The earliest Mayan pottery found at Colhan, in Belize, is

Premise:
1) Earliest mayan pottery found in Colhan -> 3000 yrs old
2) Recently: 4500 yrs old agricultural implements unearthed
3) Implements resemble Mayan stone implements of later period
4) Implements are different in design from stone implements of other culture know to inhabit the area in prehistoric time

Conclusion
5) There were Mayan settlements in Colha 4500 yrs ago

Which of the following, if true, most seriously weakens the argument?

A: Ceramic ware is not known to have been used by the Maya to make agricultural implements.
- Nothing about ceramic ware

B: Carbon dating of corn pollen in Colha indicates that agriculture began there around 4,500 years ago.
- Not useful

C: Archaeological evidence indicates that some of the oldest stone implements found at Colha were used to cut away vegetation after controlled burning of trees to open areas of swampland for cultivation.
- Out of scope

D: Successor cultures at a given site often adopt the style of agricultural implements used by earlier inhabitants of the same site.
- This is the one.If 3000 yrs ago, the Mayans copied the style of impleements of the inhabitants from 4500 yrs ago, then their style would be similar, but this does not mean they're all mayans.

E: Many religious and social institutions of the Mayan people who inhabited Colha 3,000 years ago relied on a highly developed system of agricultural symbols.
- Out of scope

D is best.

it should be D. if it is true, it could mean that mayan cultures were the successor cultures of a previous cultures and mayan adopted the style of making agriculture implements of that previous culture, the conclusion of the argument that the mayan inhibited the area/site could be weakned.

Hi, E says Mayan people inhabited 3000 years ago, but it doesn't weaken the conclusion: Mayan people also inhabited 4500 years ago.

(D) says the implements unearthed at Colha cannot determine the era of Maya, because Mayan people are the successors of some people who used these implements.

Clear "D"....paraphrase ur ans and u almost know what to look for among the choices.

This makes sense. Thanks for correcting.

Thanks everyone! The OA is (D).