15 questions about prehistory with the commented feedback

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For you to test your knowledge of prehistory, we have prepared 10 questions with the commented template.

The exercises range from easy to difficult and cover themes about the concept of prehistory, art and the changes that the first human beings went through. Good studies!

Easy level

question 1

(Enem) Our ancestors were dedicated to hunting, fishing and collecting fruits and vegetables, guaranteeing their livelihood, because they still did not know the practices of agriculture and livestock. Once the food was exhausted, they were forced to move the camp to another place.

HALL, P. P. Environmental management. São Paulo: Pearson, 2011 (adapted).

The text refers to the migratory movement called

a) commuting.
b) nomadism.
c) rural exodus.
d) transhumance.
e) sedentary lifestyle.

Correct alternative: b) nomadism.

Agriculture requires a sedentary lifestyle that is, a way of life in which the individual is not constantly changing places. For its part, nomadism is characterized by mobility, something compatible with hunting and gathering fruit.

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question 2

(And either)

Rock paintings

The cave painting above, which is a Brazilian cultural heritage, expresses:

a) the conflict between indigenous peoples and Europeans during the colonization process in Brazil.
b) the social and political organization of an indigenous people and the hierarchy among its members.
c) aspects of the daily life of groups that lived during the so-called prehistory of Brazil.
d) rituals involving sacrifices of large dinosaurs that are now extinct.
e) the constant warfare between different Paleoindian groups in America during the colonial period.

Correct alternative: c) aspects of the daily life of groups that lived during the so-called prehistory of Brazil.

The cave paintings probably portrayed the daily lives of human beings at that time, such as hunting and the animals that inhabited the surroundings. Alternative (c) sums up this idea well and is therefore correct.

question 3

(Ameosc-adapted) Prehistory is usually divided into three periods, Paleolithic, Neolithic and Metal Age. They are features of the Paleolithic period, EXCEPT:

a) The men of this period were nomads and lived essentially from hunting and gathering.
b) An essential discovery of this period was the discovery of how to produce fire.
c) Used bones and stones to make tools and weapons for hunting, cutting and making their garments.
d) In this period they domesticated animals, along with climatic changes that increased the terrestrial temperature.

Correct alternative: d) In this period they domesticated animals, along with climatic changes that increased the terrestrial temperature.

In this question you must mark the wrong alternative.

The domestication of animals began in the Neolithic and not the Paleolithic, and therefore this statement is not true.

An alternative that can cause confusion is the letter "a". However, in the Upper Paleolithic, human beings were not sedentary but nomadic. In fact, that's why they lived by hunting and gathering fruit.

question 4

(FGV-SP) The transition from the Upper Paleolithic to the Neolithic (between 10 000 a. Ç. and 7000 a. C.) was accompanied by some basic changes for humanity. Among these, we could mention:

a) the appearance of spoken language;
b) the domestication of animals and plants, that is, the emergence of agriculture and grazing;
c) the appearance of magic and art;
d) the settlement of large areas that were previously unpopulated, such as Central and Western Europe;
e) the appearance of several new instruments, such as the bone needle, harpoons, hooks, hatchet, spear and knife.

Correct alternative: b) the domestication of animals and plants, that is, the appearance of agriculture and grazing;

In the Upper Paleolithic, humans managed to domesticate certain animals and plants. This task required the sedentarization of populations. Thus, the next stage, the Neolithic, would be characterized by the improvement of tools for the cultivation and raising of animals, as well as the production of ceramics, which allowed for the storage of food.

question 5

What was the first metal to be smelted by humans in the period known as the Metal Age?

a) copper
b) iron
leather
d) silver

Correct alternative a) copper

Copper was the first metal to go through the smelting process and with that, metallurgy was created. It is believed that the first time this metal was cast was in Anatolia, in the century. Via. C., present-day Turkey.

Middle level

question 6

(IBADE) From the second half of the 20th century onwards, the term Prehistory has been increasingly questioned by historians who, in its place, have used "History of peoples without writing".

