It is generally believed that an Indian tribe known as “The Red Paint

Question

It is generally believed that an Indian tribe known as “The Red Paint People” first occupied the coast of Maine in approximately 3000 B.C. This name was given to the Indians because their graves contained quantities of a red pigment (iron ochre) that they presumably used to decorate their faces and bodies. However, recently discovered Indian grave sites on the coast of Maine that contain these same red pigments have been conclusively dated to 4000 B.C. Therefore, the “Red Paint People” must have occupied the coast of Maine much earlier than archaeologists previously believed.

Which of the following is an assumption required by the argument above?

(A) Tribes do not often adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously.

(B) Other Indian tribes did not live in the same area as the “Red Paint People”

(C) Other recently discovered Indian gravesites in the same region were not conclusively dated earlier than 4500 B.C.

(D) The recently discovered grave sites on the coast of Maine did not contain other important characteristics of the “Red Paint People”

(E) Red pigments have been found in other gravesites on the coast of Maine belonging to tribes other than the “Red Paint People”.

semwal · Accepted Answer

PREMISE 1. Generally believed that an Indian tribe known as “The Red Paint People” first occupied the coast of Maine in approximately 3000 B.C. 
 2. Recently discovered Indian grave sites on the coast of Maine that contain these same red pigments have been conclusively dated to 4000 B.C.

CONCLUSION- “Red Paint People” must have occupied the coast of Maine much earlier than archaeologists previously believed.

ASSUMPTION- THE SAME PEOPLE LIVED EARLIER..............

Which of the following is an assumption required by the argument above?

A)Tribes do not often adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously.... MEANS IT WERE THE SAME PEOPLE

B)Other Indian tribes did not live in the same area as the “Red Paint People” NO RELATION TO TIME... WHEN ARE WE TALKING OF? ...IN ANY CASE SO WHAT IF OTHERS ALSO LIVED ... WE ARE TALKING OF THE RED PAINT PEOPLE....

C)Other recently discovered Indian grave sites in the same region were not conclusively dated earlier than 4500 B.C.... GRAVE SITES MAY BE FROM YESTERDAY TO ETERNITY....

D)The recently discovered grave sites on the coast of Maine did not contain other important characteristics of the “Red Paint People” OTHER IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTICS OUT OF SCOPE..

E)Red pigments have been found in other grave sites on the coast of Maine belonging to tribes other than the “Red Paint People”. WEAKNER RATHER THAN A ASSUMPTION....

kinjiGC · Answer

If we negate A) the argument breaks.

If Tribes often adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously -> implies the “The Red Paint People” were not the same tribe as 3000 BC tribe.

AKG1593 · Answer

Option A makes the most sense.What's the OA?

Posted from my mobile device

akhil911 · Answer

i still dont get why A is the solution.
Can anyone explain in detail the solution to this question.

gauravkaushik8591 · Answer

I didn't understand how A concludes to your assumption that it were the same people.

semwal · Answer

gauravkaushik8591

'A' SAYS----
 Tribes do not often adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously...  
IT MEANS THAT WHAT WAS FOLLOWED IN 3000 BC( LATER TIMEFRAME) WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN ADOPTED BY THE TRIBE IN 3000 BC FROM SOME OTHER ERALIER TRIBE, BUT ONE THAT CONTINUED IN THAT PERTICULAR TRIBE OVER AGES.......IT WAS THE SAME TRIBE FOLLOWING ITS OWN RITUALS.....
Had it been other tribe in 3000 bc they would not have had the same " red paint tradition". HENCE---CONCLUSION-  “Red Paint People” must have occupied the coast of Maine much earlier than archaeologists previously believed. 
in case of doubt try "negation test"-
1. negated version- " TRIBES OFTEN ADOPT PREVIOUS TRIBE RITUALS"..... THIS COULD MEAN THAT THE TRIBES IN 3000 BC MAY HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT FROM TRIBES IN 4000 BC......THIS BREAKS DOWN THE CONCLUSION ,  HENCE " A" - IS THE CORRECT ANSWER......

KUDOS IF YOU PLEASE........

RayFranklin · Answer

But in choice A, words "not often" mean that sometimes they could. So “The Red Paint People” could adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously

Choice A is moot point

lakshya15 · Answer

But in choice A, words "not often" mean that sometimes they could. So “The Red Paint People” could adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously

Choice A is moot point

quote]

Although choice A uses word "often", it comes closest to the correct answer.
Answer choices C,D,E are irrelevant.
Answer choice B does not specify the period & customs of other people hence it cannot be totally correct.

