60秒科学:史前第一刀

这看起来像是我们的祖先懂得收集有着锋利边缘，可以用来切肉的工具，就好像小孩子们懂得挑选扁平的石头用来打水漂一样。但是未来的考古工作致力于寻找把石头塑造成厨具的工具。相信三百四十万年后，露西跟她的伙伴们会不断给我们带来惊喜。

There’s nothing like a good steak. And our Australopithecus afarensis ancestors apparently¹ felt the same way. Because new discoveries from Ethiopia show that what was likely the species of the famous fossil Lucy used stone tools to butcher meat from big mammals—about 3.4 million years ago. That’s a million years earlier than our best previous evidence for human ancestor stone tool use and meat eating. The finding appears on the cover of the journal Nature. 

The research team found two fossil bones with cut and scrape marks, signs of meat carving². One bone was a piece of rib³ from a cow-sized mammal; the other, a leg bone fragment from a mammal the size of a goat. The bones also had percussion⁴ marks, sustained while Lucy’s friends smashed the bones to get at the marrow⁵.

It looks like the ancient tool users collected stones that happened to have shapes conducive⁶ to butchering, the way kids select particular stones with good potential to skip on water. But future expeditions will look for evidence for any attempts at shaping stones into kitchen utensils⁷. Because after 3.4 million years, Lucy and her fellow afarensis keep surprising us.

—Steve Mirsky
 

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

3 rib   

n.肋骨，肋状物

参考例句：

• He broke a rib when he fell off his horse.他从马上摔下来折断了一根肋骨。
• He has broken a rib and the doctor has strapped it up.他断了一根肋骨，医生已包扎好了。

4 percussion   

n.打击乐器；冲突，撞击；震动，音响

参考例句：

• In an orchestra,people who play percussion instruments sit at the back.在管弦乐队中，演奏打击乐器的人会坐在后面。
• Percussion of the abdomen is often omitted.腹部叩诊常被省略。

5 marrow   

n.骨髓；精华；活力

参考例句：

• It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
• He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。

6 conducive   

adj.有益的，有助的

参考例句：

• This is a more conducive atmosphere for studying.这样的氛围更有利于学习。
• Exercise is conducive to good health.体育锻炼有助于增强体质。

7 utensils   

器具，用具，器皿( utensil的名词复数 )； 器物

参考例句：

• Formerly most of our household utensils were made of brass. 以前我们家庭用的器皿多数是用黄铜做的。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。