While researching a topic, a student has taken the following notes:
- Excavations at the coastal settlement of Koro uncovered bowls bearing an interlocking-wave motif and dating from 900 to 1050 CE.
- The same motif appears on bowls from the inland settlement of Mavek dating from 1030 to 1180 CE but not on bowls from earlier Mavek layers.
- A caravan route linked Koro and Mavek by about 1000 CE.
- Some archaeologists have cited these findings as evidence of Koro's influence on Mavek, suggesting that Koro bowls were imported or that Mavek potters copied the motif through contact with traders.
- Elemental analysis found that the clay in the excavated Mavek bowls matched inland deposits and differed from the clay used at Koro.
The student wants to explain how the elemental analysis narrows the possible explanations for the Mavek bowls without resolving whether the motif reflects Koro's influence. Which choice most effectively uses relevant information from the notes to accomplish this goal?