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GMAT Club World Cup 2026 (Day 4): Archaeologists excavating an early

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remdelectus

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09 Jul 2026, 09:53

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A-incorrect: finding similar deposits elsewhere do not reveal by themselves if the deposit that is from eating or sacrifice.
B-incorrect: animals used for rituals were commonly the same used for food.
C-correct: knowing whether the bones show butchery cut marks confirms evidence of food preparation.
D-incorrect: age distribution does not definitively differentiate consumption from sacrifice.
E-incorrect: showing that nearby cultures did animal rituals does not show that the deposit was ritual rather than food.

GoodKey

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09 Jul 2026, 10:09

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C- If the animal is used for food preparation, its flesh would have to be cut off its bone otherwise there would be no reason for cut marks to be there in the animal sacrifice process.

heyaa

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09 Jul 2026, 10:15

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It should be C.
As the argument says that the sacrifices were burnt whole so marks on bone is pretty definitive.

princesskitt

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09 Jul 2026, 10:25

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We're presented with two hypotheses about the charred bone deposits:
Hypothesis 1: They're the remnants of communal food preparation.
Hypothesis 2: They're the remains of ritual animal sacrifices where animals were burned whole during religious ceremonies.

We need to go through each option and find out which one gives us a definitive answer of the correct hypothesis while disregarding the other hypothesis in its entirety.

A. Whether similar deposits of charred animal bones have been found at other settlements in the same region.
This has nothing to do with the settlement in question and other settlements could follow entirely different practises, making this option irrelevant.

B. Whether the bones belong to animal species that were commonly hunted for food in the surrounding region.
This still doesn't reject either hypothesis since the settlers could have possibly used the same animals that they considered food to be fit for sacrifice. Hence, eliminated.

C. Whether the bones display cut marks of the kind produced when animals are butchered for the removal of meat.
This seems like a worthy option since the presence of cut marks would prove hypothesis 1 where the animal would be cut up for meat preparations and reject hypothesis 2 since the animals were sacrificed whole and would not have any cut marks on their bones. And in the absence of cut marks, it would prove hypothesis 2 and reject hypothesis 1. Keep.

D. Whether the deposit contains bones from animals of various ages or predominantly from animals in their prime.
This is too vague since it can be applied to prove either hypothesis since the settlers could choose to sacrifice the animals in their prime and eat the ones of various ages, or the other way round, and hence it doesn't outright reject either hypothesis so it can be eliminated.

E. Whether written or artistic records from contemporary cultures depict animals being used in religious ceremonies.
Again, this is too vague since there are a lot of contemporary cultures who could each follow their own distinct sets of rules and hence we cannot reject either of the hypotheses for this particular settlement with this option. Eliminate.

Therefore, our best option is C.

GreenPill

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09 Jul 2026, 10:57

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Bunuel

Archaeologists excavating an early agrarian settlement discovered a concentrated deposit of charred animal bones at the center of the site. The bones represent several different species and show varying degrees of burning. The deposit may be the remnants of communal food preparation - animals slaughtered and cooked during large gatherings of the settlement's inhabitants. Alternatively, the deposit may represent the remains of ritual animal sacrifices, in which animals were burned whole as offerings during religious ceremonies.

In order to help decide between the two hypotheses about the origin of the bone deposit, which of the following would it be most useful to know?

(A) Whether similar deposits of charred animal bones have been found at other settlements in the same region
(B) Whether the bones belong to animal species that were commonly hunted for food in the surrounding region
(C) Whether the bones display cut marks of the kind produced when animals are butchered for the removal of meat
(D) Whether the deposit contains bones from animals of various ages or predominantly from animals in their prime
(E) Whether written or artistic records from contemporary cultures depict animals being used in religious ceremonies

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A does not help. same species can be hunted and offered B out. from C we can decide if it is used for eating so keep. D does not help. E can be but C is more useful. option C

Vivek1707

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09 Jul 2026, 11:01

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Answer choice should help in deciding between the two hypothesis

(A) Other settlements are out of scope. Not relevant to either hypothesis
(B) surrounding regions is irrelevant
(C) Correct: The key point here is the cut marks display the REMOVAL or meat. Its mentioned in the argument that in religious ceremonies animals were burnt as a whole. So this strengthens one hypothesis that animals were slaughtered for food.
(D) Age of animals is out of scope.
(E) Written records are not helpful. Even if this is true it won't strenthen / weaken any hypothesis.

