The British Bronze Age began when sophisticated techniques for making tools, weapons, and other objects from metal were introduced to the British Isles around 2500 BCE, and it lasted until around 700 BCE. Collections of Bronze Age metal items (called hoards) have been found all over Britain, and while most of the objects found in these hoards are weapons or tools, some are purely decorative. For example, the Tisbury hoard included bronze tools, weapons, and jewelry, and the Urquhart hoard included gold jewelry. As ancient metalsmiths in Britain gained knowledge from working metals like bronze, they were able to apply those skills to work other metals as well, but gold was much rarer than bronze, so it's not surprising that _____
Which choice most logically completes the text?
Explanation
Context: British Bronze Age hoards mix tools, weapons, and decorative pieces: Tisbury held bronze tools, weapons, and jewelry, while Urquhart held gold jewelry. The sentence ends by noting gold was much rarer than bronze, so the blank must be something that rarity makes unsurprising.
Answer: C) some hoards contained no gold, as was the case for the Tisbury hoard.
Why? If gold was far scarcer than bronze, it would turn up in fewer deposits, so hoards lacking gold entirely are exactly what the rarity leads you to expect, and Tisbury is the example the text has already supplied.
Traps:
- A) Rarity makes gold at Urquhart notable rather than unsurprising, so this runs against the logic the sentence sets up.
- B) How hoards came to be discovered is never mentioned and has no bearing on how common the metal was.
- D) The usefulness of bronze for durable tools is a separate point; gold being scarce says nothing about what bronze was valued for.