2021年经济学人 南美洲的一个葬礼面具引发了有趣的问题

Science and Technology

科技版块

Funerary rituals

葬礼仪式

Blood not so simple

血不是那么简单

A South American funeral mask raises intriguing¹ questions

南美洲的一个葬礼面具引发了有趣的问题

A funeral mask, photographed by Yoshii Yutaka of the Sicán Archaeological Project, in Peru, was discovered 30 years ago, 800km to the north of Lima.

这幅丧葬面具由秘鲁西坎考古项目的吉井丰拍摄的，30年前在利马以北800公里处发现的。

The Sicán were a group who flourished around 500 years before the arrival, in the 1500s, of Europeans.

西坎人是大约500年前，在16世纪欧洲人到来之前就已经繁荣昌盛的一个群体。

The red paint adorning² the mask is made of cinnabar, a compound of mercury and sulphur.

面具上的红色颜料是由朱砂制成的，朱砂是汞和硫的化合物。

But turning cinnabar into paint requires a binding⁴ agent—and in this case it must have been a good one, to keep the paint attached to the mask for so long.

但是把朱砂变成颜料需要一种粘合剂，在这种情况下，必定是一种很好的粘合剂，才能让颜料附着在面具上这么长时间。

Luciana da Costa Carvalho of Oxford⁵ University therefore set out to discover what it was.

因此，牛津大学的卢西亚娜·达·科斯塔·卡瓦略开始探索这种粘合剂到底是什么。

Initial mass spectroscopy suggested proteins were involved, but shed no light on which.

最初的质谱分析表明涉及蛋白质，但并没有阐明具体是哪种。

A follow-up study, however, produced the astonishing suggestion that the binder⁶ in question was chimpanzee blood—astonishing because chimps⁷ are African, not American animals.

然而，一项后续研究得出了一个令人咋舌的结论，即所讨论的粘合剂是黑猩猩的血液，令人惊讶的是，黑猩猩是非洲动物，而不是美洲动物。

Further investigation⁸ revealed the mistake.

进一步调查发现了这个错误。

The blood was actually from chimps' close relatives, Homo sapiens.

这些血液实际上来自黑猩猩的近亲——智人。

Human blood is sticky when it clots⁹, and would certainly bind³ cinnabar to gold for a millennium—but so would that of many other species.

人类血液凝结时是粘性的，可以将朱砂和黄金粘合长达一千年，但许多其他物种的血液也是如此。

This suggests human blood in particular was chosen for another, presumably ritual, reason.

这表明，特别选择了人类的血液，大概是仪式原因。

Being picked as the donor¹⁰ of this blood may well have been an honour, though that is impossible to tell.

尽管这很难说明白，但是被选为这种血液的捐献者可能是一种荣誉。

But given many pre-Columbian peoples' proclivity¹¹ for human sacrifice, rather than mere¹² bloodletting, it might not have been an honour that was highly sought after.

但考虑到许多前哥伦布时代，人们倾向于活人献祭，而不仅仅是放血，这可能不是一项备受追捧的荣誉。

1 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 adorning   

修饰，装饰物

参考例句：

• Many have gems adorning their foreheads, and gold bands on their arms. 许多人在前额上挂着宝石，手臂上戴着金饰。
• The commandments, or rules, are like pure white pearls adorning the wearer. （喻）戒律洁白，可以庄严人身，好像晶莹可爱的宝珠。

3 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

4 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

5 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

6 binder   

n.包扎物，包扎工具；[法]临时契约；粘合剂；装订工

参考例句：

• The cloth flower snaps on with a special binder.这布花是用一种特殊的粘合剂固定住的。
• Purified water was used as liquid binder.纯净水作为液体粘合剂。

7 chimps   

（非洲）黑猩猩( chimp的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Chimps are too scarce, and too nearly human, to be routinely slaughtered for spare parts. 黑猩猩又太少，也太接近于人类，不可以作为人器官备用件说杀就杀。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命
• And as nonprimates, they provoke fewer ethical and safety-related concerns than chimps or baboons. 而且作为非灵长类，就不会产生像用黑猩猩或狒狒那样的伦理和安全方面的顾虑。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

8 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

9 clots   

n.凝块( clot的名词复数 )；血块；蠢人；傻瓜v.凝固( clot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• When you cut yourself, blood clots and forms a scab. 你割破了，血会凝固、结痂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Milk clots when it turns sour. 奶变酸就凝块。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

10 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

11 proclivity   

n.倾向，癖性

参考例句：

• He has a proclivity toward violence.他有暴力的倾向。
• He has a proclivity for exaggeration.他总爱夸夸其谈。

12 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。