The final exam will be on WEDNESDAY May 1st at  1:00-3:00 in the usual classroom (Cavanaugh 411 for those who may not remember).  You absolutely cannot take the exam at any other time.  PLEASE DO NOT FORGET THE EXAM TIME.  Grades are due immediately after the final, so I cannot schedule makeup exams.  Any exams or exercises that are not made up by the final will be recorded as a zero. Please check your current grades on Oncourse to determine if you have any incomplete work.  Final attendance will be posted at semester's end, but you can check with me now to see how you did.  

The final will follow the basic format of previous tests but include more questions. The final will primarily include sections of multiple choice, matching, a true-false section, short-answer definitions, and a map. 

The final is cumulative--I can and will ask you questions covering material over the complete semester. Material from the first two-thirds of the course will in many cases be taken directly from the previous study guides and exams; you can expect to see some questions taken nearly verbatim from the first two exams. Review your study guides for Exam 1 and Exam 2 in addition to this study guide.  Keep in mind that I may ask anything on the Power Point lectures or in the assigned readings, so I suggest you review these as well.

You can email me with questions or for any assistance I can give you preparing for the exam. However, please don't expect extensive email answers to every question. If you missed long periods you should review the class notes on Oncourse.

1. What is "garbology"? Are late-twentieth century westerners the first people to have a pollution crisis?  What are some ways people like the residents of Troy, the Maya, or early residents of coastal towns dealt with trash?

2.  What methods are used in William Rathje's Garbage Project research?  What is the focus of this research?

3.  What is the most common single item in refuse and landfills?

4. Based on landfill studies, how pressing a pollution dilemma are disposable diapers? Styrofoam? What composes most of a landfill's mass?

5.  What is the "Good Provider" theory?; the "Lean Cuisine" syndrome?; the "Surrogate syndrome"?  How does refuse commonly contradict these perceptions people have of their own material consumption?

6. What is a common discard pattern during food shortages?

7.  What sort of people tend to waste the least food?  What sorts of foods get discarded the least?  What foods get discarded in large quantities, and why?

8.  How many pounds of trash does the average American discard each day?

9. What does landfill archaeology suggest about how quickly refuse actually breaks down in landfills?  Is the US running out of landfill space?

10. What three regions comprise the Near East?

11. What members of the group living at the site Abu Hureyra had extensive stress injuries?  Why did they have these injuries?

12. What is the Natufian period?  In what region is this term used?

13.  What material culture at the city Catal Huyuk distinguishes it from other early Neolithic Near Eastern sites?  Why might the community have been unusually prosperous?

14. What is the "Mother Goddess" motif identified at Catal Huyuk?

15. Where were people commonly buried at Catal Huyuk?  How many grave goods were buried with bodies at Catal Huyuk?  Why did people abandon Catal Huyuk?

16. What is the most likely reason skulls were being detached and decorated or displayed at sites such as Ain Ghazal?  Is there any indication of status differences and inequality at Ain Ghazal?  Are there any structures at Ain Ghazal that might have been dedicated to ritual use?

Sites:  Know all the sites that we have discussed in class this semester:  know their locations, approximate dates, and be able to locate them on a map--know at least in what region of the world they are located.  The exam will include a map like the one thumb-nailed here:  you should be able to locate the region in which any site from the semester is located.  (You will not be asked to identify ten sites from East Africa, but you may be asked to locate ten sites scattered across the globe).

Click here for an example of site location map like that which may appear on the final.

Last updated April 24, 2013