During a recent excavation, fragments of a ceremonial urn dating back around 1500 years were discovered in a New Mexico canyon. Prior to this finding, it was believed that the Pueblo tribes who lived in the area around that time made their pottery by hand. However, further investigation revealed that the light brown clay used to create the urn, popularly known as 'golden clay,' could only have been fashioned into an urn with the use of a pottery wheel.
Which of the following, if true, would, together with the information above, provide the best basis for the conclusion that the fragments of the urn are evidence that the Pueblos used the pottery wheel?
A. The remains of a pottery wheel have been unearthed at a Pueblo site in Utah, a finding that predates the discovery of the urn fragments.
B. There is undeniable evidence that the Pueblo tribes who lived in the New Mexico area a millennium ago made frequent use of the pottery wheel.
C. Flooding can soften the texture of clay to an extent that it can easily be molded by hand, and there is evidence that the now-dry canyon once received a considerable amount of rainfall.
D. Golden clay is commonly used by modern-day descendants of the Pueblos to create decorative pieces that can only be made by artists who have mastered the use of the pottery wheel.
E. An examination of the surface of the urn fragments has revealed traces of an iron oxide called hematite that was a common ingredient of the paint used in the Pueblo rock art found in caves.
Which of the following, if true, would, together with the information above, provide the best basis for the conclusion that the fragments of the urn are evidence that the Pueblos used the pottery wheel?
A. The remains of a pottery wheel have been unearthed at a Pueblo site in Utah, a finding that predates the discovery of the urn fragments.
B. There is undeniable evidence that the Pueblo tribes who lived in the New Mexico area a millennium ago made frequent use of the pottery wheel.
C. Flooding can soften the texture of clay to an extent that it can easily be molded by hand, and there is evidence that the now-dry canyon once received a considerable amount of rainfall.
D. Golden clay is commonly used by modern-day descendants of the Pueblos to create decorative pieces that can only be made by artists who have mastered the use of the pottery wheel.
E. An examination of the surface of the urn fragments has revealed traces of an iron oxide called hematite that was a common ingredient of the paint used in the Pueblo rock art found in caves.
