Sometime Cavemen
曾经的山顶洞人
From the bestselling novel "Clan of the Cave Bear" to the 1981 movie "Caveman", pop-culture tends to misrepresent prehistoric people as cave dwelling brutes. But even the most speculative recreations of early human society are based on a few essential facts. For instance, cavemen made their homes in caves, right?
从畅销小说“洞熊家族”到1981年的电影“山顶洞人”，流行文化倾向于将史前人类曲解为住山洞的野兽。但是关于早期人类社会的最玄妙的再创作也是基于一些基本的事实。例如，山顶洞人将家安在洞穴中，对吗？
Well, not exactly. According to archeological evidence, prehistoric human ancestors such as Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo ergaster were nomadic.
好吧，这是不准确的。根据考古学的证据，史前的人类祖先，例如能人, 智人和山顶洞人都是居无定所的游民。
Rather than settle in one place for long periods of time, they were constantly on the move in search of food and shelter. In other words, the term "caveman" is a bit misleading, since our stone age ancestors did not set up permanent homes in caves.
他们不会长期驻扎在一个地方，相反，为了寻找食物和躲风避雨的住所，他们总是在迁徙。换句话说，“山顶洞人”这个名词带有误导性，因为我们在旧石器时代的祖先没有在山洞里建造长期的家。
Then why are prehistoric people so often referred to as cavemen? There are several reasons. First, much evidence of prehistoric civilization is found in caves because the natural shelter helps preserve artifacts.
那么为什么史前人类被频频称作山顶洞人呢？有以下几个原因。首先，在山洞中发现了史前文明的大量证据， 因为天然的屏障帮助保存了这些人造物品。
The earliest cave dwellers date to the Paleolithic period, around 2.5 million years ago, and evidence suggests that these ancient nomads used caves as temporary shelters during their seasonal wanderings. The caves often lay on valley slopes and provided excellent views of animal migration routes.
最早的山洞住处要追溯到250万年前的旧石器时代， 有证据显示这些远古时代的人在季节性迁徙过程中，将山洞用作临时遮风避雨之地。这些山洞通常在山谷的斜坡上，是观察动物迁徙途径的绝好视角。
But there is no evidence that Stone Age peoples set up shop in caves for very long. Even Neanderthals, who lived in relatively cold regions of ancient Europe, used caves only for temporary shelter.
但是没有证据显示石器时代的人们在山洞里建造了长久居所，即使是住在古欧洲相对寒冷地区的穴居人也没有，他们只是将山洞用作临时遮风避雨之地。
Our more immediate ancestors did, of course, eventually move indoors. But permanent dwellings came about only with the invention of agriculture and animal husbandry. Before those world-changing inventions, prehistoric people were forced to follow their food away from the warmth and shelter of the cave.
当然，我们的直系祖先最终搬入室内。但那是在发明农业和动物饲养之后才出现的长久固定住处。在这些改变世界的发明出现之前，史前人类被迫随着温暖地区的食物和遮风避雨的山洞而四处迁徙。