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OFFICIAL52 Why does the author say that "many such tools show signs of long, intensive use" in connection with Natufian agriculture?

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Natufian Culture
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In the archaeological record of the Natufian period, from about 12,500 to 10,200 years ago, in the part of the Middle East known as the Levant - roughly east of the Mediterranean and north of the Arabian Peninsula - we see clear evidence of agricultural origins. The stone tools of the Natufians included many sickle-shaped cutting blades that show a pattern of wear characteristic of cereal harvesting. Also, querns (hand mills) and other stone tools used for processing grain occur in abundance at Natufian sites, and many such tools show signs of long, intensive use . Along with the sickle blades are many grinding stones, primarily mortars and pestles of limestone or basalt. There is also evidence that these heavy grinding stones were transported over long distances, more than 30 kilometers in some cases, and this is not something known to have been done by people of preceding periods. Fishhooks and weights for sinking fishing nets attest to the growing importance of fish in the diet in some areas. Stone vessels indicate an increased need for containers, but there is no evidence of Natufian clay working or pottery. Studies of the teeth of Natufians also strongly suggest that these people specialized in collecting cereals and may have been cultivating them and in the process of domesticating them, but they were also still hunter-foragers who intensively hunted gazelle and deer in more lush areas and wild goats and equids in more arid zones.

The Natufians had a different settlement pattern from that of their predecessors. Some of their base camps were far larger (over 1,000 square meters) than any of those belonging to earlier periods, and they may have lived in some of these camps for half the year or even more. In some of the camps, people made foundations and other architectural elements out of limestone blocks. Trade in shell, obsidian, and other commodities seems to have been on the rise, and anthropologists suspect that the exchange of perishables (such as skins, foodstuffs) and salt was also on the increase. With the growing importance of wild cereals in the diet, salt probably became for the first time a near necessity: people who eat a lot of meat get many essential salts from this diet, but diets based on cereals can be deficient in salts. Salt was probably also important as a food preservative in early villages.

As always, there is more to a major cultural change than simply a shift in economics. The Natufians made (and presumably wore) beads and pendants in many materials, including gemstones and marine shells that had to be imported, and it is possible that this ornamentation actually reflects a growing sense of ethnic identity and perhaps some differences in personal and group status. Cleverly carved figurines of animals, women, and other subjects occur in many sites, and Natufian period cave paintings have been found in Anatolia, Syria, and Iran. More than 400 Natufian burials have been found, most of them simple graves set in house floors. As archaeologist Belfer-Cohen notes, these burials may reflect an ancestor cult and a growing sense of community emotional ties and attachment to a particular place, and toward the end of the Natufian period, people in this area were making a strict separation between living quarters and burial grounds. In contrast with the Pleistocene cultures of the Levant, Natufian culture appears to have experienced considerable social change. 

The question of why the Natufians differed from their predecessors in these and other ways and why they made these first steps toward farming as a way of life remains unclear. There were climate changes, of course, and growing aridity and rising population densities may have forced them to intensify the exploitation of cereals, which in turn might have stimulated the development of sickles and other tools and the permanent communities that make agriculture efficient. But precisely how these factors interacted with others at play is poorly understood.

2.Why does the author say that "many such tools show signs of long, intensive use" in connection with Natufian agriculture?

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【题目翻译】为什么作者说“许多这样的工具显示出长期、集约使用的迹象”与纳图非农业有关? A:认为纳图菲亚人早在将鱼纳入饮食之前就食用了谷物。 B:建议纳图菲亚人不能频繁更换工具,因为他们必须长途跋涉才能找到磨石。 C:为了说明纳图菲亚人在石器设计上的复杂性。 D:支持纳图菲亚时期的考古记录表明农业起源的明确证据的说法。 【判定题型】:根据题干问法“why …… say”,题目询问"many such tools show signs of long, intensive use"(文章引用内容)的修辞目的,可以判断本题为修辞目的题。 【关键词定位】:根据关键词“signs of long, intensive use”,定位到Passage 1 第3句,原句为“Also, querns (hand mills) and other stone tools used for processing grain occur in abundance at Natufian sites, and many such tools show signs of long, intensive use. Along with the sickle blades are many grinding stones, primarily mortars and pestles of limestone or basalt.”。 【引用内容分析】首先我们来看第一段的结构,第一段作者首先提出了“we see clear evidence of agricultural origins.”的观点,而后文中所提到的镰刀状刀片磨损的痕迹、手推石磨、研磨石等,都是证明纳图夫人种植和加工谷物的证据。所以这里作者提到这些石器显示出了长期、集约利用的痕迹,很明显是为了说明纳图夫时期的考古学记录中,可以清晰地看到农业起源的证据 【选项分析】 A选项:表明在纳图夫人食用谷物远远早于他们食用鱼类。根据关键词“fish”定位到这句话“Fishhooks and weights for sinking fishing nets attest to the growing importance of fish in the diet in some areas.”但是鱼钩和砝码与并不是题干这句话中“such tools”所指的工具,因此A选项与题意无关。 B选项:说明纳图夫人不经常更换他们的工具,因为他们要走很远的距离去寻找研磨石。定位到这一句“There is also evidence that these heavy grinding stones were transported over long distances, more than 30 kilometers in some cases, and this is not something known to have been done by people of preceding periods.”这句话是为了说明从很远的地方将研磨石运回是早期人类做不到的事情。但这句话并不是纳图夫人不经常更换他们工具,所以“长期、集约利用”这些石器的原因。原文没有显示这两者间存在因果关系。 C选项:说明纳图夫人制造的石器非常的精致。错误,因为文中没有提到这一点。 D选项:说明了纳图夫人种植和加工谷物的证据。而这些石器显示出了长期、集约利用的痕迹,它们是农业起源的证据。与文章符合,正确。

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