent choking.
D) a part of the brain responsible for vision.
E) a part of the brain in primates responsible for speech.
Q5) What is the difference between prosimians and strepsirhines?
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Chapter 8: Primate Evolution: From Early Primates to Hominoids
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32 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Omomyids are considered ________-like because of their large eyes, long tarsal bones and very small size.
A) tarsier
B) lemur
C) prosimian
D) adapid
E) loris
Q2) Eocene adapids are described as lemur-like, while the Eocene omomyids are considered
A) squirrel-like.
B) loris-like.
C) cat-like.
D) monkey-like.
E) tarsier-like.
Q3) Oreopithiecus was adapted to life in thickly forested marshlands.
A)True
B)False
Q4) List the geological epochs, from the Cretaceous to the present, in consecutive order.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Early Hominins
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Sample Questions
Q1) One of the possible consequences of brain expansion was that offspring are born more developed.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Paleoanthropologists attempt to determine if a stone flake is a tool by looking for a A) striking platform.
B) occipital keel.
C) sagittal crest.
D) residue.
E) sharp edge.
Q3) Homo rudolfensis is roughly contemporary with A) Neandertals.
B) Homo habilis.
C) Homo erectus.
D) A. africanus.
E) Zinjanthropus.
Q4) One advantage of bipedalism is the ability to cover large areas, very quickly.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: Homo Erectus and Archaic Homo Sapiens
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32 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Olorgesailie site in Kenya shows possible evidence of A) warfare.
B) control of fire by Australopithecines.
C) Oldowan stone tool production.
D) co-operative hunting by Homo erectus.
E) ritual by Homo erectus.
Q2) The migration of Homo erectus out of Africa around 2 million years ago was preceded by the migration of Homo habilis almost 250,000 years earlier.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Who were the Denisovans?
Q4) Endocast evidence suggests hemispheric specialization was not yet present in H. erectus.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The structure of the brain of H. floresiensis is similar to that of H. erectus.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Outline the evidence suggesting that H. erectus took part in rituals.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Modern Homo Sapiens
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32 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In an early version of the Single-Origin Hypothesis of modern human origins (from the 1950s), the source population for the replacement was presumed to be
A) Cro-Magnons from France.
B) Homo sapiens sapiens from Africa.
C) "progressive" Neanderthals from the Near East.
D) anatomically modern humans from Israel.
E) Archaic Homo sapiens from Asia.
Q2) The name given to the land connection that linked eastern Siberia with Alaska during the last Ice Age is
A) the Bering Strait.
B) Beringia.
C) the Siberia-Alaska land bridge.
D) the New World connection.
E) the Clovis corridor.
Q3) Dorset technology was somewhat limited when compared to later Thule technology.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What specialized structural anatomical features enabled the emergence of speech?
Q5) Where did modern humans emerge? Summarize and compare the current theories.
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Chapter 12: Origins of Food Production and Settled Life
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32 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to Lewis Binford and Kent Flannery, human population growth and the movement of people into ________ with ________ resources may have spurred them to practice food production.
A) highland areas; bountiful
B) marginal areas; few
C) river valleys; aquatic
D) coastal regions; seasonal
E) grasslands; wild grain
Q2) Life expectancy derived from skeletal samples depends on the assumption of mean age at death being approximately equivalent to life expectancy at birth.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The shift from hunting and gathering to cultivation and domestication of plants and animals is referred to as
A) the Mesolithic revolution.
B) the Agricultural revolution.
C) the Neolithic revolution.
D) the Paleo revolution.
E) the Horticultural revolution.
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Page 14
Chapter 13: Origins of Cities and States
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most ancient civilizations arose in ________ around ________.
A) China; 2500 BC
B) East Asia; 2500 BC
C) the Near East; 3500 BC
D) Europe; 10,000 BC
E) Mesoamerica; 3000 BC
Q2) At its peak, from A.D. 200-500, the great city of Teotihuacan covered an area greater than imperial Rome.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Physical or environmental circumscription is the only kind of barrier than can give rise to a state.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Some archaeologist think that states first evolved in Mesopotamia around A) 2000 BC.
B) 200 BC.
C) 3500 BC.
D) 10,000 BC.
E) 8200 BC.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Applied Anthropology: Physical Anthropology and Archaeology
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30 Verified Questions
30 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the past, most projects by governments and non-governmental agencies that have instituted planned change have usually
A) sought the input of the target populations.
B) worked closely with both applied anthropologists and target populations.
C) used the same approach regardless of the target populations.
D) begun without any input at all from anthropologists.
E) consulted with anthropologists only after the projects were completed.
Q2) Which of the following is considered a culture-bound syndrome?
A) AIDS.
B) Malnutrition.
C) Morning sickness.
D) Anorexia.
E) Influenza.
Q3) Research currently suggests that the spread of HIV in different areas of the world is due to
A) the availability of drugs.
B) different sexual patterns.
C) population growth.
D) socioeconomic differences.
E) religious beliefs.
Page 16
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