纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 007Ain Sakhri的恋人（5）（在线收听）

'My own view is in fact that the evidence is not really supporting this idea of a dominant mother goddess very early on, because there are now very exciting new discoveries that really have no representations of women at all - most of the symbolism is very, very phallocentric, so my view at the moment is that sexuality is important in these early farming societies, but not in terms of reproduction/fertility, children and mothering and nurturing - that sort of thing, it's really more clearly about the sex act itself.'

“我个人观点是，其实并没有充足证据来支持这种说法，能让我们认为在人类早期社会就有一位占主导地位的生育女神这种概念的存在，因为现在出土了很多振奋人心的新发现，然而强调女性形象的却几乎没有，其中绝大多数都阳性象征性非常强。因此，我目前的看法是，在那些早期农耕社会里，性行为是一种重要的概念，而非生育能力、子母关系或哺育后代等等。显而易见的这物品表现的是性行为本身。”

Certainly, to me, the tenderness of the embracing figures suggests not reproductive vigour, but love. People are beginning to settle and to form stable families, to have more food, and therefore more children, and perhaps this is the first moment in human history when a mate could become a husband or a wife.

当然对我而言，这柔情款款，缠绵悱恻的拥抱，强调的不是生育活力，而是在传达一种爱。当人类开始定居，并形成稳定的家庭，有了富余的食物，因此能够养育更多的孩子；也许就是在此刻的人类历史上，出现了配偶这种概念，丈夫与妻子。

All these ideas may be present in our sculpture of the lovers, but we're still largely in the realm of historical speculation. On another level though, it speaks to us absolutely directly, not as a document of a changing society but as an eloquent work of art. Sculptor Marc Quinn again:

也许以上可能性都在我们这对恋人雕塑中可以传达出来，然而我们如今还处于揣测历史的阶段。从另一层面而言，它的身份可以不是一件记录转变中社会的文件，而是一件杰出的艺术作品，与我们直接沟通。雕塑家马克·奎因再次说道：

'There's the difference between art and artefact. An artefact is something from a time that stays in that time like a piece of pottery and it becomes like a relic of that time.

“艺术品与人工制品之间存在着差异。人工制品来源于某个时代，停留于那个时代，像一件陶器，最终成为了属于它那个时代的遗迹。

An artwork is something that is from a time, but is also eternally in the present moment, and I think you can definitely say that this sculpture is in the present moment.

艺术品来源于某个时代，却能超越那个时代存活在当代，具有永怛的生命力。

That to me is the great strength of making artwork, you are making essentially emotional time-machines; you're making an object of meditation that will communicate with people in ten thousand years time (were it to survive) in a very direct way - I mean, certain things are beyond time.'

对于我而言，艺术品拥有一种伟大的艺术力量。是在创造一种本质上的情感时间机器，是在创造一种凝聚了思想的物品，即使经历万年漫漫时光，仍旧可以以非常直接的方式与人类进行构通。我的意思是，某种事物是可以超越时间的。”

But in a sense nearly all objects speak 'beyond time'. Throughout this series I'll be trying to discover the stories of the people whose hands made the objects - their fears, their hopes, sometimes even their loves. From the Ain Sakhri lovers to Rodin's statue of 'The Kiss' there are 11,000 years of human history, but not, I think, much change in human desire.

然而在某种意义上，几乎任何物品都可以“超越时间”来与我们对话。在本系列中，我将尝试去发现双手创造这些物品的人们的故事——他们的恐惧与希望，有时甚至是他们的爱。Ain Sakhri恋人与罗丹“吻”的雕像之间隔着一万一千前的悠悠岁月，然而我觉得人类的欲望却不曾怎么改变过。

In the next programme, we're on less romantic territory. I'm with the world's first cowboys, perhaps more accurately the world's first cattle herders, in Egypt, and with another statue of four small cows.

在下期节目，我们将踏入并不怎么浪漫的新领域。我要去探索世界上第一位牛仔。也许更准确而言是在埃及的世界上第一位牧民，还有另一件雕像——四头小母牛。