GMATGuruNY wrote:

lheiannie07 wrote:Native American burial sites dating back 5,000 years indicate that the residents of Maine at that time were part of a widespread culture of Algonquian-speaking people.

(A) were part of a widespread culture of Algonquian-speaking people
(B) had been part of a widespread culture of people who were Algonquian-speaking
(C) were people who were part of a widespread culture that was Algonquian-speaking
(D) had been people who were part of a widespread culture that was Algonquian-speaking
(E) were a people which had been part of a widespread, Algonquian-speaking culture[/i]

The PAST PERFECT (had + VERBed) serves to express a past action completed BEFORE ANOTHER PAST EVENT.
B and D: residents of Maine at that time had been
Here, the past action in red is NOT completed before another past event.
Thus, the usage of the past perfect is unjustified.
Eliminate B and D.

C: residents...were people who were part of a widespread culture
Here, the portion in red is redundant.
It can be omitted with no loss of meaning:
residents were part of a widespread culture.
Eliminate C.

E: people which had been part
Here, which cannot serve to refer to people.
To refer to people, we use WHO or WHOM.
Eliminate E.

The correct answer is A.

GMATGuruNY wrote:

Mo2men wrote:I eliminated E also based on 'a people' which is wrong?

a people is a valid construction.
One definition of people is a group consisting of all the persons who belong to a nation, religion, or race.
The following sentence is correct:
The Aztecs were a proud people.