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  3. 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

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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.
An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the THREE answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some answer choices do not belong in the summary because they express ideas that are not presented in the passage or are minor ideas In the passage. This question is worth 2 points. Drag your choices to the spaces where they belong. To review the passage, click on View Text.
Archaeologists try to use different methods to reconstruct ancient environment.
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Answer Choices
A Studying plant and animal remains can reveal details of ancient climates, food sources, and agricultural activities.
B Faunal analysis deals mainly with analyzing the tools ancient humans used for hunting and killing animals.
C Once identified, carbonized plant remains can help modern agriculturalists determine the most stable varieties of plants to grow.
D An examination of human remains can tell archaeologists about such things as the individual’s diet and habits.
E To help understand the physical world of ancient communities, archaeologists may work with geologists and employ complex new techniques.
F Geoarchaeology, a growing field within archaeology, has proved to be more effective in explaining the alterations made to natural landscapes than in explaining how members of ancient communities lived.
选项
答案A，D，E
解析 【文章总结题】本文主要讲述了重建古代环境的两个方法。第一，考古学依靠动物、植物或者人类遗骸得到关于史前的信息。动植物遗骸能够帮助重建古代气候、食物以及农业活动的情况：人类遗骸能够体现古代人类的饮食和生活习惯情况；第二，地质考古学给考古学增加了一项专业技术，通过复杂的地质分析重建古代环境。因此涉及两种重建方法的A、D、E选项正确。B、C、F三个选项在原文中未提及。
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