Practice Quiz for
Early Modern Human Culture

No. of Questions= 15

INSTRUCTIONS: To answer a question, click the button in front of your choice. A response will appear in the window below the question to let you know if you are correct. Be sure to read the feedback. It is designed to help you learn the material. You can also learn by reading the feedback for incorrect answers.

1.  The Upper Paleolithic tool making traditions:
a) were produced by both Neandertals and modern Homo sapiens
b) began around 100,000 years ago
c) were only used by European Cro-Magnon people
d) none of the above
 
2.  Which of the following statements is true of the Cro-Magnon people?
a) They were big game hunters
b) Their most advanced weapon for hunting large animals was a short jabbing spear.
c) They specialized in the hunting of large solitary animals because herd animals required too much effort to kill.
3.  Which of the following things occurred in the northern hemisphere during the 5,000 years of final glacial melt at the end of the last ice age?
a) Upper Paleolithic hunters became aware that they were causing the extinction of large animals and stopped hunting them before it was too late.
b) The Cro-Magnon people became progressively less interested in fishing and marine mammal hunting.
c) The Cro-Magnon people died off due mostly to starvation.
d) none of the above
4.  The basis of many Upper Paleolithic stone tool forms was the blade flake. Blade flakes are:
Click here to see a blade flake illustration      
a) thin, roughly parallel-sided flakes that are at least twice as long as they are wide
b) preforms for the manufacture of many different kinds of tools
c) nearly standardized shapes that were struck off assembly line fashion from a prepared core usually by punch flaking
d) all of the above
5.  The efficiency of stone tool making methods is often compared in terms of the amount of cutting edge that can be obtained from a pound of stone. Based on this criterion, which of the following tool traditions was the least efficient?   (You are looking for the one that got the smallest amount of cutting edge.)
a) Acheulian
b) Mousterian
c) Oldowan
d) Magdalenian and other advanced Upper Paleolithic traditions
6.  Which Upper Paleolithic tool making technique involves removing waste flakes by "pushing them off"?
a) pressure flaking
b) percussion flaking
c) forced air flaking
d) all of the above
7.  An Upper Paleolithic "burin" was a:
a) compound tool
b) tool for making other tools
c) harpoon with a detachable point
d) kind of portable art carved from stone
8.  Upper Paleolithic European "Venus figurines" were:
Click here to see a Venus figurine      
a) life size carvings of women
b) ritual objects symbolizing female fertility
c) created by the Neandertals
9.  "Venus figurines" were made __________________ years ago.
a) 100,000-75,000
b) 75,000-37,000
c) 35,000-10,000
10.  The ice age cave paintings in Western Europe were made by:
Click here to see an ice age European cave painting      
a) Neandertals
b) Neandertals and Cro-Magnons
c) Cro-Magnons
d) none of the above
11.  What did the tutorial suggest as the main function of Upper Paleolithic cave paintings in Europe?
a) to educate children about the characteristics of animals
b) to depict their gods
c) to increase the likelihood of success in hunting
12.  Which of the following statements is true concerning Upper Paleolithic cave art in Europe?
a) It did not include pictures of predator animals.
b) It did not include pictures of humans.
c) It was at its peak of sophistication at the time the last ice age was winding down--i.e., 15,000-10,000 years ago.
13.  Which of the following statements is true concerning Upper Paleolithic cave art in Europe?
a) It was made and seen only by adult men.
b) There seems to have been ritual ceremonies connected with the art.
c) There were no female representations
14.  Some Upper Paleolithic cave art and bone artifacts have sequences of incised marks or ticks that look like tallies. What did the tutorial suggest that the makers of these things were counting?
a) days between menstrual cycles
b) the number of big animals killed by hunters
c) changes in the phases of the moon
15.  Which of the following statements is true concerning European Upper Paleolithic art in the period from 15,000 to 10,000 years ago?
a) This was the time of the most elaborate Venus figurines.
b) Tools were often decoratively carved and personal body adornments made of bone, teeth, and shell were very common.
c) The most elaborate European ice age paintings were made.
d) all of the above
 


 

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