For a punctuation question involving a long series, first locate the sentence's main verb and identify each major list item. If the items contain internal commas, use stronger punctuation between those major items while ensuring that the sentence remains complete.
Hints
- Hint 1
Locate the main verb
Find the verb that agrees with the sentence's complete subject. Then determine how much text belongs to that subject.
- Hint 2
Examine the list
Identify the three major types of evidence and notice that some of those items contain their own commas.
- Hint 3
Preserve the full sentence
Choose punctuation that clearly separates the major items without ending the sentence before its main verb.
Step-by-step
- Step 1
Find the main sentence structure
The main verb is “allow.” Everything from “The location” through “the firing marks” forms a compound subject identifying three types of evidence.
- Step 2
Identify the complex series
The first item contains the examples “beside a hearth” and “inside a storage pit,” while the second contains the list “shell, sand, or crushed stone.” Because the major items themselves contain commas, they must be separated clearly.
- Step 3
Choose the appropriate boundary
A semicolon separates the first major item, “The location . . .,” from the second, “the materials . . .,” matching the semicolon that already separates the second and third items.