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
54
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.
The purpose of paragraph 5 is to
选项
A、answer questions about the equipment and techniques used in the Egyptian Delta area
B、describe the earliest communities built on large, sand-and-gravel mounds
C、explain how streams feeding the Nile River in the delta change course over time
D、provide an example of a situation where complex geoarchaeological analyses and techniques are necessary
答案
D
解析
【修辞目的题】第五段开头介绍了地质考古学,然后讲地质考古分析还涉及许多不同种类的问题和技术。后面都在讲述埃及三角洲地区地质考古的例子,所以写这段是为了举例说明复杂的地质考古分析和技术是非常重要的。
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/j5fO777K
0
托福(TOEFL)
相关试题推荐
Completethenotesbelow.WriteNOMORETHANTWOWORDSforeachanswer.ROBERTSCOMPANYFoundingThemostimportantprincipa
ChooseTWOletters,A-E.WhichTWOsubjectsdidMartinalikebestbeforegoingtouniversity?AArtBHistoryCFrenchDEnglish
ChooseTWOletters,A-E.WhichTWOsubjectsdidMartinalikebestbeforegoingtouniversity?AArtBHistoryCFrenchDEnglish
ChooseTWOletters,A-E.WhichTWOsubjectsdidMartinalikebestbeforegoingtouniversity?AArtBHistoryCFrenchDEnglish
ChooseTWOletters,A-E.WhichTWOsubjectsdidMartinalikebestbeforegoingtouniversity?AArtBHistoryCFrenchDEnglish
AsystemwasdevelopedtocontroltrafficcongestionontheM25motorway.Expertsuse【L5】________informationfromthemotorw
HowtoMakePersonalControlofOne’sHealth【L31】________shouldtakechargeoftheirhealth.Thesinglegreatestthreattoheal
LaughterThenatureoflaughterlaughterisa【L31】________process—involvesmovementandsounditiscontrolledbyour【
Sinceprehistorictimes,artists(havebeen)arrangedcolorsonsurfaces(inways)(thatexpress)theirideas(aboutpeople),the
AstronomyAccordingtotheprofessor,whatdida1920stelescopeallowastronomerstodcforthefirsttime?
随机试题
RC串联的交流电路中,电容上的电压相位滞后电流相位。()
日出血量>5ml日出血量
双胎妊娠。第一胎儿自然经阴道娩出后8分钟,第二胎儿娩出,10分钟后娩出胎盘,随即出现阴道多量流血;数分钟内流血达500ml。本例最可能的诊断是
比较几种疗效相同的药物干预方案所需成本,应运用的药物经济学研究方法是
消防验收的组织者是()。
具有易折性要求的助航灯具灯光颜色包括()。
王陵,女,32岁,原本是某学校的英语老师。三年前,随着孩子的出生以及丈夫升职带来的忙碌,她选择了辞职,专心在家做家庭主妇,照顾丈夫和孩子。但前几天原学校领导的一通电话让她本已平静的生活又起了波澜。原来因学校发展需要,学校领导诚邀她回校继续当老师。虽然她当时
设X1,…,Xn是取自正态总体N(μ,σ2)的简单随机样本,其均值和方差分别为,S2,则下列服从自由度为n的χ2分布的随机变量是()
xsinx_______.
Whatcanweknowaboutthemanfromtheconversation?
最新回复
(
0
)