VOA慢速英语2018 科学家:早期人类并不像人们想象的那么简单

Scientists: Early Humans Were Not as Simple as One Would Think

Scientists have discovered evidence that some of the earliest members of the human race, Homo sapiens, were surprisingly advanced.

科学家发现的一些证据表明：作为史上最早的一些人种，智人在（在技术方面）的先进让人吃惊。

Scientists say these early humans knew how to use color pigments 2 found in nature, create advanced tools and trade for supplies with other groups of people.

科学家称，这些早期人类知道如何利用自然界中的一些色素，发明先进的工具以及与其它人群交换物品。

A report on the discovery was published recently in the journal Science.

最近，关于该发现的一篇报告刊登在《科学》杂志上。

The scientists said they examined artifacts recovered from southern Kenya. Some of the objects are said to date back to 320,000 years ago. They are about the same age as the earliest-known Homo sapiens fossils found in other parts of Africa.

科学家表示，他们检查了肯尼亚南部出土的文物。据说，其中一些物品可追溯至32万年前，与非洲其它地区发现的已知最早的智人化石年代相仿。

In the report, the researchers described an ochre pigment 1 that produced a bright-red color. They say this pigment could have been used for body painting. They also found tools made from obsidian 3, a volcanic 4 rock that can have an extremely sharp edge.

研究人员在报告中描述了一种可产生鲜艳红色的赭色色素。他们说，这种色素可用于人体绘画。科学家还发现了用黑曜石制成的工具，黑曜石是一种火山岩，其边缘锋利。

The researchers found evidence of obsidian being transported to the Olorgesailie Basin, up to 88 kilometers away from where the rock was found. This discovery led the scientists to believe it had come from another group through trade. But they did not know what was provided in exchange for the obsidian.

研究人员发现了黑曜石被运往奥洛戈赛利叶盆地的证据，盆地距岩石出土地约88公里。该发现让科学家们确信，这是与其他族群进行物品交易的证据。但是，与黑曜石进行交换的是何物呢？对此，科学家就无从得知了。

The researchers said the findings show developments in technology and social structures unexpected so early in human history.

研究人员称，这一发现表明，在人类历史早期竟然存在意想不到的技术发展和社会结构。

Rick Potts is a paleoanthropologist and director of the Human Origins Program at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington D.C. He believes that these newly identified mental and social abilities — including recognition of “distant groups, use of pigments and technologies including projectile 5 points — were at the foundation of our species’ origin.”

瑞克·波兹（Rick Potts）是古人类学者，也是位于华盛顿特区的史密斯博物馆所属的美国国家自然历史博物馆研究人类起源项目的负责人。他认为，这些新发现的脑力和社会能力，包括对族群、颜料、以及箭头（尖头器，石制的抛掷尖物）等技术的认知是人类起源的基础。

Alison Brooks 6, another paleoanthropologist, is with the George Washington University in Washington, D.C. Speaking of the pigment, she said, “The choice of importing the ochre from a distance rather than using a more common local material…argues that having a red face or hair or clothing or weapons also carried a symbolic 7 message of some sort.”

另一位古人类学家艾莉森·布鲁克斯（Alison Brooks）任职于华盛顿特区的乔治华盛顿大学。她提及颜料时表示：“从放弃当地更普遍的材料却从远方购入赭石可得知，面赤或红发、红衣、红色武器带有某种象征性的意义”。

The researchers described the obsidian tools they found as smaller, of better quality, and more specialized 8 than larger stone tools used by earlier human species.

研究人员描述了他们发现的黑曜石工具，比更早期的人类所使用的大型石器工具更为小巧、坚固、也更加专业。

The obsidian was used in a number of tools with sharp or pointy edges. The rock was also found in small, sharp points that could be placed at the end of a piece of wood or bone for use as a weapon.

黑曜石被用于很多工具的锐利边缘或尖刃处。此外，这种岩石还被发现用于木头或骨头末端的尖锐处，作为武器使用。

Words in this Story

advanced – adj. being far along in progress or development

artifact – n. a simple object such as a tool or weapon that was made by people in the past

journal – n. a publication dealing 9 mainly with issues of current interest

pigment – n. a natural substance that gives coloring to animals and plants; a substance that gives color to something else

fossil – n. remains 10 of an ancient organism that has been protected in Earth’s surface

paleoanthropologist – n. the study of anthropology 11 that deals with fossils

projectile – n. something that is thrown as a weapon

symbolic – adj. expressing or representing an idea or quality without using words