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Mounting an archaeological dig in Niger is complicated.
要在尼日爾展開考古挖掘工作是很復雜的事。
The country is larger than France, Germany, and Italy combined, and most of it is barren stretches of desert with little or no road access.
這個國家比法國、德國和意大利加起來還要大，而絕大部分是無盡延伸的荒蕪沙漠，幾乎沒有道路抵達。
Since gaining independence from France in 1960, Niger has endured a series of military coups and ethnic conflicts, has struggled to diversify its agriculture-based economy, and suffers from chronic food and medicine shortages.
尼日爾自從1960年從法國獨立出來后，經歷了一連串軍事政變和種族沖突，一直很難讓農業(yè)為主的經濟更加多元化，也苦于長久以來的食物和醫(yī)藥短缺。
As a result, requests by foreign scientists to explore its remote eastern deserts -- which border Libya and Chad, nations wrestling with their own internal conflicts -- must wind their way through a lengthy government approval process.
因此，外國科學家要申請?zhí)剿髂崛諣柕钠h東方沙漠，必須歷經冗長的政府批準程序，該沙漠與利比亞和乍得接壤，這兩個國家都在努力解決內部沖突。
"It's difficult for many people in Niger to realize the value of the dinosaur fossils and the artifacts we have," Sidi Amar Taoua, a tour guide from the desert city of Agadez, told me.
“對尼日爾的很多人來說，了解恐龍化石和我們手上文物的價值是很困難的事?！蔽鞯稀ぐ敗ね煌邔ξ艺f，他是一名導游，來自沙漠城市阿加德茲。
"Most people are worried about access to clean water, schools for their children, job opportunities, and security."
“大多數(shù)人煩惱的是如何取得干凈水源、讓孩子上學、工作機會，以及安全?！?/div>
In the north, the country's colonial past and the large uranium mines run by French companies have colored some Nigeriens' views about outsiders coming to dig in their deserts.
在尼日爾北部，殖民歷史和法國公司經營的大型鈾礦場，影響了一些尼日爾人對跑來他們沙漠挖掘的外國人的觀感。
"Some people think we're looking for oil or gold," Dindine told me.
“有些人認為我們是來找石油或黃金的?！倍〉蟽葘ξ艺f。
Further suspicions were raised when the U.S. military built a large drone base in Agadez to run surveillance missions across the region.
后來，美軍在阿加德茲興建大型的無人機基地，以便從那里對整個區(qū)域執(zhí)行監(jiān)測任務，更引發(fā)進一步的質疑。
After the initial discovery of Gobero, Sereno was able to organize four full expeditions to the site and carve out time from five other dinosaur excavations to revisit it.
自從發(fā)現(xiàn)格伯托之后，塞雷諾組織了四次遠征隊全面探索這個遺址，并且在挖掘其他五個恐龍化石遺址的同時抽空重返格伯托。
Some years he wasn't able to travel because of security issues -- a Tuareg rebellion and threats from terrorist groups that had moved into parts of Niger and neighboring Mali.
幾年來，由于安全問題--圖阿雷格人的叛亂以及恐怖組織進入尼日爾部分地區(qū)和鄰國馬里帶來的威脅，使得他都無法前往。
Each time the expeditions returned and set up their tents near the ancient lake bed, the scientists wondered what they'd find.
遠征隊每一次返回格伯托，在古代湖床附近搭起帳棚時，科學家都很好奇會看到什么改變。
Had the desert winds finally carried away the small dunes? Had curious nomads rummaged the site? Or had it been ransacked by looters? But each time, new discoveries were exposed.
沙漠狂風是否終于把小沙丘吹走了？好奇的游牧人是否翻找過遺址？或者已經被盜掘者洗劫一空？但每一次，他們都揭開了全新的發(fā)現(xiàn)。
There were ceramic pots inscribed with various designs, a warthog's tusk, the skeletons of a toad and a python.
有雕刻了各種圖樣的陶盆、一根疣豬的獠牙，還有一只蟾蜍和一條蟒蛇的骸骨。
There were large fishhooks and harpoon points, including one made from a crocodile jawbone.
有大型的魚鉤和魚叉的尖端，其中一件是用鱷類的下顎骨裂成。
There were finely worked arrowheads made from green felsite, red jasper, milky white quartz, even petrified wood; ostrich eggshell beads; and pendants made from hippo ivory and amazonite.
有作工細致的箭頭，用綠色霏細巖、紅碧玉、乳白色石英甚至石化木打造而成；有用鴕鳥蛋殼制作的珠子；還有用河馬牙齒和天河石制成的墜子。
Several prehistoric middens, or garbage dumps, overflowed with bones from Nile perch and catfish and included a stack of mussel shells.
有好幾個史前的貝冢，也就是垃圾場，里面滿是尼羅河鱸魚和鲇魚的骨頭，也包括一堆貽貝的貝殼。
Even the sand contained evidence -- pollen from palm and fig trees, cattails, and other plants associated with wet areas.
就連沙子也含有證據(jù)：里面有花粉，來自棕櫚樹和無花果樹、香蒲，以及與潮濕地區(qū)有關的其他植物。
But the finds that left team members speechless were the burials.
但是讓團隊成員目瞪口呆的發(fā)現(xiàn)，是墳墓。
"We find every age -- old people, middle age, teenagers, children, infants," Sereno said.
