2022年10月23日 VOA慢速英语：研究：尼安德特人形成了小而紧密的社区

 

A new study suggests Neanderthals formed small, close communities where females may have traveled to move in with their mates.
一项新的研究表明，尼安德特人形成了小而紧密的社区，女性可能会前往这些社区与伴侣同居。
 
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.
该研究通过基因调查提供了一个关于尼安德特人家庭生活的想法——包括一位父亲和他的女儿，他们在 50,000 多年前居住在西伯利亚。
 
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.
研究人员能够从两个俄罗斯洞穴中发现的微小骨块中提取DNA 。在他们最近发表在《自然》杂志上的研究中，他们使用遗传数据来绘制 13 种不同尼安德特人之间的关系，并获取有关他们如何生活的信息。
 
Bence Viola of the University of Toronto helped write the study.
多伦多大学的本斯​​·维奥拉帮助撰写了这项研究。
 
"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."
“当我在一两块骨头上工作时，很容易忘记这些人实际上是有自己的生活和故事的人，”维奥拉说。他补充说，“弄清楚它们是如何相互关联的，真的会让它们变得更加人性化。”
 
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，我们的远亲，在欧洲和亚洲生活了数十万年。它们在大约 40,000 年前灭绝，在我们的物种智人从非洲抵达欧洲后不久。
 
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.
科学家们直到最近才能够研究这些早期人类的 DNA。新诺贝尔奖得主 Svante Paabo 是这项最新研究的作者之一，他在 10 多年前发表了第一项关于尼安德特人基因组的研究。
 
Since then, scientists have sequenced 18 Neanderthal genomes, said study lead writer Laurits Skov of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology.
马克斯普朗克进化人类学研究所的研究主要作者劳里茨斯科夫说，从那时起，科学家们已经对 18 个尼安德特人的基因组进行了测序。
 
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.
但他说，很难从同一时间和地点找到多个尼安德特人的骨头，这就是为什么这些洞穴发现如此特别的原因。
 
"If there was ever a chance to find a Neanderthal community, this would be it," Skov said.
“如果有机会找到一个尼安德特人社区，那就是它，”斯科夫说。
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.
维奥拉说，这些洞穴位于河谷上方的山丘上，是从石器到化石碎片的丰富材料来源。尼安德特人可以看到下面山谷中的动物，他们可能将洞穴用作狩猎站。
 
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.
维奥拉说，在洞穴中挖掘的研究人员发现了至少 12 个不同尼安德特人的遗骸。这些遗骸通常是零碎的——“这里有一根指骨，那里有一颗牙齿”——但它们足以让科学家们获得有价值的 DNA 细节。
 
The researchers were able to identify a couple of relatives among the group. Along with the father and daughter, there were two other relatives.
研究人员能够在这群人中识别出几个亲戚。除了父女之外，还有另外两个亲戚。
 
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.
总体而言，研究发现小组中的每个人都有很多共同的 DNA。这表明，至少在这个地区，尼安德特人生活在非常小的社区，只有 10 到 20 个人，作者总结道。但并不是这些群体中的每个人都在一起。
 
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.
研究人员从线粒体 DNA 中查看了其他遗传信息，线粒体 DNA 遗传给母亲，Y 染色体遗传给父亲。
 
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.
女性侧比男性侧表现出更多的遗传差异。斯科夫说，这表明雌性可能移动得更多。有可能当一个雌性尼安德特人找到配偶后，她会离开家与他的家人一起生活。
 
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.
威斯康星大学人类学家约翰霍克斯没有参与这项研究，他说这项研究是对古代 DNA 证据的一次令人兴奋的使用，尽管关于尼安德特人的社会结构和生活方式仍然存在许多问题。
 
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."
霍克斯说，弄清楚早期人类的生活就像“拼凑一个我们有很多很多缺失部分的谜题”。但这项研究意味着“桌面上还有更多的东西”。