hard · Gre Verbal

Which of the following, if true, best RESOLVES the puzzle of abundant fish bones but scarce fishing equipment in the 1200 BCE layer?

1. Around 1200 BCE, the settlement's inhabitants obtained most of their fish through trade with a downstream community, exchanging their own goods for fish that had already been caught and cleaned.
2. Fish bones buried in soil happen to decompose considerably more slowly over the centuries than do the perishable wood and plant fibers from which the settlement's own fishing equipment was ordinarily made.
3. The river running directly beside the settlement was noticeably more prone to sudden and destructive seasonal flooding around 1200 BCE than it had been during either the earlier or the later periods.
4. The fishing hooks and woven nets recovered from both the earlier and the later occupation layers at the site show considerable variation in their overall size, shape, and construction design.
5. The settlement's resident human population was substantially larger during both the earlier and the later occupation periods than it evidently was around 1200 BCE itself.

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