Note the correct wording : Simultaneously with but independent from,

so here but also construction is wrong , B And D out

having been cut and have yielded changes the tense un-necessarily in C and so C is out.

E is again out due to incorrect tense, have yielded so is A.

So IMO B.

it has to be E----------"arose" not "were arising". simple past is needed.
"B" IS OUt DUE TO SUBJECT= VERB AGREEMENT trenches --- yields
thnks

were arising as used in A, could mistakenly refer to northern regions also, while the actual intent is that complex societies were arising.

trenches (plural) is the subject of the first clause and so, yield (plural form) should be used and not yields (singular form). So, B and D are out.

C -> having been is not appropriate here and also, with is missing after simultaneously.

Hence, E is the right answer.

IMO A

Used POE to figure this out.
Subject is, first trenches - plural

B. .... yields - singular verb
C. having been cut - passive voice, I raise a red flag here
D. yields - singular verb
E. The first trenches cut into = trenches cut???

IMO E

B,C,D are straight away out due to subject verb agreement (trenches/yields ) and awkward construction (having)

A - "Evidence for centrally administered complex soceities" - sounds incorrent.

The evidence tells that thwo soceities grew togethor and E eshtablishes that -

while A just tells "Evidence for centrally administered complex soceities that etc etc etc"

E is right IMO

I would also go with E as "evidence for" in A is incorrect..............wats the OA?

If I recall correctly, the OA is E.

I see why "cut" bothers some of you, but it's just a participle used as an adjective, like I prefer tortillas made by hand or The first workers pulled out of the mine were happy. This effect is famous for creating "garden path sentences", where you assume a word is one part of speech the first time through and only at the end realize you had it wrong, like the completely grammatical The horse raced past the barn fell.

Further, the GMAT OG definitely prefers you to use participles rather than clauses when you can, because they use fewer words. The first trenches cut reveal X is preferable to (and means the same thing as) The first trenches that were cut reveal X. Note that the GMAT would likely want you to NOT have a garden path sentence and would prefer The horse that was raced past the barn fell.