DSST® practice test

Free DSST General Anthropology Practice Test (2026)

This is a set of 25 original practice questions that follow the official DSST General Anthropology content outline and its topic weights, each with a short explanation. Answer all 25, then read the explanations to see which topics need more study.

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  • 9 topics from the official outline
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25 questions

Question 1 of 25In a chiefdom, farmers hand part of each harvest to the chief, who later gives much of it back out at public feasts. Which form of exchange is this?
Question 2 of 25Which trait do humans share with the apes but NOT with monkeys?
Question 3 of 25A researcher records how people in one city switch between a regional dialect and the standard language depending on whether they are at home or at work. Which subfield of anthropology does this work belong to?
Question 4 of 25Maize was first domesticated in Mexico and, after the 1500s, became a staple crop in parts of Africa. What do anthropologists call this spread of a cultural trait from one society to another?
Question 5 of 25An anthropologist describes a village's illness categories using the villagers' own terms and the meanings they give them. Which approach is this?
Question 6 of 25A part-time religious specialist enters a trance to contact spirits and heal the sick, without holding an office in a formal religious organization. Anthropologists call such a person a
Question 7 of 25Radiocarbon (carbon-14) dating could be used directly on which of these finds?
Question 8 of 25In a matrilineal society, a man's lineage property and titles usually pass to
Question 9 of 25In the United States, most cultural resource management (CRM) work in archaeology involves
Question 10 of 25Genetic drift has its strongest effect on allele frequencies in
Question 11 of 25A group openly rejects core values of the wider society and builds an alternative way of life, such as a commune that gives up private property. Such a group is best described as a
Question 12 of 25Which anthropologist developed cultural ecology, the study of how a society's technology and social organization adapt to its environment?
Question 13 of 25Victor Turner studied the middle stage of a rite of passage, when initiates are 'betwixt and between' their old and new status. This stage is called
Question 14 of 25Which type of political organization has a ranked, often hereditary leader who holds an office over several villages, but no government with a monopoly on the use of force?
Question 15 of 25Living in a community for a long period, taking part in its daily life while keeping detailed field notes, is the core method of cultural anthropology known as
Question 16 of 25The fossil skeleton known as 'Lucy' (Australopithecus afarensis) is important mainly because it shows that
Question 17 of 25A global fast-food chain leaves beef off its menu in India and adds vegetarian dishes to suit local customs. What is the term for global products being adapted to local cultures?
Question 18 of 25Which feature of human language lets speakers talk about things far away in time or space, such as last year's harvest or a relative in another city?
Question 19 of 25A rule that requires people to marry someone from outside their own clan or lineage is called
Question 20 of 25The Neolithic period is defined chiefly by
Question 21 of 25Edward B. Tylor proposed that religion began with belief in spiritual beings, such as souls that live on after death. He called this belief
Question 22 of 25What is the mainstream anthropological view of 'race' as applied to human biological variation?
Question 23 of 25In Immanuel Wallerstein's world-system theory, countries that mainly supply raw materials and low-wage labor to wealthier nations make up the
Question 24 of 25Which of these is an example of directed cultural change rather than spontaneous change?
Question 25 of 25A county medical examiner asks an anthropologist to estimate the age, sex and stature of a skeleton found at a building site. This specialist works in

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