I'm writing a paper on early civilisations, I've decided to focus on the Australian aborignies.
我在写一篇有关早期文明的论文, 我已经决定重点写澳大利亚的土著居民.
Sounds good. I'd love to do some extra reading on this topic.
就这个话题我也想多读点东西了解一下。
I'm not sure exactly what to write.
我不知道到底该写些什么。
Let's begin at the beginning.
那就从头说起吧.
Australia may well be the home of the world's first people.
澳大利亚很可能是世界上最早一批人类的家园.
Stone tools discovered ib 1971 show that humans lived in Australia at least twelve thousand years before they appared in Europe.
1971年发现的石器表明人类在澳洲出现的时间比在欧洲至少早上12,000年。
I read that so far three early sites have been discovered in Australia, the Penrith one being dated about forty-seven thousand years old, a Western Australian site forty thousand years old and another in Lake Mungo, New South Wales, thirty-five thousand years old.
我也从书上读到过， 说至今在澳大利亚发现的3个早期遗址中, 彭罗斯大概有47,000年的历史， 澳大利亚西部的一个遗址也有40,000多年历史, 而另外一个位于新南威尔士芒戈湖的遗址也有35,000年的历史.
That means there have been in excess of 1,850 generations of aboriginals!!
也就是说生活在澳大利亚的原始居民已超过了1,850代!!!
I never thought of it that way.
我从来没有那样想过。
Let's look at their culture, too.
我们再来看看他们的文化吧.
More than 30,000 years ago the population of the world was small, and people lived in family groups, hunting, fishing and food gathering.
大约30,000年前， 世界的人口总数还很少， 人们都是以家庭为单位, 一起打猎、捕鱼和采集食物。
At that time there were no cultivated crops, animals were not herded for food and metalworking was yet to be discovered.
当时人们还没有种植农作物，也没有圈养动物来获取食物，金属加工业也还没有发展。
Life must have been very different back then.
那时生活肯定很艰苦。
At that time, known as the last great Ice Age, Australia was joined to New Guinea.
当时正好是最后一次大冰川时代，澳大利亚和新几内亚还连在一起。
So, they must have journeyed across the ice.
所以他们肯定是从冰上走过去的。
As the ice flows of the Ice Age began to melt, the sea level rose, isolating Austalia.
后来由于冰川时代冰河的溶化，海平面上升，把澳大利亚与其他地方隔离开来了。
They were stuck there, with no way to go back home.
他们被困在了那里，找不到回家的路，
So, they made Australia their new home.
于是就把澳大利亚当成了自己的新家。
The first Aboriginals found an Australia with a better environment than today.
第一批土著居民所发现的澳大利亚环境比今天的要好。
Large animals, now extinct, provided more meat than the animals with which we are familiar.
而且，与我们今天所熟悉的动物相比，那些已经灭绝的大型动物能给他们提供更多的肉食。
Some parts of the continent were richer in vegetable foods, but the land contained no cultivated crops, or animals that could be domesticated, such as cattle and sheep.
大陆有些地区有较丰富的植物可食用，但那时没有人在这片土地上种植庄稼。这里也没有能被家养的动物，比如牛和羊。
Did you know they even have their own flag?
你知道吗？土著人还有自己的旗帜。
It's divided horizontally into two equal halves of black ( top ) and red ( bottom ), with a yellow circle in the centre.
旗子被分为均等的两部分，上面是黑色，下面是红色，中间是一个黄色的圆圈。
Yes, it's flown or displayed permanently at aboriginal centers throughout Australia.
是的，这种旗帜在遍布澳大利亚的土著人中心陈列着，永远飘扬。