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Sometime Cavemen
曾經(jīng)的山頂洞人
From the bestselling novel "Clan of the Cave Bear" to the 1981 movie "Caveman", pop-culture tends to misrepresent prehistoric people as cave dwelling brutes. But even the most speculative recreations of early human society are based on a few essential facts. For instance, cavemen made their homes in caves, right?
從暢銷小說(shuō)“洞熊家族”到1981年的電影“山頂洞人”，流行文化傾向于將史前人類曲解為住山洞的野獸。但是關(guān)于早期人類社會(huì)的最玄妙的再創(chuàng)作也是基于一些基本的事實(shí)。例如，山頂洞人將家安在洞穴中，對(duì)嗎？
Well, not exactly. According to archeological evidence, prehistoric human ancestors such as Homo habilis, Homo erectus, and Homo ergaster were nomadic.
好吧，這是不準(zhǔn)確的。根據(jù)考古學(xué)的證據(jù)，史前的人類祖先，例如能人, 智人和山頂洞人都是居無(wú)定所的游民。
Rather than settle in one place for long periods of time, they were constantly on the move in search of food and shelter. In other words, the term "caveman" is a bit misleading, since our stone age ancestors did not set up permanent homes in caves.
他們不會(huì)長(zhǎng)期駐扎在一個(gè)地方，相反，為了尋找食物和躲風(fēng)避雨的住所，他們總是在遷徙。換句話說(shuō)，“山頂洞人”這個(gè)名詞帶有誤導(dǎo)性，因?yàn)槲覀冊(cè)谂f石器時(shí)代的祖先沒(méi)有在山洞里建造長(zhǎng)期的家。
Then why are prehistoric people so often referred to as cavemen? There are several reasons. First, much evidence of prehistoric civilization is found in caves because the natural shelter helps preserve artifacts.
那么為什么史前人類被頻頻稱作山頂洞人呢？有以下幾個(gè)原因。首先，在山洞中發(fā)現(xiàn)了史前文明的大量證據(jù)， 因?yàn)樘烊坏钠琳蠋椭４媪诉@些人造物品。
The earliest cave dwellers date to the Paleolithic period, around 2.5 million years ago, and evidence suggests that these ancient nomads used caves as temporary shelters during their seasonal wanderings. The caves often lay on valley slopes and provided excellent views of animal migration routes.
最早的山洞住處要追溯到250萬(wàn)年前的舊石器時(shí)代， 有證據(jù)顯示這些遠(yuǎn)古時(shí)代的人在季節(jié)性遷徙過(guò)程中，將山洞用作臨時(shí)遮風(fēng)避雨之地。這些山洞通常在山谷的斜坡上，是觀察動(dòng)物遷徙途徑的絕好視角。
But there is no evidence that Stone Age peoples set up shop in caves for very long. Even Neanderthals, who lived in relatively cold regions of ancient Europe, used caves only for temporary shelter.
但是沒(méi)有證據(jù)顯示石器時(shí)代的人們?cè)谏蕉蠢锝ㄔ炝碎L(zhǎng)久居所，即使是住在古歐洲相對(duì)寒冷地區(qū)的穴居人也沒(méi)有，他們只是將山洞用作臨時(shí)遮風(fēng)避雨之地。
Our more immediate ancestors did, of course, eventually move indoors. But permanent dwellings came about only with the invention of agriculture and animal husbandry. Before those world-changing inventions, prehistoric people were forced to follow their food away from the warmth and shelter of the cave.
當(dāng)然，我們的直系祖先最終搬入室內(nèi)。但那是在發(fā)明農(nóng)業(yè)和動(dòng)物飼養(yǎng)之后才出現(xiàn)的長(zhǎng)久固定住處。在這些改變世界的發(fā)明出現(xiàn)之前，史前人類被迫隨著溫暖地區(qū)的食物和遮風(fēng)避雨的山洞而四處遷徙。
