地平线系列：失落的部族（2016）

又刷新了我们对于现代人的祖先
have really pushed the boundaries of how far and how early
离开非洲故土的时间和距离的了解
modern humans strayed from their African homeland.
我们越早离开非洲
And the earlier we left Africa,
我们和其他人类表亲
the more chance we had of overlapping in time
在地球的某个地方遇到的机率就越大
and in the same parts of the world with our other human cousins.
为了进一步了解我们究竟发生了什么
To understand the story of what really happened to us,
玛丽亚·马提农-托雷斯博士
伦敦大学学院
我们需要考虑整个地球
we really need to take into account the whole map.
中国是其中非常非常重要的一环
And China is a very, very important part of this puzzle.
来自伦敦大学学院的
Archaeologist Maria Martinon-Torres,
考古学家玛丽亚·马提农-托雷斯
from University College London,
和中科院的同行一起研究
has teamed up with colleagues from the Chinese Academy of Sciences
在中国东南地区道县
to study a treasure trove of human teeth
发现的一批珍贵的牙齿
found in a cave in Daoxian province in south-east China.
也许有些人认为牙齿看起来都一样
Some people might think that all teeth look the same,
但并不是这样
but they do not.
牙齿就像微型景观一样
Teeth are like little landscapes in miniature.
显然这些牙齿并不属于像丹尼索瓦人
These teeth are clearly modern human, Homo sapiens,
和尼安德特人一样古老的原始人类
rather than from an archaic hominin,
而是属于现代人 即智人的
like a Denisovan or a Neanderthal.
智人有着简单
Homo sapiens have very simple teeth
细长的牙齿
and they are really very slender.
他们的牙根比较细
The roots are very thin,
越往尖部越窄
they are really narrow towards the tip.
然而 如果你仔细观察原始人类的牙根
However, if you look at the roots of an archaic hominin,
他们的牙根非常粗壮
they have really stout and robust roots,
就像是几根分散开来的柱子
like columns that really diverge and open very strongly.
所以差距非常大
So it's really a big difference.
这些牙齿在钟乳洞被发现
The teeth had been perfectly preserved
埋在一层方解石之下保存得非常好
in the limestone cave underneath a layer of calcite.
道县人类牙齿是在方解石层下发现的
The Daoxian teeth were found in the calcite layer,
就像是一座墓碑
like a gravestone,
把发现化石的
that is really like sealing
所有土层都密封起来
all the layer where the fossils were found.
我们测量了一下那一层石笋的年代
We dated the stalagmites that really grow on top of that layer
发现这些石笋已有八万年之久
and the stalagmites have been dated 80,000 years ago.
意味着埋藏在它之下的所有化石
Meaning that everything that is accumulated below
都至少有八万年历史
has to be at least 80,000 years ago.
这项新证据的突然出现推♥翻♥了
This new evidence dramatically overturns previous theories
过去关于人类迁移的理论
about human movement around the world.
它告诉我们这些早期现代人走得到底有多远
It shows us just how well-travelled these early modern humans were.
道县人类牙齿非常重要
The Daoxian teeth are very important,
因为它们是我们所能够掌握的
because they represent the earliest and soundest evidence
对智人走出非洲这一理论
we have of our own species, Homo sapiens,
最早最确凿的证据
being outside Africa.
他们走出非洲的时间比我们预想的早得多
And they were outside Africa much earlier than expected.
八万年[前]
所以如果智人在这么早之前就到达中国
So in order for Homo sapiens to reach China so long ago,
那么他们必须在十万年前就已经离开非洲
we must have left Africa around 100,000 years ago,
十万年[前]
甚至更早
possibly earlier.
这意味着现代人必须有数千年的时间
That means modern humans must have spent thousands of years
漫游在这片大♥陆♥上
roaming the planet
与另外两个人类部落共享这片大♥陆♥
and sharing it with the other two human tribes.
对科学家来说这太令人兴奋了
And this is very exciting for a scientist,
对于道县人类牙齿的发现
with the Daoxian teeth,
我们有许多新的问题 比如
we have a lot of new questions, like
我们在道县发现的这些人类
did the hominins we found in Daoxian
他们是否遇到过尼安德特人
ever meet Neanderthals?
他们是否遇到过神秘的丹尼索瓦人
Did they ever meet these mysterious Denisovans?
对于人类在十万年前到底是怎样的情形
So there are a lot of new questions we have to understand about
我们还有许多问题要解答
who we were about 100,000 years ago.
但毫无疑问这些问题的部分答案
The answers to some of these questions
可以在亚洲某些地方找到
will no doubt be found somewhere in Asia,
这么辽阔的一片大♥陆♥上
a vast continent sure to contain
必然还埋藏着许多人类学惊喜
many anthropological surprises.
