2022年10月23日 VOA慢速英語：研究：尼安德特人形成了小而緊密的社區(qū)

 

A new study suggests Neanderthals formed small, close communities where females may have traveled to move in with their mates.
一項新的研究表明，尼安德特人形成了小而緊密的社區(qū)，女性可能會前往這些社區(qū)與伴侶同居。
 
The research used genetic investigation to offer an idea of Neanderthal family life — including a father and his daughter who lived in Siberia more than 50,000 years ago.
該研究通過基因調查提供了一個關于尼安德特人家庭生活的想法——包括一位父親和他的女兒，他們在 50,000 多年前居住在西伯利亞。
 
Researchers were able to pull DNA out of tiny bone pieces found in two Russian caves. In their study, which appeared recently in the publication Nature, they used genetic data to map out relationships between 13 different Neanderthals and get information about how they lived.
研究人員能夠從兩個俄羅斯洞穴中發(fā)現的微小骨塊中提取DNA 。在他們最近發(fā)表在《自然》雜志上的研究中，他們使用遺傳數據來繪制 13 種不同尼安德特人之間的關系，并獲取有關他們如何生活的信息。
 
Bence Viola of the University of Toronto helped write the study.
多倫多大學的本斯??·維奧拉幫助撰寫了這項研究。
 
"When I work on a bone or two, it's very easy to forget that these are actually people with their own lives and stories," Viola said. He added, "Figuring out how they're related to each other really makes them much more human."
“當我在一兩塊骨頭上工作時，很容易忘記這些人實際上是有自己的生活和故事的人，”維奧拉說。他補充說，“弄清楚它們是如何相互關聯的，真的會讓它們變得更加人性化。”
 
The Neanderthals, our ancient relatives, lived across Europe and Asia for hundreds of thousands of years. They died out around 40,000 years ago, shortly after our species, Homo sapiens, arrived in Europe from Africa.
尼安德特人，我們的遠親，在歐洲和亞洲生活了數十萬年。它們在大約 40,000 年前滅絕，在我們的物種智人從非洲抵達歐洲后不久。
 
Scientists have only recently been able to study these early humans' DNA. New Nobel prize winner Svante Paabo — who was one of the writers of this latest study — published the first study of a Neanderthal genome more than 10 years ago.
科學家們直到最近才能夠研究這些早期人類的 DNA。新諾貝爾獎得主 Svante Paabo 是這項最新研究的作者之一，他在 10 多年前發(fā)表了第一項關于尼安德特人基因組的研究。
 
Since then, scientists have sequenced 18 Neanderthal genomes, said study lead writer Laurits Skov of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
馬克斯普朗克進化人類學研究所的研究主要作者勞里茨斯科夫說，從那時起，科學家們已經對 18 個尼安德特人的基因組進行了測序。
 
But it is rare to find bones from multiple Neanderthals from the same time and place, he said — which is why these cave discoveries were so special.
但他說，很難從同一時間和地點找到多個尼安德特人的骨頭，這就是為什么這些洞穴發(fā)現如此特別的原因。
 
"If there was ever a chance to find a Neanderthal community, this would be it," Skov said.
“如果有機會找到一個尼安德特人社區(qū)，那就是它，”斯科夫說。
The caves, located in hills above a river valley, have been a rich source of materials from stone tools to fossil pieces, Viola said. With their view of animals in the valley below, Neanderthals may have used the caves as a hunting stop.
維奧拉說，這些洞穴位于河谷上方的山丘上，是從石器到化石碎片的豐富材料來源。尼安德特人可以看到下面山谷中的動物，他們可能將洞穴用作狩獵站。
 
Researchers digging at the caves have found remains from at least 12 different Neanderthals, Viola said. These remains usually come in small bits and pieces — "a finger bone here, a tooth there" — but they're enough for scientists to get valuable DNA details.
維奧拉說，在洞穴中挖掘的研究人員發(fā)現了至少 12 個不同尼安德特人的遺骸。這些遺骸通常是零碎的——“這里有一根指骨，那里有一顆牙齒”——但它們足以讓科學家們獲得有價值的 DNA 細節(jié)。
 
The researchers were able to identify a couple of relatives among the group. Along with the father and daughter, there were two other relatives.
研究人員能夠在這群人中識別出幾個親戚。除了父女之外，還有另外兩個親戚。
 
Overall, the study found that everyone in the group had a lot of DNA in common. That suggests that at least in this area, Neanderthals lived in very small communities of 10 to 20 individuals, the authors concluded. But not everyone in these groups stayed together.
總體而言，研究發(fā)現小組中的每個人都有很多共同的 DNA。這表明，至少在這個地區(qū)，尼安德特人生活在非常小的社區(qū)，只有 10 到 20 個人，作者總結道。但并不是這些群體中的每個人都在一起。
 
Researchers looked at other genetic information from mitochondrial DNA, which is passed down on the mother's side, and the Y chromosome, which is passed down on the father's side.
研究人員從線粒體 DNA 中查看了其他遺傳信息，線粒體 DNA 遺傳給母親，Y 染色體遺傳給父親。
 
The female side showed more genetic differences than the male side. This suggests females may have moved around more, Skov said. It is possible that when a female Neanderthal found a mate, she would leave home to live with his family.
女性側比男性側表現出更多的遺傳差異。斯科夫說，這表明雌性可能移動得更多。有可能當一個雌性尼安德特人找到配偶后，她會離開家與他的家人一起生活。
 
University of Wisconsin anthropologist John Hawks, who was not involved in the study, said the research was an exciting use of ancient DNA evidence, even as many questions remain about Neanderthal social structures and lifestyles.
威斯康星大學人類學家約翰霍克斯沒有參與這項研究，他說這項研究是對古代 DNA 證據的一次令人興奮的使用，盡管關于尼安德特人的社會結構和生活方式仍然存在許多問題。
 
Figuring out how early humans lived is like "putting together a puzzle where we have many, many missing pieces," Hawks said. But this study means there are "more pieces on the table."
霍克斯說，弄清楚早期人類的生活就像“拼湊一個我們有很多很多缺失部分的謎題”。但這項研究意味著“桌面上還有更多的東西”。