Archaeologist: 100,000-year-old tools and ingredients for mixing colorful ocher paste were recently discovered in an African cave. More-recent prehistoric peoples are known to have used similar paste as paint to create art, thus proving that they were capable of symbolic thought. I conclude from the new discovery that people were capable of symbolic thought at least as far back as 100,000 years ago.

Which of the following, if true, would most weaken the archaeologist's argument?

Correct answer marked below

Many prehistoric peoples who created symbolic art never used ocher paste as paint.

The process of making the paste was so sophisticated that it probably could not have been developed by people incapable of symbolic thought.

Prehistoric art in a region far from the recently discovered cave dates to well before 100,000 years ago.

Some prehistoric peoples used ocher paste as an adhesive to attach small points to weapon shafts.

Correct

Not all prehistoric peoples with the capability for symbolic thought created any symbolic art.

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What this question tests

Whether you can identify the option that most undermines an argument's conclusion.

Choosing an irrelevant objection or one that attacks the premise rather than the reasoning.