2019年经济学人 最古老的希腊人(2)

 

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The other fossil, the back half of a cranium turned out to be Homo sapiens.

其他化石，颅骨的后半部分，被证明是属于智人。

It is 210,000 years old, and thus the third-oldest known example of modern humanity. That is interesting.

其有21万年历史并且是已知第三古老的现代人类。这很有趣。

But what has excited attention is that it is also the oldest Homo sapiens specimen¹ found outside Africa—

但令人兴奋的是，它也是在非洲以外发现的最古老的智人标本—

the continent where, according to all the available evidence, the species originated.

根据现有的所有证据，该物种起源于非洲大陆。

How Homo sapiens spread from Africa to dominate the world is a story that once looked simple, but is getting rapidly more complex.

智人如何从非洲扩散并主宰世界的，这个故事看似简单，但正在变得更加复杂。

Genetic² data suggest most people alive today who are not African or of recent African descent

基因数据表明，如今大部分的非非洲或非近非洲后裔的人

can trace their ancestry³ to one or a few "out of Africa" migrations⁴ that began about 60,000 years ago into Asia,

他们的祖先可以追溯到约6万年前开始的一次或几次“走出非洲”到亚洲的迁徙，

and thence spread to Australia, Europe and the Americas.

并从那里散布至澳大利亚、欧洲和美洲。

More detailed⁵ analysis, though, shows that on the way through these places

虽然更加详细的分析表明在穿越这些地方的途中，

some of those ancestral humans interbred with other human species, now extinct, including Neanderthals.

这些祖先中的一些人与其他现在已经灭绝的人类交配，包括尼安德特人。

Fossils also show that Homo sapiens was present in the Middle East well before 60,000 years ago.

化石还表明早在6万年前，智人就在中东地区出现了。

Not, however, as long ago as the inhabitant of Apidima whose remains⁶ Dr Harvati has now analysed.

但与哈瓦蒂博士现在研究的Apidima居民残骸相比，也没有那么久远。

Why, having reached Greece, Homo sapiens did not continue to spread into the rest of Europe

为什么智人到达希腊后没有继续扩散到欧洲其他地方

and thus take it over 170,000 years earlier than happened in reality is a mystery—

而且还比实际发生的时间早17万年，这是一个谜—

perhaps one on which future fossil discoveries will shed a little light.

也许未来的化石发现能给我们带来一些启示。

1 specimen   

n.样本，标本

参考例句：

• You'll need tweezers to hold up the specimen.你要用镊子来夹这标本。
• This specimen is richly variegated in colour.这件标本上有很多颜色。

2 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

3 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

4 migrations   

n.迁移，移居( migration的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• It foundered during the turmoils accompanying the Great Migrations. 它在随着民族大迁徙而出现的混乱中崩溃。 来自辞典例句
• Birds also have built-in timepieces which send them off on fall and spring migrations. 鸟类也有天生的时间感应器指导它们秋春迁移。 来自互联网

5 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。