Explanation
Correct answer: B.
Choice B is the best answer because it presents a finding that, if true, would most directly weaken the conclusion that Wang and colleagues’ findings indicate a trade link between Óc Eo and South Asia. The text explains that turmeric (native to South Asia) and footed grinding slabs of a style common in South Asia between roughly 500 BCE and 300 CE were found at Óc Eo, a Southeast Asian port that flourished between the first and sixth centuries CE. From this evidence, the text concludes that these items must have reached Óc Eo through trade. If, however, there was a significant migration of people from South Asia to Southeast Asia during the first through third centuries CE, that would offer an alternative explanation: South Asian people could have brought turmeric and grinding slabs with them when they migrated. Thus, the finding would weaken the conclusion that trade must account for the items’ presence at Óc Eo.
Why the other choices are wrong
Choice A
Choice A is incorrect. A finding involving spices from a different region—the Maluku Islands, southeast of Óc Eo—wouldn’t undermine the conclusion because it wouldn’t reveal how the items from South Asia, a region to the west, reached Óc Eo. If anything, such a finding might be further evidence of broad trade networks involving Óc Eo.
Choice C
Choice C is incorrect. If it were true that other South Asian artifacts from the period when Óc Eo flourished have been found throughout Southeast Asia, that would suggest only that South Asian items other than turmeric and footed grinding slabs were present in the region at the time; it wouldn’t reveal anything about how any of those items reached Southeast Asia from South Asia. If anything, the widespread presence of South Asian artifacts in Southeast Asia during this period could be seen as further support for a trade network connecting the regions.
Choice D
Choice D is incorrect because the finding that Óc Eo and some South Asian communities traded with people in another Southeast Asian location (what is now Malaysia) would suggest that this location could have been an intermediary for the movement of items from South Asia to Óc Eo. Such a finding would support, not weaken, the plausibility of an indirect trade link that’s presented in the conclusion.
Student discussion
shahdia2911 0 likes
If there is this huge number of people migrating, then they would have just brought the food with them. This would weaken the hypothesis that theres a trade link between them.