VOA慢速英语2017 古老化石揭露人类新历史（在线收听）

Scientists have found new evidence that Homo sapiens, or humans, have been around longer than we thought.

科学家们发现了新证据，显示智人，也就是人类出现的时间远比我们想象的早。 

Bones found at a site called Jebel Irhoud in Morocco are 300,000 years old. That is about 100,000 years older than any other known remains of our species. They were discovered far from where the oldest fossils had been found before in Ethiopia.

在摩洛哥Jebel Irhoud发现的骨头可以追溯到30万年前。比我们已知的人类化石早了10万年。而且它们发现的地点也比之前发现最古老化石的地点埃塞俄比亚远得多。

Scientists decided that skulls, limb bones and teeth they found represent at least five individuals. They show people from an early stage of our species’ development. They are a mix of modern and more ancient, or simpler, humans.

科学家们认为他们发现的头骨、肢骨和牙齿属于至少五个人。它们展现了人类发展的早期阶段。他们是现代及古代或者说简单人类的结合体。

Jean-Jacques Hublin works at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and the College of France in Paris. He and others described the new findings in two papers released last week by the journal Nature.

让-雅克.于布兰在德国莱比锡的马克斯.普朗克进化人类学研究所及巴黎的法兰西学院工作。他和其他研究者在两篇论文中论述了这一新发现，并于上周发表在《自然》杂志上。

They are not just like us, said Hublin. But they had "basically the face you could meet on the train in New York."

“他们不仅是像我们，”于布兰说。但他们的容貌“跟你在纽约火车上见到的人差不多”。 

While their face and teeth might look like today’s humans, these fossils show a different shaped brain. Their braincases—the part of the skull that contains the brain—were longer. That means it took time for our brains to evolve to their present form.

尽管他们的面容和牙齿可能和现代人类似，但那些化石显示，他们大脑的形状完全不同。他们的脑壳，也就是包含大脑的那部分头骨更长。这就是说我们的大脑经历了漫长的进化时间。

Given their modern-looking face and teeth, Hublin said these people may have blended in today if they wore a hat.

基于他们现代人的长相和牙齿，于布兰说如果他们带个帽子，就和现代人如出一辙了。 

Hublin said that along with other evidence, the Moroccan fossils suggest that humans may have reached their modern-day form in more than one place within Africa.

于布兰说基于其他证据，摩洛哥化石显示也许当时非洲不止一个地方的人类达到了现代的形态。 

The message we would like to convey is that our species is much older than we thought, Hublin said. He added it did not come from just one place, "a small ’Garden of Eden’ somewhere in East Africa." Instead, Hublin said, it was a process that moved across Africa, and is "more complex" than what was believed before."

“我们想传达的信息是我们人类的历史比我们想象的还要古老，”于布兰说。他还补充道，人类不是从一个地方诞生的，并不是从“东非的一小片‘伊甸园中’”走出。相反，于布兰说，走出非洲需要一个过程，“也比我们之前想象的复杂”。

The Moroccan fossils were found between 2007 and 2011, in what was a cave setting. They represent three adults, one adolescent and one child about 8 years old. It was thought that they lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle—meaning they hunted or gathered their food, instead of farming.

2007至2011年间，摩洛哥化石在一个洞穴模样的地方被发现。化石显示有三个成年人、一个青少年和一个约八岁的孩童。他们以狩猎采集的方式生存，也就是他们狩猎或采集食物，而不是种植。

They were found alongside bones of animals they hunted—gazelles and zebras. There were also stone tools, possibly used as spearheads for hunting and knives. The tools were made from flint, a kind of stone, from about 40 kilometers away. Researchers also found evidence of much fire use.

在人类化石周边还发现了他们狩猎的动物化石，瞪羚和斑马。也有一些石制工具，也许是用来狩猎的矛头或者刀具。这些工具是用打火石制成的，大约据他们40公里远。研究人员还发现了使用火的迹象。

Today, Homo sapiens are the only human species. But 300,000 years ago, they would have lived on Earth with several now-extinct relatives in Eurasia. These included Neanderthals in the west and Denisovans in the east, and others in Africa.

如今智人是唯一的人类。但30万年，他们也许和欧亚大陆上几个已经灭绝的亲属共同生活着。如西方的尼安德特人，东方的丹尼索瓦人，和非洲的其他人种。

Even with the discovery, Hublin believes there is an earlier stage of human ancestor that would have walked on Earth before this group from Morocco.

随着发现，于布兰说，他相信会有比摩洛哥更早的早期人类祖先行走于地球之上。

Scientists have found new evidence that Homo sapiens, or humans, have been around longer than we thought.

Bones found at a site called Jebel Irhoud in Morocco are 300,000 years old. That is about 100,000 years older than any other known remains of our species. They were discovered far from where the oldest fossils had been found before in Ethiopia.

Scientists decided that skulls, limb bones and teeth they found represent at least five individuals. They show people from an early stage of our species' development. They are a mix of modern and more ancient, or simpler, humans.

Jean-Jacques Hublin works at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, and the College of France in Paris. He and others described the new findings in two papers released last week by the journal Nature.

“They are not just like us,” said Hublin. But they had “basically the face you could meet on the train in New York.”

While their face and teeth might look like today’s humans, these fossils show a different shaped brain. Their braincases—the part of the skull that contains the brain—were longer. That means it took time for our brains to evolve to their present form.

Given their modern-looking face and teeth, Hublin said these people may have blended in today if they wore a hat.

Hublin said that along with other evidence, the Moroccan fossils suggest that humans may have reached their modern-day form in more than one place within Africa.

"The message we would like to convey is that our species is much older than we thought,” Hublin said. He added it did not come from just one place, “a small 'Garden of Eden' somewhere in East Africa.” Instead, Hublin said, it was a process that moved across Africa, and is “more complex” than what was believed before."

The Moroccan fossils were found between 2007 and 2011, in what was a cave setting. They represent three adults, one adolescent and one child about 8 years old. It was thought that they lived a hunter-gatherer lifestyle—meaning they hunted or gathered their food, instead of farming.

They were found alongside bones of animals they hunted—gazelles and zebras. There were also stone tools, possibly used as spearheads for hunting and knives. The tools were made from flint, a kind of stone, from about 40 kilometers away. Researchers also found evidence of much fire use.

Today, Homo sapiens are the only human species. But 300,000 years ago, they would have lived on Earth with several now-extinct relatives in Eurasia. These included Neanderthals in the west and Denisovans in the east, and others in Africa.

Even with the discovery, Hublin believes there is an earlier stage of human ancestor that would have walked on Earth before this group from Morocco.

Words in This Story

fossil – n. something (such as a leaf, skeleton, or footprint) that is from a plant or animal which lived in ancient times and that you can see in some rocks

skull – n. the structure of bones that form the head and face of a person or animal

limb – n. a leg or an arm

convey – v. to make (something) known to someone

Garden of Eden – n. in the Bible: the garden where Adam and Eve first lived

spearhead – n. the sharp point on a weapon with a long straight handle

ancestor – n. something in the past from which something else has developed