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, archa

Combining the circumstances of the Brim River and the failure to find the ancient Palean boats, the author concludes that the special baskets which was believed to have been made only by the ancient Paleans were not uniquely Palean. Although the argument is well-present and seems valid, the author presents insufficient evidence to strengthen it and leaves it porous and rife with holes.

First of all, the author mentions the Brim River is very deep and broad and implies the river make it difficult for the ancient Paleans to cross it. Here, he makes an unstated assumption that the Brim River was deep and broad in ancient times, which , however, is unwarranted. If the river was deep and broad enough then, the ancient Paleans could have crossed it only with the help of vehicles. Nonetheless, the river might have changed a lot, and it was not deep or broad at all in ancient times. One may even argues the Brim River didn't exist then, which make the author's assumption totally invalid. In such cases, the river could hardly be an obstacle for the ancient Paleans' going to Lithos. While the author never present relating evidence to support his assumption, his argument's validity is undermined harshly.

Building on the difficulty to cross the Brim River, the author points out no Paleans boats have been found and implies that the ancient Paleans could not have cross the river. If the failure to find ancient Palean boats means they had not boats then, the author's implication is sound. Nevertheless, it is presumptuous to say there were no boats for Paleans in ancient times because of failing to find ancient Palean boats. It is possible that the ancient Palean boats have been destroied for some reasons. For example, the ancient Paleans boats might have been wholely rotten, which make it impossible to find those boats. Even given that the ancient Paleans had no boats, it is still probable that they could have used other vehicles such as bamboo rafts to cross the river. If the author can offer the evidence to eliminate there possibilities, his argument will be more tenable.

Finally, the author draw the conclusion that the so-called Palean baskets were not uniquely Paleans. Although people in ancient Lithos could have made the same kind of baskets, the evidence of this argument is not sufficient to support the conclusion. Even the Paleans could not have crossed the river, people in Lithos might have crossed the Brim river and brought the Palean baskets back. While the author fail to eliminate this possibility, his argument is weakened servely.

While it may be true that the so-called Palean baskets could also been made by people in Lithos, the evidence offered in this argument is not enough to support its conclusion. In order to strength his argument, the author ought to present more evidence concerned with the following discussion.