60秒科学:Grain Use Well before Modern Agriculture

Grain Use Well before Modern Agriculture
A study in the journal Science finds evidence that early modern humans were making use of grains, which required significant processing before eating, 100,000 years ago. Cynthia Graber reports

Some of our early ancestors weren’t just scavenging fruit and nuts and hunting animals. That’s the conclusion of scientists who discovered evidence of the grain sorghum¹ on hundred-thousand-year-old stone tools. The tools were discovered deep in a cave in northwest Mozambique. The research appears in the December 18th issue of the journal Science.

The general belief had been that these ancient people in southern Africa preferred to concentrate on more accessible foods, such as fruit, nuts and roots. They wouldn’t have bothered with seeds and starchy grains, it was thought, because those foods were too difficult to get and prepare. In this scenario², grains would become a regular part of the diet much later in history.

But a researcher [Julio Mercader], from the University of Calgary, decided³ to survey 70 stone tools found in one of the deep chambers⁴ of a long cave. And about 80 percent of the tools contained residues⁵ of grains. Grinding and scraping tools showed the most grain evidence. And the grains appear to have been highly processed: boiled, fermented⁶ or ground.

Sorghum is still used widely today in Africa. Now it looks as if it might be part of the original family recipe.
 

1 sorghum   

n.高粱属的植物，高粱糖浆，甜得发腻的东西

参考例句：

• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
• They made sorghum into pig feed.他们把高粱做成了猪饲料。

2 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

5 residues   

n.剩余，余渣( residue的名词复数 )；剩余财产；剩数

参考例句：

• pesticide residues in fruit and vegetables 残留在水果和蔬菜中的杀虫剂
• All organic and metallic residues on the wafers must be removed. 片子上所有的有机和金属残留物均必须清除。 来自辞典例句

6 fermented   

v.（使）发酵( ferment的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰

参考例句：

• When wine is fermented, it gives off gas. 酒发酵时发出气泡。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His speeches fermented trouble among the workers. 他的演讲在工人中引起骚动。 来自辞典例句