Along with Egypt and Sumer, the third major early Bronze Age civilizat

Along with Egypt and Sumer, the third major early Bronze Age civilization was the Indus Valley civilization, which flourished from 2600 B.C. to 900 B.C. In geographic size, the Indus Valley civilization was the largest ancient urban civilization, bigger than pharaonic Egypt. Centered on the Indus River and the now dry Ghaggar-Hakra River, it comprised about 1,400 settlements across what is now Pakistan, Afghanistan, and northwestern India. The Indus Valley civilization was long considered archaeologically uninteresting because of its ordinary urban architecture and lack of palaces or citadels, but recent excavations show the civilization to be without parallel in history, displaying characteristics not elsewhere united in a single civilization.

The Indus Valley people, masters of urban planning, built brick cities on flood-proof terraces with grids of long, straight streets and the first urban sewer systems, made of masonry. No signs of dominant rulers have been found, and the cities' living quarters show little sign of class distinction, suggesting that their system of government was, at least in part, democratic. The civilization also apparently thrived without armies—there is, for example, no evidence of weapon production.

The Indus Valley people were the first to cultivate rice and cotton, and they developed a carefully organized agricultural system to produce and distribute food. In addition, the Indus Valley civilization was one of the ancient world's top traders. Examples of its standardized weights have been found in many harbors around the Arabian Sea, and Sumerian tablets inscribed in 2300 B.C. provide evidence that the Indus Valley people maintained trade with Mesopotamia.

The causes of the civilization's decline, however, are not certain, and this has produced the most contention among scholars. A long-standing theory, one that today still inhabits history books, was proposed by British archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler in the 1920s and points to a final massacre by marauding Indo-Aryan invaders. But, in addition to a lack of written evidence of such an event in any ancient Indian records, there is no archaeological evidence of battles within the cities. In fact, new excavations show that Indo-Aryans were not even in the region at the time the massacre was alleged to have taken place. Archaeological evidence also shows a later resurgence of the civilization a substantial distance to the south of its original location. This suggests that the Indus Valley people most likely relocated for catastrophic environmental reasons, with the large empire disintegrating into many regional cultures. Severe drought, of which there is evidence, may have made some lands unfarmable. Without enough grain to feed the large urban populations, many of the Indus Valley civilization's large cities would probably have been abandoned. Or, a massive earthquake in this seismically volatile region may have changed the course of rivers and disrupted many cities, spurring a migration of refugees to the countryside.

1. Which one of the following most accurately states the main point of the passage?

(A) Recent evidence sheds new light on the Indus Valley civilization and calls into question some of the views held previously by archaeologists regarding its significance and decline.
(B) Bronze Age civilizations, including that of the Indus Valley, have not been properly recognized for their cultural achievements.
(C) The Indus Valley civilization played an important role in the evolution of democracy and modern agriculture.
(D) The Indus Valley civilization is a historically significant culture, but there is not enough evidence to draw legitimate conclusions about the cultural practices of its people.
(E) Certain long-held assumptions about the decline of the Indus Valley civilization exemplify how scholars can be led to incorrect conclusions by incomplete data.

2. Which one of the following is NOT cited in the passage as a characteristic of the Indus Valley civilization?

(A) It was geographically the largest of the major Bronze Age civilizations.
(B) Its people cultivated rice.
(C) Its people were generally nomadic.
(D) It was a major trader.
(E) It was spread across an area that is now part of three nations.

3. Based on the passage, which one of the following most accurately describes the author's stance regarding Wheeler's theory?

(A) enthusiastic appreciation of its contributions to the field of archaeology
(B) grudging approval of those aspects of the theory that have not been refuted by recent research
(C) slight disagreement with its assumptions, mixed with respect for its venerable status
(D) offhanded dismissal of it as a theory not worthy of scholarly attention
(E) unambiguous rejection of it in light of newly conducted excavations

4. Which one of the following is cited in the passage as evidence that directly counters Wheeler's theory?

(A) The Indus Valley is a seismically volatile region.
(B) There are no findings that indicate battles within Bronze Age Indus Valley cities.
(C) There is evidence of severe drought in the Indus Valley at the time of the Bronze Age.
(D) No signs of dominant rulers of the Indus Valley civilization have been found at excavation sites.
(E) The Indus Valley people practiced agriculture.

5. The author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements?

(A) Because the Indus Valley region is prone to earthquakes, it is most likely that an earthquake destroyed the Indus Valley civilization.
(B) Only a disaster as catastrophic as an earthquake would have caused the demise of a civilization as sophisticated as the Indus Valley civilization.
(C) Archaeologists' understanding of the decline of the Indus Valley civilization would benefit from a search for signs of earthquake damage in its cities.
(D) The cities of the Indus Valley civilization should have been better prepared for the possibility of a major earthquake.
(E) The demise of the Indus Valley civilization was most likely caused by the catastrophic alteration of the courses of its major rivers.

6. The author would be most likely to agree with which one of the following statements about archaeological investigations. into the Indus Valley civilization?

(A) Archaeological data on the civilization were controlled by a small group of scholars for many years, leading to unfounded conclusions.
(B) It is only in recent years that scholars have gathered evidence sufficient to enable them to reach credible conclusions regarding the civilization.
(C) The Sumerian tablets that provide evidence of trade with the civilization contain the only known references to the civilization in ancient written records.
(D) While an adequate amount of archaeological data on the civilization has existed for many decades, most of it has been misinterpreted.
(E) The most recent archaeological investigations into the civilization are part of a broader trend in archaeology to avoid overreliance on written evidence.