Even I think it's not one of the cleanest question.

IMO, the answer is D.

Reason: We are sure that Mayan lived 3000 ag0 (From the pottery)...
THEN >> We found an old stone(4500 yrs old) which looks like the implements used by the Mayan
Argument says: Mayan lived 4500 yrs ago..

Flaw: What if they(Mayan) just have borrowed the design for their implements and their implements are same as the old implement..!!(Just an example)..

So, the option D: Normally cultures uses the design developed by early inhabitants....so the stone design was copied (Copyright case..!!) and now other implement (3000 yr old) look same as the older one (4000 yr old).

Hope this helps..

I picked (D) but I think (E) came very close too.

Chose D for exactly the same reasons .

What is the OA ykaiim .. you havn't been posting OAs lately.

I can't make any connections between the stem to A,B,C and E. Only D makes sense by providing alternative explanation to the implements (whatever it was!!)
stem: Mayan dated at 3000 ago
Earlier implement dated at 4500 ago
Mayan's implement resembled earlier implement
therefore Mayan dated to 4500 ago

Choice D:Mayan dated at 3000 ago
Earlier implement dated at 4500 ago
Mayan's implement resembled earlier implement
therefore Mayan copied earlier culture

The earliest Mayan pottery found at Colha, in Belize, is about 3,000 years old. Recently, however, 4,500-year-old stone agricultural implements were unearthed at Colha. These implements resemble Mayan stone implements of a much later period, also found at Colha. Moreover, the implements’ designs are strikingly different from the designs of stone implements produced by other cultures known to have inhabited the area in prehistoric times. Therefore, there were surely Mayan settlements in Colha 4,500 years ago.

Premise: Earliest Mayan pottery 3000 years old
But X that is 4500 years old also found
X different from all the other things made 4500 years ago
X resembles things that were made by mayans much later in the same place
Conclusion: Hence, Mayans were there 4500 years ago

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

(A) Ceramic ware is not known to have been used by the Mayan people to make agricultural implements. Irrelevant Nothing about Ceramic mentioned.
(B) Carbon-dating of corn pollen in Colha indicates that agriculture began there around 4,500 years ago. Talks about agriculture. The discussion is not about agriculture. It is about whether mayans were there 4500 years ago
(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. Irrelevant
(D) Successor cultures(Mayans of a much later period) at a given site often adopt the style of agricultural implements used by earlier inhabitants of the same site. This is the only option that weakens the argument. This statement says that other cultures at the same place adopt the style of agri. impl. used by earlier cultures in the same place. . Hence, those ppl who lived 4500 years ago may not have been 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. Irrelevant

+1 D

I think is a variant of an offical guide question.

Agreed that the answer is D. I chose D too. But, in hindsight, I have one doubt.

See, the argument as follows:-

4500-yr old Stone implements found at Colha, which resemble ones used by Mayans at a later date. Fine.
But, the style and design of these implements hasn't been seen before in any culture. This means that this was a new style, never existed before.

Then how is D correct which says that Mayans copied this style from some other culture? So how can the Mayans take this / copy this style from any other culture? Because the stem says that "no culture ever had such style... "

Please help..

It should be D.

In D, reason is given for the cause of the reason: why 4500 years old stones were found.

In the stem it is clearly mentioned that "prehistoric" not "4500 + years ago" or "4600 years ago"... hence option D opens the possibility that Mayans could have copied those implements from inhabitants who lived there earlier.And those inhabitants or their ancestors are the ones who changed the agricultural implements to look different from how it looked in PREHISTORIC times.

I have the exact same doubt.. OG 's explanation are useless

I eliminated (D), because I assumed that the stem already offered a premise that "the designs are strikingly different from the designs of the stone implements produced by other cultures known to have inhabited the area in PREHISTORIC times."

IMO, it all boils down to whether 4500 years ago (or approx. 2500 years B.C.) is PREHISTORIC. After thinking a bit about it, I would say NO. So therefore => (D). But I still don't understand why this question is ranked as "Hard" and I still think it's tricky.

My answer was also (D) but I've the same doubts as himanshujovi and talismaaniac.... as D just canceled the fact stated in the argument about strikingly different designs

(D) Successor cultures("may be Mayans or may be not" of a much later period) at a given site often adopt the style of agricultural implements used by earlier inhabitants of the same site. This is the only option that weakens the argument. This statement says that other cultures at the same place adopt the style of agricultural implementation used by earlier cultures in the same place. Hence, those ppl who lived 4500 years ago may not have been Mayans.

