#23 - It is clear that humans during the Upper Paleolithic

[allisonellen7]

Hi there! This question confused me because it says that the distribution is skewed, which to me means that the mean is thrown off by relatively few very large numbers or very small numbers when the vast majority of the distribution is in a different range. So that would indicate that if the largest number of lamps was associated with the late Upper Paleolithic period, there were some lamps from very early in the period which were throwing off the distribution. Am I looking at this with too much of a statistics-based mindset?
If so, does skewed then mean that more lamps were associated with the late Upper Paleolithic period than should be, based on how many actually existed at that time? Or does it simply mean that there were more lamps in the late Upper Paleolithic period?
Sorry for the long post! Thanks so much for your help!

[Steve Stein]

Hi,

That's an interesting question. The author provides that lamps were found throughout the Upper Paleolithic period, but the distribution is skewed--with the greatest number associated with the late Upper Paleolithic period.

In other words, people knew about lamps even in the early part of the U.P. period, yet there are many more know examples from later in the period.

The question is a Resolve Except, so the correct answer choice will be the one that doesn't help to explain why there are more examples known from the late U.P. period. The four incorrect answer choices all help to explain it. Take a look back at the choices, and let me know whether this answers your question--thanks!

~Steve

[allisonellen7]

Okay that helps a lot! So basically either an answer that would help show why there were more lamps in the late part of the period or why more lamps have been discovered from the late part of the period would help to resolve?

[evanmpaul]

Can you please explain why E is preferable to C? My thought with C was that even if they developed more efficient methods of making the lamps, it doesn't necessarily mean that they actually produced more. I can see how this same logic applies to E, even if they produced a wider variety of types of lamps, this doesn't mean they actually produced a greater number of total lamps. Just not sure how to choose.

[Luke Haqq]

Hi evanmpaul!

You're certainly right to hone in on efficiency. This is a resolve the paradox question (importantly, one modified by the word "except"), specifically asking us to explain why the distribution of lamps is "skewed" toward the Magdalenian culture of the late Upper Paleolithic period. On the one hand, I understand your point that simply being given the information that a society has developed more efficient methods than others for creating a specific commodity doesn't mean that it necessarily produces more of that commodity. On the other, it's important to stress that we need to take that point as given in this question. That is, we're told that the distribution across the Paleolithic is skewed toward the Magdalenian culture--that evidence suggests they did in fact make more lamps than other cultures.

This is why we could eliminate answer choice (C). That answer reads, "More efficient lamp-making techniques were developed by the Magdalenian culture than by earlier cultures." If this were true, it would help to some extent in resolving the paradox of why the distribution is skewed toward this culture--if they had more efficient lamp-making methods, this could provide a reason for this skewed distribution. They were skewed to this culture because they invented more efficient ways to make them.

By contrast, answer choice (E) gets one off track by getting away from numerical distribution (unlike efficient production methods, which is related to explaining that paradox of skewed distribution). Answer (E) reads, "More kinds of lamps were produced by the Magdalenian culture than by earlier cultures." Even if it were true that they produced a greater variety of lamps compared to other cultures, this wouldn't address the issue of why they also produced numerically more lamps than other cultures. Since this is a resolve the paradox question modified by the word "except," this would make answer choice (E) correct, since it doesn't provide an explanation for the skewed numerical distribution of lamps over the paleolithic.