TED演讲:达顿解释达尔文主义的美的理论(6)

But, someone might argue, that's natural beauty.

但有人也许会争辩，那是自然美。

How about artistic¹ beauty? Isn't that exhaustively cultural?

艺术的美又如何呢？那难道不是纯粹的文化影响吗？

No, I don't think it is. And once again, I'd like to look back to prehistory to say something about it.

不，我不这么认为。再次，我们回到史前，聊聊史前的一些事。

It is widely assumed that the earliest human artworks are the stupendously skillful cave paintings that we all know from Lascaux and Chauvet.

普遍认为，最早的人类艺术品是极富技巧的洞穴画，我们都知道从拉斯科洞窟到萧韦洞窟。

Chauvet caves are about 32,000 years old, along with a few small, realistic sculptures of women and animals from the same period.

萧韦洞窟大约有3万2千年的历史，其中还有同一时期的一些小的、写实的妇女和动物的雕像。

But artistic and decorative² skills are actually much older than that.

但艺术和装饰技巧的存在实际上要更早些。

Beautiful shell necklaces that look like something you'd see at an arts and crafts fair,

漂亮的贝壳项链，看起来就像是艺术品和手工艺品，

as well as ochre body paint, have been found from around 100,000 years ago.

还有赭色的人体绘画，远在10万年前就存在了。

But the most intriguing³ prehistoric⁴ artifacts are older even than this.

但最酷的史前人工制品比这些还要早。

I have in mind the so-called Acheulian hand axes.

我印象中是被称为阿舍利手斧的手工制品。

The oldest stone tools are choppers from the Olduvai Gorge⁵ in East Africa.

最古老的石制工具是在东非的奥杜威峡谷发现的石斧。

They go back about two-and-a-half-million years.

它的历史要追溯到两百五十万年前。

These crude tools were around for thousands of centuries,

这类粗糙的工具存在了数千个世纪，

until around 1.4 million years ago when Homo erectus started shaping single, thin stone blades,

直到大约一百四十万年前，直立人开始打磨单个的薄石刀片，

sometimes rounded ovals, but often in what are to our eyes an arresting, symmetrical pointed⁶ leaf or teardrop form.

有时是椭圆形的，但通常，在我们眼中，是醒目的对称的尖叶子形或泪滴形。

These Acheulian hand axes -- they're named after St. Acheul in France, where finds were made in 19th century

这些阿舍利手斧--名称取自法国的圣阿舍尔，这些手斧是十九世纪在那儿发现的

have been unearthed⁷ in their thousands, scattered⁸ across Asia, Europe and Africa,

出土了数千件，散布在亚洲、欧洲和非洲，

almost everywhere Homo erectus and Homo ergaster roamed.

几乎遍布每一处直立人或者匠人到过的地方。

Now, the sheer numbers of these hand axes shows that they can't have been made for butchering animals.

这些手斧众多的数量表明它们不是用于屠宰动物。

And the plot really thickens when you realize that, unlike other pleistocene tools,

更复杂的是当你考虑到，不像其他更新世的工具，

the hand axes often exhibit no evidence of wear on their delicate blade edges.

在这些手斧精美脆弱的刀刃边缘找不到任何磨损的痕迹。

And some, in any event, are too big to use for butchery.

而且它们中的一些，无论用在屠宰什么动物上，都太大了点。

Their symmetry, their attractive materials and, above all,

它们的对称性和引人注意的材料，还有，尤其是，

their meticulous⁹ workmanship are simply quite beautiful to our eyes, even today.

它们那精细的做工对我们来说非常美丽，即使在今天也是如此。

1 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

2 decorative   

adj.装饰的，可作装饰的

参考例句：

• This ware is suitable for decorative purpose but unsuitable for utility.这种器皿中看不中用。
• The style is ornate and highly decorative.这种风格很华丽，而且装饰效果很好。

3 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

5 gorge   

n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃

参考例句：

• East of the gorge leveled out.峡谷东面地势变得平坦起来。
• It made my gorge rise to hear the news.这消息令我作呕。

6 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

7 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

8 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

9 meticulous   

adj.极其仔细的，一丝不苟的

参考例句：

• We'll have to handle the matter with meticulous care.这事一点不能含糊。
• She is meticulous in her presentation of facts.她介绍事实十分详细。