纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 008埃及彩绘陶牛（4）

The owner of our four clay cows would have been laid in an oval pit. He would have been placed in a crouched¹ position, lying on a mat of rushes, facing the setting sun. And around him were his grave goods - items of value for his journey into the afterlife, five and a half thousand years ago; among them his four clay cows. Cow models like this one are quite common, so we can be fairly sure that cows must have played a significant part in Egyptian daily life - such an important part, in fact, that they couldn't be left behind when the owner passed through death and on into the afterlife. How did this humble² beast become so important to human beings? Martin Jones, Professor of Archaeological Science at Cambridge University, is an expert in the archaeology³ of food:

我们这些小陶牛的墓主被长眠着一座椭圆型的土坑里。他被放置成为蜷缩的姿势，躺在一张蒲草垫上，面向落日的方向。他身边环绕着他的随葬品，都是一些在他踏上来生旅程上可以用到的物品，而这些掩埋在五千五百年岁月尘埃中的物品，就包括他的四只小陶牛。类似的陶牛模型在那时的埃及相当普遍，所以我们可以肯定牛在当时人类日常生活发挥了相当重要的作用。作用性大到，即使主人的死亡也不能使他与他的牛群分开，要一同带往来生。那么这种不起眼的牲畜是如何变得对人类如此重要的呢？剑桥大学的考古学教授马丁·琼斯是食物考古专家：

If we think of the human diet in two steps - one is with early modern humans, there is an enormous adventurous⁴ diversification⁵. We were eating everything - seeds, fish, mammoths, birds - anything that moves we are finding a way to eat it. And then there is a second episode, which starts around ten thousand years ago, where we seem to home in on a small number of target species, particularly grass seeds what we call cereals, underground tubers, and a small number of animals.'

“如果我们把人类饮食分成两个阶段，第一阶段便是早期现代人种，当时人类的饮食范围真是一种庞大而冒险的多样化。几乎什么东西都吃——种子、鱼、猛犸象、鸟类等等。只要那东西会动，我们就会想方设法抓来吃。然后第二阶段，大概开始于一万年前左右， 我们开始把注意力集中在种类相对较少的食物品种上，最多的是草籽，或者我们所说的谷物，地下块茎，还有就是极少数的动物。

1 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

2 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

3 archaeology   

n.考古学

参考例句：

• She teaches archaeology at the university.她在大学里教考古学。
• He displayed interest in archaeology.他对考古学有兴趣。

4 adventurous   

adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的　

参考例句：

• I was filled with envy at their adventurous lifestyle.我很羨慕他们敢于冒险的生活方式。
• He was predestined to lead an adventurous life.他注定要过冒险的生活。

5 diversification   

n.变化，多样化；多种经营

参考例句：

• The seminar was to discuss diversification of agriculture. 该研讨会讨论的是农业多种经营。 来自辞典例句
• Firm diversification is increasingly achieved by the means of takeover and merger. 通过接管和兼并，厂商经营范围日益多样化。 来自辞典例句