事实上 东南亚岛屿上已经出现了
In fact, the South East Asian islands have already thrown up
近年来古人类学上最令人震惊
one of the most startling and controversial the discoveries
和最有争议的一项发现
of recent years in paleoanthropology.
一个遗失的人类部落存在的证据
Evidence of a lost tribe that is human,
虽然几乎无法确认其人类特征
but almost unrecognisably so.
生活在一个与世隔绝的小岛上的
Living on an island isolated from the rest of the world...
是一群微型人
..Is a group of miniature humans.
成人只有一米或者说三英尺高
Adults are only one metre or 3ft tall.
他们以侏儒象为食
Living off dwarf elephants
使用的技术和当时
and using technology as advanced
其他人类部落一样先进
as other human groups around the world.
人类学家劳拉·沙克尔福德和法布里斯·德米特
Anthropologists Laura Shackelford and Fabrice Demeter
在东南亚研究人类化石
study human fossils across south-east Asia,
但他们没想到在2003年
but they hadn't anticipated that in 2003,
一群澳大利亚人会在印尼弗洛勒斯岛一个洞穴里
a group from Australia would discover a hobbit-sized human
发现一种霍比特人♥大♥小的人
in a cave on the island of Flores in Indonesia.
当在弗洛勒斯岛上发现化石时
When the fossils were discovered on Flores,
劳拉·沙克尔福德博士
伊利诺伊大学
真的让人无比激动
it was a very exciting find,
因为没有人清楚他们到底是什么
because no-one knew quite what they were.
当弗洛勒斯岛的发现公布之后
When Flores came out to the public,
法布里斯·德米特博士
国家自然历史博物馆 巴黎
整个科学界都震惊了
it was a big shock for the scientific community.
这个物种和以前的所有发现
This was a species that looked nothing like anything
都不一样
that had been discovered before.
因为他的特征很明显
Because it has very specific features.
骨架特别矮小 只有一米高
Particularly its short stature, only about 3ft tall.
关于这个物种还有一个更有趣的地方
And what was even more interesting about the species
他们的大脑非常小
was that they had a very small brain,
和黑猩猩的大脑差不多大
a brain that was about the size of a chimpanzee's brain.
所以这是一个新物种
So this was a new species
大家都不知道该怎么办好
that no-one really knew what to do with.
一开始还有怀疑的声音
Initially, there was scepticism.
害怕这只是一具畸形现代人的化石
Fears that this was just a single deformed modern human.
但现在有了更精确的测年法
But now, with accurate dating
和几具新人类化石的发现
and several individuals uncovered,
学术界已经接受这是一种新的人种
it's accepted that these were a distinct species of human.
他们被称为佛罗勒斯人
They've been named Homo floresiensis,
以发现他们的岛屿命名
after the island they were found on.
但他们还有一个更出名的别名 霍比特人
But more popularly, they are known as the hobbits.
虽然我觉得
I don't think it is nice
这么说人不太好
to say something like this about a human,
但他们真的很奇怪
but they are weird.
不管是从他们的外形 年龄
You know, and they are weird
发现他们的地理位置
in their aspect, in their age,
还是从他们的历史来看都很奇怪
in their location, in their history.
身材矮小之谜
The riddle of the unusual size of Homo floresiensis
可能与他们居住的岛屿有关
could actually be answered because of the island they lived on.
十万年前 海平面非常非常低
100,000 years ago, the sea level was very, very low.
这些岛屿都与陆地相连
So these islands were connected to the continent.
但佛罗勒斯一直是座孤岛
But Flores was always an isolated island.
从近期发现的化石看得出
Recently-discovered fossils show that
这些小矮人的祖先
the ancestors of the hobbit-sized humans
早在七十万年前便已经很矮小
were already small 700,000 years ago.
或许这正是岛屿本身造成的
It does seem that the island itself may have been to blame.
由于长♥期♥与世隔绝
Since they've always been isolated,
他们极可能被一种
then they were probably subject to
叫"岛屿矮态"的现象所影响
a phenomenon that is called island dwarfism.
这一现象指的是
And this is a phenomenon where
某一物种
when a species of any sort,
不论是人类还是其他动物
not just human, but animals as well,
被长♥期♥隔绝于一座岛上时
when they are isolated on an island,
身材通常会变小
then often, the species will be reduced in size.
这可能是因为岛上资源匮乏
And this may be because there are fewer resources on an island,
该物种为了节约资源可能会缩短身高
so the species may get smaller to conserve resources.