Which of the following types of evidence, if added to the third paragraph (sentences 11-13), would most effectively support the conclusion reached by the researchers?
Responses
Anecdotal evidence about how the researchers were able to establish cordial relationships with people living near Eleutherna
Anecdotal evidence about how the researchers were able to establish cordial relationships with people living near Eleutherna
Personal observations by the researchers regarding how they were able to convince the female ceramicist to model for them
Personal observations by the researchers regarding how they were able to convince the female ceramicist to model for them
Expert opinion regarding the quality of the most important collections of large vases from ancient Greece
Expert opinion regarding the quality of the most important collections of large vases from ancient Greece
Statistics showing how many pottery makers live in the vicinity of Eleutherna and how many of them are women
Statistics showing how many pottery makers live in the vicinity of Eleutherna and how many of them are women
Details about the mechanics of pottery making to show exactly how the craft would have caused the worn cartilage in the Eleutherna skeleton
Ancient Ceramicist
1) Except for the professional opportunities archaeology affords and the state-of-the-art technologies that archaeologists use, many people might assume that archaeology has little to do with the present. (2) After all, archaeology is the study of human history. (3) A recent finding at Eleutherna, the site of an ancient Greek city on Crete, provides a striking example: unearthing the skeleton of a woman, archaeologists struggled to interpret the unusual signs of strain on the bones until they watched a local craftswoman at work. (4) The archaeologists’ interpretation not only challenges popular assumptions about archaeology, but it also forces archaeologists to reexamine their assumptions about women’s work in ancient Greece.
(5) Eleutherna researchers discovered the skeleton in 2009. (6) Preliminary analysis determined that the approximately 50-year-old woman lived between 900 and 650 BCE. (7) Examining her remains, the archaeologists eyeballed something truly wacky: unlike the cartilage of other female specimens at the site, the cartilage on the upper right side of the skeleton’s body and on the right-hip and knee joints was almost completely worn away. (8) This anomaly signified that the woman must have engaged in a long-term strenuous activity involving the right side of her body. (9) Seeking more exact information, the researchers drew on their assumptions about the kinds of work women performed in ancient Greece. (10) Deploying skeletal models, the archaeologists tried bread-baking, weaving, harvesting, etc.—but to no avail.
(11) Wondering if the present could unlock the past, the archaeologists spent several years observing people near Eleutherna who performed tasks similar to those the ancient Greeks would have performed. (12) Success came in 2018 when a female ceramicist modeled her work for the researchers. (13) Analyzing her movements as she worked on large vases and listening to her detail the physical toll of the work, the team was convinced that the ancient Eleuthernan woman whose skeleton it was studying must have been a potter, a guess later confirmed by medical imaging and further anatomical modeling.
(14) The woman was not just a ceramicist, though. (15) The extent of wear on her remains indicates that she was a master ceramicist. (16) Archaeologists had long assumed that professional pottery making was the exclusive province of males in ancient Greece. (17) The Eleutherna researchers, supplementing Greece’s archaeological discoveries, acknowledge that they have more to learn.