关于尼安德特人最大的误解 - 布鲁斯·哈迪：英语精读讲义

In 1856, quarriers working a cave in Germany's Neander Valley

1856年，在德国尼安德特河谷一个山洞里作业的采石工

discovered several mysterious fossils.

发现了几块神秘的化石。

The remains changed hands until being identified 講解

这些遗骸几经易手，最后被鉴定为

as the skullcap and femur bones of something ancient and human,

某种古人类的头盖骨和股骨，

but not quite us. 短語搭配

但又和我们不太一样。

It soon became clear they belonged to an extinct human species, 短語搭配

很快人们就清楚了，它们属于一种已经灭绝的人类物种，

the first ever known to science, 短語搭配

这是科学界已知的第一个，

Homo neanderthalensis, or simply Neanderthals.

即尼安德特人（Homo neanderthalensis）。

Not long before the discovery,

就在这一发现前不久，

many believed the world was only about 6,000 years old.

许多人还相信地球的历史只有大约6000年。

However, by the mid-1800s, 語法

然而，到了19世纪中叶，

naturalists were more comfortable with geological timelines and evolutionary theory. 短語搭配

博物学家们更加接受了地质年代学和进化论。

The idea that ancient remains could belong to another human species 語法

古代遗骸可能属于另一个人类物种的观点

was finally becoming conceivable.

终于变得可以想象了。

But misconceptions persisted and much Neander slander ensued. 習語

但误解依然存在，随之而来的是许多对尼安德特人的诽谤。

Early on, Neanderthals were depicted as dim-witted oafs 講解

早期，尼安德特人被描绘成愚笨的呆子，

who died out because of their inferiority to modern humans, 短語動詞

他们之所以灭绝，是因为他们比现代人类劣等，

a.k.a. Homo sapiens. 用詞

也就是智人（Homo sapiens）。

One popular illustration suggested that, in addition to being hairy and club-carrying, 短語搭配

一幅广为流传的插图暗示，尼安德特人不仅毛发浓密、手持木棍，

Neanderthals stooped and had apelike opposable toes,

还会弯腰驼背，并且有像猿一样的对握脚趾，

even though this wasn't reflected in skeletal findings. 講解

尽管这并没有在骨骼发现中得到体现。

Over the next century, however,

然而在接下来的一个世纪里，

archaeologists discovered more hominin species,

考古学家们发现了更多的古人类物种，

as well as the remains of over 300 Neanderthal individuals.

以及300多具尼安德特人的遗骸。

Compared to modern humans, 語法

与现代人类相比，

Neanderthals had larger, deeper-set eyes,

尼安德特人的眼睛更大、眼窝更深，

were shorter and more muscular,

身材更矮小、肌肉更发达，

had higher caloric needs with slightly bigger bodies, 用詞

拥有略大一些的体型，因此需要更高的卡路里，

including their hearts and brains.

这也包括他们的心脏和大脑。

For over 350,000 years,

在超过35万年的时间里，

they lived across Europe and Western Asia.

他们生活在欧洲和西亚各地。

For at least their final 10,000 years,

在他们最后至少1万年的时间里，

they spatially overlapped with Homo sapiens, 用詞

他们在空间上与智人有交集，

and archaeological finds have suggested 短語搭配

考古发现也表明，

that they led much more complex lives than initially suspected. 短語搭配

他们的生活远比最初想象的要复杂得多。

In the 1950s,

在20世纪50年代，

scientists unearthed the remains of a Neanderthal in a cave in Northern Iraq, 用詞

科学家在伊拉克北部的一个山洞里挖掘出一具尼安德特人的遗骸，

who had a severed right arm,

他的右臂断了，

injured leg, and was likely partially blind and deaf.

腿受了伤，可能还部分失明和失聪。

Yet he survived long after these injuries,

然而，在受了这些伤之后，他又活了很长时间，

suggesting his community provided him extensive daily support.

这表明他的群体为他提供了大量的日常帮助。

And another skeleton from a French cave belonged to an older Neanderthal,

而来自法国一个洞穴里的另一具骨架属于一个年长的尼安德特人，

who probably had trouble walking and had lost so many teeth, 語法

他可能行走困难，并且掉了许多牙齿，

he may have needed his food ground up. 短語動詞

以至于他可能需要把食物磨碎才能吃。

Both excavation sites also showed signs of burial, 短語搭配

这两处挖掘地点都显示出了埋葬的迹象，

all suggesting that Neanderthals

这一切都表明尼安德特人

went beyond immediate practical concerns for survival 短語搭配

超越了对生存的直接实际关注，

and cared for their ailing and dead. 用詞

并且会照顾生病和死去的同伴。

Teeth analyses also indicate that Neanderthals might have used

牙齿分析也表明，尼安德特人可能曾使用过

anti-inflammatory and antibiotic plants medicinally. 用詞

具有消炎和抗菌作用的植物来治病。

For a while,

有一段时间，

researchers assumed that Neanderthals hunted big game 用詞

研究人员认为尼安德特人依靠

with unsophisticated brute force ambush attacks. 用詞

不成熟的野蛮伏击来捕猎大型动物。

But cut marks on rabbit bones

但是兔子骨头上的切割痕迹，

and tools with apparent traces of scales and feathers

以及带有明显鳞片和羽毛痕迹的工具，

suggest Neanderthals were capable of the skill required to capture small game, 語法

表明尼安德特人具备捕捉小型猎物所需的技能，

perhaps utilizing snares and fast-moving projectiles.

