Answer each question thoroughly using notes from the textbook readings as well as powerpoint lectures. 1-2 sentences will NOT suffice as an answer for each question. 1-2 full paragraphs for each question (10 questions).
Each of these questions is pulled directly from your textbook “key concept” questions.
1. What are the main causes proposed for megafaunal extinction in North America? What forms of evidence have been important in advancing those theories?
2. How do the stories of Gobekli Tepe and the Natufians demonstrate the relationship between domestication and settlement? What other evidence corroborates this story?
3. What were some of the Anthropocene (social and environmental) consequences of animal and plant domestication? What is the evidence?
4. How does bio-archaeology offer information about the identity of people in the past? Use examples to support your claim.
5. How did the Maya feed their cities in the middle of a rain forest? Compare their strategy to that of the Khmer. Use examples to support your claim.
6. How has intensive agriculture shaped our Anthropocene niche? What have been some of its effects? Use the Maya and Sumerian cities as examples in your response.
7. What does the archaeology of mortuary monuments show us about the beliefs of ancient people? Include examples.
8. Do big monuments indicate a complex society? Cities? Why or why not? Discuss examples of monuments from your book.
9. Where did most people live after 3000 BCE (Sumerian culture)? In rural areas or cities? Where did the Sumerian people get their water? How did people avoid cholera and other water-borne disease? Do you think cholera is a new phenomenon? Be specific
(No textbook information for this question)
10. Compare the development of writing in the Near East versus China. What are the earliest examples of each, and what do they reveal about the different use of writing in those civilizations? Include information about the elements often found in a writing system. Be specific and use evidence to support your answer.
