THEORIES
V. Gordon Childe's theories regarding what he termed the Neolithic and Urban Revolutions were heavily influenced by which 19th century scholar?
Karl Marx
Jericho
- has Natufian layers, especially in its pre-ceramic Neolithic phases.
Lewis Henry Morgan
- he proposed that human societies evolve through three main stages: savagery, barbarism, and civilization
_____ is an intervention in the life cycle of a plant that can contribute to the process of domestication.
Propagation
Which of the following is characteristic of recent postprocessual approaches to the emergence of complex societies?
a. Morgan’s stage scheme of cultural evolution
b. examining people’s actions, strategies, and relations
c. a focus on societal typologies
d. the assumption that the natural environment is the primary cause of cultural change
b. Examining people’s actions, strategies, and relations
The region that was the focus of Neolithic period cultural changes.
a. Indus Valley
b. Boulder
c. Fertile Crescent
d. Guatemala Valley
c. Fertile Crescent
Kent Flannery
- came up with system theory
- argued that archaeologist must consider information and material evolution
This was one of the earliest domesticated plants in Southwest Asia.
a. Goats
b. Corn
c. Wheat
d. Rice
c. Wheat
In Southwest Asia (the Fertile Crescent), some of the earliest domesticated plants included wheat (einkorn and emmer) and barley.
The approach that Franz Boas developed as a critique of 19th Century cultural evolutionism.
a. historical/cultural particularism
b. neoevolutionism
c. systems ecology
d. biological evolution
a. Historical/cultural particularism
The Neolithic
- Period between 1000 to 6000 years ago
- Period of plant and animal domestication
Elman Service
- Reintroduced the ideal of stages in cultural evolution
- strong states developed as a result of adaptation to the environment
- developed 5 societal types (Band, Tribes, chiefdom, states, empire
Which of the following was not a Neolithic cultural development?
a. cities
b. domestication
c. pottery
d. sedentism
a. Cities
Cities, however, come later, in the Bronze Age / Early state societies (e.g., Uruk in Mesopotamia, c. 3500 BCE). The Neolithic laid the groundwork for urbanization, but true cities are not a Neolithic phenomenon.
For Herbert Spencer, what was the key factor in the origins of the state?
a. irrigation
b. population pressure
c. pottery
d. warfare
a. According to Herbert Spencer Warfare was the key factor in the origins of the state
A Southwest Asian site showing signs of temporary occupation, microliths, and bone fish hooks, but lacking ground stone tools, pottery, or evidence of domestication, would date back approximately how many years?
- 8000 B.C.
- 11,000 B.C.
- 6000 B.C.
Julian Steward
- first person to think deeply about human interaction with the environment
- Argue for multilinear cultural evolution
- Argue to look for similar kind of environment and similar cultural patterns
This measure of social complexity refers to the diversity of social and economic roles in a society.
a. inequality
b. hierarchy
c. heterarchy
d. scale
b. Heterarchy
refers to the diversity and variety of social and economic roles within a society,
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels developed this important perspective in their approach to cultural evolution.
a. systems theory
b. integration theory
c. circumscription theory
d. materialism
d. Materialism
Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels emphasized historical materialism — the idea that material conditions (economy, technology, modes of production) are the foundation of social life and drive cultural evolution.
They argued that changes in the economic “base” (how people produce and reproduce life) lead to transformations in the social, political, and ideological “superstructure.
Evidence for an expansion in trade for this material at Jarmo demonstrates an increase in long-distance exchange during the Late Neolithic.
a. wheat
b. obsidian
c. gold
d. maize
b. Obsidian
Since obsidian sources are located far from Jarmo (e.g., Anatolia, eastern Turkey), its presence shows evidence of long-distance trade and exchange networks during the Late Neolithic.
Robert Carneiro
- Developed the circumscription theory
- Environment and social Circumscription trigger population and pressure and competition
- war leaders became general leaders
- conquered people fill the lower class
T / F Domestication and urbanism are identical processes.
F
Domestication : the process of humans controlling the reproduction of plants and animals for food, labor, or other uses (e.g., wheat, barley, goats, sheep). This is a Neolithic development.
Urbanism: the development of cities with dense populations, administrative centers, social stratification, and specialized labor. This emerges much later, in the Bronze Age (e.g., Uruk in Mesopotamia)