Analyze the following argument concerning the Bronze Age collapse:
'Although historians frequently attribute the collapse of the Bronze Age societal network to a singular catastrophic event, such as a massive earthquake storm, this hypothesis is unsustainable. A singular catastrophic event would have caused simultaneous abandonment of urban centers across the Mediterranean. However, archaeological stratigraphy reveals that urban centers in the Levant were abandoned incrementally over a period of seventy years. Clearly, then, the systemic collapse was a protracted process rather than a sudden event. Furthermore, since protracted systemic collapses are invariably driven by interconnected economic disruptions rather than isolated natural disasters, the demise of the Bronze Age network must have been precipitated by a breakdown in international trade.'
Match each excerpted statement from the argument to the precise structural role it plays.
- A singular catastrophic event would have caused simultaneous abandonment of urban centers across the Mediterranean.A claim outlining the expected consequences of a hypothesis that the argument seeks to discredit.
- Archaeological stratigraphy reveals that urban centers in the Levant were abandoned incrementally over a period of seventy years.A piece of primary factual evidence used to directly justify a subsidiary conclusion.
- The systemic collapse was a protracted process rather than a sudden event.An intermediate conclusion that serves as a premise for the argument's final conclusion.
- The demise of the Bronze Age network must have been precipitated by a breakdown in international trade.The main conclusion that the entire argument is ultimately designed to establish.