Question

Difficulty: MediumStrengthen

Paleoanthropologist: Excavations at the Upper Paleolithic site of Ghor-A revealed that microlithic stone bladelets bearing microscopic traces of conifer resin were concentrated exclusively around Hearth 3, where reindeer faunal remains were clustered, and were entirely absent around Hearth 1, where grinding stones and plant processing tools predominated. Because conifer resin was widely utilized during this era as an adhesive to attach stone tips to wooden spear shafts, the occupants of Ghor-A must have used Hearth 3 specifically as a designated workshop for assembling projectile hunting weaponry rather than for general culinary preparation.

Evaluate the following statement as True or False:

The discovery that unworked wood shavings, burnt shaft fragments, and debitage from bladelet manufacturing were recovered in dense concentrations surrounding Hearth 3 but nowhere else at Ghor-A strengthens the paleoanthropologist's argument.

Answer: Answer

Answer

True
The claim is true because finding manufacturing debitage, burnt shaft fragments, and wood shavings localized at Hearth 3 directly corroborates the hypothesis that projectile weaponry was manufactured and hafted at that location, thereby eliminating the alternative explanation that the resinous bladelets were used elsewhere and merely discarded near cooking refuse.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the structure of the argument in the stimulus
Premises: Resinated bladelets and reindeer bones are found only at Hearth 3; conifer resin was used as spear-hafting adhesive. Conclusion: Hearth 3 was specifically used as a workshop for assembling hunting weapons.
Identifying the conclusion and the supporting premises isolates the logical gap between finding adhesive-coated bladelets and inferring that full weapon manufacturing took place at that specific hearth.
2
Evaluate the impact of the supplementary statement
The statement introduces additional direct evidence of projectile manufacture (shaft wood shavings, burnt shaft fragments, and manufacturing debitage) restricted to Hearth 3.
A strengthener must increase the plausibility of the conclusion by bridging an assumption or adding independent support for the claimed activity.
3
Determine whether the statement bolsters the argument
The statement provides decisive corroboration of weapon assembly at Hearth 3, confirming that the statement accurately describes a strengthening effect.
Since the evidence reinforces the author's causal and functional inference, classifying the statement as strengthening the argument is correct (True).

Key Concept

Strengthening a functional/causal attribution by providing corroborating physical evidence of the hypothesized activity
Estimated Time:1m 15s
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