Question

Excavations at a Mayan site have uncovered jewelry workshops located some distance from the center of the site on roads radiating outward from the center. Since the nobility lived only in the area of the center, archaeologists conclude that these workshops made jewelry, not for the nobility, but for a middle class that must have been prosperous enough to afford it. The archaeologists' argument assumes which of the following about the artisans who worked in the workshops?

• A. \( \text{They were themselves prosperous members of a middle class.} \)
• B. \( \text{They lived near their workshops.} \)
• C. \( \text{Their products were not made from the same materials as was jewelry for the nobility.} \)
• D. \( \text{They worked full-time at making jewelry and did not engage in farming.} \)
• E. \( \text{They didn’t take jewelry to noble clients.} \)

Hint:

Identify the assumed client restriction.

Answer 1

Answer: (E)

Step 1: Argument: Workshops far from nobility imply jewelry for middle class.
Step 2: Assumes location reflects client base, not nobility.
Step 3: (E) assumes artisans didn’t serve nobility, supporting the conclusion.
Step 4: Others (A-D) are unrelated to client assumption.