Reading Comprehension

PT108 · S4 · P4 · Q25 Darwin/Taphonomy

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Darwin's conception of early prehistoric humans as confident, clever hunter-gatherers has long dominated anthropology.

Topic

The traditional vs. revised view of early prehistoric humans' lifestyles—were they bold hunters or cautious scavengers?

Framework

Challenge Position

Main Point

Recent research, especially via taphonomy, challenges the classic view that early humans were confident hunters and instead suggests they were more likely cautious scavengers. The Most Valuable Sentence appears in the last paragraph:

P1: The Traditional View and Its Flaws

For a long time, people (influenced by Darwin) thought early humans were clever, capable hunters. But this idea was shaped by how fossils were discovered and by mistaking the lifestyles of modern hunter-gatherers for those of prehistoric humans. This led to misinterpretations and overlooked important differences in technology and environmental challenges.

P2: New Ways of Understanding the Fossil Record

Developments in fields like taphonomy (the study of how bones become fossils) have started challenging the old “hunter” narrative. Taphonomy helps researchers ask whether bones were left by human hunters, predators, or natural events, and helps distinguish between marks made by tools and those made by animal teeth.

P3: Applying Taphonomy to Early Fossils

Researchers applied taphonomic analysis to fossils nearly two million years old. By looking at the tiny marks on bones, they found that tool marks didn’t always line up with joints as you’d expect from skilled hunters, and tooth marks from carnivores were sometimes beneath tool marks—suggesting humans showed up after predators had eaten their fill.

25.

Which one of the following situations is most analogous to the discovery of fossil hominids as described in the first paragraph?

Traces of an ancient civilization
Half Match
This answer doesn't have anything about discovering stuff in reverse order, although it does talk about discovering stuff leading to a misconception. 1. discovered in reverse order (the earlier version were discovered later / the latest versions were discovered first) 2. led to a misconception that they were similar to modern-day examples
15% picked this
Correct
Art historians who know the
Why this is right
This answer does talk about discovering the later stuff first, the earlier stuff later. Does it say that discovering in reverse order led to a misconception? Not quite. That reverse discovery leads to an idea, but we don't know whether it's a misconception. And this idea is an inference about something further back in time, whereas the 1st paragraph's misconception went forward in time. But ... it's still an inference about the discovered stuff being similar to other examples of the stuff. So even though it doesn't perfectly match the second part, it does match some of it. 1. discovered in reverse order (the earlier version were discovered later / the latest versions were discovered first) 2. led to a misconception that they were similar to modern-day examples Also, if we were going to prioritize answers that match #1 vs. #2, we would prioritize matching #1. The question stem asks "what is analogous to the discovery", and #1 is specifically about discovering something in reverse order.
Skill tested: Analogy · how this choice captures the passage's function is the move to repeat next time.
51% picked this
Two manuscripts written by an
Half Match
This answer doesn't have anything about discovering stuff in reverse order. It just says that they're discovered "many years apart". Like (A), this does lead to some misconception. 1. discovered in reverse order (the earlier version were discovered later / the latest versions were discovered first) 2. led to a misconception that they were similar to modern-day examples
10% picked this
Pottery dating back thousands of
No Match
This answer doesn't have anything about discovering stuff in reverse order, and it doesn't have anything about a discovery leading to a misconception.
19% picked this
A fossil of an unknown
No Match
This answer doesn't have anything about discovering stuff in reverse order, and it doesn't have anything about a discovery leading to a misconception.
6% picked this

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