本集內(nèi)容

World’s oldest known cave art 世界上已知最古老的洞穴壁畫(huà)

學(xué)習(xí)要點(diǎn)

有關(guān) “old things and the past（古物古事）” 的詞匯

邊看邊答

What could be damaging the paintings?

文字稿

Here in this remote valley is the world’s oldest known paintings of animals. The discovery, made by Basran Burhan, a doctoral student at Australia’s Griffith University.

在這個(gè)偏遠(yuǎn)的山谷里，有世界上已知最古老的動(dòng)物繪畫(huà)。它是由澳大利亞格里菲斯大學(xué)的博士生巴斯蘭·伯翰發(fā)現(xiàn)的。

Basran Burhan, archaeologist
On a map, we found this unique location. The area is surrounded by mountains, and in the middle, there is this valley. So, we were curious and decided to explore. The name means ‘buffalo cave’. During the monsoon, this area easily floods. So, in the past, our ancestors kept their buffaloes inside the cave, to protect them.

巴斯蘭·伯翰       考古學(xué)家
“我們?cè)诘貓D上找到了這個(gè)獨(dú)特的地點(diǎn)。這一帶群山環(huán)繞，山谷坐落在中央。所以我們很好奇，決定前去一探究竟。這個(gè)名字的意思是‘水牛洞’。季風(fēng)時(shí)節(jié)，這一帶易發(fā)洪水。所以在遠(yuǎn)古時(shí)代，我們的祖先為了保護(hù)水牛，會(huì)把它們趕到洞里?！?

Fifty metres inside the cave, they found this panel that appears to tell the story of wild pigs fighting.

在洞穴內(nèi)50米處，他們發(fā)現(xiàn)了這處壁畫(huà)，似乎講述了野豬搏斗的故事。

Basran Burha, archaeologist
The panel expresses quite a complex narrative. Two boars are painted on top of each other. If we look closely at [the] pigs, it looks like the artist has used a brush dipped into paint to make the strokes on the cave wall. We see a different style with the hands. It appears as if a spray technique was used. They put their hands on the wall and then sprayed the pigment on.

巴斯蘭·伯翰       考古學(xué)家
“這處壁畫(huà)講述了一個(gè)相當(dāng)復(fù)雜的故事。有兩只野豬，一只被畫(huà)在了另一只上方。如果我們仔細(xì)觀察這些豬，會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)作畫(huà)者是用刷子蘸著顏料，一筆筆畫(huà)在洞壁上的。這邊，手印的繪畫(huà)風(fēng)格有所不同?？瓷先ハ袷怯昧藝娡考夹g(shù)，先把手按在墻上，然后將顏料噴了上去?！?

Using a uranium series isotope dating technique, it’s been revealed that it was made more than 45,000 years ago.

利用鈾系同位素測(cè)年技術(shù)，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)這是4萬(wàn)千多年前被畫(huà)出來(lái)的。

The team of archaeologists behind the discovery say even older paintings may be found in nearby caves.

發(fā)現(xiàn)這個(gè)洞穴的考古學(xué)家團(tuán)隊(duì)表示，在附近其它洞穴內(nèi)甚至可能會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)更古老的繪畫(huà)。

This ancient art, a source of great national pride.

這項(xiàng)古老的藝術(shù)是民族自豪感的源泉。

Researchers are warning that the art is decaying at an alarming rate due to the effects of climate change, rising temperatures causing these ancient paintings to crumble.

研究人員警告說(shuō)，由于氣候變化的影響，這些壁畫(huà)正以驚人的速度消退，氣溫上升導(dǎo)致了這些古老的畫(huà)作支離破碎。

詞匯

ancestors 祖先

archaeologists 考古學(xué)家

ancient 古老的

decaying 破敗，消退

crumble 破碎，粉碎

問(wèn)題答案

Climate change, with rising temperatures, is believed to be damaging the paintings.