“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了各年齡層--老年人、中年人、青少年、孩童、嬰兒。”塞雷諾說。
Radiocarbon dating puts the oldest burial, a six-foot-two man posed in a tight crouch, at around 9,500 years ago, near the beginning of the Green Sahara.
放射性碳定年法所標定最古老的墳墓里埋葬著身高6英尺2英寸的男子，呈現(xiàn)緊緊蜷縮的姿勢，年代約在9500年前，接近綠色撒哈拉時期剛開始的時候。
The most recent burial, a 10-year-old girl wearing a large hippo ivory bracelet, occurred about 4,900 years ago -- a span of roughly five millennia.
最近期的墳墓里有個十歲女孩，戴著很大的河馬牙齒手鐲，大約存在于4900年前，前后橫跨約5000年。
"That's about the length of time from the first Egyptian pharaoh to my grandfather," Sereno said, "all in this one small area."
“那樣的時間跨度大約是從第一位埃及法老到我祖父的年代，”塞雷諾說，“全都在這一個小小的區(qū)域?！?/div>
The burials tended to fall into two broad categories.
這些墳墓大致分成兩大類。
In the older ones, the bodies were buried in the same manner as the six-foot-two man, with arms held close to the torso and knees pulled up tightly to the ribs and spine, so that the skeletons resemble collapsed accordions.
在較古老的墳墓里，遺體的埋葬方式都如同那位身高6英尺2英寸的男子，兩只手臂緊靠著身軀，膝蓋往上緊緊抵住肋骨和脊椎，因此骸骨很像折疊起來的手風琴。
One theory holds that some of these had been interred tightly bundled, possibly in animal hides.
有一個理論認為，有些遺體入葬時可能是以獸皮緊密包裹起來的。
Idé, head of archaeology for Niger's Research Institute in Human Sciences, explained that the dates of these burials suggest these people were part of what archaeologists have named the Kiffian, a fisher-forager culture that ended about 8,000 years ago.
伊德是尼日爾的人類科學研究院的考古組組長，他說根據(jù)這些墳墓的定年結果，這些人屬于考古學家已命名的“基弗文化”，是一種捕魚探食文化，大約結束于8000年前。
Around that time, the burials at Gobero were flooded and remained submerged for several centuries.
大約在那時，格伯托的墳墓遭到洪水淹沒，浸在水中好幾個世紀之久。
The younger burials, he said, belong to the Tenerean people, who arrived about a thousand years after the Kiffian burials ceased.
他說，比較新的墳墓屬于特內里安人，在這里已經沒有基弗文化墓葬的大約1000年后，他們抵達了此地。
Based on evidence found at other sites, some scholars believe the Tenereans were among early herding cultures that started to appear in the latter part of the Green Sahara period.
根據(jù)其他遺址發(fā)現(xiàn)的證據(jù)，有些學者認為特內里安人屬于早期的游牧文化，在綠色撒哈拉時期的晚期開始出現(xiàn)。
At Gobero, almost all the Tenereans were positioned on their sides, as though asleep.
在格伯托，幾乎所有的特內里安人都安置成側躺，彷佛睡著了。
In one burial, a woman holds a newborn, the pair possibly succumbing during childbirth.
在一個墳墓里，一名女子抱著新生兒，這對母子可能是生產時死去。
A 12-year-old boy lies with his hands clasped under his head like a pillow, a tiny bird skeleton clutched in his right hand.
一名12歲男孩躺著，雙手像枕頭一樣扣在頭下，右手還抓著一具小小的鳥類骸骨。
Nearby, a man appears to have two teeth filed fanglike points. Elsewhere, a man sits on a large turtle shell; another wears a ceramic pot on his head.
附近有名男子有兩顆牙齒磨銼成長牙尖端的模樣。而在其他地方，一名男子坐在很大的龜殼上；另一名男子的頭上放著陶壺。
| 重點單詞 | 查看全部解釋 | |||
| archaeological | [.a:kiə'lɔdʒikəl] |
想一想再看 adj. 考古學的，考古學上的 |
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| diversify | [dai'və:sifai] |
想一想再看 v. 使成形形色色，使多樣化，使變化 |
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| exposed | [iks'pəuzd] |
想一想再看 adj. 暴露的，無掩蔽的，暴露于風雨中的 v. 暴露， |
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| initial | [i'niʃəl] |
想一想再看 n. (詞)首字母 |
聯(lián)想記憶 | |
| internal | [in'tə:nəl] |
想一想再看 adj. 國內的，內在的，身體內部的 |
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| resemble | [ri'zembl] |
想一想再看 vt. 相似，類似，像 |
聯(lián)想記憶 | |
| skeleton | ['skelitn] |
想一想再看 n. 骨架，綱要，骨骼，骨瘦如柴的人或動物，家丑 |
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| crouch | [krautʃ] |
想一想再看 vi. 蹲伏，蜷伏；卑躬屈膝 vt. 低頭；屈膝 n. |
聯(lián)想記憶 | |
| carve | [kɑ:v] |
想一想再看 v. 雕刻，切割 |
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| ivory | ['aivəri] |
想一想再看 n. 象牙，乳白色 |
聯(lián)想記憶 |
