A finding question with competing explanations tests whether you can tell which evidence backs one claim over another. Start with the argument the question names, and split it into its parts. Then ask what each part would predict and how those predictions differ from the other explanation. A strong finding needs to support every part that matters, not only share the topic. Evidence that both explanations predict won't help you tell which one is better supported.
Hints
- Hint 1
Read the sentence that presents Calder’s alternative, and split her argument into parts.
- Hint 2
Look at Calder’s warning about what finished shapes can show. What would you need to learn about the making of the vessels?
- Hint 3
Compare the two explanations’ predictions. Ask whether a finding points specifically toward Calder’s account or could follow equally well from pots being exported.
Step-by-step
Test both parts of Calder’s account
Step 1Separate Calder’s two claims
Calder says each community made its own pottery from nearby clay, while traveling teachers spread the same sequence for forming each vessel. Which parts need support? We need local pottery making and a shared order of steps. Evidence of only one would leave half her argument untested.
- Step 2
Predict evidence beyond matching shapes
Why aren't matching rims and handles enough? Calder warns that similarities in finished shapes alone cannot distinguish these explanations, because exported pots could also look alike. We need evidence of where and how the vessels were made. Waste from pottery making could show where potters worked, while marks showing the order of their steps could test whether they shared a method.
- Step 3
Test findings that miss a part
Handles attached at different stages conflict with the same sequence for forming each vessel. What about vessels whose dimensions correspond to vessel templates? Their sizes show a shared design, but they don't reveal which steps came first. The finding beginning Only the largest settlement shows pottery-making waste there and links other islands’ finished pots to clay from that settlement. That supports exports from one workshop.
- Step 4
Connect the full finding to Calder’s account
In the finding with the same uncommon order, misfired vessels are pots spoiled during firing, and clay-preparation pits are places where potters worked. Finding them at every settlement, along with clay that matches nearby deposits, points to local pottery making. The uncommon order of joining, thinning, and attaching handles supports a shared method, which fits Calder’s account of traveling craft specialists teaching separate communities. Choice D.