A Beginner's Quiz on Archeology

Answer: A modern textbook on ancient medicine

Archeological materials include anything that humans built or used. Anything written now would not qualify as an ancient artifact, at least not until modern times are considered ancient, at which point the book itself would indeed be an ancient artifact.

Archeologists have discovered tools that predate the entire homo genus.

This image, if you look closely, is of a very old book. It would probably be an artifact by now, but here it's used to point you to the answer to this question.

Answer: City was preserved under volcanic ash

When Mt. Vesuvius exploded in 79 AD, it instantly decimated the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, covering them with many layers of ash and pumice. Other cities were built over these layers, and it took hundreds and hundreds of years before archeologists uncovered the ancient ruins beneath. One of the most fascinating finds was spaces of air archeologists kept finding in the ash. Eventually, they filled the spaces with plaster, and the plaster casts revealed what had been there when the volcano exploded: humans, as they were when the volcano blew. Some where tucked under, as if hiding from the destruction, while others were simply left standing, immortalized forever.

This image portrays the makings of an at-home volcano.

Answer: Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone was discovered by a French soldier in Egypt; it's actually a fragment of a much larger stone that contained a royal decree, which was inscribed in three languages: Egyptian hieroglyphics, Egyptian written script, and ancient Greek. This was a particularly rich find, because it allowed archeologists to study the languages in greater detail as they cross-referenced each other.

This image is a close-up of orbicular granodiorite; the Rosetta Stone is also made of granodiorite.

Answer: Warriors

The Terracotta Warriors are part of a huge archeological find discovered by farmers in the 1970s. It is truly extraordinary in size and scope. The site was built around 210 BCE as a royal tomb for Qin Shi Huang, who was the first Emperor of China. He was buried with over 8,000 individual warrior figures, as well as hundreds of chariots and horses, all of them life-sized. It was likely believed that the Emperor would be protected in the afterlife by the terracotta army. Parts of the army are exhibited at the British Museum in London, and some of them have been part of a traveling exhibit.

This image is of an army, not of warriors but of ants.

Answer: Spain

The Cave of Altamira is located in Spain, not far from Basque territory. Altamira translate roughly to "High Look" and is over 1000 meters long. Archeologically it is quite interesting for many reasons, one of which is that after its Stone Age inhabitants moved on, it was sealed off, likely by a rock slide, from human contact for thousands of years, thereby essentially preserving the ancient paintings.

The cave is so popular with visitors that authorities had to close it to the public; carbon dioxide from people breathing in the cave was beginning to damage the cave paintings. In response, several replicas have been built for people to visit and study.

This is a rough sketch of a Basque-style hat.

Answer: Giant stone heads

Easter Island, known by natives as Rapa Nui, is the setting for nearly 900 statues that were carved sometime between 1100 and 1680 CE. Some are just heads, while others are heads that sit on torsos, and some even have knees. The statues are so heavy, archeologists have not determined definitely how their creators moved them.

The head on this pint is supposed to point you to the giant stone heads in this answer.

Answer: Tuning a piano

In 1900, a group of sponge divers came upon many artifacts from shipwrecks, including statues, glasswork, and some corroded pieces of bronze that turned out to be a gear-based mechanism that had numerous functions. Scientists suspect the mechanism could be used to keep track of time, the moon's orbit, and a four-year cycle that likely predicted Olympiad-style games

This image is of a fragment of a piano keyboard.

Answer: Stonehenge

Stonehenge is one of the most well-known monuments in the world, and the mystery of its functions adds to the fascination. Archeologists estimate it was built between 3000 BC to 2000 BC, but they have little definitive evidence as to why the pillars of stone were built in the first place.

This is a rough sketch of Stonehenge.

Answer: Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Nabataean

The four main languages found on the scrolls are Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, and Nabataean, with the majority being Hebrew. Nabataean is what was used by Nabataeans, who lived in the upper area of Arabia.

Around 1946, Beduin teenagers were tending to their goats and sheep in an area now known as the West Bank. One of them idly threw a rock, revealing a theretofore hidden cave, in which were clay jars that held paper scrolls. Many more were found in ensuring years. The fragments, when put together, contain almost all of the Old Testament of the Bible.

This image is of a fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls and not really a hint.

Answer: A three-foot axe of pure gold

A golden axe would be way too heavy to carry; Otzi actually had a bronze axe. He also had a couple baskets, one of which had berries and another which had a type of fungus that fights off parasites. Otzi carried more items with him, including arrows and what was likely a string bow; flint and other supplies for starting a fire; and a knife with a flint blade.

The image here is of goldenrod, to hint at gold.