Deck 19: Africa Before 1800

Question 1

The Ife figures from the Yoruba kingdom were used mainly in which rituals?

A) Funereal rites
B) Initiations
C) Birth rituals
D) Sacred kingship

Answer 1

D

Question 2

In which group are women the principal creators of ceramics and clay sculpture?

A) Sapi
B) Benin
C) Nok
D) Igbo-Ukwu

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Who are considered the regional ancestors of the Shona-speaking people?

A) The people of Benin
B) The people of Ife
C) The people of Lydenburg
D) The people of Great Zimbabwe

Answer 3

D

Question 4

In African art, scarification symbolizes which of the following?

A) Religious affiliation
B) Enslavement
C) Great age
D) Beauty and status

Question 5

The "horned headdress" of the running female from Tassili n'Ajjer is explained as which of the following?

A) Reference to male power
B) A mask
C) Ceremonial regalia
D) Signifies male and animal powers

Question 6

Which of the following object types represents a unique hybrid of African and European cultures?

A) Benin whisks
B) Sapi ivories
C) Djenne figures
D) Ife jewelry

Question 7

What system do the Benin use to record their history?

A) Bronze relief tablets
B) Complex oral recitations
C) Mounted wall plaques
D) Written documents

Question 8

Tassili n'Ajjer is in which of the following countries?

A) Nigeria
B) Algeria
C) Sierra Leone
D) South Africa

Question 9

Which of the following possessions would suggest the user holds a position of leadership?

A) Canoe
B) Feathered cloak
C) Silver spoon
D) Umbrella

Question 10

Which of the following would most likely be used by the leader in order to magnify his gestures?

A) Mask
B) Fly whisk
C) Stool
D) Saltcellar

Question 11

The inland floodplain of the Niger River has been likened to which of the following?

A) Rome
B) Mesopotamia
C) Constantinople
D) Teotihuacán

Question 12

The artist called the Master of the Symbolic Execution has been identified as a master workshop artist from which culture?

A) Jenne
B) Sapi
C) Benin
D) Igbo-Ukwu

Question 13

Which of the following was a walled town circa 800 CE that had a diverse population with many specialist workshops?

A) Lagos
B) Great Zimbabwe
C) Jenne-Jeno
D) Djenne

Question 14

The Great Zimbabwe enclosure is unusual in being made of which material?

A) Layered clay
B) Wood beams
C) Ashlar granite
D) Dry stone

Question 15

Facial striping is an indicator in African societies for which type of individual?

A) A thief
B) A scorned woman
C) Titled person
D) The priest

Question 16

Which of the following is a characteristic of the Nok style in ceramic sculpture?

A) Inverted pot shape
B) Scarification
C) Double chevron motif
D) Large eyes and heads

Question 17

The figural art of which culture is realistic but at the same time idealized?

A) Igbo-Ukwu
B) Ife
C) Sapi
D) Benin

Question 18

What objects did Sapi artists create for export during the 16th century?

A) Gold armlets
B) Ivory statuettes
C) Brass altars
D) Wooden masks

Question 19

The earliest African sculpture in the round was created by which of the following groups?

A) Ife
B) Benin
C) Sapi
D) Nok

Question 20

Where do Yoruba legends place the group's origins?

A) Benin City
B) Ife
C) Igbo-Ukwu
D) Tassili n'Ajjer

Question 21

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What modern country is the location of this rock-cut church?

A) Mali
B) Ethiopia
C) Nigeria
D) South Africa

Question 22

The fly-whisk hilt from Igbo-Ukwu is cast by which of the following means?

A) Clay
B) Hammered metal
C) Lost wax
D) Carved wood

Question 23

Which prestige object was excavated from a tomb in the Igbo-Ukwu area?

A) Crocodile leather
B) Monkey teeth
C) Elephant tusk
D) Lion skin

Question 24

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Which culture produced this figure of a woman?

A) Ife
B) Djenne
C) Benin
D) Nok

Question 25

Which of the following European peoples established contact with the kingdom of Benin in the 1470s?

A) Spanish
B) Portuguese
C) British
D) French

Question 26

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Who is the subject of this ivory figure?

A) Nature goddess
B) Masquerade participant
C) Queen mother
D) King Shyaam

Question 27

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Who is the artist of this work?

A) Master of the Mudfish Heads
B) Benin Ivory Master
C) Master of the Symbolic Execution
D) Portuguese-Benin Sculptor

Question 28

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What material makes up this Ife ruler portrait?

