Critical Reasoning

Archaeologists have discovered various paintings on the walls and ceiling of a Chinese cave whose entrance was blocked by a volcanic eruption in the 25th century B.C. and only recently cleared by the earthquake. Since the paintings depict warrios using Type C bronze weapons, these archaeologists have concluded that Type C bronze weapons were already widely used in this area by 2500 BC, far earlier than was previously believed.

Which of the following pieces of additional evidence would most seriously weaken the archaeologists' conclusion.

A. Another entrance to the cave remained clear until a second volcanic eruption 1,000 years after the first.
B. Archaelogists have evidence that Type C bronze weapons were in wide use in areas of present-day India as early as 2500 BC
C. Alternative methods of dating place the time ofthe volcanic eruption somewhat earlier, at around 3000 BC
D. Most experts believe that Type C bronze weapons were not in use anywhere in present-day China until 2000 BC
E. The paintings were very faded when the archaeologists found them, making identification of the depicted weapons difficult.

jamesk486 wrote:Archaeologists have discovered various paintings on the walls and ceiling of a Chinese cave whose entrance was blocked by a volcanic eruption in the 25th century B.C. and only recently cleared by the earthquake. Since the paintings depict warrios using Type C bronze weapons, these archaeologists have concluded that Type C bronze weapons were already widely used in this area by 2500 BC, far earlier than was previously believed.

Which of the following pieces of additional evidence would most seriously weaken the archaeologists' conclusion.

A. Another entrance to the cave remained clear until a second volcanic eruption 1,000 years after the first.
B. Archaelogists have evidence that Type C bronze weapons were in wide use in areas of present-day India as early as 2500 BC
C. Alternative methods of dating place the time ofthe volcanic eruption somewhat earlier, at around 3000 BC
D. Most experts believe that Type C bronze weapons were not in use anywhere in present-day China until 2000 BC
E. The paintings were very faded when the archaeologists found them, making identification of the depicted weapons difficult.

Vote for A. The argument is weakened if we know that these weapons
did not exist at the time of the volcano eruption.

B, C and D place emphasis on dating the bronze weapons, while we
are talking about its usage in 2500 BC around the area.

E inconclusive and out of scope.

I think it should be A...if one entrance was left open till 1000 years later, it would throw the explanation of the archeologists into a tizzy

I think it is A too.

A seems to be the best choice here