首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Reconstructing Ancient Environments P1: Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for whom
Reconstructing Ancient Environments P1: Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for whom
admin
2018-10-18
43
问题
Reconstructing Ancient Environments
P1: Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for whom there may be no written records to study. Besides, global climates, topographical features and constituents of the Earth’s crust have considerably changed with the passing of time. The first effort archaeologists should make is to use evidence preserved in historical sites to reconstruct the ancient physical environment of a region.
P2: One of the most important sources of information for reconstructing human’s adaptive response to prehistoric environments is the faunal remains found in archaeological sites. Faunal remains are considered to include fish, birds, and mammals. These remains are used to reconstruct past environments and human diet. The prehistoric record of the meat-eating habits of early humans is far from clear about the prevalence of scavenging. One faction of prehistorians argues there is evidence that early humans were primarily scavengers who found the remains of animals killed by lions and other carnivores, and then butchered them. Another faction disagrees, proposing that early humans hunted for their own meat. Marks left by humans cutting up animals with stone tools are now being analyzed to help distinguish between cases in which people butchered animals they had killed themselves and those in which they butchered animals they scavenged from the kills of other animals.
P3: Another source to reconstruct ancient environments comes from the study of the remains of plants cultivated or used by man in ancient times, which have survived in archaeological contexts. Carbon is chemically quite stable, so charred plants (plants converted to charcoal or carbon) and seeds preserve well. Charred plant remains are usually retrieved by flotation: excavated sediments are mixed with water or some other fluid. Heavy fractions will sink to the bottom and less dense organic material such as charred seeds, grains, and charcoal will tend to float to the surface. The importance of such analyses lies in the fact that these plants indicate much about the climates and vegetation of the periods in which the animals lived. For example, there are ongoing debates about when and where various animals were domesticated. If phytoliths (tiny mineral particles formed inside plants) of domesticated grains are found on the teeth of these animals, the probability is high that they were part of an agricultural economy.
P4: Apart from faunal and floral remains, human bodies, especially well-preserved ones, can also be of extraordinary significance to archaeological discoveries. For example, eleven naturally mummified bodies were found in beach sand in northern Chile and date to about 1000 B.C. Chemical reconstruction of their diet demonstrates that one of them was a coca leaf chewer, and they had the kinds of dental problems and missing teeth associated with the sticky starches of an agricultural diet, although their principal food was derived from marine resources with only minor supplementation from terrestrial hunting and food-gathering. Then, during bones analysis, the bodies showed the changes of the bones of the inner ear that are characteristic of people who frequently dive in freezing water.
P5: To better interpret these prehistorical mysteries, a technical specialty is combined with archaeology, which is know as geoarchaeology. ■ Geoarchaeologists’ work frequently involves studying soil and sediments, as well as other geographical alterations, to contribute to an archaeological study. ■ Geoarchaeological analyses also involve many different kinds of questions and techniques. ■ In the Egyptian Delta region, for example, many of the earliest communities were built on large sand-and-gravel mounds created by the Nile River as it deposited the sediments it carried. ■ But many of these communities have been buried under meters of sediment from numerous ancient floods, and by other factors as well. On top of this, the streams feeding into the Nile River in the delta have changed course many times, leaving a maze of crisscrossed, buried river channels. Finding these buried sand-and-gravel mounds and the archaeological sites on them often requires complex geological analyses involving special digging, satellite image analysis, and many other techniques.
According to paragraph 3, what is one reason that scientists use flotation
选项
A、To estimate the fluid content of ancient plants and seeds
B、To identify the sediments in which ancient plants grew
C、To learn about the climate of places where ancient plants grew
D、To determine whether the remains of ancient plants and seeds have carbonized
答案
C
解析
【事实信息题】第5句提到这种分析非常重要,因为这些植物能够表明动物生活时代的气候和植被情况。
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/hchYFFFM
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.ROBERTSCOMPANYFoundingThemostimportantprincipa
Completethesentencesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.Inthehome,oneofthemostimportantusesofwa
ChooseTWOletters,A-E.WhichTWOthingsmakethemuseumunusual?AtheguidesBtheeventsCtheanimalsDthebuildingsEthe
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.AdvertisingEffectTheimportantfactortoconsiderThe【
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.AdvertisingEffectTheimportantfactortoconsiderThe【
Completethenotesbelow.WriteONEWORDONLYforeachanswer.EffectsofurbanenvironmentsonanimalsIntroductionRecenturba
ChooseTWOletters,A-E.WhichTWOsubjectsdidMartinalikebestbeforegoingtouniversity?AArtBHistoryCFrenchDEnglish
ChooseTWOletters,A-E.WhichTWOsubjectsdidMartinalikebestbeforegoingtouniversity?AArtBHistoryCFrenchDEnglish
AsystemwasdevelopedtocontroltrafficcongestionontheM25motorway.Expertsuse【L5】________informationfromthemotorw
HowtoMakePersonalControlofOne’sHealth【L31】________shouldtakechargeoftheirhealth.Thesinglegreatestthreattoheal
随机试题
A、Heisproficientindriving.B、Heiskindandlearned.C、Heknowsashortcuttothemuseum.D、Heisaninexperiencedtaxidriv
患儿女性,3岁,因“肺炎,脓毒性休克”收住儿科重症监护室(PICU)。入院第3天,休克已经纠正,呼吸机治疗,腹胀,无肠鸣音,胃管内引流出咖啡样胃液。此时静脉营养成分的选择是
生物转化中甲基可来自生物转化中乙酰基可来自
男性,10岁。突发剑突下阵发性剧烈绞痛3小时,发作时辗转不安,呻吟痛苦,伴恶心呕吐,发作过后如常人。检查无发热无黄疸,腹平软无明显压痛,白细胞计数正常。应诊断为何病
利用中药中各成分沸点的差别进行提取分离的方法是
河流充分混合段是指污染物浓度在断面上均匀分布的河流。当()时,可以认为达到均匀分布。
甲公司严重资不抵债。因不能清偿到期债务向法院申请破产。下列财产属于债务人财产的是()。
个体在解决问题过程中,思维沿着许多不同的方向扩展,使观念发散到各个有关方面,最终产生多种可能的答案的认知方式称为()。
配置路由器时,PC机的串行口与路由器的(59)相连,路由器与PC机串行口通信的默认数据速率为(60)。(59)
AsmanyasoneinfourU.S.workersmaybechronicallyangryonthejob,withangryemployeesalsomorelikelytobebored,hav
最新回复
(
0
)