Question

in the 1970s, a canine 60,000 year - old piece of bone marked with nine notches was discovered at a site in western france once inhabited by neanderthals. although many believe that only modern humans developed systems for keeping numbers, not arithmetical systems, this find artifact may be a sign that neanderthals also understood numerical information. the notches on the bone are unevenly spaced but approximately parallel, and microscopic analysis reveals that they were made with a single stone tool. according to the archaeologist, this suggests that the notches were all made at one time by one individual as a means of counting something.
which finding, if true, would most directly weaken the underlined claim?

• parallel lines are a common feature in modern humans early systems for recording numerical information.
• more than nine approximately parallel notches made with a different stone tool are present on another artifact found at a site in western france.
• it would have taken careful effort to make evenly spaced lines on bone with the stone tools typically used by neanderthals.
• decorated art discovered at another neanderthal site in western france primarily features patterns of unevenly spaced parallel lines.

Explanation:

La afirmación subrayada sostiene que los neandertales registraron información numérica mediante las rayas del hueso. Para debilitarla, se necesita un hallazgo que muestre que las rayas no tienen un propósito numérico. La opción D indica que el arte decorativo neandertal presenta líneas paralelas irregularmente espaciadas, lo que sugiere que las rayas del hueso podrían ser decorativas, no un registro numérico. Las otras opciones no atacan directamente la idea de que se trate de un sistema de conteo: la A refuerza la similitud con sistemas humanos, la B no relaciona las rayas de otro artefacto con el propósito de este, y la C explica por qué las rayas son irregulares sin cuestionar el fin numérico.

Answer:

D. Decorative art discovered at another Neanderthal site in western France primarily features patterns of unevenly spaced parallel lines