Arugment 1 Palean Woven Baskets

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.

The author claims that the people of Palea could not be the sole originators of the Palean woven baskets. The author supports this claim by stating that similar baskets were found in nearby Lithos, and that since no boats were found in Palea, the people of Lithos (Lithoneans) must have independently came up with Palean baskets. However, I find this reasoning fallacious on a number of levels that renders the author unconvincing to me.

Firstly, the entire argument is based on the assumption that without boat, or any form of transportation, Paleans and Lithoneans would simply ignore each other’s society, despite their close proximity. Common sense tells me that when humans settlements meet up with similar settlements in such proximity, they would not be content to leaving each other alone, if just to satisfy human curiosity. All it takes is a drought that makes the river shallower, or a harsh winter that froze the river for the two societies to meet.

Secondly, the author fails to provide evidence about the existence of boat in Lithos during this time, for all we know, Lithoneans could be traveling to Palea on a daily basis. Even if there are not boats in existence, there is no saying that methods such as swimming across is not possible, all it takes is for someone well versed in swimming to cross Brim to discover learn the art of basket making from the Paleans.

Lastly, the author fails to recognize simpler explanations from the given material such as Lithoneans saw Paleans carrying their baskets from across the river, decided it was a good idea, and imitated it when they got back home. Based on current presented evidence, such explanations are equally, if not more, possible than the authors, and should not be discredited until further evidence is gathered.