MM
Mashaal Masha
Feb 05, 2024
In the 1970s, a roughly 60,000-year-old piece of hyena bone marked with nine notches was discovered at a site in western France once inhabited by Neanderthals. Although many believe that only modern humans developed systems for notating numbers, one archaeologist asserts that this artifact may be a sign that Neanderthals also recorded numerical information. The notches on the bone are unevenly spaced but approximately parallel, and microscopic analysis reveals that they were made with a single stone tool; according to the archaeologist, this suggests that the notches were all made at one time by one individual as a means of counting something.
Which finding, if true, would most directly weaken the underlined claim?
Difficulty: Medium
A:
Parallel lines are a common feature in modern humans' early systems for recording numerical information.
B:
More than nine approximately parallel notches made with a different stone tool are present on another artifact found at a site in western France.
C:
It would have taken careful effort to make evenly spaced lines on bone with the stone tools typically used by Neanderthals.
D:
Decorative art discovered at another Neanderthal site in western France primarily features patterns of unevenly spaced parallel lines.
ID: 65c146ca46a80315d327ed16