Regarding the aforementioned debate among historians, it is correct to state that the term Prehistory is rejected because:

a) emphasizes archeology and paleontology, whose studies depend on costly excavations and fossil analysis.
b) has mystical content. evolutionist and prejudiced, typical of the Human Sciences of the 19th century.
c) overvalues ​​people with writing skills, understanding only these as capable of producing History.
d) prevents the studies of peoples whose societies have not developed writing.
e) equates barbarian and savage peoples with culture-bearing peoples.

Correct alternative: c) overvalues ​​people with writing skills, understanding only these as capable of producing History.

The term "pre-history" is exclusive, as people who never knew writing also had (and do) belief systems, fought, planted and had a sophisticated view of the world.

Therefore, alternative (c) is the one that best expresses this idea.

question 7

(UFG) Cave paintings are material evidence of the intellectual development of human beings. Although traditionally studied by Archeology, they helped to redefine the conception that History begins with writing, because

a) they function as veiled codices of a community waiting to be deciphered.
b) express a conception of time marked by chronology.
c) indicate the predominance of technique over the forces of nature.
d) attest to the relationships between graphic records and origin myths.
e) record the supremacy of the individual over the members of his group.

Correct alternative: a) they function as veiled codices of a community waiting to be deciphered.

Traditionally, prehistory was considered to end with the emergence of writing. However, this theory was superseded, as many peoples such as the Incas and Aztecs never knew writing, and even so, they did not stop building impressive civilizations.

In this way, the designs found in caves gained new meanings. Currently, the most likely hypothesis is that they would be a form of recording of community activities.

question 8

(UFPE) "It has already been said that Prehistory is a continuation of Natural History, with an analogy between organic evolution and the progress of culture.”

About Prehistory, which of the following is INCORRECT?

a) Several sciences help in the study, such as anthropology, archeology and chemistry.
b) Prehistory can be divided into Paleolithic and Neolithic, with regard to the technical process of working stone.
c) About the Paleolithic, we can say that it was the period of great artistic development, whose example is the anthropomorphic and zoomorphic paintings carried out in caves.
d) The Neolithic presented an artistic development different from the Paleolithic one, through the geometric traces of drawing and painting.
e) The first human-like beings were Australopithecus and Java Man who were much more adapted than Neanderthal Man.

Correct alternative: e) The first human-like beings were Australopithecus and Java Man who were much more adapted than Neanderthal Man.

Modern man arose from one of the species of Austrolopithecus. Java Man was a fossil found in Indonesia at the end of the century. XIX. For a long time it was believed that he would be the missing link between the species of ape and human beings. Today, this hypothesis is discarded, so the statement in the sentence is incorrect.

Likewise, it must be borne in mind that Neanderthal Man was better adapted to the environment than these two species.

question 9

“The American anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked what she considered the first sign of civilization in a culture. She said it was a femur that had broken and was soon healed. In the animal kingdom no one survives on this broken bone. A healed femur is evidence that someone has been taken care of”.

According to Margaret Mead's idea, in addition to the cured femur, we could cite as a sign of civilization:

a) sedentary lifestyle
b) the burial of the dead
c) the domestication of animals
d) the creation of the wheel

Correct alternative: b) the burial of the dead

The burial of the dead assumed that human beings had begun to respect another person's body and be careful to bury it so that animals wouldn't attack it.

Note that the statement asks you to choose an alternative "according to Margaret Mead's idea". In this sense, we have to choose something that necessarily speaks of caring for the other.

question 10

About the emergence of agriculture it can be said that:

a) It is not possible to specify an exact location for its appearance since the different species of hominids developed it almost simultaneously.
b) The first plant species to be domesticated were barley, orange and cotton.
c) With agriculture, human societies experienced greater mobility, as its direct consequence was the trade in surpluses.
d) The work began to be divided by gender and that is where the first records of slavery also appear.

Correct alternative: a) It is not possible to specify an exact location for its appearance since the different species of hominids developed it almost simultaneously.

Agriculture arose both in Asia and Africa and was practiced in America and so, it would be almost impossible to point to just one region as the cradle of agriculture.

