It is generally accepted that woodland clearings were utilized by Meso

It is generally accepted that woodland clearings
were utilized by Mesolithic human populations
(populations in Europe roughly 7,000 to 12,000 years
ago) for food procurement, Whether there was
(5) deliberate removal of tree cover to attract grazing
animals or whether naturally created clearings just
afforded opportunistic hunting, the common view is
that clearing had an economic use. The archaeological
evidence for this, however, is at best circumstantial.
(10) Some locales where the presence of clearings has
been demonstrated in the paleoecological record of
vegetation have also yielded human artifacts from
around the same time, but the two kinds of evidence
are never securely linked, Furthermore, artifactual
(15) evidence that preparation of animals for human
consumption took place within or near such clearings
is generally lacking.

Most of the evidence invoked in favor of the
resource-procurement model for clearings comes from
(20) ethnography rather than archaeology, and principally
from the recognition that some recent premodern
populations used fire to increase grazing areas. But
while some ethnographic evidence has been used to
bolster the resource-procurement model, other
(25) ethnographic evidence may suggest a different vision,
& noneconomic one, of why clearings may have been
deliberately created and/or used.

Geographer Yi-Fu Tuan argues that right up
through the modern era, human behavior has been
(30) driven by fear of the wilderness. While we might be
tempted to sec this kind of anxiety as a product of
modern urban life, it is clear that such fears are also
manifest in preliteratc and nonurban socicties. If we
apply this insight to the Mesolithic era, our view of the
(35) purpose and use of woodland clearings may change.

We have recently become aware of the
importance of woodland paths in prehistory. The fact
that Mesolithic human populations moved around the
landscape is not a new idea. However, the fact that they
(40) may have done so along prescribed pathways has
only recently come to the fore. I propose that one of
the primary motivators in establishing paths may
have been fear of the wooded surroundings—whether
fear of harm from wildlife or spirits, or of simply
(45) getting lost.

From this view an alternative hypothesis may be
developed. First, paths become established and acquire
a measure of long-term permanence. Then this
permanence leads to concentration of activity in some
(50) areas (near the paths) rather than others (away from
the paths). This allows us to legitimately consider
wilderness as a motivating concept in the Mesolithic,
and may force us to consider the environment as more
than “backdrop.” And finalty, it may lead us to
(55) explain some clearings as purely social phenomena,
since where paths meet, wider clearings emerge as
corners are cut and intersections become convenient
spots for resting.

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

(A) Though fear of the wilderness is commonly thought to be a modern urban phenomenon, archaeological evidence suggests that the concept of wilderness may go as far back as the Mesolithic period.
(B) Though the resource-procurement model for Mesolithic woodland clearings is widely accepted, the available evidence provides comparable support for an alternative, noneconomic model.
(C) Though ethnographic evidence appears to support the resource-procurement model for woodland clearings, archaeological evidence suggests that clearings were used for multiple purposes by Mesolithic human populations.
(D) Evidence of woodland clearings from the paleoccological record of plant types may lend support to the hypothesis that Mesolithic human populations moved around the landscape via established paths.
(E) Ethnography provides clear and unambiguous insight into the purpose and use of woodland clearings during the Mesolithic period.


2. According to the resource-procurement model for clearings. Mesolithic human populations engaged in which one of the following practices?

(A) They traveled on preestablished pathways.
(B) They hunted animals that grated in clearings.
(C) They grazed domesticated animals in clearings.
(D) They used clearings as resting sites.
(E) They planted crops in clearings.


3. Which one of the following is most clearly an example of the kind of evidence that would lend support to the author's proposal in the next-to-last paragraph?

(A) Mesolithic artwork that appears to depict woodland paths and clearings
(B) the ubiquity of paths and roads in areas densely settled by humans
(C) maps showing pathways used by certain recent premodern human populations
(D) survey results showing that modem urban dwellers experience heightened anxiety in wilderness areas
(E) rituals performed by certain recent premodern populations for the purpose of protection in the forest


4. The author suggests that which one of the following may have been true of Mesolithic human populations?

(A) They were the first people to use fire to increase grazing areas.
(B) They were the first people to travel in prescribed pathways.
(C) They worshipped nature.
(D) They possessed a concept of wilderness.
(E) They had a complex economic system.


5. In the thlrd paragraph, the author mentions Yi-Fu Tuan's argument primarily in order to

(A) render doubtful the hypothesis about clearings that the author seeks to challenge
(B) exemplify the kind of argument about clearings that the author seeks to challenge
(C) give credit to the scholar who developed the hypothesis about clearings that the author favors
(D) lay the groundwork for the hypothesis about clearings that the author outlines
(E) point out the similarity between Tuan's view about clearings and the author's view


6. It can be inferred that the author would be more likely to endorse the resource-procurement model for clearings if this model were supported by which one of the following kinds of evidence?

(A) artifactual evidence that it was near or within clearings that Mesolithic human populations processed animals for human consumption
(B) ethnographic evidence that certain recent premodem populations used clearings for resource procurement
(C) experimental evidence that the creation of clearings is an effective means of attracting grazing animals
(D) paleoecological evidence that the majority of woodland clearings during the Mesolithic period were the result of wildfires
(E) statistical evidence that there was a significant increase in the number of woodland clearings during the Mesolithic period


7. Which one of the following comes closest to capturing what the phrase "purely social phenomena" means in line 55?

(A) phenomena that arise as by-products of a society's noneconomic practices
(B) phenomena that are universal and unique to human societies
(C) phenomena that serve the purpose of strengthening ties between a society's members
(D) phenomena that are intentionally created by human actions to produce a social benefit
(E) phenomena that reveal information about a society's cultural and economic development


8. Which one of the following arguments is most closely analogous to the author's argument in the second paragraph?

(A) The prosecution's case against the defendant rests almost entirely on circumstantial evidence. The defense, in contrast, has provided direct evidence that establishes that the defendant could not have committed the crime in question.
(B) The prosecution maintains that the physical evidence presented establishes the defendant's guilt. However, that same physical evidence can be interpreted in such a way that it instead establishes the defendant's innocence.
(C) The prosecution's case against the defendant rests entirely on circumstantial evidence. This suggests that there is no direct evidence to support the charge against the defendant.
(D) The prosecution's primary witness against the defendant is known to be untrustworthy. The defense, in contrast, has provided a parade of witnesses whose reputations are beyond reproach.
(E) The prosecution's case against the defendant rests almost entirely on circumstantial evidence. However, there is other circumstantial evidence that suggests that the defendant is innocent.