Hope it clears the doubt! Kudos!
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4500 _--------------------------3000

We thought Mayan settlement were established 3000 years back, but now we found stone piece of 4500 years back. This stone is not like anything other other produced. And it resembled Mayan settlement equipment.

Mayan Culture
Other culture

So only option is that it should be of Mayan. And then another conclusion, ok mayan settlement is not 3000 years back but they are 4500 years old.

(D) Successor cultures at a given site often adopt the style of agricultural implements used by earlier inhabitants of the same site. :-

By this we can say that they are not of Mayan but of their "Ancestor" so they are 4500 years old and not "Mayan" is 4500 years old.

But the question stem : we have already removed the possibility of other cultures known to have inhabited the area in prehistoric times. And the previous culture will also be considered as other cultures. and they are already off the list.

But another angle is : If mayan had borrowed the style from their previous ancestors, then although 4500 years old stone resembles the Mayan, that it would be of their ancestors. so the resemblance doesn't matter. They could be of Mayanor pervious ancestor, we are in doubt.

Given - the implements’ designs are strikingly different from the designs of stone implements produced by other cultures known to have inhabited the area in prehistoric times.

(D) Successor cultures at a given site often adopt the style of agricultural implements used by earlier inhabitants of the same site.

Unable to understand how D is the correct choice if it is given that the designs were different than ones produced by other cultures that lived in the area before mayans. What am i interpreting incorrectly.

The part you missed is: "KNOWN to have inhabited the area". There could possibly be some other culture NOT KNOWN, from which the Mayans adopted the stone implements. Therefore option D is correct.

The earliest Mayan pottery found at Colha, in Belize, is about 3,000 years old. Recently, however, 4,500-year-old stone agricultural implements were unearthed at Colha. These implements resemble Mayan stone implements of a much later period, also found at Colha. Moreover, the implements’ designs are strikingly different from the designs of stone implements produced by other cultures known to have inhabited the area in prehistoric times. Therefore, there were surely Mayan settlements in Colha 4,500 years ago.

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

(A) Ceramic ware is not known to have been used by the Mayan people to make agricultural implements.
(B) Carbon-dating of corn pollen in Colha indicates that agriculture began there around 4,500 years ago.
(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.
(D) Successor cultures at a given site often adopt the style of agricultural implements used by earlier inhabitants of the same site.
(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.


The first highlighted part is the conclusion. The second highlighted part is the question stem....so we need an answer choice which basically says that the implements unearthed are not Mayans.

Option D talks about successor cultures adopting the style of previous inhabitants. This hints at the settlement unearthed(the one presumed to be 4500 years ago) copied the style from their successor(their identity we do not know) and down the line the style got passed to the Mayans, but not for once it establishes that 4500 years ago the settlement was of Mayans. Hence the correct choice. Frankly the other choices just made the job simpler, apart from D all of them seemed out of context.

The earliest Mayan pottery found at Colha, in Belize, is about 3,000 years old. Recently, however, 4,500-year-old stone agricultural implements were unearthed at Colha. These implements resemble Mayan stone implements of a much later period, also found at Colha. Moreover, the implements’ designs are strikingly different from the designs of stone implements produced by other cultures known to have inhabited the area in prehistoric times. Therefore, there were surely Mayan settlements in Colha 4,500 years ago.

Type - weaken
Boil it down - there were surely Mayan settlements in Colha 4,500 years ago .
4,500-year-old stone agricultural implements were unearthed at Colha were from Mayans because no co-existing culture created the same design .Thus there were surely Mayan settlements in Colha 4,500 years ago
-If we can break this causality we can weaken the conclusion

(A) Ceramic ware is not known to have been used by the Mayan people to make agricultural implements. - irrelevant
(B) Carbon-dating of corn pollen in Colha indicates that agriculture began there around 4,500 years ago. - Irrelevant - it says that some settlement was present in Colha around 4500 years ago
(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. - Irrelevant
(D) Successor cultures at a given site often adopt the style of agricultural implements used by earlier inhabitants of the same site. - Correct - Mayan civilization was inspired by some other culture/civilization that existed prior to it
(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. - Irrelevant

Answer D
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Dear sayantanc2k I did not understand the passage at all. Could you please help me understand the passage and the answers?