The avereviation and inversion in the comparative construction

Question

They are convinced that they found remnants of one of the most ancient centers of civilization yet unearthed - the dwelling place of Bronze age whose metallurgy may eventually establish them as even more advanced than were the inhabitants of Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago.

1) Why don' the clause in bold have a verb?
2) Is the word in blue 'as' a preposition and could I interpret the 'as' phrase like the following:
as their being ever more advanced

3) Is the underlined clause abbreviated and inverted from this :
the inhabitants of Mesopotamia were advanced 5,000 years ago.

GPY · Accepted Answer

1) "establish" is a verb. (However, the bold phrase as a whole does not seem exactly right to me, and it does not seem to be a clause.)

2) Prepositions normally have noun objects. I don't see anything that could be a noun object of "as".

"as their being even more advanced" is not right. "as having been even more advanced" is feasible but unnecessary. Per the other thread, I would try to move away from the idea of always trying to add more words to these "as" phrases.

3) Yes, that is the meaning. However, it reads slightly awkwardly if you literally make that substitution due to the repetition of "advanced".

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, GPY, for your answer.
I always appreciate your frequent visit at my deserted threads.

This sentence looks like it has a typo to me also as you think; here them indicate 'remnants'
"-the dwelling place of Bronze age whose metallurgy may eventually establish them as was even more advanced than were the inhabitants of Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago."

GPY2) Prepositions normally have noun objects. I don't see anything that could be a noun object of "as"."as their being even more advanced" is not right. "as having been even more advanced" is feasible but unnecessary.

I don't know your point. I think you have shouldn't use the perfect tense.

GPY · Answer

park sang joonThis sentence looks like it has a typo to me also as you think; here them indicate 'remnants'"-the dwelling place of Bronze age whose metallurgy may eventually establish them as was even more advanced than were the inhabitants of Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago."

I believe that the use of "as" per se is correct. I don't think that changing it to "was" is indicated. "whose" and "them" are presumably meant to refer to the inhabitants of the ancient centres of civilisation, but there is no clear antecedent for either. The connection of ideas around "the dwelling place of Bronze Age whose" seems faulty. ("Age" should also have a capital.) I wonder whether there is simply a word missing after "Bronze Age", such as "people".

park sang joonI don't know your point. I think you have shouldn't use the perfect tense.

"establish them as having been even more advanced" is the past form of "establish them as being even more advanced".

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, GPY, for your continuous replies

If I correct typo and analyse the structure, I think the original sentence the author might have meant is like this:
"-the dwelling place of Bronze Age which had metallurgy which might eventually establish the remnants was even more advanced than were the inhabitants of Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago."
So I can rephrase the above sentence like this:
"- the dwelling place of Bronze age whose metallurgy might eventually establish the remnants was even more advanced than were the inhabitants of Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago."
And I think the author might have used 'might' or 'might have ~ed', not may.

GPY "establish them as having been even more advanced" is the past form of "establish them as being even more advanced".

Even if the sentences is right, "even more advanced" and "the dwelling place of Bronze age whose metallurgy may eventually establish them" say the same Bronze Age, so I think the perfect tens shouldn't be used.

GPY · Answer

park sang joonIf I correct typo and analyse the structure, I think the original sentence the author might have meant is like this:"-the dwelling place of Bronze Age which had metallurgy which might eventually establish the remnants was even more advanced than were the inhabitants of Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago."So I can rephrase the above sentence like this:"- the dwelling place of Bronze age whose metallurgy might eventually establish the remnants was even more advanced than were the inhabitants of Mesopotamia 5,000 years ago."And I think the author might have used 'might' or 'might have ~ed', not may.

This is not right. You are just mangling the sentence.

park sang joonEven if the sentences is right, "even more advanced" and "the dwelling place of Bronze age whose metallurgy may eventually establish them" say the same Bronze Age, so I think the perfect tens shouldn't be used.

I can assure you that "having been" would be correct in that sentence.

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, GPY, for your patience with my bothering.
Please could you restore the correct version from the my original example?

GPY · Answer

park sang joonPlease could you restore the correct version from the my original example?

It is not possible to be certain exactly how the sentence was supposed to read. My best guess is the one I mentioned previously -- that a word (or words) have been omitted after "Bronze Age".

Park sang joon · Answer

Thank you, GPY, for your another visit and answer.

And I'm sorry that my odd example bother you.
But your answers are very helpful to me; once more, thank you very much.

The avereviation and inversion in the comparative construction

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