The First Settlers in Ancient Amazonia

 

 

 

Paragraph 1: Archaeologists believe that humans first arrived in North America at least 16,000 years ago and that by 11,000 years ago, these migratory hunter-gatherers (people that hunt for and collect food in the wild) had spread throughout North and South America. For some time, archaeologists believed that the region of Amazonia (the Amazon rainforest in South America) was not occupied until much later. However, it has since been proven that hunter-gatherers first entered Amazonia at least 11,200 years ago.

 

 

 

1. According to paragraph 1, scientists mistakenly believed that 

 

O humans arrived in North America 16,000 years ago or earlier 

 

O humans had spread throughout the Americas by 11,000 years ago 

 

O the earliest humans in South America were hunter-gatherers 

 

O humans first began to live in Amazonia sometime after 11,000 years ago

 

 

Paragraph 2: Currently, some controversy surrounds the dates when hunter-gatherers in Amazonia became sedentary (settled in one location). In many parts of the world, from Japan to Peru, the first societies to enjoy a sedentary or semisedentary way of life relied on aquatic (water-based) resources. It was not different in Amazonia, a region known for its bountiful rivers and a 932-mile-long stretch of shoreline cut by bays, deltas, and straits, where we find one of the most extensive mangrove areas on the planet. This Atlantic landscape — which begins at the mouth of the Oyapok River and the Sao Marcos Bay, marking the eastern limits of the Amazon rainforest — was settled by humans at least 5,500 years ago, thanks to the rich biodiversity (wide variety of plant and animal species) available in the region year-round. There, native communities would find shellfish, crab, fish of various sizes, and small game, as well as forest fruits, nuts, and seeds in exceptional abundance. The daily consumption of shellfish produced huge amounts of discarded shell in the habitation sites, which is why such sites are called “shell middens.” Why didn’t people find the sea earlier? Well, they may have. It is possible that many earlier sites are now underwater due to the sinking of the continental shelf (continental part closest to the ocean) during the Holocene epoch (11,700 years ago to present). A half-submerged site recently found in Salinas, a beach town, reinforces this hypothesis. Moreover, shell midden populations were also found in riverine (river) settings at Taperinha — a site located inland at a farm at the lower Amazon River — which indicates an aquatic-based sedentary way of life by 7,000 years before present, long before the spread of crop cultivation. 

 

 

 

2. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information. 

 

O Human settlement in this Atlantic landscape led to more biodiversity being available in the region. 

 

O This Atlantic landscape is in a region marking the eastern limits of the Amazon rainforest. 

 

O The rich year-round biodiversity of this Atlantic landscape allowed humans to settle there at least 5,500 years ago.

 

O In this Atlantic landscape there is rich biodiversity between the mouth of the Oyapok River and the Sao Marcos Bay. 

 

 

 

3. The word “exceptional” in the passage is closest in meaning to 

 

O unusual

 

O relative 

 

O seasonal 

 

O occasional 

 

 

 

4. Why does the author discuss the discovery of “shell midden populations” at Taperinha? 

 

O To show that humans were taking advantage of Amazonia’s natural abundance earlier than 5,500 years ago

 

O To contrast evidence from archaeological sites near rivers to that from sites near the coast 

 

O To support the claim that humans in Amazonia practiced farming by 7,000 years ago 

 

O To provide evidence that humans lived in continental regions that are now underwater 

 

 

 

5. Paragraph 2 suggests which TWO of the following about the site in the beach town of Salinas? To receive credit, you must select TWO answers. 

 

□ It is a shell midden site.

 

□ It used to be on land but partially sank into the ocean during the Holocene epoch.

 

□ It was inhabited by humans for more than 11,700 years. 

 

□ It provides important information about the spread of crop cultivation. 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 3: Unfortunately, our ability to study those first river-and-shore-adapted peoples is hampered by the poor state of preservation and looting (theft) at most of the important sites belonging to this period. Because shells contain calcium carbonate, shell midden sites were mined at the turn of the nineteenth century and have become virtually flattened after decades of exploitation. In Taperinha, however, a six-meter-deep shell mound deposit excavated by archaeologists provided evidence of a way of life based on freshwater shellfish and other animal species, and also pointed to the production of stone artifacts and ceramics (pots and other articles made from baked clay) at an early time. The dates determined for the use of baked clay in the production of cooking vessels are the oldest for the entire continent, challenging the prevalent theory at the time, which accounted for the arrival of ceramics in the Americas by diffusion across the Pacific Ocean from Japan. According to this diffusionist model, the technology for the production of ceramics would have arrived at the northern South American coast (in the area of present-day Ecuador) by 4,000 years before present, where it was readily adopted, and then spread throughout the continent. This hypothesis was based both on the similarities between the two ceramic industries and on the assumption that ceramic technology was invented only once, later traveling around the globe. 