他们可能使用了陷阱和快速移动的抛射物。

In fact, we know

事实上，我们知道

they fashioned and wielded many types of tools, 用詞

他们制造并使用了许多种类的工具，

sometimes affixing them with glue they made from heated birch bark. 短語搭配

有时还会用加热白桦树皮制成的胶水来固定它们。

They also shaped hardwood digging sticks with fire

他们还会用火塑造硬木挖掘棒，

and created reinforced three-ply string using bark fibers. 用詞

并使用树皮纤维制作加固的三股绳索。

Other findings have also raised questions 短語搭配

此外，其他的发现也引出了新的疑问：

about whether Neanderthals thought symbolically, 用詞

尼安德特人是否具备符号思维，

seeing beyond direct utility into realms like art and language, 習語

能够超越直接的实用性，涉足艺术和语言等领域，

long considered a hallmark of Homo sapiens. 用詞

这长期以来一直被认为是智人的标志。

Potentially for personal adornment, 用詞

出于潜在的个人装饰目的，

there's evidence of Neanderthals selectively removing birds' flight feathers,

有证据表明尼安德特人会有选择地拔掉鸟类的飞羽，

painting and perforating shells,

在贝壳上绘画和打孔，

and wrapping eagle talons

并将鹰爪包裹在

in what seems to have been another kind of animal tissue. 語法

似乎是另一种动物组织的材料中。

They likewise made markings on a giant elk's toe bone

他们同样在一只巨大麋鹿的趾骨上做了标记，

and created three cave paintings in Spain,

并在西班牙创作了三幅洞穴壁画

if the original 65,000-year-old dating estimate holds. 語法

（如果最初估计的6.5万年的测年结果成立的话）。

Meanwhile, broken, rearranged, and burned stalagmites

同时，在法国一个洞穴深处，破碎的、被重新排列和烧焦的石笋

deep within a French cave left scientists wondering 短語搭配

让科学家们怀疑，

if the mysterious structures

这些神秘的结构

held spiritual or ceremonial significance to Neanderthals. 用詞

是否对尼安德特人具有精神或仪式的意义。

Clearly,

显然，

they weren't as different as originally believed. 語法

他们并没有最初人们想象的那么不同。

And following the first fully sequenced Neanderthal 用詞

随着首个被完全测序的尼安德特人

genome in 2010,

基因组在2010年发布，

researchers realized our species interbred. 用詞

研究人员意识到我们的物种曾与他们杂交。

All modern humans retain some Neanderthal DNA,

所有现代人类都保留了一些尼安德特人的DNA，

up to about 4%, 短語搭配

比例最高可达约4%，

the result of hundreds of discrete interbreeding events. 用詞

这是数百次独立杂交事件的结果。

So,

那么，

what happened to Neanderthals?

尼安德特人到底经历了什么？

Theories from rampant cannibalism 語法

从猖獗的同类相食，

to disease and climate change

到疾病和气候变化，

to aggressive Homo sapiens

再到好斗的智人入侵，

have been floated. 習語

各种理论被不断提出。

But another idea is that,

但另一种观点认为，

because Neanderthals lived in smaller groups,

因为尼安德特人生活在较小的群体中，

as they interbred with larger populations of Homo sapiens, 語法

当他们与人口更多的智人杂交时，

they just sort of got gradually absorbed. 講解

他们就渐渐地被同化吸收了。

Overall,

总的来说，

consensus has begun shifting away 表達脈絡

共识已经开始转变，

from representing human evolution as tree-like 習語

人们不再将人类的进化描绘成树状的，

and more towards a kind of braided stream

而是更多地将其视为一条交织的溪流，

with different hominin groups separating

不同的古人类群体在此分流，

and rejoining at various junctures.

又在不同的交叉点重新汇合。

As we continue to learn more about our evolutionary cousins, 習語

随着我们继续了解更多关于我们进化表亲的信息，

each discovery

每一次发现

raises questions about just how much we share. 語法

都在不断引发质疑：我们究竟有多少共同之处。

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如果你喜欢了解历史，

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因为昨日的教训

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能帮助我们面对今天的挑战。