Bunuel

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09 Jul 2026, 11:34

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The two hypotheses in the question are
1. Were the animals SLAUGHTERED & cooked for FOOD PREPARATION, or
2. Were the animals BURNED WHOLE for RITUAL SACRIFICE
In light of above, we can analyze the answer choices directly

A. What is found in other settlements will not tell us much. Even if similar bones were found in other settlements, we will not know what happened there either.
B. Even if the animals were COMMONLY hunted, they could have been a sacrifice on some rare occasions
D. We are not given any info about what the animals were used based on their age (prime, nascent, adults, old) and hence this info will not reveal relevant info
E. Even if there are records, what were the animal found in this settlement used for will not be clear

C. If there were cut marks, there are high chances that the animals were SLAUGHTERED for FOOD while if there are no cut marks then it might be because they were BURNED WHOLE as a SACRIFICE. This info will help and hence is the correct choice.

SmileAndSolve

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09 Jul 2026, 11:53

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A) doesn't prove anything
B) doesn't prove anything
C) Can help differentiate b/w butchered animals (with bone marks) vs burn animals (w/o bone marks)
D) doesn't prove anything
E) Okayish,still vague

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09 Jul 2026, 12:12

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IMO C
So the author asks to evaluate between 2 hypothesis, something whihc will make it clear whihc of the 2 hypothesis is correct
A= other settlements doesnt matter, out of scope
B= this could be true for both the hypothesis, not clear.
C= yes. If yes, it would mean hypothesis 1 is true where animals are slaughtered and cooked. If no, hypothesis 2 is true where animals are offered whole
D= age of animals is irrelevant in deciding hypothesis
E=this is something again out of scope , though helpful but its kind of vague
Hope this helps!

Bunuel

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09 Jul 2026, 12:28

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Option C - Bones display cut marks from the butchered , removal of meat
This statement is correct as it helps us give a direct ans for one of the hypothesis , bones marks can directly tell us if the animal was butchered or not , if not then they were used for burned as a sacrifice

Why not the others
Option A - Other settlements - this will not give any ans for the hypotheses , as both kind of deposits can be found and does not necessarily mean anything other than pattern.

Option B - Bones belong to animal used for hunting , this does not mean they cannot be used for sacrifice , if there is only one species then they maybe have used them for food as well as sacrifice

Option D - various ages - This also does not tell us if they were sacrificed or cooked , as both can involve young as well as old

Option E - written records - those are not always the final ans , these records are also created by research and some settlements can use the animals for eating but others can use the same for sacrifice so not the correct ans

Bunuel

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ShreyaMittal1609

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09 Jul 2026, 12:29

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My answer is C.)

We need to help decide between two hypotheses given.

A) Even if similar deposits found at other settlement, it does not help with settlement in question- Irrelevant- Eliminate
B) Even if they belong to same species that are hunted, same species might be used for ritual animal sacrifices- Does not help- Eliminate
C) If bones display cut marks similar to butchered animals, this indicate that the animals were not burned whole for ritual animal sacrifice- hence it helps to decide between the hypothesis- CORRECT
D) Age will not help in deciding- Eliminate
E) Even if records mention animals being used for religious ceremonies, the remnants maybe cooked for food. Not all might be used for religious ceremonies- Eliminate.

Bunuel

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PJ8

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09 Jul 2026, 12:43

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Option C since it would indicate whether the meat was removed for food preparation or not, if marks were present, then used for food preparation, and if not, then it must be for a religious ceremony. The rest of the elimination reason is written below.

Bunuel

Archaeologists excavating an early agrarian settlement discovered a concentrated deposit of charred animal bones at the center of the site. The bones represent several different species and show varying degrees of burning. The deposit may be the remnants of communal food preparation - animals slaughtered and cooked during large gatherings of the settlement's inhabitants. Alternatively, the deposit may represent the remains of ritual animal sacrifices, in which animals were burned whole as offerings during religious ceremonies.

In order to help decide between the two hypotheses about the origin of the bone deposit, which of the following would it be most useful to know?

(A) Whether similar deposits of charred animal bones have been found at other settlements in the same region - Similar deposit won't give any clue about origin
(B) Whether the bones belong to animal species that were commonly hunted for food in the surrounding region - Maybe hunted for food but we are not sure whether they offer different species for religious ceremony, there is not enought evidence about it in passage.
(C) Whether the bones display cut marks of the kind produced when animals are butchered for the removal of meat - Displaying cut mark for meat removal show it would be mostly related to Food preparation.
(D) Whether the deposit contains bones from animals of various ages or predominantly from animals in their prime - Age won't matter here as nothing mentioned about eating habits/Religous activity related to Age of animal.
(E) Whether written or artistic records from contemporary cultures depict animals being used in religious ceremonies - Even we wil have records we won't be sure about whether it is as per artistic record or food preparation.

