It is clear that humans during the Upper Paleolithic period used lamps

Question

It is clear that humans during the Upper Paleolithic period used lamps for light in caves. Though lamps can be dated to the entire Upper Paleolithic, the distribution of known lamps from the period is skewed, with the greatest number being associated with the late Upper Paleolithic period, when the Magdalenian culture was dominant.

Each of the following, if true, contributes to an explanation of the skewed distribution of lamps EXCEPT:

(A) Artifacts from early in the Upper Paleolithic period are harder to identify than those that originated later in the period,

(B) More archaeological sites have been discovered from the Magdalenian culture than from earlier cultures.

(C) More efficient lamp-making techniques were developed by the Magdalenian culture than by earlier cultures.

(D) Fire pits were much more common in caves early in the Upper Paleolithic period than they were later in that period.

(E) More kinds of lamps were produced by the Magdalenian culture than by earlier cultures.

prachi18oct · Answer

How is C ruled out ?
How does it matter if efficient lamps techniques were used or not ?

akshata19 · Answer

We are only concerned with known 'lamps' being more in Magdalein culture

A B - eliminate - talks in general about artifacts 
Discovering more artifacts not necessarily means more kind of lamps were found/identified

C - we are not concerned with efficiency. It does not say efficiency increased the kind of lamps found.

D - out of scope. More kind of lamps were produced hence fewer firepits vice-versa. Too much assumption

E is crisp and clear

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prachi18oct · Answer

The question stem says that each of the following contributes to the explanation of the skewed distribution of the lamps.
ie each of the options except one will explain why greater number of lamps are associated with late Paleolithic period

Only one option should not explain why the distribution of lamps is skewed.

(A) Artifacts from early in the Upper Paleolithic period are harder to identify than those that originated later in the period,
- this explains the skewed distribution as the artifacts from Upper Paleolithic period are harder to identify so lesser number reported. 
OUT

(B) More archaeological sites have been discovered from the Magdalenian culture than from earlier cultures.
- this explains the skewed distribution as more sites have been found for Magdalenian culture(dominant in late Upper Paleolithic period)
OUT

(C) More efficient lamp-making techniques were developed by the Magdalenian culture than by earlier cultures. 
How does efficient lamp- making techniques explain greater number found for these lamps ? 
KEEP

(D) Fire pits were much more common in caves early in the Upper Paleolithic period than they were later in that period.
- this explains that since fire pits were more common in caves in early Upper Paleolithic period so lesser number of lamps must have been used . 
OUT

(E) More kinds of lamps were produced by the Magdalenian culture than by earlier cultures.
Even if more kind of lamps were used by Mag culture( dominant in later Paleolithic period) , how does it explains greater number found ? 
KEEP

I can't rule out C between C & E
Please explain.

GMATNinja · Answer

If the Magdalenians had more efficient lamp-making techniques, then they would have been able to make lamps more easily than people from the earlier period. For example, perhaps thanks to those efficient techniques, the Magdalenians were able to produce lamps twice as fast as the earlier people. This could certainly help explain why a greater number of known lamps is associated with the Magdalenians, so (C) can be eliminated.

Arro44 · Answer

The "kinds" in answer choice E is the telling factor here.

Let's assume they produced large and small lamps with various shapes and colors.
That is all nice and beautiful, however just because they produced different types of lamps we are not given any indication that the Magdalenians also produced large  numbers !

While some fancy stores might offer more different kinds of pillows than Walmart does, there is a good chance that the sheer number of pillows offered is bigger for Walmart than it is for the small, fancy pillow store.

Hope this helps and best regards,
Chris

shrutig87 · Answer

Can some one explain why A is wrong ?

(A) Artifacts from early in the Upper Paleolithic period are harder to identify than those that originated later in the period,

My reasoning : Since lamps were difficult to identify , therefore the reported numbers are more likely to be skewed.

Skywalker18 · Answer

humans used lamps through the entire Upper Paleolithic (UP) period, but the distribution of known lamps is skewed towards the late UP, when the Magdalenian (M) culture was dominant. 
Type - Explain except

(A) DOES help to explain the result. If artifacts from earlier in the period are harder to identify, then it makes sense that we would not be able to identify as many lamps from earlier in the period. This would explain why we've identified more lamps from later in the UP. Thus, this answer is incorrect, as we're looking for the answer that does NOT help to explain the result.

(B) DOES help to explain the result. If we've identified more archaeological sites from later in the UP (when the M's were dominant), it's likely that we'll find more artifacts from later in the period. Imagine that we've identified 5 sites from the early UP, and 10 from the late UP. If we find one lamp at each site, we'll find 5 early lamps and 10 later ones. This would explain why we've identified more lamps from later in the UP. Thus, this answer is incorrect, as we're looking for the answer that does NOT help to explain the result.

(C) DOES help to explain the result. If the M's could make lamps more efficiently, then it's likely that they made more lamps than cultures from the early UP. This would explain why we've identified more lamps from later in the UP -- in fact there were more lamps! Thus, this answer is incorrect, as we're looking for the answer that does NOT help to explain the result.

(D) DOES help to explain the result. If fire pits were more common in the early UP, then early cultures were probably using fire pits for light instead of lamps. This would explain why we've identified more lamps from later in the UP. Thus, this answer is incorrect, as we're looking for the answer that does NOT help to explain the result.

