How Art Made The World 人、艺术、世界 -02

What if we go back 2,000 years?

This is the image of a horse from classical antiquity¹. It was made to decorate a Roman household, about one hundred years before Christ. And clearly the artists here had no problems with two-dimensional representation.

We've gone back another thousand years to 1200 B.C. This tiny fragment comes from ancient Egypt, and the person who painted it knew perfectly² well how to represent something in the world around them. We're going to have to go back much much further.

This is northern Spain, a place called Altamira. We've come here because towards the end of the 19th century a discovery was made at Altamira that would radically³ alter our understanding of when the world's first images were created. This historic discovery was made by a 9-year-old girl.

Her name was Maria. (Maria?)
She was the daughter of Marcelino de Sautuola, a local Spanish nobleman who was also an amateur archeologist. He became intrigued⁴ by Altamira and in autumn 1879, Maria and her father paid the cave a visit.

This was a cave that was completely unknown until a few years before. Even though I was a mere⁵ amateur, I was determined⁶ to undertake my own investigations⁷.

As a gentleman scholar, de Sautuola took a serious interest in finding out more about the prehistoric⁸ past. But like other archeologists of the day, he assumed that the people who once settled or sheltered in these caves were little more than savages⁹: uncouth¹⁰, lowbrow, hardly better than apes and certainly incapable¹¹ of any kind of creative achievement.

I hoped that through these investigations we would manage to tear away the thick veil that separates us from the origins and customs of the ancient inhabitants of these mountains.

1 antiquity   

n.古老；高龄；古物，古迹

参考例句：

• The museum contains the remains of Chinese antiquity.博物馆藏有中国古代的遗物。
• There are many legends about the heroes of antiquity.有许多关于古代英雄的传说。

2 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

3 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

4 intrigued   

adj.好奇的，被迷住了的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的过去式)；激起…的兴趣或好奇心；“intrigue”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You've really intrigued me—tell me more! 你说的真有意思—再给我讲一些吧！
• He was intrigued by her story. 他被她的故事迷住了。

5 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

6 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

7 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 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。

9 savages   

未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There're some savages living in the forest. 森林里居住着一些野人。
• That's an island inhabited by savages. 那是一个野蛮人居住的岛屿。

10 uncouth   

adj.无教养的，粗鲁的

参考例句：

• She may embarrass you with her uncouth behavior.她的粗野行为可能会让你尴尬。
• His nephew is an uncouth young man.他的侄子是一个粗野的年轻人。

11 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。