The archaeologists unearthed a collection of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform ______ to the lead researcher, among the oldest examples...

Sentence Structure

• The archaeologists unearthed a collection of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform script [?] to the lead researcher, among the oldest examples of written language ever discovered in the region.

Understanding the Meaning

Let's start reading from the beginning:

'The archaeologists unearthed a collection of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform script'

So archaeologists discovered clay tablets that have cuneiform writing on them.

This is where we have the blank. Let's look at the choices:

• Choice A gives us a period and starts a new sentence
• Choice B has no punctuation
• Choice C adds "and"
• Choice D gives us a comma

To see what works here, let's read the rest of the sentence and understand what it's saying!

The sentence continues: 'to the lead researcher, among the oldest examples of written language ever discovered in the region.'

Wait - let me put the full phrase together: 'according to the lead researcher, among the oldest examples of written language ever discovered in the region.'

Now let's understand what this is telling us:

• According to the lead researcher
  • This tells us who is making the claim that follows
  • It's attributing information to a source
• Among the oldest examples of written language ever discovered in the region
  • This describes what these tablets are
  • It's telling us these tablets rank among the oldest examples of writing found in this region

So the complete picture is:

• The main statement: archaeologists found tablets with cuneiform script
• Additional descriptive information (attributed to the lead researcher): these tablets are among the oldest examples of writing from the region

What do we notice about the structure here?

• The phrase 'according to the lead researcher, among the oldest examples...' is providing extra descriptive information about the tablets
  • It's not a complete thought that could stand alone
  • It's adding information about what we just mentioned (the tablets with script)
• This type of additional descriptive information needs to be connected with a comma
  • The comma signals: "here's some more information about what I just mentioned"

So we need Choice D: script, according - the comma properly connects the noun phrase (tablets with script) to the descriptive information that follows.

Grammar Concept Applied

Using Commas to Add Descriptive Information with Attribution

When you want to add supplementary descriptive information about something you just mentioned - especially when that information is introduced by an attributive phrase like "according to [source]" - you use a comma to connect it:

Pattern: Complete noun phrase + comma + descriptive phrase (with attribution)

Example 1:

• Without attribution: The scientist discovered a new species
• With descriptive info added: The scientist discovered a new species, the first found in this habitat in decades

Example 2:

• With attribution: The company reported losses, according to the CEO, the worst in its history
• Main statement: company reported losses
• Attributed information: these are the worst losses in company history
• The comma after "losses" connects the main statement to the additional descriptive information

In our question:

• Main statement: The archaeologists unearthed a collection of clay tablets inscribed with cuneiform script
• Attributed descriptive information: according to the lead researcher, among the oldest examples of written language ever discovered in the region
• The comma after "script" properly connects these two parts

The key is recognizing that the second part provides additional information about the first part but cannot stand alone as a complete sentence - it's supplementary (called a nonrestrictive modifier in grammar terms), so it needs a comma, not a period.