評論
打印
Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.
現(xiàn)在仔細聽錄音，回答第三十一題至第四十題。
Hello, everyone and welcome. As part of this series of lectures on the development of early humans, today we are looking at rock art: the paintings and drawings produced by prehistoric peoples as they spread across the continents.
大家好，歡迎各位的到來。作為關于早期人類發(fā)展系列課程的一部分，今天這節(jié)課我們講的是巖石藝術——史前人類在傳遍大陸中創(chuàng)作的繪畫作品。
If you've been lucky enough to look at a piece of rock art close up, you'll know it's an experience that makes you wonder about the passage of time and our own history.
如果你有幸近距離觀賞一幅巖石藝術，你就知道，這種經(jīng)歷會讓你對時間流逝和歷史產(chǎn)生疑問。
But rock art also has a practical value for researchers and let's start by considering why that is.
但對研究人員來說，巖石藝術也有實用價值，我們先從原因開始講起。
Firstly, it provides vital information about the way that people evolved - information not always easily obtainable from excavated artifacts alone.
首先，巖石藝術為人類進化方式提供了重要信息，要想僅僅從出土文物中獲取這些信息也不是易事。
Secondly, rock art tells us about migration: where people came from and where, perhaps, they went next.
其次，巖石藝術能告訴我們遷移的信息：人們從哪里來，下一步可能去哪里。
Rock art is found all over the world and this in itself is not surprising. But what is rather amazing, you might think, is how similar some images are, whether you're looking at a rock face in South Africa or standing inside a cave in Spain.
巖石藝術在全世界都有，就其本身而言并不令人驚訝。但令人驚訝的是，某些圖像之間是多么地相似，不管是看南非的石像面具，還是身處西班牙的巖石洞穴里。
Let me give you an example. When our ancestors drew humans, they would often draw them as stick figures, but if they drew a face, then the eyes were almost always very prominent, very open and wide.
讓我舉個例子吧。我們的祖先在描繪人類形象時，他們通常會把人化成粗線條的簡筆畫，但假如要畫人臉，幾乎所有的眼睛都是非常突出的，睜得又大又圓。
And of course, animals are very common in rock art, but one animal which is very interesting to researchers is the lizard, because whenever you see a prehistoric painting of one, it's depicted either in profile or looking down on it from above.
當然了，動物形象在巖石藝術中也非常常見，但研究人員真正感興趣的是蜥蜴，因為不管什么時候看一幅史前畫作，蜥蜴都是側面像或（人們）俯視著它。
And these drawings are produced by people of totally different cultural backgrounds. Amazing!
這些繪畫的作者都來自完全不同的文化背景。太驚人了！
But how can this be the case - that similar artistic styles exist in such distant locations?
但這怎么可能呢——如此相似的藝術風格出現(xiàn)在相距甚遠的不同地點？
In the past, archaeologists believed that trade must have brought people together, and that it gave them the opportunity to observe each other's culture, including art styles, but this didn't prove to be the case.
過去，考古學家認為，一定是貿(mào)易把人們聚在了一起，給人們提供機會觀察互相的文化（包括藝術風格在內(nèi)），但事實證明并非如此。
Recently researchers have come up with a new theory.
最近，研究人員提出一種新理論。
They believe that the brains of our ancestors evolved to notice certain images before others and this was important (actually essential) because in an environment full of constant danger, it was necessary for survival.
他們認為，我們祖先的大腦已經(jīng)進化到一定程度，可以在別人之前注意到一些圖像。而這是非常重要的（實際上，至關重要），因為，在險象環(huán)生的環(huán)境中，這對生存來說是非常必要的。
So the need to quickly recognise things that could be helpful or harmful could have had a great influence on rock art and explain why some images are more common across cultures than others.
所以，快速辨認出事物有益還是有害的必要性對巖石藝術產(chǎn)生了巨大影響， 這也揭示了為什么某些形象在某些文化中更為常見。
Later on, there would have been other reasons why communities produced art - certainly for spiritual and social purposes and no doubt for political, ones, too, as different tribes looked for allies and struggled against their enemies.
接著，人們創(chuàng)作藝術也出于其它原因：出于精神層面、社會層面，無疑還有政治層面的原因，因為不同的部落間尋求聯(lián)盟，同時也在不斷與敵人抗爭。
