远古外星人（2009）

关于创造各种各样的人类原型的广为流传的神话 是关于外星实验的真实记录吗
NARRATOR: Could the widespread mythologies about the creation of various human prototypes be real accounts of an extraterrestrial experiment,
并且这个实验一直持续到今天?
an experiment that continues to this day?
也许通过对现实生活中霍比特人化石的研究可以找到更多的线索
Perhaps further clues can be found by examining the fossil discovery of real-life hobbits.
印度尼西亚的弗洛雷斯岛
NARRATOR: The Indonesian island of Flores,
就在澳大利亚的北部
just north of Australia.
2003年9月6日
September 6, 2003.
考古学家在寻找第一次“智人”迁移到印度尼西亚的证据时
Archaeologists seeking evidence for the first" Homo sapiens" migration to Indonesia come upon
发现了他们认为是人类孩子的头骨
what they believe is the skull of a human child,
埋在梁布洞地表20英尺以下的地下
embedded in the earth 20 feet beneath the surface of Liang Bua Cave.
经过几天的精心挖掘
After several days of careful excavation,
足够多的头盖骨和下颌骨暴露出来 表明牙齿不属于儿童
enough of the cranium and mandible are exposed to reveal that the teeth belong not to a child,
而是一个完全成熟的成年人
but to a fully grown adult.
这个头骨和几周后发现的骨骼残骸 属于一个只有3.5英尺高的古人类
The skull, along with the skeletal remains that were recovered weeks later, belong to an ancient hominin that stood only three-and-a-half feet tall.
科学家将这个物种命名为弗洛瑞斯人
Scientists name the species "Homo floresiensis,"
但他们通常被称为"霍比特人"
but they are more commonly referred to as "the hobbits."
弗洛雷斯原始人类可以追溯到16000到18000年前
The Flores hominids date to 16,000 to 18,000 years ago,
有一段时间 我们认为
a time period when, we thought,
只有解剖学上的现代人类才存在
only anatomically modern humans existed.
弗洛雷斯遗体的特别之处在于它们有着非常小的体型
What is remarkable about the Flores remains is their tiny, tiny body size.
而且 至少有一个样本的大脑只有黑猩猩大脑的大小 300到400个ccs
And as well, at least one of the specimens has a brain size that is only about the size of a chimpanzee, 300 to 400 ccs.
然而 他们使用的工具与解剖学上的现代人类是一致的
And yet you have tools that are consistent with anatomically modern humans.
如何调和这之间的矛盾 仍是一个悬而未决的问题
How to reconcile that is still an open question.
这些霍比特人最近在印度尼西亚弗洛雷斯岛上被发现 确实震撼了人类学世界
CHILDRESS: The recent discoveries of these hobbits on the island of Flores in Indonesia has really rocked the anthropological world.
人类学家真的没有意识到 也没有想到会有这种微型人
And anthropologists were really not aware and didn't think that there would be this miniature type of person,
他是与“智人”截然不同的物种
who's a distinct species from" Homo sapiens."
在弗洛雷斯岛上发现的史前石器表明
NARRATOR: Prehistoric stone tools found on the island of Flores suggest that
这些所谓的霍比特人可能在80万年前就到达了那里
these so-called hobbits may have arrived there 800,000 years prior.
这个物种是怎么来到岛上的?
How did this species get to the island?
有两种可能
So there are two options how this could have happened.
一是这些霍比特人是坐船来的
One is that these hobbit people arrived there on boats,
二是它们是在遥远的过去被外星人种植在那里的
or they were planted there by extraterrestrials in the remote past.
有些人甚至认为这个岛是某种类型的培养皿 因为它是孤立的
Some people even have suggested that this island served as some type of a petri dish because of its isolation.
在弗洛雷斯首次被发现的七年之后
NARRATOR: Seven years after the initial Flores discovery,
考古学家在8000英里外遥远的西伯利亚阿尔泰山脉 偶然发现了另一种新物种
archaeologists stumble across yet another new species 8,000 miles away in the remote Altai Mountains of Siberia.
在海拔2400英尺的洞穴里
Isolated in a cave at an elevation over 2,400 feet above sea level,
科学家们发现了一块手指骨碎片 和一颗至少存在于4万年前的未知史前人类的牙齿
scientists discover a finger bone fragment and tooth of a previously unknown prehuman that existed at least 40,000 years ago.
他们把这个物种命名为丹尼索瓦人
They name the species Denisovan,
以发现骨头的那个山洞的名字命名
after the name of the cave that the bones were found in.
特别有趣的是 当我们观察早期人类的地理分布时
It's particularly fascinating that when we look at the geographical distribution of the early humans,
他们分布在世界的不同地方
they're in different parts of the world.
我们有西伯利亚和俄♥罗♥斯♥的丹尼索瓦人
We have the Denisovans in Siberia and Russia.
在弗洛雷斯岛上有“弗洛里斯人”
We have" Homo floresiensis" on the island of Flores.
