Question 6·Hard·Inferences
Marine archaeologists have recovered clay amphoras from two wrecks located along the same ancient maritime trade route, one wreck dated to 500 BCE and the other to 200 BCE. Chemical analyses of residue inside the amphoras show that both groups contain trace amounts of a resin derived from a Mediterranean pine species historically used to help preserve wine during transport. Only the amphoras from the 500 BCE wreck, however, contain significant residues of imported Near Eastern spices known to slow spoilage. On the basis of these findings, the archaeologists propose that over the intervening centuries merchants on the route came to rely increasingly on the pine resin alone to keep shipped wine from spoiling.
If this proposal is correct, which inference about trade on the route is most strongly supported?
For inference questions with a stated proposal, treat the proposal as true and ask what must be more likely if it’s true. Anchor your reasoning in the specific contrast the passage gives (here, spices present earlier but not later) and avoid choices that add new causes (availability), new measurements (larger amounts), or new topics (other goods) that the text never establishes.
Hints
Locate the key shift over time
Focus on what is the same and what is different between the 500 BCE and 200 BCE amphoras. How do the findings change over time?
Use the archaeologists’ proposal as a lens
Accept the proposal as true: merchants came to rely more on pine resin alone to prevent spoilage. Given that, how would their use of other spoilage-slowing ingredients likely change?
Test each answer against the passage
For each choice, ask: Does this directly follow from the idea that merchants increasingly trusted pine resin alone, or does it introduce something new that was never mentioned (like availability changes, exact quantities, or other preserved goods)?
Step-by-step Explanation
Understand the basic evidence
First, summarize what the archaeologists actually found:
- Two shipwrecks on the same trade route: one from 500 BCE, one from 200 BCE.
- Amphoras (jars) from both wrecks contain trace amounts of pine resin, which was historically used to help preserve wine.
- Only the 500 BCE amphoras contain significant residues of imported Near Eastern spices that are known to slow spoilage.
So: pine resin is present at both times; spices appear a lot around 500 BCE but not around 200 BCE.
Understand the archaeologists’ proposal
The archaeologists propose that, over the centuries, merchants on this route came to rely increasingly on the pine resin alone to keep wine from spoiling.
If that proposal is correct, then merchants would have less reason to keep importing/using the additional spoilage-slowing spices for wine shipments.
Translate the proposal into a trade inference
The question asks what inference about trade is supported if the proposal is correct.
So look for the choice that most directly follows from:
- reliance on resin alone increases over time, and
- use/need of the extra preservative spices for wine therefore decreases.
Select the choice that follows most directly
The second option says the reduced presence of Near Eastern spices after 500 BCE likely reflects merchants’ belief that the spices were no longer needed to preserve wine. That is the most direct implication of the proposal, so the correct answer is: the reduced presence of Near Eastern spices on the route after 500 BCE likely reflects merchants’ belief that the spices were no longer needed to preserve wine.