Question 151·Medium·Cross-Text Connections
Text 1 Many archaeologists maintain that monumental architecture in early societies depended on intensive, surplus-producing agriculture. On this view, grand ceremonial structures appear only after communities can divert substantial labor from subsistence to construction—conditions most reliably provided by domesticated crops and herding.
Text 2 Recent excavations at the hilltop site of Gobekli Tepe in southeastern Anatolia have revealed massive stone pillars arranged in rings. Radiocarbon dates place major building phases centuries before the region’s earliest domesticated cereals. Faunal and botanical remains dominated by wild species indicate reliance on foraging. The researchers argue that large ritual gatherings could precede agricultural intensification and perhaps even encourage it.
Based on the texts, how would the author of Text 2 most likely respond to the assertion in Text 1 that monumental architecture appears only after agriculture intensifies?
For cross-text questions that ask how one author would respond to another, first underline the key claim or assertion in Text 1, especially words like “only,” “must,” or “depends on” that show a strong position. Then, in Text 2, look for evidence or statements that clearly support, qualify, or contradict that specific claim, paying close attention to timing words (before/after), cause-and-effect language, and the type of evidence used. Finally, eliminate answer choices that introduce ideas not in either text (like new methods, concessions, or doubts about evidence) and pick the one that most directly captures how Text 2’s evidence or argument interacts with Text 1’s claim.
Hints
Clarify Text 1’s main claim
Reread Text 1 and focus on the phrase “appear only after” and the description of “intensive, surplus-producing agriculture.” What is it saying must happen before monumental architecture can appear?
Look closely at timing and subsistence in Text 2
In Text 2, pay attention to when the building phases at Gobekli Tepe are dated, compared with the earliest domesticated cereals, and whether the evidence points to farming or foraging.
Decide whether Text 2 supports or challenges Text 1
Ask yourself: Does the example of Gobekli Tepe fit the rule stated in Text 1, or does it show a case where monumental architecture exists under different conditions?
Check how each option describes the relationship
For each answer, ask: Does this describe using Gobekli Tepe to question the idea that agriculture must come first, or is it doing something else (changing the topic, conceding, or doubting the evidence)?
Step-by-step Explanation
Pinpoint the claim in Text 1
Focus on the key idea in Text 1: it says monumental architecture in early societies depended on intensive, surplus-producing agriculture. It restates this as grand structures appearing only after communities can divert labor from getting food to building projects, and that this situation is most reliably created by domesticated crops and herding. So Text 1 is making agriculture sound like a necessary precondition for monuments.
Understand what Text 2 says about Gobekli Tepe
Now look at the evidence in Text 2:
- It describes massive stone pillars arranged in rings (monumental architecture).
- Radiocarbon dates put the main building phases centuries before the region’s earliest domesticated cereals.
- Animal and plant remains are dominated by wild species, which shows reliance on foraging, not on crops.
- The researchers argue that large ritual gatherings could precede agricultural intensification and might even encourage it. This means: at Gobekli Tepe, people who were still foragers, not intensive farmers, built large monuments.
Decide how Text 2 responds to Text 1
Compare the two viewpoints:
- Text 1: monumental architecture appears only after intensive agriculture; agriculture is treated as a requirement.
- Text 2: presents a clear example of monuments built before intensive agriculture and by foragers, and suggests rituals might actually come first and lead to agriculture. So the author of Text 2 would disagree with the strict claim in Text 1 and would use Gobekli Tepe as concrete counterevidence showing that intensive agriculture is not required for monuments to exist.
Match that response to the best answer choice
Now choose the option that best captures this disagreement:
- It must show that monuments built by foragers, dated earlier than agriculture, contradict the idea that intensive agriculture is a necessary precondition. Answer choice C) By arguing that well-dated monuments built by foragers show that intensive agriculture is not a necessary precondition for such construction says exactly that, so C is correct.