科学美国人60秒 SSS 中国出土3000年前皮革球（在线收听）

This is Scientific American's 60-second Science, I'm Christopher Intagliata.

这里是科学美国人——60秒科学系列，我是克里斯托弗·英塔利亚塔。

Ball games are a big source of modern amusement, even amid the pandemic.

即使在疫情期间，球类运动也是现代娱乐的一大来源。

But they’re nothing new. Consider, for instance, a 4,500-year-old linen ball found in a child’s tomb in Egypt or 3,600-year-old rubber balls from Central America—where the contest called for players to slam the ball with their hips.

但这并不是什么新鲜事。举个例子，想想在埃及儿童墓穴中发现的一个有4500年历史的亚麻布球，或者在中美洲发现的有3600年历史的橡皮球。在中美洲，比赛要求选手用臀部击球。

Now researchers have pinned a date on what they say are the oldest sporting balls in Europe or Asia: three spheres, dug up from the tombs of horsemen in the deserts of northwestern China and crafted three millennia ago.

现在，研究人员已经确定了他们所说的欧洲或亚洲最古老的体育球的日期:三个从中国西北沙漠的骑兵墓穴中挖掘出来的圆球，制作于三千年前。

“We are quite sure they were used in some sort of bat-and-ball game.”

“我们很确定它们曾被用于某种击球游戏。”

Patrick Wertmann is an archeologist at the University of Zurich and part of the team that analyzed the ancient sporting equipment.

帕特里克·维尔特曼是苏黎世大学的一名考古学家，也是分析这些古代运动器材的团队的一员。

The balls are about three inches in diameter, wrapped in rawhide leather, and stuffed with leather strips and hair.

这些球的直径约为3英寸，用生牛皮包裹，里面塞满了皮条和毛发。

“And then, also, when you look at the Chinese character of ball itself, it’s quite interesting because this character is made up of the ideograms of hair and leather.”

“此外，当你看看汉字‘球’本身，它很有趣，因为这个汉字是由头发和皮革的表意文字组成的。”

The details and photos of the balls appear in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

这些球的细节和照片发表在《考古科学杂志:报告》上。

As for how this ancient ball-and-stick game was played?

那么这个古老的球棍游戏是怎么玩的呢?

“It could be something like polo. But it could also be something like an early form of hockey or golf. Since we don’t have any textural evidence, and we don’t have any sticks from the same period, we don’t really know exactly.”

“可能是马球之类的东西。但它也可能是曲棍球或高尔夫的早期形式。因为我们没有任何关于质地的证据，也没有任何来自同一时期的棍子，我们真的不知道确切的情况。”

Regardless of the sport, Wertmann and his colleagues write that a ball game of any kind would have provided excellent exercise—and military training, too.

无论是哪种运动，沃特曼和他的同事写道，任何类型的球类运动都可以提供出色的锻炼和军事训练。

Thanks for listening for Scientific American's 60-second Science. I'm Christopher Intagliata.

谢谢大家收听科学美国人——60秒科学。我是克里斯托弗·英塔利亚塔。