纪录片《熟食造就了人类吗》 第23期：南方古人猿遗骨

The proof of when our ancestors started cooking

我们祖先何时开始烹饪的证据

could lie in this corner of southern Africa.

可能就在非洲南部的某个角落

Travis Pickering is in fact

特拉维斯·皮克林正是

the chief excavator at Swartkrans,

重要史前遗址之一斯瓦特克朗斯的

one of archaeology's leading prehistoric¹ sites.

首席考古挖掘家

What's great about Swartkrans

斯瓦特克朗斯的重要之处

is that not only do we have hundreds of fossils

在于它不仅拥有成千上百的

of the species Australopithecus here,

南方古猿化石

we have Homo erectus remains².

还存有直立人的遗址

Not only do we have bones over at least a million years

我们不仅拥有百万年前

from both of these species,

这两个人种的残骸

we can make inferences of their behaviour based on the remains.

还可以依此推断他们的行为方式

He's working with a pioneer

与他共事的是

in the study of ancient human behaviour,

一位古人类行为研究的先驱

Professor Bob Brain.

鲍勃·布莱恩教授

Bob has been excavating³ this site for 50 years.

鲍勃已经花费了50年时间挖掘这个遗址

In the deepest layers,

在最深的岩层里

he's discovered Australopithecus bones

他发现了南方古猿人的遗骨

bearing strange markings.

遗骨上有奇怪的痕迹

1 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 excavating   

v.挖掘( excavate的现在分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• A bulldozer was employed for excavating the foundations of the building. 推土机用来给楼房挖地基。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs. 一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。 来自辞典例句