 

 

 

6. Which of the following was regarded as evidence supporting the “diffusionist model”? 

 

O The fact that some archaeological sites contain both stone artifacts and ceramics 

 

O The conclusion that baked clay in Taperinha is the oldest in South America 

 

O Similarities in the ways in which Japanese and South American ceramics were produced

 

O Archaeological evidence that ceramic technology was invented a single time 

 

 

 

7. According to paragraph 3, which of the following has been a problem for the study of shell midden sites? 

 

O Some sites are located several meters underground, making them difficult to excavate. 

 

O Some sites were gradually destroyed when they were mined.

 

O There is controversy regarding the exact period when the sites were used. 

 

O The shell middens are too widely spread to be connected to a specific site. 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 4: Taperinha’s well-preserved deposits, however, contained ceramic pieces 3,000 years earlier than Ecuador. It was previously thought that the ceramic culture of Valdivia in Ecuador was the oldest aquatic-based culture in South America. But the Taperinha deposits proved that ceramics were produced for the first time in the Americas in the heart of the Amazon rainforest, although ceramics did not constitute the bulk of cultural remains for that period, as it would in the millennia to come. Taperinha’s deposits also yielded stone implements and utensils, as well as grinding and cooking stones. Turtles and shellfish, widely used in the diet, also provided shells that were used as raw materials for domestic utensils. 

 

 

 

8. According to paragraph 4, evidence from Taperinha’s deposits supports all of the following statements about the ancient humans that lived at the site EXCEPT:

 

O They were influenced by the ceramic culture of Valdivia.

 

O They left fewer ceramic artifacts than did later cultures. 

 

O They used objects made from stone for grinding and cooking. 

 

O They made utensils from the shells of animals they ate. 

 

 

 

 

 

Paragraph 3: Unfortunately, our ability to study those first river-and-shore-adapted peoples is hampered by the poor state of preservation and looting (theft) at most of the important sites belonging to this period. Because shells contain calcium carbonate, shell midden sites were mined at the turn of the nineteenth century and have become virtually flattened after decades of exploitation. In Taperinha, however, a six-meter-deep shell mound deposit excavated by archaeologists provided evidence of a way of life based on freshwater shellfish and other animal species, and also pointed to the production of stone artifacts and ceramics (pots and other articles made from baked clay) at an early time. ■The dates determined for the use of baked clay in the production of cooking vessels are the oldest for the entire continent, challenging the prevalent theory at the time, which accounted for the arrival of ceramics in the Americas by diffusion across the Pacific Ocean from Japan. ■According to this diffusionist model, the technology for the production of ceramics would have arrived at the northern South American coast (in the area of present-day Ecuador) by 4,000 years before present, where it was readily adopted, and then spread throughout the continent. ■This hypothesis was based both on the similarities between the two ceramic industries and on the assumption that ceramic technology was invented only once, later traveling around the globe.■ 

 

 

 

9. Look at the four squares [■] that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

 

The evidence of ceramics at the site is particularly significant and surprising.

 

Where would the sentence best fit? Click on a square [■] to add the sentence to the passage. 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Directions: An introductory sentence for a brief summary of the passage is provided below. Complete the summary by selecting the 3 answer choices that express the most important ideas in the passage. Some sentences 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. 

 

Archaeological sites provide important information about the ancient cultures of South America.

 

 

 

Answer Choices 

 

O Humans first entered South America from the north, and some later settled near Amazonia’s long Atlantic coastline, in an area where various kinds of food were plentiful.

 

O The site at Taperinha, which is preserved better than most other important sites from the period, provides evidence of a sedentary, river-based lifestyle as early as 7,000 years ago.

 

O While it was originally believed that ceramic technology spread to the rest of South America from its northern Pacific coast, the ceramics at Taperinha are now known to be the oldest on the continent.

 

O The sinking of the continental shelf during the Holocene epoch greatly affected the coastal people of Amazonia, some of whom had to resettle in other locations, often along rivers. 

 

O Archaeologists were surprised to discover that some ceramic and stone artifacts found at Amazonian sites were similar to ones found in Japan and other parts of the world. 

 

O Ceramic pots and stone utensils dating back 3,000 years were found in both Ecuador and Taperinha, suggesting that the two cultures were closely related. 

 

 

 

答案请付费后查阅：