What survives
1.[3p] Roughly seven hundred documents survive from Niya and almost nothing comparable from Pataliputra. What follows about their relative commercial importance?
Roughly seven hundred documents survive from Niya and almost nothing comparable from Pataliputra. What follows about their relative commercial importance?
The answer is: Nothing: the two sites differ in the variable that controls document survival, which is water
The answer is: Nothing: the two sites differ in the variable that controls document survival, which is water
The answer is: Nothing: the two sites differ in the variable that controls document survival, which is water
2.[3p] Match each body of evidence to what it is.
Match each body of evidence to what it is.
Niya documents
Sogdian Ancient Letters
Astana cemetery
Dunhuang cave 17
a sealed store of about fifty thousand manuscripts
wooden tablets in Kharosthi script
a mailbag that was never delivered
waste paper recycled into burial goods
Show the answer
Niya documents: wooden tablets in Kharosthi script Sogdian Ancient Letters: a mailbag that was never delivered Astana cemetery: waste paper recycled into burial goods Dunhuang cave 17: a sealed store of about fifty thousand manuscripts
3.[2p] Cave 17 held about 50,000 items. If secular documents are five per cent of them, how many secular documents is that?
Cave 17 held about 50,000 items. If secular documents are five per cent of them, how many secular documents is that?
4.[2p] The Sogdian Ancient Letters are dated by tying an account inside one of them to events at Luoyang recorded in Chinese sources.
The Sogdian Ancient Letters are dated by tying an account inside one of them to events at Luoyang recorded in Chinese sources.
The answer is: True
5.[2p] In which script are the Niya documents written? One word.
In which script are the Niya documents written? One word.
6.[3p] W. B. Henning dated the Ancient Letters to 313 or 314, and János Harmatta proposed 196. What kind of argument decides between them?
W. B. Henning dated the Ancient Letters to 313 or 314, and János Harmatta proposed 196. What kind of argument decides between them?
The answer is: Whether the letter's sequence of events matches the recorded disorder of 311 or that of the late second century
The answer is: Whether the letter's sequence of events matches the recorded disorder of 311 or that of the late second century
The answer is: Whether the letter's sequence of events matches the recorded disorder of 311 or that of the late second century
7.[3p] Which of these make claims about the volume of overland trade hard to support?
Which of these make claims about the volume of overland trade hard to support?
Select all that apply
The answer is: There are no runs of customs records anywhere in Central Asia, Cheap bulk goods could not cross overland, so the trade is nearly invisible archaeologically, A failed caravan is dispersed rather than preserved intact, The surviving documents come mainly from a few oasis towns
8.[2p] Why is the "sacred waste" explanation for the sealing of cave 17 useful to a historian?
Why is the "sacred waste" explanation for the sealing of cave 17 useful to a historian?
The answer is: Discard is a weaker selection filter than deliberate preservation, so the contents are closer to a random sample
The answer is: Discard is a weaker selection filter than deliberate preservation, so the contents are closer to a random sample
The answer is: Discard is a weaker selection filter than deliberate preservation, so the contents are closer to a random sample
9.[2p] A silk fragment is identified as Chinese by its weave structure rather than its pattern. Why is that stronger?
A silk fragment is identified as Chinese by its weave structure rather than its pattern. Why is that stronger?
The answer is: A pattern can be imitated on local equipment, while a weave structure records the loom that made it
The answer is: A pattern can be imitated on local equipment, while a weave structure records the loom that made it
The answer is: A pattern can be imitated on local equipment, while a weave structure records the loom that made it