3 Preservation Bias Online Quiz Questions

True

False

It provides a representative picture of the entire ancient ecosystem.

It may be useful for studying large, hard-bodied organisms but limited for reconstructing the entire ecosystem.

It shows that smaller organisms did not live in the ecosystem.

It proves that the site contained only organisms that fossilized.

Treat every item not found online as nonexistent.

Assume the online collection represents all materials held by the institution.

Check whether the online collection covers only part of the physical holdings.

Conclude that the institution has no relevant evidence.

True

False

Check whether preservation, survey effort, collection practices, or cataloging differed between the periods.

Assume the recovered sample from each period is equally representative.

Treat any difference in recovered material as proof of different past behavior.

Ignore how evidence was collected and described.

Check provenance and how the material was created, recovered, or acquired.

Examine collection policies and excavation or sampling methods.

Assume that catalog entries provide a complete account of every item and decision.

Identify how the material was processed and described, and note known gaps.

Delete all earlier descriptions without explaining the change.

Leave descriptions unchanged because cataloging does not affect discovery.

Revise the description, explain the changes, preserve relevant context, and work with affected communities.

Replace the description with a claim that the collection is complete.

Document selection and processing decisions.

Involve descendant and Indigenous communities in relevant stewardship and access decisions.

Describe uncertainty honestly and recognize that some access limits may be justified.

Make every item unrestrictedly accessible, regardless of privacy, community authority, or vulnerability.

True

False

Textiles are more likely to survive than fired ceramic in most burial conditions.

Durable materials may survive while food remains or textiles decay.

All material types have an equal chance of surviving at a site.

Survival conditions affect access but not the composition of recovered evidence.

Catalog descriptions have no effect once records have been preserved.

A collection-level description guarantees that every important item is easy to find.

Inconsistent names in catalog records can make related materials harder to find together.

Catalogs determine which objects physically survive.

Restrictions are never appropriate because all preserved material must be openly accessible.

Restrictions can be justified to protect privacy, sacred knowledge, vulnerable sites, or culturally sensitive materials.

Restricted materials should be treated as nonexistent.

Access should be limited only when materials are physically fragile.

Conclude that the affected community left no records and investigate no further.

Treat the pattern as a clue to investigate, not as proof by itself of absence or deliberate suppression.

Assume the pattern proves that an institution deliberately removed the records.

Ignore the pattern unless every community and period is equally represented.