A) Terracotta
B) Zinc-brass
C) Sandstone
D) Cotton thread

Question 29

The earliest African sculpture in the round was produced by which group?

A) Ife
B) Djenne
C) Nok
D) Igbo-Ukwu

Question 30

Which of the following facial features did the Sapi associate with African adornment and use as an identifier in their saltcellars?

A) Small round noses
B) Small almond-shaped eyes
C) Scarification
D) Narrow lips

Question 31

Who or what does the mudfish symbolize in Benin iconography?

A) Trade and diplomatic relationships
B) The Benin people and ancestors
C) Dual human/divine aspect of the ruler
D) Sea-faring Portuguese traders

Question 32

Recently, many Nok style works have left Nigeria through which of the following?

A) A government export program
B) A Benin export agreement
C) An illegal market
D) A United Nations-sanctioned market

Question 33

Which of the following best describe the composition of the Benin brass plaque?

A) Ascending, relative
B) Symmetrical, hierarchical
C) Asymmetrical, hierarchical
D) Equilateral, proportionate

Question 34

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What is the material of this pendant of Queen Mother Idia?

A) Wood
B) Copper-bronze
C) Ceramic
D) Ivory

Question 35

Which two animal figures appear on the soapstone monolith of Great Zimbabwe?

A) Horse and bird
B) Crocodile and bird
C) Turtle and crocodile
D) Turtle and elephant

Question 36

The presence of Portuguese heads on the Benin waist pendant of the queen mother indicates which of the following?

A) A victory of the Benin over the Portuguese
B) A marriage between the queen mother and a Portuguese lord
C) An item intended for export to Europe
D) An active diplomatic trade relationship

Question 37

Large groups of ceramic sculpture dating between 1100 and 1500 CE have been excavated from an inland delta area in which modern country?

A) Niger
B) Zimbabwe
C) Namibia
D) Mali

Question 38

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What is the date of the Lydenburg heads, as determined by radiocarbon testing?

A) 500 BCE
B) 1000 CE
C) 500 CE
D) 1000 BCE

Question 39

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What is the date of the enclosure at Great Zimbabwe?

A) 17th century
B) 10th century
C) 6th century
D) 14th century

Question 40

The rock art of Tassili n'Ajjer can be said to depict which of the following?

A) The god Olokun
B) Kings and queens
C) People and supernatural beings
D) People and animals

Question 41

Which class of artworks survives from the densely wooded areas of central Africa?

A) Great Zimbabwe monoliths
B) Kuba ndop figures
C) Sapi saltcellars
D) Ife ruler portraits

Question 42

What brought an end to the production of terracotta figures that had been ongoing at Djenne in the years between 1100 and 1500?

A) Severe drought
B) Arrival of Christianity
C) Wars among the peoples of Mali
D) Arrival of Islam

Question 43

What were the construction materials used to build the Great Mosque at Djenne?

A) Dry stone
B) Volcanic ashlar blocks
C) Wood and adobe
D) Wood and grass

Question 44

Which of the following is NOT a form of body adornment appearing on the terracotta Lydenburg heads?

A) Scarification marks
B) Added metal jewelry
C) Linear patterns on the back of head
D) Horizontal incised neck bands

Question 45

Which best describes the style of the Ife ruler portraits?

A) Lifelike yet abstracted
B) Idealized yet emotional
C) Idealized yet lifelike
D) Lifelike yet generalized

Question 46

Which early period provides the greatest numbers of rock art images from all over the continent of Africa?

A) Early Stone Age
B) Neolithic
C) Mesolithic
D) Paleolithic

Question 47

In which century did King Lalibela have 12 rock-cut churches built in Ethiopia?

A) 9th
B) 18th
C) 16th
D) 13th

Question 48

The seated copper figure found at Tada is most stylistically similar to the sculptures of which group?

A) Igbo-Ukwu
B) Djenne
C) Nok
D) Ife

Question 49

What objects from an Igbo-Ukwu tomb seem to have been used as a form of currency?

A) Bowls
B) Elephant tusks
C) Beads
D) Pendants

Question 50

Finds of beads and porcelain pottery from Mesopotamia and China, along with copper, gold, and ivory objects, underscore the assumption that which city was a prosperous trade center?

A) Tada
B) Great Zimbabwe
C) Ife
D) Lydenburg