The wreck of the Mary Rose, an English warship that sank in 1545, was rediscovered and partially excavated beginning in the 1970s. Among the artifacts recovered were thousands of personal items — combs, dice, musical instruments, leatherbound books — preserved by the anaerobic mud of the seabed. Skeletal remains have allowed archaeologists to reconstruct the diets, occupations, and origins of crew members in detail unavailable from written records alone.
Based on the passage, which inference is most strongly supported?
- A
Written records of the period contain all relevant information about ship crews
- B
Anaerobic environments accelerate the decay of organic materials
- Ccheck_circle
Material remains can supplement written sources with information not available from texts alone
- D
Personal items recovered from shipwrecks rarely yield useful historical information
Explanation
Detail unavailable from written records, derived from preserved artifacts, supports B. A, C, D contradict the passage.