(E) DOES NOT help to explain the result, and is therefore the correct answer. Even if the M's produced more kinds of lamps, this doesn't necessarily mean they produced more lamps overall. Imagine I like to bake cookies. Sometimes I bake chocolate chip, sometimes oatmeal, sometimes sugar cookies, holiday cookies... the list goes on and on. I bake lots of different kinds of cookies, but this doesn't mean I bake more cookies than Nestle Tollhouse, who bakes only chocolate chip cookies. Just b/c the M's made a bunch of different kinds of lamps doesn't mean they made any more lamps than previous cultures. Thus, this doesn't help to explain why we've found more lamps from the later part of the UP.

GMATNinja · Answer

Your reasoning is fine! If lamps from early in the period are harder to identify, then we should expect the kind of skewing described in the passage. That means that choice (A) contributes to the explanation provided in the passage.

However, the question asks us which choice does NOT contribute to the explanation. Since (A) supports the explanation, we must eliminate it and look for a choice that does NOT support the explanation. So I think you made the most common mistake on EXCEPT questions: you found something that was relevant, but you should have eliminated it, instead of accepting it as the right answer.

To avoid that error, here's what I'd generally recommend on EXCEPT questions: in huge letters on your page, write "cross out anything that ________", so that you don't get confused. So in this case, you'd write, "cross out anything that  contributes to an explanation of the skewed distribution of lamps ." (A) definitely contributes to the explanation, so you can cross it out.

I hope this helps!

gullyboy09 · Answer

Hi  MartyMurray , although E is clear winner here but I had one doubt regarding option D, can you please help?

It states fire pit were common earlier than later period. Isn't it supposed to happen when lamps are not present in great quantity, and as lamps availability increased in later period, fire pits decreased. But it doesn't tell us why earlier few lamps were present and in later period more. It just strengthen the argument that it was a skewed distribution but doesn't tell us why it is skewed.

AbhishekP220108 · Answer

Hi  gullyboy09  let me try to help

It is clear that humans during the Upper Paleolithic period used lamps for light in caves. Though lamps can be dated to the entire Upper Paleolithic, the distribution of known lamps from the period is skewed, with the greatest number being associated with the late Upper Paleolithic period, when the Magdalenian culture was dominant, Each of the following, if true, contributes to an explanation of the skewed distribution of lamps EXCEPT:

So as per the argument in early UP period lamps are being used in 1 or 2 or 3 quantity but as the period approach to late UP period people it is being used in greater no. as compared to early UP period i.e 15 or 16 or 17 since 15>>>>2

We have to find the reason why the distribution was skewed

(D) Fire pits were much more common in caves early in the Upper Paleolithic period than they were later in that period.

D says fire pits are common in cave during early UP period. And we were given in argument that lamps are used for light in caves. So if fire pit is common then lamps are rare and as the time passed and as per the argument lamps is common in late UP and fire pits are rare. So it kind of giving us the reason why the use of lamps are less in early UP period

Hope this helps

guddo · Answer

It is clear that humans during the Upper Paleolithic period used lamps for light in caves. Though lamps can be dated to the entire Upper Paleolithic, the distribution of known lamps from the period is skewed, with the greatest number being associated with the late Upper Paleolithic period, when the Magdalenian culture was dominant.

Each of the following, if true, contributes to an explanation of the skewed distribution of lamps EXCEPT:

The key point is that  we need the choice that does not help explain why more known lamps are from the late Upper Paleolithic than from the early Upper Paleolithic .

(A) Artifacts from early in the Upper Paleolithic period are harder to identify than those that originated later in the period.

This helps explain the skew. If early artifacts are harder to identify, then fewer early lamps would be recognized, making the later period seem to have more known lamps.

(B) More archaeological sites have been discovered from the Magdalenian culture than from earlier cultures.

This also helps explain the skew. If more late sites have been found, then more late lamps would be known.

(C) More efficient lamp-making techniques were developed by the Magdalenian culture than by earlier cultures.

This helps explain the skew. Better lamp-making techniques could lead to greater lamp use or production in the late period.

(D) Fire pits were much more common in caves early in the Upper Paleolithic period than they were later in that period.

This helps explain the skew. If early people relied more on fire pits, they may have used lamps less often, so fewer early lamps would be found.

(E) More kinds of lamps were produced by the Magdalenian culture than by earlier cultures.

This is the best answer. More kinds of lamps means greater variety, but the passage is about the greater number of known lamps, not the number of types. So this does not clearly explain the skewed distribution.

Answer: (E)

MartyMurray · Answer

Interesting question, and here's the thing. The relationship between firepits and lamps could work in two directions.

The increased presence of lamps could have made firepits unnecessary for lighting, as you have suggested.

At the same time, what could also make sense, and may make more sense, is that decreased use of firepits  made lamps more necessary  for lighting. After all, it could have been that, for some reason other than use of lamps, use of firepits decreased, causing the people of that time to replace the light produced by firepits with lamp light.

In fact, the way choice (D) is worded, " Fire pits were much more common in caves early in the ... period than they were later," subtly suggests that firepits happened to be less common later for some unmentioned reason, and didn't decreased in commonness because of increased use of lamps.

So, our best move is to go with (E) as the choice that clearly does not explain the skewed distribution and interpret (D) as presenting a reason for increased use of lamps.

It is clear that humans during the Upper Paleolithic period used lamps

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It is clear that humans during the Upper Paleolithic period used lamps

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