这样的例子不胜枚举
And the list goes on.
这回避了一个问题:这是如何发生的?
It begs the question: How would that happen?
为什么不同类型的人会出现在不同的地方?
Why would it not be the case that multiple different types of human would appear in multiple areas?
但他们有自己独特的地理位置
But they had their own geographical location.
在过去的二十年里的发现 描绘了一幅画面
NARRATOR: Discoveries made in just the last two decades paint a picture
至少有四个不同的类人猿群体 生活在这个世界上孤立的角落里:
of at least four distinct groups of intelligent hominins existing in isolated pockets of the world:
“弗洛瑞斯人”被隔离在弗洛瑞斯岛上
"Homo floresiensis," isolated on the island of Flores,
在西伯利亚的阿尔泰山脉发现了丹尼索瓦人
Denisovans being found in the Altai Mountains of Siberia,
尼安德特人占领了西欧
Neanderthal found occupying Western Europe,
在解剖学上 现代人类在非洲进化
and anatomically modern humans evolving in Africa.
科学家们并不完全理解地理隔离的作用
Scientists don't entirely understand the role of geographic isolation,
但我们从对岛上人类和非人类物种的研究中得知
but what we know from studies of island populations of both humans and nonhuman species today
与世隔绝的环境是产生独特适应能力的沃土 也是体型极端的地方
is that isolated environments are fertile ground for producing unique and distinctive adaptations and also extremes in body size.
1972年
NARRATOR: In 1972,
著名的进化论理论家斯蒂芬•杰伊•古尔德博士 提出了一种对进化论标准模型的修正
renowned evolutionary theorist Dr. Stephen Jay Gould proposed a modification to the standard model of evolution.
他的间断平衡理论提出了证据 证明化石记录的变化不是像达尔文提出的
His punctuated equilibrium theory addressed evidence that changes in the fossil record came not as a steady process of gradual evolution,
一个逐步进化的稳定过程
as proposed by Darwin,
而是断断续续的
but rather in fits and starts.
这些快速的变化似乎主要发生在与世隔绝的情况下
And these rapid changes seemed to primarily occur in situations of isolation.
他的理论一直被认为是有争议的
His theory continues to be considered controversial,
这也表明一定有一种未知的机制在起作用
as it also suggested that there must've been an unknown mechanism at play.
但他的研究并没有定义产生的原因
But his research stops short of defining what this could have been.
我们没有像期待中的那种按部就班的改变
CHILDRESS: We don't have the step-by-step changes that we were expecting to find.
所以我们要问自己 真的有这种缓慢随机的进化吗?
So we have to ask ourselves, is there really this slow random evolution?
或者有突然的跳跃
Or are there sudden leaps,
突然有一种新物种从孵化器里出来了?
where suddenly there is a new kind of species that's just come straight out of the incubator?
所以就像我们有这些不同的人类物种 在世界不同的地方被孤立地发展
And so it's like we have these different species of humans that are being developed in isolation in different parts of the world.
我一直说地球是一个进行实验的行星
NOORY: I've always said that Earth is a planet of experimentation.
我一直在想《拦截人魔岛》中的情节
I keep thinking of "The Island of Doctor Moreau,"
你被关在某个地方
where you're sequestered in a certain area,
你可以静悄悄的和非常隐私的实验
and you can conduct your work in quiet and in privacy.
这也是为什么他们要在地球做同样的事情
And there would be no reason why they wouldn't want to do this same thing here, rather than just
而不是简单地把人带到不同的星球上玩耍 我认为他们会这样做
simply take people and take them to a different planet and play around, which I think they do.
外星人会用岛屿做实验
HOWE: Extraterrestrials would use islands for one experiment,
在山顶做另一个实验
tops of mountains for another experiment.
但是 他们可以通过将不同的实验从海洋、山脉、岛屿、半岛中分离出来
But they would control what they were doing by keeping their different experiments separated from each other oceans, mountains,
来控制他们正在做的事情
islands, peninsulas.
如果你同意动物园的假设
TSOUKALOS: If you subscribe to the zoo hypothesis,
这表明这整个星球只不过是外星生物的实验室
which suggests that this entire planet is nothing else but an experiment for extraterrestrial entities,
人们不禁要问:
then one has to wonder:
这可能是外星人的一个实验吗? 最终 只有“智人”幸存了下来
Could this be an experiment by extraterrestrials where, in the end, only" Homo sapiens" survived?
地球上的偏远地区会成为人类发展的外星孵化地吗?
NARRATOR: Could remote areas of the globe have served as extraterrestrial incubation sites for protohuman development?
如果是这样的话 是不是为了给“智人”的成长腾出空间而消灭了这个实验?
If so, was the experiment eradicated to make room for the growth of" Homo sapiens?"
也许通过对我们最近的进化表亲尼安德特人进行更细致的研究 可以发现更多的线索
Perhaps further clues can be found by taking a closer examination of our nearest evolutionary cousin the Neanderthal.
