Read the following passage and answer the question below:
For much of the twentieth century, Andean archaeology was dominated by the diffusionist model of agricultural technology, which posited that monumental terracing systems originated in a single coastal center and were subsequently exported across the highlands through imperial expansion. Early chroniclers attributed these vast hydraulic modifications almost exclusively to centralized Inca civil engineering. However, recent isotopic analyses of residual soil organic matter and micro-botanical remains from valley settlements have yielded chronological anomalies that this diffusionist paradigm cannot easily accommodate.
New stratigraphic profiles and high-resolution radiocarbon dating from disparate highland valleys demonstrate that complex terrace architecture was constructed and managed independently centuries prior to regional political unification. Sedimentological signatures reveal that distinct communities engineered localized soil-retention walls tailored to their specific microclimatic conditions, varying gravel fills and drainage gradients according to idiosyncratic hydrological patterns rather than adhering to a uniform imperial blueprint.
These physical findings suggest that ancient Andean terracing was not the product of top-down bureaucratic dissemination, but rather the culmination of autonomous, decentralized agrarian experimentation. Recognizing this polycentric genesis reshapes our understanding of pre-Columbian environmental stewardship, establishing that local adaptation, rather than centralized state mandate, was the primary catalyst for long-term ecological sustainability in high-altitude agriculture.
Match each paragraph of the passage to the statement that best describes its primary function in establishing the passage's main idea.
- Paragraph 1Introduces a traditional scholarly model and presents initial chronological anomalies that challenge its validity.
- Paragraph 2Presents specific physical and sedimentological evidence showing localized, independent engineering developments.
- Paragraph 3Articulates the overarching thesis that decentralized agrarian adaptation, rather than imperial mandate, drove sustainable highland cultivation.