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09 Jul 2026, 12:46

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Bunuel

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A - deposits in nearby settlements would still not explain the use of the deposit discivered here. No hypothesis is strengthened. EXCLUDE

B - The same animals could be used for food and religous sacrifice. No hypothesis supoorted here. EXCLUDE

C - If such marks were found, it would indicate usage of the animals for food preparation, thereby strenghtening the first hypothesis. CONSIDER

D - Animal age does not favor the usage for either food or religious sacrifice. EXCLUDE

E - Even if this was recorded, it could still be that the deposit in question be used for food preparation. EXCLUDE

Answer - C

sonit1987

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09 Jul 2026, 12:49

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very straight forward... very similar to last day world cup question.
There are two hypothesis: one slaughtered for communal food prep
and other for ritual offering slaughtered.

Option-A: Even if the we know this information that charred bine deposit found at other settlement, We can't conclude what it is used for out of both hypothesis unless we know what purpose it was used for at other settlement and they have no linkages between the two... lets rule this out.
\Option B:- Even if it belongs to animals who were hunted for food in surrounding reasons, we can't predict it is used for the same purpose in this region. No linkages can be established. rule this out

Option C- If we know this information to be true then we can say it was used for communal food prep and of no then it would have been used for other hypothesis that used for ritual offerings. This can be decider if we know the answer of this... Hold on

Option D:- This is easy rule out as even if we know or not this answer that it belongs to various ages and from animals in their prime. How can we deduce any of the two hypothesis that what purpose it was used for

Option E:- artistic or written records answers the usage of the animals. but they will not be specific to these found out charred bones. they may be general So we Can't deduce what purpose these found out bones were used. moreover, artistic record may not capture everything about the usage of animals. so it may be possible that they may or maynot contain full information about both hypothesis so on basis of that we can't say. rule this out.

Only clear answer IS C

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09 Jul 2026, 13:00

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This is a very difficult question to answer.

A---Similar deposits ---other settlements - doesnt help us make a decision
B---Bones belong to animal species ----hunted for food in surrounding region - the surrounding makes it not relevant
C---Correct---cut marks in bones say meat was taken out which helps us understand that they used it for food and not for sacrificies
D--Irrelevant - prime word used
E---Artistic records may or may not cover them during the time. Close one but doesnt help us.

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09 Jul 2026, 15:19

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IMO the correct answer is Option C - Cut marks on the bones directly show whether the animals were butchered food or burned whole, making it the best way to distingusih between the 2 hypotheses.

Evaluating other options:

A - Similar deposists elsewhere does not explain the specific deposit.
B - Food animals can also be used in rituals, so this does not distinguish the hypotheses.
D - Animal age is not direcly related.
E - Other cultures's practices do not provide evidence about this site.

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09 Jul 2026, 17:30

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2 hypotheses
(a) Communal Food Preparation > Meat was removed by butchering animals
(b) Ritual Sacrifice > Burned alive

Answer choices
(A) The answer choice does not talk about food preparation or ritual. They can be found elsewhere. Eliminate.
(B)
(C) Talks about whether cut marks present, meaning either butchered or if the cut marks are not present, sacrificed. Answer.
(D) Ages of animals are irrelevant here. Eliminate.
(E) It talks about a religious ceremony. Assuming that they would sacrifice, but there is not enough conclusion that they will be either butchered or sacrificed. Eliminate.

Answer is C

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09 Jul 2026, 20:19

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C is the correct answer. The bones having cutmarks the look like those produced when animals are butchered for meat shows that food preparation was involved. This supports the communal food preparation hypotheses.

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09 Jul 2026, 20:39

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A doesnt help; B can be tricky since both the animals eaten and those sacrificed could be the same; C since scientific advances can prove if there are cut marks, this is the correct answer; D is irrelevant; and E doesnt inform you directly about what these people were doing with the animals. CORRECT: C

Bunuel

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09 Jul 2026, 20:45

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C.

Knowing if there are cut marks will allow us to discern between the two hypothesis. Animals sacrificed as whole offerings would not have the cut marks.