Anthropologist: Excavations at the ancient, strictly sedentary settlement of Kaelen have uncovered ceremonial vessels containing trace residues of the cacao plant. The Kaelen people are known to have had no contact with migratory groups. Because the cacao plant is native exclusively to regions located over five hundred miles south of Kaelen, the settlement's inhabitants must have maintained direct, long-distance trade networks extending into those southern regions to acquire the beans.
Which one of the following is an assumption required by the anthropologist's argument?
- The inhabitants of Kaelen did not acquire the cacao beans through a series of short-distance exchanges involving geographically intermediate groups.Answer
- BAny ancient settlement that maintained trade networks with the southern regions eventually acquired cacao beans for ceremonial use.
- CMost of the populations native to the southern regions were willing to participate in the trade networks established by the inhabitants of Kaelen.
- DThe ceremonial vessels found at Kaelen were not manufactured using techniques developed in the southern regions.
- EThe inhabitants of Kaelen did not engage in direct, long-distance trade networks to acquire ceremonial items other than cacao beans.
Answer
The assumption that the inhabitants of Kaelen did not acquire the cacao beans through a series of short-distance exchanges involving geographically intermediate groups.
The correct answer properly bridges the gap between the origin of the beans and the specific nature of the trade. The author concludes that Kaelen had 'direct, long-distance trade networks'. For this to be true, we must assume they didn't just get the beans handed down through a chain of local, short-distance trades (intermediaries). If we negate this option—meaning they DID use intermediaries—then the author's conclusion that Kaelen itself maintained direct, long-distance networks is destroyed.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
Applying the Negation Technique