(单词翻译:单击)
听力文本
This is Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
The more we learn about Neandertals, the more like us they become. They made jewelry, from shells and eagle talons. They probably painted cave art. They may have buried their dead as well.
And now some archaeologists say evidence is mounting for another skill the Neandertals might have shared: the ability to navigate the seas.
"Maybe that's just part of the human psyche, of wanting to go and explore places, and maybe that extends back further than we would have thought."
Alan Simmons of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. He presented his case at a meeting of the Society for American Archaeology in Washington, D.C., first reported in an article by journalist Andrew Lawler in the journal Science.
The case goes like this: hundreds of stone tools have now been found, lodged in ancient soils, on Mediterranean islands like Crete and Naxos. We can't date the tools directly—they're too old for that. But Simmons says you can put them into a rough chronology with other tools, based on their sophistication. He compares it to car styles:
"The tail fins of old Cadillacs, you could seriate those and show this is older than this or more recent than this, but you couldn't put an absolute date on it. But that's exactly what we do with typologies and technologies, this is the way these tools were made during a certain time period."
Those clues and other hints—like the fact the stone tools are buried in ancient soils—suggest the implements could date back to the Middle Paleolithic, somewhere between 50,000 and maybe 200,000 years ago—meaning they could have been made before we Homo sapiens showed up. And therefore, to leave tools on the islands, the toolmakers must have plied the seas.
"To me what this suggests is something I've just suspected all along is that, say, Neandertals at least had the same cognitive capacities that fully modern people do. 'Cause you don't just make a boat or a raft or whatever and go out and float around in the ocean. I mean there's a lot of cognition involved. You have to have navigation skills. This has implications for language."
It's just speculation for now—boat remains are nowhere to be found. But perhaps new digs, and better dates on the tools that have already been uncovered, will strengthen the case. 'Til then: it seems that old stereotype about Neandertals being brutish cave dwellers is already critically endangered. If not extinct.
Thanks for listening for Scientific American — 60-Second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.
参考译文
这里是科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。
我们对尼安德特人的了解越多，就越发现他们很像我们。他们用贝壳和鹰爪制作首饰。他们可能会绘制岩画。他们可能也会埋葬逝者。
现在一些考古学家表示，有越来越多的证据证明我们可能与尼安德特人共有另一项技能：航海能力。
“也许这只是人类精神的一部分，是人类想去各个地方探索的一部分，而这一探索时间也许比我们原本认为的还要早。”
拉斯维加斯内华达大学的艾伦·西蒙斯说到。他在华盛顿举行的美国考古学会会议上提出了他的实例，而这一实例最早由记者安德鲁·劳勒发表在《科学》期刊上。
这个实例是这样的：人们发现克里特岛和纳克索斯岛等地中海岛屿的古老土壤中埋有数百种石器。我们无法直接确定这些工具的年代，因为时间太久远了。但是西蒙斯说，你可以依据这些工具的复杂性，用其他工具大致对它们进行年代排列。他将这些工具同车型进行了对比：
“你可以将旧式凯迪拉克的尾翼按时间顺序排列，然后说明哪个比哪个更老或更新，但不能确定准确日期。这正是我们用类型学和科技所做的事，这是这些工具在特定时期的制造方式。”
石器被埋在古代土壤中等线索和其他暗示，表明这些工具的制造时间可能要追溯至50万至20万年前的中旧石器时代，这意味着它们的制造时间可能比我们智人出现的时间还要早。因此，为了将工具留在岛屿上，工具制造者必须穿越海洋。
“对我而言，这说明了我一直怀疑的一些事，即尼安德特人至少和完整现代人拥有相同的认知能力。因为你不是只是制造船或竹筏之类的，然后就去海上漂流。我的意思是，这里涉及到很多认知能力。你必须拥有导航技能。这暗示了语言的存在。”
目前这只是猜测，因为船只残骸还未找到。但是也许新的挖掘工作以及更精准地确定已被发现工具的制造时间，将验证这一猜测。到那时：看起来人们认为尼安德特人是“粗野穴居人”这一刻板印象会“极度濒危”，即使没有灭绝的话。
谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·因塔利亚塔。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
重点讲解
重点讲解：
1. compare to 比较；对比；
Note how smooth the skin of the upper arm is, then compare it to the skin on the elbow.
请注意上臂的皮肤是多么光滑，然后把它和肘部的皮肤比较一下。
2. date back to 追溯（到）；开始（于）；始造（或建）（于）；
It is said that the term probably can date back to feudal Japanese times.
据说这个词可以追溯到日本的封建时期。
3. show up 出现；
Keep in mind that it might take a minute or so for a newly added message to show up in the queue.
请记住，新添加的消息出现在队列中可能要花费一分钟左右。
4. all along 一直；
You are probably right all along.
也许你一直是对的。
