Ancient Cities and Their Secrets
Explore remarkable cities, clever building methods, and enduring legends. Discover what archaeology can reveal—and what remains uncertain.
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Questions with solutions-
1. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
Why did many paintings and everyday objects survive?
Pompeii, a Roman city in present-day Italy, was buried by volcanic material from Mount Vesuvius. Excavators later found wall paintings and everyday objects inside its buildings.
- The rapid burial protected them from weather and later disturbance.
- The city remained occupied, so residents maintained every building.
- Roman artists replaced the paintings after the eruption.
- The eruption turned paintings and household objects into solid stone.
Consider what a sudden covering can keep away from buildings.
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- The rapid burial protected them from weather and later disturbance.
Sudden burial can preserve ordinary spaces and possessions, giving us a view of daily life rather than just major monuments.
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2. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
What was this system designed to do?
Some Roman bath buildings had raised floors with empty spaces underneath. A furnace sent hot air through these spaces and into passages within the walls.
- Carry clean water into bathing pools.
- Drain used water out of the building.
- Heat the floors and rooms.
- Cool the rooms during hot weather.
Follow the heat from the furnace.
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- Heat the floors and rooms.
This underfloor heating system is called a hypocaust. Roman builders used it in baths and some wealthy homes.
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3. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
What was a major purpose of these structures?
Petra, an ancient city in present-day Jordan, had rock-cut channels leading to large water storage tanks. Rainfall in the surrounding region was limited and seasonal.
- To carry wastewater directly out of the city.
- To keep a supply of water for dry periods.
- To heat water before it entered public baths.
Think about the months when little rain falls.
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- To keep a supply of water for dry periods.
Petra's impressive architecture depended on practical water management as well as skilled stone carving.
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4. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
Why were these terraces useful?
At Machu Picchu, an Inca settlement in present-day Peru, terraces create flat strips on steep slopes. Stone walls hold soil in place, while drainage allows extra rainwater to escape.
- They created usable land while limiting soil loss.
- They trapped water to keep the slopes permanently flooded.
- They allowed buildings to stand safely on unsupported loose soil.
Consider how rain affects soil on a slope.
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- They created usable land while limiting soil loss.
Drainage was an essential part of terrace design: water building up behind a wall can make it less stable.
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5. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
What do the imported ceramics show most clearly?
Great Zimbabwe was a major stone-built city in southern Africa. Excavators have found locally made pottery alongside ceramics produced in Asia.
- The city's merchants must have traveled directly to Asia.
- Local pottery production ended before imported ceramics arrived.
- Goods reached the city through long-distance trade networks.
Objects can pass through several places before reaching a buyer.
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- Goods reached the city through long-distance trade networks.
Imported goods can reveal trade connections without proving that people traveled directly between the places where they were made and found.
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6. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
Which conclusion do these remains directly support?
Near Egypt's pyramids at Giza, archaeologists have found a workers' settlement dating to the period of pyramid construction. It included bakeries and areas for preparing food.
- Every worker had the same legal and social status.
- Construction involved an organized workforce supplied with food.
- The builders never needed food supplies from outside the settlement.
- The settlement was built only after pyramid construction ended.
Look at the facilities that would serve many people.
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- Construction involved an organized workforce supplied with food.
Housing and food facilities reveal how workers were supported; they do not, by themselves, establish whether every worker was free or enslaved.
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7. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
What does the archaeological discovery establish?
Excavations in northwestern Turkey revealed an ancient settlement widely identified as Troy. Homer's Iliad describes a war there and includes gods taking part in the fighting.
- The poem provides an exact eyewitness account of the war.
- Gods physically intervened in battles at the site.
- A real settlement existed at the site associated with Troy.
- Every excavated wall was built for the war described in the poem.
Separate the existence of a place from the details of a story.
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- A real settlement existed at the site associated with Troy.
A historical location can inspire a story without confirming its characters, events, or supernatural elements.
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8. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
What can researchers confidently do with these signs?
Ancient Indus cities in present-day Pakistan and northwestern India produced seals bearing short groups of signs. There is no widely accepted decipherment of these signs.
- Compare their shapes and look for recurring patterns.
- Give a reliable translation of every inscription.
- Identify the spoken language with certainty.
What can you observe without knowing the meaning?
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- Compare their shapes and look for recurring patterns.
Patterns can be studied even when meanings remain unknown. Researchers can compare which signs appear together and how often they occur.
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9. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
Which conclusion is justified?
Plato, a philosopher in ancient Greece, described Atlantis in his writings. No site has been securely identified as Atlantis through archaeological evidence.
- Archaeology has proved that no such city ever existed.
- Atlantis has not been confirmed as a real city by archaeology.
- Plato's description establishes the city's exact location.
Not finding evidence does not settle the question either way.
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- Atlantis has not been confirmed as a real city by archaeology.
Lack of confirmation is not the same as proof that something never existed. A claim still needs reliable evidence before it is treated as fact.
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10. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
Which conclusion best fits this evidence?
At Angkor in present-day Cambodia, researchers study reservoirs, sediment, tree-ring records, and written accounts. Together, these indicate severe droughts and intense rainfall that put pressure on the city's large water system during its decline.
- The climate evidence identifies one cause that explains every change.
- Having reservoirs made the city independent of rainfall.
- Environmental pressures may have contributed to a complex decline.
A contributing factor is not necessarily a complete explanation.
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- Environmental pressures may have contributed to a complex decline.
Environmental stress was likely one part of a broader change, and urban decline does not always mean total abandonment: Angkor Wat remained in use even as much of the wider urban area declined.
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11. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
What does dating the beam reveal most directly?
Radiocarbon dating measures the age of once-living material. A wooden beam in an ancient city's temple may have been reused from an older building.
- When the beam was installed in this temple.
- When builders carved the beam into its present shape.
- When people stopped using the temple.
- The age of the wood, not necessarily the temple's construction date.
The wood may have existed before this building.
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- The age of the wood, not necessarily the temple's construction date.
The age of an object and the date of its use can differ. Reused timber can make a building appear older if the evidence is interpreted carelessly.
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12. 정답을 선택해 주세요。
Which conclusion about the two accounts is most reasonable?
Imagine researchers find two accounts of the same battle in an ancient city. A king's inscription calls it a "complete victory," while a soldier's letter reports heavy losses.
- Heavy losses prove that the king lost the battle.
- A victory could involve heavy losses, and each source may emphasize a different point.
- A claim of victory proves that the army suffered no serious losses.
- The difference between the accounts makes both records useless.
Winning does not always mean escaping harm.
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- A victory could involve heavy losses, and each source may emphasize a different point.
Royal inscriptions often promote a ruler's reputation, while personal letters may focus on immediate experience. Different perspectives need not be completely contradictory.