Wood that is waterlogged or desiccated can be preserved for a significant period, but, under normal conditions, wood usually disintegrates within a century or two. For this reason, archaeologists have been unable to find many remains of early wheeled vehicles to examine. However, archaeologists have found small ceramic models of wheeled vehicles made at approximately the same time as those early vehicles. Since these models have been much less susceptible to disintegration than the vehicles themselves, the main evidence regarding early wheeled vehicles has come from these models.
Which one of the following is most strongly supported by the information above?The passage explains the scarcity of actual early vehicles by pointing to
the tendency of wood to disintegrate, while ceramic models survived because they were more durable. So we can infer that
many of the lost vehicles were made of wood rather than materials as durable as ceramic.
(A) Most of the small ceramic models of early wheeled vehicles were made by the very individuals who made the vehicles upon which the ceramic vehicles were modeled.
Incorrect. Nothing is said about who made the models.
(B) Few, if any, small models of early wheeled vehicles were made of wood or other materials equally susceptible to disintegration under normal conditions.
Incorrect. Many wooden models could originally have existed but later disintegrated. The passage tells us what survived, not what was originally made.
(C) The individuals who made the early wheeled vehicles were not always aware that wood can be preserved through waterlogging or desiccation.
Incorrect. Nothing is said about what the makers knew about preservation.
(D) An artifact will be more difficult for archaeologists to find if it has been preserved through waterlogging or desiccation than if it has been preserved under more normal conditions.
Incorrect. The passage says waterlogging or desiccation can preserve wood, but says nothing about making preserved artifacts harder to find.
(E) Of the early wheeled vehicles not preserved, more were made of wood than were made of materials no more susceptible to disintegration than are ceramic items.
Correct. The passage specifically explains the lack of surviving early vehicles by noting that wood normally disintegrates, while ceramic survives much better. This strongly supports the inference that among the vehicles that disappeared, wood was more common than materials as durable as ceramic.
Answer: (E)