RishiCTG · Answer

If we negate option A, we get Tribes often adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously. This means that red pigment belonged to some other tribe which occupied the region before "Red Paint People". Hence this weakens the argument

itisSheldon · Answer

Veritas Prep  OFFICIAL EXPLANATION
   
The major assumption in this argument is that the recently discovered gravesites dated to 4000 B.C. were really from the “Red Paint People.” What if those sites were from another earlier Indian tribe whose burial customs and celebrations the Red Paint People adopted? Given that, (A) is the correct answer as it eliminates that possibility. If tribes do NOT adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously, then it is likely that those newly found red-pigmented sites were really from the “Red Paint People”. In (B), whether other tribes lived in the area is not important to the argument. For (C), other tribes could have lived earlier but this argument is only about whether the “Red Paint People” lived in 4000 B.C. Other characteristics are not important as this is only addressing the red pigments, but if anything answer choice (D) weakens the argument. (E) does not relate to the gravesites discussed in this question but if anything it weakens the argument as it suggests that the recently discovered gravesites might have been from people other than the “Red Paint People” (in other words the “Red Paint People” might not have been the only ones who had red pigments in their gravesites.)

Answer is (A).

preetamsaha · Answer

VeritasKarishma   GMATNinja 
conclusion says " the “Red Paint People” must have occupied the coast of Maine much earlier than archaeologists previously believed." so, the point is Red Paint People lived in 4000 BC rather than in 3000 BC. (much earlier than what archaeologists believed )
if we negate option A , all tribes ( in general , so as the Red Paint People ) often adopt the rituals to his previous ancestors. so that means they are not not the first tribes to live on the coast. Although the premise says "It is generally believed that an Indian tribe known as “The Red Paint People” first occupied the coast of Maine in approximately 3000 B.C. " they are the first one. so how can it be possible to break down the conclusion which clearly shows the shifting of the timeframe. 
please help.

davidbrandigs · Answer

I would say the correct answer is 
(A) Tribes do not often adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously.

gmat1102 · Answer

Question Type: Assumption

Key: Identify a gap in the logic.

Logic presented:

Indian tribe believed existence - 3000 BC.
Recent discovery dates them back to 4000 BC. 
I.T occupied the island before 3000 BC.

Gap in logic.
Recent discoveries time frame linked to original belief. Find an answer that would strengthen this belief.

(A) Tribes do not often adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously.
If the rituals are not adopted, that means the rituals are native to Indian Tribe. This strengthens the conclusion that the Indian Tribes occupied the island before 4000 BC.

(B) Other Indian tribes did not live in the same area as the “Red Paint People”
Out of scope.

(C) Other recently discovered Indian gravesites in the same region were not conclusively dated earlier than 4500 B.C.
Out of Scope.

(D) The recently discovered grave sites on the coast of Maine did not contain other important characteristics of the “Red Paint People”
Weakens the conclusion. Therefore, eliminated.

(E) Red pigments have been found in other gravesites on the coast of Maine belonging to tribes other than the “Red Paint People”.
Weakens the conclusion. Therefore, eliminated.

KarishmaB · Answer

Belief - “The Red Paint People” first occupied the coast of Maine in approximately 3000 B.C.  
3000 BC is first when the Red Paint People lived there. It is possible that someone else lived there too at that time or before or after. Also, it is possible that Red Paint people lived somewhere else too before that time or after. 
The point here is that the Red Paint People first came to coats of Maine in 3000 BC.

This name was given to the Indians because their graves contained quantities of a red pigment (iron ochre) that they presumably used to decorate their faces and bodies. However, recently discovered Indian grave sites on the coast of Maine that contain these same red pigments have been conclusively dated to 4000 B.C.

Now, 4000 BC Indian graves have been found with same red paint.

Conclusion: “Red Paint People” must have occupied the coast of Maine much earlier than archaeologists previously believed.

So Red Paint People came to coast of Maine much earlier. We are assuming here that the 4000 BC graves found were of Red Paint people.

(A) Tribes do not often adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously.

This is an assumption. Negate it.
Tribes often adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously.

Then it is possible that these 4000 BC graves are of some other people and Red Paint People adopted their rituals of painting their faces. So Red Paint People could have still arrived in 3000 BC only. Hence our conclusion breaks.

(B) Other Indian tribes did not live in the same area as the “Red Paint People”

We don't need to assume it. Other people could have lived in the same area.

(C) Other recently discovered Indian gravesites in the same region were not conclusively dated earlier than 4500 B.C.

Other Indian gravesites are irrelevant. We are only concerned about people with faces painted red.

(D) The recently discovered grave sites on the coast of Maine did not contain other important characteristics of the “Red Paint People”

We are not assuming this. If anything, we are assuming that they are Red Paint people only and hence do have their characteristics.

(E) Red pigments have been found in other gravesites on the coast of Maine belonging to tribes other than the “Red Paint People”.

We are not assuming this. In fact, we are ignoring this possibility that others could have used the same red pigment.

