VOA常速英语2015--法国史前洞穴复制品对人们开放（在线收听）

Replica of Prehistoric Cave Opens in France 法国史前洞穴复制品对人们开放

A detailed copy of a cave containing the oldest figurative drawings made by Europe’s prehistoric inhabitants opened over the weekend [April 25.2015] in France, not far from the original cave. The replica was built because the original drawings are too fragile to be exposed for public viewing.

On December 18, 1994, a group of French speleologists exploring caves in southern France entered a previously unknown area.

1994年12月18日, 在法国南部探索洞穴的一队洞穴学者们进入到了一个未知的领域。

Jean Marie Chauvet, who was leading the group, said, “And I was in the front, Eliette behind me, Christian behind. Eliette said she saw two marks made with red ochre and she said: "They came here." and at this very moment everything began. The drawings and everything linked to the parietal art. That's where it started.”

这个探险队的领导人让·玛丽·肖维说:“当时我在前面,身后是埃利特,克里斯蒂安紧随其后。埃利特说她发现了红赭石的两个标记后说道:“他们曾到过这里。”一切从此时此刻开始。画作和一切都同岩洞顶部壁画艺术联系起来。这是它的发源地。”

The cave walls were covered with drawings of animals, some of them long extinct in Europe. Their quality and elegance were remarkable. Mammoths, panthers, bears, cave lions and cave hyenas, competed with horses, rhinoceros and cattle. A few of the drawings even depicted movement.

这个洞穴的岩壁上铺满了动物的绘画,其中一些在欧洲已经灭绝很长时间。这些绘画有着非常高的质量和艺术价值。猛犸象、豹、熊、洞穴狮子和鬣狗,还有马、犀牛和牛。还有一些绘画则是描绘运动。

Cave art specialist Jean Clottes was assigned to evaluate their significance.

洞穴艺术专家吉恩·科勒特斯负责评估这些绘画的意义。

“I was amazed at the number of paintings there were and of their quality and particularly in front of the panel of the horses,” said Clottes.

“这些绘画的数量和质量让我感到惊讶,尤其是前面马的绘画。”

Most of the paintings were done with charcoal but for some, the prehistoric artists used red ochre.

大多数的绘画都是用木炭完成,但对一些人来说,这些史前艺术家们使用的是红赭石。

More than 30,000- years - old, they are considered the oldest human cave drawings ever discovered. In 2014, the Chauvet Cave - named after the first explorer who entered it - was listed by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.

这些已经有超过30000年历史的绘画作品被认为是迄今为止所发现最为古老的洞穴壁画。2014年,以第一位进入它的人命名的肖维岩洞被联合国教科文组织列为世界文化遗产。

As the originals and their environment are too fragile, the cave is now sealed and the access restricted to only scientific purposes.

而随着这些原作及其环境受到严重侵蚀,肖维岩洞现在已经被封而且仅限科学目才能访问。

Last week, after spending $59 million, French authorities opened an exact replica, called Pont d'Arc Cavern.

上周，在斥资5900万后,法国当局向人们开放了阿尔克桥岩洞的复制品。

Its president, Pascal Terrasse, said sculptors, painters and other experts created an environment in which everyone will be able to experience the thrill of looking at drawings made by the first humans in Europe.

其主席帕斯卡尔·特拉赛表示雕刻家,画家及其他专家创造了一个环境,使得置身于此的每个人都能体验到欧洲第一批人类绘画作品带来的震撼。

“And this place will be open to humanity, everybody will be able to come and visit the Pont d'Arc Cavern, and you will not feel that it is a replica, because this place is magic and it has been done so well,” he said.

“这个地方将会对所有人开放,每个人可以参观阿尔克桥岩洞,你不会感到这是复制品,因为这个地方好像被赋予了魔法而且它一直这样令人叹为观止。”

Authorities say they expect as many as 400,000 visitors annually.

当局称他们希望每年多达400000名游客来这里进行参观。