Question

blandine courel and her colleagues analyzed pottery fragments from thirty - five sites across the volga and don river basins to determine whether the ways in which hunter - gatherer societies used pottery in these regions around 6,500 - 8,000 years ago were influenced primarily by local food availability or primarily by cultural factors. analysis of organic residues on the pottery fragments showed different prevailing uses for pottery in these locations—cooking and storing terrestrial animal protein at volga sites and cooking and storing aquatic animal protein at don sites—which courel and colleagues attribute to cultural differences. assuming that the volga and don basins supported similarly sized hunter - gatherer populations 6,500 - 8,000 years ago, which finding, if true, would most directly support courel and colleagues’ explanation? a. across the volga and don basins, people had broadly similar access to the same terrestrial and aquatic animal resources. b. in both the volga and don basins, most of the sites from which pottery has been recovered appear to have been seasonal fishing and hunting encampments rather than year - round settlements. c. there were many more bodies of water in a comparably sized area in the don basin than in the volga basin. d. the people of the volga basin acquired the techniques used to create pottery for cooking and storing food from the people of the don basin.

Explanation:

Courel and colleagues attribute different pottery - uses to cultural differences, assuming similar - sized hunter - gatherer populations. If people across the Volga and Don basins had broadly similar access to the same animal resources, then the different pottery uses (cooking and storing different animal proteins) are less likely to be due to food availability differences and more likely due to cultural differences. Option B only gives information about the nature of the sites, not about the cause of different pottery uses. Option C suggests a difference in water bodies which may imply a difference in food availability, going against the cultural - difference explanation. Option D is about pottery - creating techniques, not about the use of pottery for different proteins.

Answer:

A. Across the Volga and Don basins, people had broadly similar access to the same terrestrial and aquatic animal resources.