For a main-idea question organized around competing explanations, identify each model’s predictions, determine which model best fits the complete evidence, and retain every important limitation on the conclusion. Closely compare options that agree on the broad interpretation but differ in whether they overstate certainty or formal coordination.
Hints
- Hint 1
Identify each prediction
Note what each proposed model would lead researchers to expect about the jars and their seals.
- Hint 2
Use all the evidence
Consider the local clay, varying construction methods, uniform seals, and concentration of seals on transport vessels together.
- Hint 3
Watch the level of certainty
Distinguish evidence for a shared practice from proof that the practice was formally coordinated or had a known meaning.
Step-by-step
- Step 1
Compare the models’ predictions
The centralized model predicts relative uniformity in both the seals and the vessels. The merchant-network model allows locally variable vessels to carry consistent markings used in maritime trade.
- Step 2
Match the evidence to the models
The jars use local clay and have construction details that vary by settlement, supporting local manufacture. In contrast, the seals remain uniform and occur mainly on maritime transport jars, which is consistent with a shared commercial marking practice.
- Step 3
Retain the qualifications
The passage does not establish that merchants formally coordinated the practice, since imitation could produce the same pattern. It also states that the precise information encoded by the seals is unknown, so the best main idea must preserve both limitations.