Question

on a cold winter’s day in 1980, a group of recreational cavers entered a narrow, wet stream passage south of knoxville, tennessee. they navigated a slippery mud slope and a tight keyhole through the cave wall, trudged through the stream itself, ducked through another keyhole, and climbed more mud. eventually, they entered a high and relatively dry passage deep in the cave’s \dark zone\ -- beyond the reach of external light.

on the walls around them, they began to see lines and figures traced into remnant mud banks laid down long ago when the stream flowed at this higher level. no modern or historic graffiti marred the surfaces. they saw images of animals, people, and transformational characters blending human characteristics with those of birds, and those of snakes with mammals.

ancient cave art has long been one of the most compelling of all artifacts from the human past, fascinating both to scientists and to the public at large. its visual expressions resonate across the ages, as if the ancients speak to us from deep in time. remarkably, this group of cavers in 1980 had happened upon the first ancient cave art site in north america.

since then, archaeologists like me have discovered dozens more of these cave art sites in the southeast. we’ve been able to learn details about when cave art first appeared in the region, when it was most frequently produced, and what it might have been used for. we have also learned a great deal by working with the living descendants of the cave art makers, the present-day native american peoples of the southeast, about what the cave art means and how important it was and is to indigenous communities.

cave art in america?

assessment questions
21 out of 34 answered
question 22
which quotation from the article supports the idea that dark zone cave art is common in the southeast?
a. \a century before the tennessee cavers made their own discovery, the world’s first modern discovery of cave art was made in 1879, at altamira in northern spain.\ (paragraph 5)
b. \during the woodland, conflations between humans and animals, like bird-humans, made their first appearance.\ (paragraph 12)
c. \the mississippian period (1000-1500 ce) is the last precontact phase in the southeast before europeans arrived\ (paragraph 13)
d. \as surveys continue, researchers uncover more dark cave sites every year – in fact, four new caves were found in the first half of 2021.\ (paragraph 18)

Explanation:

To determine which quotation supports the idea that dark - zone cave art is common in the Southeast, we analyze each option:

• Option A: This quotation is about the discovery of cave art in Spain, not related to the prevalence of dark - zone cave art in the Southeast.
• Option B: It focuses on the appearance of a certain type of cave art during the Woodland period, not on how common dark - zone cave art is in the Southeast.
• Option C: It is about the Mississippian Period in the Southeast, not about the commonness of dark - zone cave art.
• Option D: It states that researchers uncover more dark cave sites every year in the Southeast (with four new caves found in the first half of 2021), which implies that dark - zone cave art (associated with dark cave sites) is common in the Southeast as more sites are being found.

Answer:

D. "As surveys continue, researchers uncover more dark cave sites every year – in fact, four new caves were found in the first half of 2021." (paragraph 18)