VOA慢速英语--洞穴壁画显示尼安德特人是真正的艺术家

A new study suggests that Neanderthals made art far earlier than once believed, perhaps some 20,000 years before the appearance of modern humans in Europe.

The recent study, which appeared in the Proceedings¹ of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), suggests Neanderthals used a red ochre pigment², a kind of red, earthy paint, to make cave art some 65,000 years ago.

Modern humans did not exist in Europe at the time the cave images were made.

The paintings in the Caves of Ardales, near Málaga in southern Spain, add to increasing evidence that Neanderthals, who died off about 40,000 years ago, were more complex than is commonly believed.

Pigments³ - natural coloring materials - were made in the caves at different times up to 15,000 and 20,000 years apart, the study found. Earlier research had suggested that the pigments were the result of natural processes rather than being man-made.

Joāo Zilhāo was one of the authors of the study. Zilhāo said dating methods showed that ochre had been spat⁴ by Neanderthals onto stalagmites, possibly as part of a ritual⁵.

Stalagmites are pointed⁶ pieces of rock that stick up from the floor of a cave.

Zilhāo suggested that the study helps to change our opinions, or attitudes, about Neanderthals.

"They were closer to humans. Recent research has shown they liked objects, they mated with humans and now we can show that they painted caves like us," he said.

Wall paintings made by early modern humans, such as those found in the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave of France, are more than 30,000 years old.

Words in This Story

spit – v. to force (something, such as food or liquid) from your mouth

ritual – n. a formal ceremony or series of acts that is always performed in the same wa

1 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

2 pigment   

n.天然色素，干粉颜料

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls.古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。
• Who thought he might know what the skin pigment phenomenon meant.他自认为可能知道皮肤色素出现这种现象到底是怎么回事。

3 pigments   

n.（粉状）颜料( pigment的名词复数 )；天然色素

参考例句：

• The Romans used natural pigments on their fabrics and walls. 古罗马人在织物和墙壁上使用天然颜料。 来自辞典例句
• The original white lead pigments have oxidized and turned black. 最初的白色铅质颜料氧化后变成了黑色。 来自辞典例句

4 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。

5 ritual   

adj.例行的，老规矩的，惯常的

参考例句：

• This was the monthly ritual.这是每月一次的例规。
• I realized that here the conventions required me to make the ritual noises.我意识到此时按照惯例我应该说些客套话。

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。