西玛•德•拉斯•帕洛马斯 西班牙 2011年
NARRATOR: Sima de las Palomas, Spain. 2011.
考古学家发掘出一个史前墓穴 墓穴中有三个人并排埋在一起 双臂交叉成一种仪式性的姿势
Archaeologists unearth a prehistoric grave containing three individuals buried side-by-side with their arms folded in a ritualistic fashion.
因为他们的埋葬方式
Because of the manner of their burial,
考古学家认为这些遗骸是人类的
the archaeologists assume the remains are human,
但我们惊讶地发现 他们实际上是我们的进化表亲 尼安德特人
but are surprised to discover that they are actually our evolutionary cousin, Neanderthal.
死者的准备工作需要丰富的想象力
It takes a good deal of imagination to prepare the dead.
它暗示了某种来生的概念
It suggests some kind of notion of an afterlife.
如果有的话
If there is that,
通常有某种神的概念
there is usually a notion of a deity of some kind.
这是相当复杂的宗教思想
That is fairly complicated religious thinking,
这表明尼安德特人具有象征推理和文化形成的能力
suggesting that the Neanderthals had a capacity for symbolic reasoning and the formation of culture.
这表明了文明的程度
This suggests a level of civilization,
或者至少是原始文化
or at least the proto-culture,
这比我们过去认为的要远得多
that is further along than we used to think.
不幸的是 早期的发现使尼安德特人看起来像野蛮的穴居人
Neanderthals, unfortunately, because of early discoveries that made them look like a brutish caveman,
他们不聪明 他们和我们非常非常不同
not intelligent, that they're very, very different from us.
他们更矮更壮 但他们有巨大的大脑
They were shorter and stockier, but they had huge brains.
他们显然有衣服
They clearly had clothing.
他们照顾他们的病人和老人
They cared for their sick and elderly.
他们非常聪明
They were very intelligent.
2014年
NARRATOR: In 2014,
科学家分♥析♥了40个不同的考古遗址的资料 以确定尼安德特人的可靠灭绝日期
scientists analyzed materials from 40 different archaeological sites to determine a reliable extinction date for Neanderthals.
他们得出的日期是4万年前
The date they came up with is 40,000 years ago,
这表明他们与“智人”共存了至少1000年
suggesting they coexisted with" Homo sapiens" for at least 1,000 years.
但它们为什么会灭绝呢?
But just why did they die off?
在这一点上 我们不知道其他物种为什么会灭绝
At this point, we don't know exactly why these other species died off.
当然 这与解剖学意义上的现代人类向全球各地的扩张是一致的
Certainly, it does broadly coincide with the expansion of anatomically modern humans to all parts of the globe.
但与我们过去的观念相反
But contrary to our notions from the past,
看起来尼安德特人的灭亡并不是由于智力的缺乏
it doesn't look like it was a lack of intelligence that led to the demise of Neanderthals.
尽管尼安德特人早已灭绝
NARRATOR: Although Neanderthals are long extinct,
2013年 进化遗传学家发现 经过挑选的现代人种群 携带了尼安德特人和丹尼索瓦人的基因组
in 2013, evolutionary geneticists discovered select modern human populations carry genomes from both Neanderthal and Denisovans,
这表明 在某种程度上 杂交发生了
suggesting that, at some point, interbreeding occurred.
尼安德特人的遗传标记主要集中在欧洲和中东部分地区
Neanderthal genetic markers are concentrated in populations in Europe and parts of the Middle East.
丹尼索瓦人的标记可以在亚洲大♥陆♥人群中找到
Denisovan markers can be found in the mainland Asian populations,
还有太平洋岛民 新几内亚人和澳大利亚原住民
as well as Pacific Islander, New Guineans and Australian Aborigines.
根据一些古代宇航员理论家的说法
According to some ancient astronaut theorists,
这种杂交 可能是理解 曾经与人类共享地球的 其他智能人类物种消亡的 关键
this interbreeding may be the key to understanding the demise of the other intelligent hominin species that once shared the planet with humans.
考虑到这些不同的原始人类品系 可能在地质上是彼此分离的
Consider the possibility that these different hominid strains were meant to be kept geologically separated from each other,
这片广袤的土地被认为过于广阔 以至于他们最终无法彼此接触
across tracts of land that were considered to be too vast for them to ultimately come into contact with one another.
有没有可能异族通婚是不被允许的
Is it possible that interbreeding was frowned upon,
一旦尼安德特人开始杂交
and that once interbreeding with Neanderthals started to take place,
它是否破坏了实验的本质?
it was damaging the very essence of the experiment?
正因为如此 尼安德特人的种族不得不被终止或从地球上移除 以阻止这一切的发生
And because of that, the Neanderthal strain had to be terminated or removed from the planet to stop this from happening.
当我们看古代文献时
REDFERN: When we look at ancient texts,