Self-paced
P1
Through years of excavations and careful analysis of her finds around Krasnyi Yar in Kazakhstan, archaeologist Sandra Olsen has assembled what may be evidence of the earliest known people to have domesticated and ridden horses, a momentous development in human history. ███
Intro to Topic ·
Olsen found evidence of earliest domestication of horses for riding?
Phenomenon ·
Large number of horse bones in pit houses of the Botai people
Phenomenon ·
Unclear if horses were domesticated or wild
Cannot tell difference just by looking at the bones.
Method ·
Statistical tabulations
Olsen used statistics to find patterns that might distinguish between domestication or wild.
P2
Exclude Alternate Hypothesis ·
Domesticated horses for food?
Because if domesticated for food, wouldn't find that many fully grown male horses and most of the bones were exactly that.
Alternate Hypothesis ·
Wild horses hunted for food?
That would explain the large proportion of males since hunters like to hunt bigger animals for more food.
Exclude Alternate Hypothesis ·
Proportion of adult males is too high
Because if the Botai hunted horses, they would target families, not groups of males.
Phenomenon ·
Why were young males not culled?
Hypothesis ·
Because the horses were domesticated for riding
P3
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Evidence for Hypothesis ·
Remains include full skeletons
This is also inconsistent with the hunting hypothesis because hunters presumably would have only brought the meat and not the full skeletons back.
Evidence for Hypothesis ·
Burial patterns
Horses were buried in carefully arranged patterns which suggests a closer relationship with the Botai, consistent with the riding hypothesis.
Passage Style
Phenomenon-hypothesis (RC)
Single position
8.
Which one of the following ████ ██████████ █████████ ███ ████████ ████████ ██████ ███ ███████████ ████ █████ ████████
a
forthright advocacy
This is too extreme. The author doesn’t argue that Olsen’s conclusions are correct.
b
implicit endorsement
This best captures the author’s attitude. His endorsement of Olsen’s conclusions isn’t expressly stated; it’s implicit. He describes Olsen’s reasoning in detail and discusses her response to potential counterevidence. At no point does the author suggest Olsen’s conclusions are implausible or that her reasoning is suspect. So there’s at least some support that the author endorses Olsen’s conclusions.
c
critical ambivalence
“Ambivalence” means having mixed feelings. There’s no evidence the author has mixed feelings about Olsen’s conclusions. He never expresses any doubt or other negative opinion about them. Although he raises potential counterevidence to Olsen’s conclusions, he does so for the purpose of showing Olsen’s response to that evidence.
d
reasoned skepticism
There’s no evidence the author is skeptical about Olsen’s conclusions. He never expresses any doubt or other negative opinion about them. Although he raises potential counterevidence to Olsen’s conclusions, he does so for the purpose of showing Olsen’s response to that evidence.
e
general disagreement
There’s no evidence the author disagrees with Olsen’s conclusions. He never expresses any doubt or other negative opinion about them. Although he raises potential counterevidence to Olsen’s conclusions, he does so for the purpose of showing Olsen’s response to that evidence.