Question

Passage A
For over a century, architectural historians analyzing the monumental stone structures of the ancient Andean Chavín culture—most notably the temple complex at Chavín de Huántar—focused almost exclusively on visual iconography and spatial alignment. Traditional scholarship posited that the complex network of subterranean galleries was engineered primarily for utilitarian drainage during seasonal torrents and to structural withstand seismic activity. Early researchers noted the unusual reverberations and echoing acoustic phenomena within the narrow granite corridors, but these sound effects were routinely dismissed as epiphenomena—unintended byproducts of heavy stone construction and narrow spatial geometry. According to this traditional view, the prestige and authority of the Chavín priesthood derived entirely from visual pageantry, solar alignments, and decorative stone relief carvings depicting sacred felines and raptors.

Passage B
Recent interdisciplinary field studies combining architectural modeling with acoustic engineering have challenged the long-held assumption that ancient subterranean spaces were acoustically inert or accidentally resonant. Researchers utilizing binaural acoustic testing within the underground galleries of Chavín de Huántar discovered that the labyrinthine passages filter and amplify specific sound frequencies, particularly those between 100 Hz and 120 Hz—the natural resonance zone of the human male voice. Furthermore, marine shell trumpets (*strombus* strombid pututu) excavated from the central ceremonial plaza were acoustically tuned to produce fundamental frequencies that trigger acoustic standing waves inside the interior galleries. Rather than serving merely as drainage conduits, the hydraulic channels were intentionally shaped with acoustic resonant cavities that created disorienting, low-frequency hums when water flowed during ceremonies. These findings suggest that auditory manipulation was an intentional, primary design objective essential to creating immersive ritual experiences.

Which of the following best describes how the acoustic evidence presented in Passage B modifies the traditional understanding of Chavín architecture described in Passage A?