单选题
The most ancient civilization have been studied by archeologists rather than historians because those civilizations (1) before the advent of writing. How do archeologists infer that a particular people in the (2) past had social classes, cities, or centralized government? As we have noted, it (3) that the earliest Neolithic (新石器时代的) societies were egalitarian people did not differ much in wealth, prestige, or power. Some later societies show signs of social (4) . One kind of evidence of inequality in an ancient society is (5) by burial finds. Archeologists generally (6) that inequality in (7) reflects inequality in life, at least in (8) and perhaps also in wealth and power. (9) , we can be fairly sure that a society had (10) in status if only some people were buried with special objects, such as jewelry or pots filled with food. And we can be (11) sure that high status was assigned at birth rather than (12) in later life if we find (13) differences in children's tombs. (14) , some (but not all) child burials from (15) 5,500 to 5,000 B.C. at Tell es-Sawwan in Iraq, and from about 800 B.C. at La Venta in Mexico, are filled with statues and ornaments (16) that some children had high status from birth. But burials indicating differences in status do not (17) mean a society had significant differences in wealth. It is only (18) archeologists find other (19) differences, as in house size and furnishings, that we can be sure the society had different (20) classes of people.