Hard level

question 11

(UFRGS) The name "Neolithic Revolution", coined in the 60s by archaeologist Gordon Childe, refers to a series of intense transformations. Among these changes, it is correct to mention

a) the creation of centralized political power associated with the domain of religious power.
b) the development of urban conglomerates based on slave labor.
c) the private institution of land, with the cultivation of cereals and animal husbandry.
d) the emergence of the natural division of labor, with the attribution of a relevant productive role to women.
e) the transition from a subsistence economy to an industrial economy

Correct alternative: d) the emergence of the natural division of labor, with the attribution of a relevant productive role to women.

The Neolithic period or Period of the Polished Stone is characterized by the sedentarization of human beings. Thus, the work is divided according to the physical capacity of each individual, with women in charge of agricultural tasks and men in hunting.

question 12

(Udesc) The study of Prehistory covers a long period of human history. One of the best known periodizations distinguishes at least two major periods. About these periods and their distinctions, it is INCORRECT to state:

a) In the period known as Neolithic, fire was discovered and controlled, one of the greatest achievements of that period, which allowed human beings to smelt metals.
b) Very generally, the Paleolithic period is to hunter-gatherer societies what the Neolithic period is to agriculture and animal husbandry.
c) Both the paleolithic and the neolithic terms refer to the way of treating the stone.
d) The period known as Paleolithic begins approximately 4 million years ago, and extends to approximately 10,000 years.
e) The period known as Neolithic begins approximately 8000 BC. Ç. and extends to approximately 4000 a. Ç.

Correct alternative: a) In the Neolithic period, the discovery and control of fire took place, one of the greatest achievements of that period, which allowed human beings to smelt metals.

Fire was discovered and controlled in the Paleolithic period, so this phrase is incorrect.

question 13

(Unicamp) Since the Neolithic period, peoples from different parts of the world have developed their own agrarian systems taking advantage of the natural conditions of their habitats and the knowledge acquired and transmitted among the members of the community.

Check the alternative that correctly establishes the relationship between the people living in a given area, the production system developed by it, the natural conditions used and the products cultivated.

a) Egyptians; use of irrigation and drainage; moist and fertile plains of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; rice and coffee.
b) Incas; use of terraces with contour techniques and valley irrigation; use of the Andean highlands; potatoes and corn.
c) Chinese; intensive use of high mountain terraces; Anatolian Plateau in Far East Asia; coffee and cocoa.
d) Mesopotamians; use of flood and irrigated crops; fertile valleys of the Ganges and Yellow rivers; sugar cane and beans.

Correct alternative: b) Incas; use of terraces with contour techniques and valley irrigation; use of the Andean highlands; potatoes and corn.

The Incas took advantage of the relief of the highlands to grow foods such as potatoes and corn.

question 14

"The term Prehistory was created in 1851 and intended to designate the period of life of the human species prior to the invention of writing. History would be studied, therefore, from the moment the first written documents appeared. This idea is now much criticized, after all, humans who did not know how to write also have a history."

Adapted: www.sohistoria.com.br. consultation 06.19.2020

Why can the term Prehistory be considered inappropriate?

a) This is not an inadequate term, just a way of naming part of the story.
b) Prehistory is a concept invented by the Americans to diminish the importance of African civilization within the world.
c) The term may give the false idea that peoples who did not know writing were not part of History, excluding important civilizations such as the indigenous ones.
d) The idea of ​​Prehistory excludes all those peoples who were not colonized by Europeans in the 15th century.

Correct alternative: c) The term may give the false idea that peoples who did not know writing were not part of History excluding important civilizations such as the indigenous ones.

The concept of prehistory is linked to the colonization of Africa in the 19th century and European hegemony in the world. Therefore, this term reinforces that only those who had writing would have a history, which is not true.

question 15

Adapted to the cold, it measured about 1.65m and was able to manufacture stone objects. He also buried his dead, hunted in an organized manner and lived for a long time with modern man. The text describes the:

a) homo habilis
b) homo sapiens
c) homo de Denisova
d) Neanderthal homo

Correct alternative: d) Neanderthal homo

Neanderthal homo was, among the various species of humans, the closest to modern man.

We have more texts on the subject for you:

  • Prehistory (Abstract)
  • Brazilian prehistory
  • Art in Prehistory
  • Art in the Neolithic Period
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