trade

Correct answer: A. Multi-stage identification or re-authentication

Explanation: The governing idea is that archaeological marks can record stages in an object's circulation. Marks linked to both the source and destination may show that the object was checked, identified, or authenticated at more than one point in its journey. Therefore option A is the best interpretation. The other choices either deny movement or assume decoration or ownership without evidence.

Correct answer: A. The sequence of production, transport and consumption

Explanation: The governing concept is an object's biography, reconstructed through manufacture traces, transport marks, and use-wear. If marks are placed in a chronological order, historians can infer how an object was produced, moved, used, and sometimes altered. Option A is correct because it describes this life cycle. Colour, the craftsperson's age, and town population cannot be established from this sequence alone.

Correct answer: A. The local society reinterpreted the object

Explanation: The governing concept is cultural reinterpretation through contact and exchange. Once an imported object entered a new society, people could assign it a different function, status, or symbolic meaning according to local needs. Option A is correct because changed use demonstrates local agency rather than passive copying. The other options deny import, deny cultural influence, or wrongly treat the original use as universal.

Correct answer: A. Local production adapted the object to market preferences

Explanation: The governing concept is market adaptation. A local copy may be cheaper, easier to obtain, more durable, or better suited to local tastes while retaining a form associated with the foreign original. Thus option A is correct: producers responded to demand and adjusted production. Greater popularity does not necessarily prove increased foreign trade, low skill, or absence of foreign influence.

Correct answer: A. They show object presence but do not directly reveal actual routes or traders

Explanation: The governing methodological principle is that distribution is evidence of presence, not a complete record of movement. A map can show where an object or material has been found, but it cannot by itself prove the exact route, number of exchanges, direction of travel, or identities of traders. Therefore option A is correct. The other choices are false descriptions of what distribution maps can show.

Correct answer: A. Combined study of material sources, distribution, stratigraphy, seals, weights and foreign texts

Explanation: The governing principle is corroboration through multiple independent sources. Material remains, distribution patterns, stratigraphy, seals, weights, and relevant foreign texts each provide partial evidence; comparing them helps identify agreement, context, and uncertainty. Option A is correct because an integrated method reduces the risk of drawing a broad conclusion from one clue. Each single-source option is too narrow to reconstruct a complex trade system reliably.

Correct answer: A. It was an adaptable network of multi-source resources and local, regional and foreign exchange with standardised controls

Explanation: A balanced assessment uses the whole range of evidence rather than reducing Harappan exchange to one route or one type of commodity. Evidence for varied resources, local and long-distance connections, weights, and regulated practices supports option A. The other choices are too absolute: they ignore internal exchange, measurement, regional links, and the possibility of multiple routes and commodities.