英国科学家称已发现战争的最古老证据

AS IT IS 2016-01-25 Scientists Find Most Ancient Evidence of War

British scientists say they have found the oldest known evidence of war.

Researchers discovered the remains¹ of 27 people near Lake Turkana in northern Kenya. Scientists say they believe the remains are from a Stone Age culture of about 10,000 years ago. The so-called Nataruk fossils show signs of a violent attack.

The dig also uncovered weapons including arrows, clubs and stone blades. The scientists published a paper on their findings in the journal Nature.

Marta Mirazon Lahr was the lead investigator². She is a paleoanthropologist at the University of Cambridge in Britain. She wrote that the victims were people who hunted, fished and gathered plants for food.

She described the 10,000-year-old battle in which they were killed as a “brutal³” attack.

One skeleton was found with a blade of volcanic⁴ glass still stuck in his head. A woman in late pregnancy⁵ appeared to have been bound by her hands and feet.

Our species arose 200,000 years ago in Africa. Many experts had thought war did not begin until humans started to form settled communities. But the Nataruk people were nomadic⁶ hunter-gatherers of an earlier period.

So, scientist Lahr says, the findings “raise the question of whether warfare⁷ has been part of the human experience for much longer than previously⁸ thought."

The remains found included 21 adults and six children. Most of the children were younger than 6.

Words in This Story

Stone Age – n. the oldest period in which human beings are known to have existed: the age during which humans made and used stone tools

club – n. a heavy usually wooden stick that is used as a weapon?

blade – n. the flat sharp part of a weapon or tool that is used for cutting?

paleoanthropologist – n. a researcher of the origins and predecessors⁹ of the present human species, using fossils and other remains?

brutal – adj. extremely cruel?

nomadic – adj. of, or relating to, a group of people who move from place to place instead of living in one place all the time

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

3 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

4 volcanic   

adj.火山的；象火山的；由火山引起的

参考例句：

• There have been several volcanic eruptions this year.今年火山爆发了好几次。
• Volcanic activity has created thermal springs and boiling mud pools.火山活动产生了温泉和沸腾的泥浆池。

5 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

6 nomadic   

adj.流浪的；游牧的

参考例句：

• This tribe still live a nomadic life.这个民族仍然过着游牧生活。
• The plowing culture and the nomadic culture are two traditional principal cultures in China.农耕文化与游牧文化是我国传统的两大主体文化。

7 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

9 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》