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"Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been made only by the Palean people. Recently, however, archaeologists discovered such a "Palean" basket in Lithos, an ancient village across the Brim River from Palea. The Brim River is very deep and broad, and so the ancient Paleans could have crossed it only by boat, and no Palean boats have been found. Thus it follows that the so-called Palean baskets were not uniquely Palean. Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument.Woven baskets characterized by a particular distinctive pattern have previously been found only in the immediate vicinity of the prehistoric village of Palea and therefore were believed to have been made only by the Palean people. Recently, however, archaeologists discovered such a "Palean" basket in Lithos, an ancient village across the Brim River from Palea. The Brim River is very deep and broad, and so the ancient Paleans could have crossed it only by boat, and no Palean boats have been found. Thus it follows that the so-called Palean baskets were not uniquely Palean.“ Write a response in which you discuss what specific evidence is needed to evaluate the argument and explain how the evidence would weaken or strengthen the argument. ============================================================================================================================================ The argument claims that a special kind of woven baskets, which was believed to have been made only by the Palean people, was not uniquely Palean. To support the argument the author cites the following facts: (1) the ancient village Lithos was across the Brim River from Palean and the river is very deep and broad now; (2) the ancient Paleans could cross the river only by boat, but no Palean boats have been found. Thus the author claimed that the "Palean" basket found in Lithos could not be made by the Paleans. However, these facts are insufficient to permit a proper evaluation of the argument's reasoning. First of all, the author provides no evidence that the Brim River was as deep and broad in the past as it is today. It is possible that the river was quite shallow and narrow, or even did not exist in the past, so the Paleans could easily swim or walk to Lithos with their baskets. Under this assumption, the argument would be seriously weakened. Accordingly, without knowing the ancient condition of the Brim River, we cannot accept the author's conclusion. Secondly, the author unfairly assumes that the Paleans did not have boat based on the fact that no evidence of boats was found. However, the absence of evidence is not the evidence of absence. The Paleans might build the boats from materials that could not survive until today. Alternatively, the search scope of evidences of boats might not be large enough. Substantiating the author's assumption requires a much deeper search of evidences. In this case, it would be helpful to scrutinize historical records of the ancient Paleans to judge whether they had boats. Thirdly, the author provides no justification that the only way for the Paleans to cross the river is by boat. He fails to acknowledge and rule out other possibilities. There might be a bridge above the river, but unfortunately it was ruined later. Or it is equally possible that their "boats" had such distinctive features that evidences of boats were overlooked by the research team. Consequently, unless the author can demonstrate that taking a boat is the only way for the Paleans to cross the river, his conclusion would be undermined. Finally, the author's implicit claim is poorly supported that the basket found in Lithos could be taken there only by the Paleans. However, he fails to take into account that it might be the Lithos traders who went to Palean and bought the baskets back. Lacking more specific information about this possibility, it is impossible to assess the reliability of the author's conclusion. In sum, the author's argument is not persuasive. To bolster the argument, the author should provide substantial evidences that Palean was such an isolated village that there was no way for their baskets to be taken out of their village. My first argument and also my first thread in this forum :P And what score do this argument deserve?