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Newly identified partial skeletons of "mysterious humans" excavated at two caves in southwest China display a unique mix of primitive and modern anatomical features, scientists say. |
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在中國西南方兩座洞穴裡發掘出來的「神秘人類」局部骨骸最近完成鑑定,那些骨骸顯示出融合了原始人與現代人的結構特徵,狀況甚為獨特,科學家表示。 |
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"Their skulls are anatomically unique. They look very different to all modern humans, whether alive today or in Africa 150,000 years ago," said evolutionary biologist Darren Curnoe, the lead author of the study, from the University of New South Wales in Australia. |
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「他們的頭骨在解剖結構上極為獨特,看起來和所有的現代人都很不一樣,不論是現今存活的人類還是十五萬年前生活在非洲的人類,」澳洲新南威爾斯大學演化生物學家戴倫.柯諾說,他是這項研究的主要作者。 |
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The fossils found at excavation sites in Longlin Cave, in Guangxi Province, and the Maludong Cave, in Yunnan Province, indicate that the stone-aged people had short, flat faces and lacked a modern chin. |
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They had thick skulls, a rounded brain case, prominent brow ridges and a moderate-size brain. |
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在廣西省隆林洞和雲南省馬鹿洞的挖掘現場所發現的這些化石,顯示這種石器時代的人類臉龐又短又扁平,而且沒有現代人的下巴。他們的頭骨很厚,腦殼渾圓,眉稜骨突出,腦部大小居中。 |
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They were dubbed the "Red Deer Cave" people because scientists say these prehistoric people hunted extinct red deer and cooked them in the cave at Maludong, where four of the five partial skeletal fossils were found. |
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他們被稱為「紅鹿洞」人,因為科學家說這群史前人類會獵捕現已絕種的紅鹿,在馬鹿洞的山洞裡煮來吃,科學家在這裡發現這五具局部骨骸化石中的四具。 |
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Whether the Red Deer Cave people are indeed a new species indicating a new evolutionary line or whether they are a very early population of modern humans remains a controversial topic of discussion among scientists. |
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紅鹿洞人究竟是個新演化線的新種系,還是現代人的一個極早期族群,在科學家之間仍是個充滿爭議的議題。 |
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The team of Australian and Chinese researchers remains cautiously optimistic when it comes to classifying what they have unearthed. |
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這群澳洲與中國研究人員對於他們挖掘出的骨骸應如何分類,仍然抱持審慎樂觀的態度。 |
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"The evidence is quite fairly balanced at the moment," Curnoe said. "It's weighted towards the idea that the Red Deer Cave people might represent a new population, possibly a new species" |
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「目前的證據頗為平衡,」柯諾說:「證據比較偏向紅鹿洞人可能是個新族群,甚至是新物種。」 |
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Archaeological evidence dates these prehistoric hunters and gatherers to 14,500 to 11,500 years ago, indicating that for a sliver of time in East Asia, the Red Deer Cave people may have shared the landscape with modern-looking people who displayed the beginnings of farming. |
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考古證據顯示,這些史前狩獵採集者的存在時間約為一萬四千五百至一萬一千五百年前。由此可見,紅鹿洞人在東亞可能曾有一小段時間與初步從事農業的現代化人種共存過。 |