the chinese cave

[delhiboy1979]

10. 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 an earthquake. Since the
paintings depict warriors using Type C bronze
weapons, these archaeologists have concluded
that Type C bronze weapons were already widely
used in this area by 2500 B.C., 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) Archaeologists have evidence that Type C
bronze weapons were in wide use in areas
of present-day India as early as 2500 B.C.
(C) Alternative methods of dating place the
time of the volcanic eruption somewhat
earlier, at around 3000 B.C.
(D) Most experts believe that Type C bronze
weapons were not in use anywhere in
present-day China until 2000 B.C.
(E) The paintings were very faded when the
archaeologists found them, making
identification of the depicted weapons
difficult.

[scoobydooby]

E?

A. doesnt affect the conclusion

B. irrelevant. choice talks of use of bronze weapons in india whereas stimulus talks of use of broonze weapons in china

C. strenghtens. if eruption occured earlier than 3000bc, then weapons must have been used even earlier

D. irrelevant. what experts beleive doesnt affect archaelogists conclusion

E. correct. if identification was difficult, the archaelogists couldnt say with conviction whether bronze weapons were depicted in the paintings in the first place and the whole argument falls apart

[sg1928]

10. 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 an earthquake. Since the
paintings depict warriors using Type C bronze
weapons, these archaeologists have concluded
that Type C bronze weapons were already widely
used in this area by 2500 B.C., 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) Archaeologists have evidence that Type C
bronze weapons were in wide use in areas
of present-day India as early as 2500 B.C.
(C) Alternative methods of dating place the
time of the volcanic eruption somewhat
earlier, at around 3000 B.C.
(D) Most experts believe that Type C bronze
weapons were not in use anywhere in
present-day China until 2000 B.C.
(E) The paintings were very faded when the
archaeologists found them, making
identification of the depicted weapons
difficult.

A/E, I am confused here. If some one can explain.

[S0laris]

It's A,
E- tries to oppose the stumulus, undermining fact that depicted weapon was Type C.

[nervesofsteel]

A

if another entrance was open for many years then it may be possible that
people had made the paintings only few years ago...

[delhiboy1979]

Ok I was stuck between A and E. Can someone explain what A and E are trying to do, I mean which is more relevant. I will disclose the OA in a while.

[alto34]

IMO A.

The conclusion is that type C bronze was used by 2500 BC, this because the entrance of the cave where the painting were found was blocked sicne 2500 BC.

That make sense if the cave was really out of reach. But answer A tells us that there was another entrance that was clear till 1000 BC.

Thus the paintings could also have be drawn between 1000 and 2500 BC.

This seriously weaken the archaeologists’ conclusion.

Beside, answer E only tells us that the identification was very difficult... it doesn't tells that the identification of weapons is false.

OA please...

[dendude]

Yes A makes sense.

The argument is that Type C Bronze weapons was used as early as 2500 BC, for the reasons suggested.
But what if the depictions were created after 2500 BC because of there being another way to get into the cave. That definitely weakens the reasoning. A does this.

E tries to weaken the inference of the archaeologists itself.
It does not offer an alternative explanation.

But between A & E, A is the best option because it does not sound far-fetched (atleast to me ofcourse).

[delhiboy1979]

OA is A. Well done guys

[kris77]

I'm pretty confident that A is correct answer.