Answer (A)

David nguyen · Answer

It is generally believed that an Indian tribe known as “The Red Paint People” first occupied the coast of Maine in approximately 3000 B.C. This name was given to the Indians because their graves contained quantities of a red pigment (iron ochre) that they presumably used to decorate their faces and bodies. However, recently discovered Indian grave sites on the coast of Maine that contain these same red pigments have been conclusively dated to 4000 B.C. Therefore, the “Red Paint People” must have occupied the coast of Maine much earlier than archaeologists previously believed.

Belief: RPP lives by the coast aprx. 3000 B.C.
Evidence: Graves have red pigment
Counter-evidence: Other Graves have the same red pigment, dating to 4000 B.C.
Conclusion: RRP must have lived there as early as 4000 B.C.

What is the GAP here? 
-What if the Graves in the evidence are different those in the counter-evidence? Perhaps, they are just happened to be decorated in the same way. The Graves in the evidence maybe belong to another tribe other than RRP?

Which of the following is an assumption required by the argument above?

What does ritual have to do with the conclusion hmmm... I don't understand. Hang on to this.
 
Other Indian tribes... Wait! Indian Tribes are not the only people living in those area right? It is possible that there were other tribes other than Indian tribes living there. Hence, those graves might belong to them. Therefore, the author cannot say that those graves belong to the RRP. (B) is out.
 
As long as THIS grave can prove that it belongs to the RRP, one can say that it is dated to 4000 B.C. Other graves are irrelevant. (C) is out.
 
Nowhere in the argument discussed about any other characteristics; thus we don't know whether knowing these characteristics actually would help. As long as there are red pigment, It is possible to conclude. (D) is out
 
Same error as in (C), we do not care about other graves.

Only A is left. Let's check A again.
So what A is trying to say is that Tribes, in general, do not copycat other tribes' rituals and ceremonies. That is, the RRP people did not copy the red pigment painting from other tribes. It seems like this exclusively belongs to RRP ppl. This makes sense. So (A) is the right answer.

itsarudolf · Answer

Hey guys, please, help me out on this one. IMO C was the right answer.

Why?

I thought that other graves may have been dated to something before 4500 B.C. would break the conclusion. Hence, they or their descendants' deaths may have resulted in the red pigment graves after, so the negation technique may break the conclusion, which contains a clear "MUST".

What am I missing? How should I proceed in the future?

A more general question:
Does the negation technique definitely have to break the conclusion or is it okay, if it breaks the conclusion occasionally/possibly? IMO this is the case in the reasoning I used for my answer above

Cheers
Rudolf

Niveditha28 · Answer

VeritasKarishma  I am somehow not getting convinced with Option A. 
I am trying to check how option A is better than B.

Conclusion is that Red Paint People” must have occupied the coast of Maine much earlier than archaeologists previously believed. 
Supporting premise says 1. “The Red Paint People” first occupied the coast of Maine in approximately 3000 B.C.
 2. This name was given to the Indians because their graves contained quantities of a red pigment (iron ochre) that they presumably used to decorate their faces and bodies.

Option A says Tribes do not often adopt similar rituals and ceremonies. Now "Rituals and ceremonies" could be anything . Why are we associating this with Red paint people who paint their faces and bodies? This is too broad an assumption to make.

Option B says Other Indian tribes did not live in the same area as the “Red Paint People”. This according to me is a defender assumption. By stating no other tribes lived in the same area we can assert that indeed Red paint people lived arrived earlier than 3000B.C.

Abbas007 · Answer

The principle here is: when an argument says “these earlier artifacts show that this same group was around earlier,” the hidden assumption is that those artifacts actually belong to that same group and not to some other, similar group.
Step 1: Understand the argument: Belief: “Red Paint People” first occupied Maine coast ≈ 3000 B.C., identified by graves with red pigment.

New evidence: Graves on Maine coast, with the same red pigment, dated to 4000 B.C.

Conclusion: “Red Paint People” must have been there much earlier than 3000 B.C.

To go from “graves with red pigment dated 4000 B.C.” to “Red Paint People were there in 4000 B.C.,” the author must assume those 4000 B.C. graves belong to the Red Paint People. Step 2: What must be assumed?
For the conclusion to work, it must be ruled out that some other tribe used the same red pigment in the same region and period.
So a required assumption is essentially:

No other tribe (living earlier or at the same time in that area) used the same red-pigment grave custom.

If another tribe did, then the 4000 B.C. graves could be from that other tribe; the conclusion about the Red Paint People starting earlier would collapse.

That is what answer (A) is getting at:
(A) “Tribes do not often adopt similar rituals and ceremonies to those that lived in a region previously.”

It is generally believed that an Indian tribe known as “The Red Paint

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It is generally believed that an Indian tribe known as “The Red Paint

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