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Difficulty: MediumStrengthen

Archaeologist: Smelting slag recovered from the Bronze Age coastal settlement of Karystos contains significant concentrations of manganese oxide. Because copper ore deposits at nearby Mount Oche naturally contain manganese, researchers have concluded that the copper smelted at Karystos came from Mount Oche rather than being imported from the Cycladic islands.

Which of the following, if true, most strengthens the researchers' argument?

  1. A
    Bronze Age smelting in the Aegean basin frequently involved adding manganese-bearing minerals to furnaces as a fluxing agent to separate metal from waste.
  2. Copper ores from the Cycladic islands mined during the Bronze Age contain no detectable traces of manganese.Answer
  3. C
    The copper deposits at Mount Oche were extensive enough to have met the metalworking demands of Karystos for several centuries.
  4. D
    Finished bronze tools unearthed at Karystos feature decorative designs that are distinctly different from those found on artifacts from the Cycladic islands.
  5. E
    All maritime transport vessels operating near Karystos during the Bronze Age carried agricultural goods rather than metallic ores.

Answer

Copper ores from the Cycladic islands mined during the Bronze Age contain no detectable traces of manganese.
The argument concludes that copper smelted at Karystos came from Mount Oche instead of the Cycladic islands based solely on the fact that Karystos slag contains manganese oxide and Mount Oche ore contains manganese. For this chemical signature to support Mount Oche over the Cyclades, Cycladic ores must not share the same manganese characteristic. Establishing that Cycladic ores contained no detectable manganese rules out the possibility that imported Cycladic ore produced the observed slag, thereby substantially strengthening the researchers' conclusion.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the structure of the argument and identify the conclusion and premises.
Conclusion: The copper smelted at Karystos came from Mount Oche rather than being imported from the Cycladic islands. Premise: Slag at Karystos contains manganese oxide, and Mount Oche copper ore naturally contains manganese.
Isolating the premises and conclusion clarifies the logical gap between observed evidence and the author's causal claim.
2
Identify the unstated assumption and potential alternative explanations.
The argument assumes that Cycladic ore could not have produced the manganese-rich slag, and that manganese was not introduced via other means.
To strengthen an exclusive attribution to Mount Oche, a statement must either validate that manganese uniquely identifies Mount Oche ore or eliminate the Cycladic competitor hypothesis.
3
Evaluate the answer choices to identify the option that provides the strongest logical support.
The statement showing that Cycladic ores lack manganese establishes that Cycladic ores could not account for the manganese oxide in the slag, directly reinforcing the conclusion.
Eliminating the alternative source of copper ore provides strong evidential support for the local source.

Key Concept

Ruling out alternative causal sources to strengthen an attribution argument
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