Multiple findings—the presence of sophisticated tools, the evidence of organized settlements, and the discovery of ceremonial artifacts— _____ early h...

Let's begin by understanding the meaning of this sentence. We'll use our understanding of pause points and segment the sentence as shown - understanding and assimilating the meaning of each segment bit by bit!

Sentence Structure

• Multiple findings—
  • the presence of sophisticated tools,
  • the evidence of organized settlements, and
  • the discovery of ceremonial artifacts—
• [?] early humans as more culturally advanced than previously thought;
• consequently,
  • historians have revised their timelines
    • for the development of complex societies.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

"Multiple findings"

• This is what the sentence is about - some findings (plural).

Then we see a dash, followed by a list that tells us what these findings are:

• "the presence of sophisticated tools"
• "the evidence of organized settlements"
• "the discovery of ceremonial artifacts"

These three items, set off by dashes, are explaining which findings we're talking about. They're describing "Multiple findings."

After the second dash, we come to the blank.

So the structure so far is:

• Subject: "Multiple findings" (plural)
• [with explanatory details in dashes]
• Then the blank where we need something

Now here's where we need to fill in the blank. Let's look at our choices:

• A: "by establishing" - a prepositional phrase
• B: "have established" - a complete verb (present perfect, plural)
• C: "establishing" - a participle/gerund on its own
• D: "having established" - a perfect participle

What do we need here?

The sentence has its subject "Multiple findings," and now it needs its main verb - the word that tells us what these findings DID or what they ARE DOING.

• Only one choice gives us a complete verb that can serve as the main verb of the sentence: "have established"
• It's plural (have, not has), which matches our plural subject "Multiple findings"
• The other choices are verb-related words, but they can't stand alone as the main verb of a sentence

So we need: have established

Now let's read the rest to see the complete picture:

"have established early humans as more culturally advanced than previously thought"

• The findings have shown/proven that early humans were more culturally advanced than we used to think

Then after the semicolon:
"consequently, historians have revised their timelines for the development of complex societies"

• As a result of these findings, historians have changed their understanding of when complex societies developed

The complete meaning: Archaeological findings (tools, settlements, ceremonial objects) have proven that early humans were more culturally advanced than we thought, so historians have updated their theories about human development.

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The sentence needs a main verb to go with the subject "Multiple findings"
• Even though there's interrupting material between the subject and where the verb goes (the dashed explanation), we still need a complete verb
• That verb needs to be plural to match "Multiple findings"

The correct answer is B: have established - it's the only choice that provides a complete main verb in the correct plural form.

GRAMMAR CONCEPT APPLIED

Main Verbs vs. Other Verb Forms

Every complete sentence needs a main verb - a verb that can stand on its own with its subject. Not all verb-related words can serve as main verbs.

Forms that CAN be main verbs:

• Present/past tense: "The findings establish..." or "The findings established..."
• Present/past perfect: "The findings have established..." or "The findings had established..."

Forms that CANNOT be main verbs on their own:

• Participles alone: "The findings establishing..." (needs a helping verb)
• Perfect participles: "The findings having established..." (dependent form)
• Prepositional phrases with gerunds: "The findings by establishing..." (not a verb at all in this structure)

In this question:

• Subject: "Multiple findings" (plural)
• Needs: A main verb that agrees in number
• Answer: "have established" (present perfect, plural)

Why this matters for tricky sentences:
When there's interrupting material between the subject and verb (like the dashed phrase here), it's easy to lose track of what the sentence needs. Always identify:

1. What's the true subject?
2. Does it have a complete main verb that agrees with it?