2022年11月28日 VOA慢速英語：研究發(fā)現(xiàn)最早的烹飪證據(jù)

  A recent study found what could be the earliest known evidence of ancient cooking: the leftovers of a fish dinner from 780,000 years ago.
最近的一項研究發(fā)現(xiàn)了可能是已知最早的古代烹飪證據(jù)：780,000 年前魚晚餐的剩菜。

Cooking helped change our ancestors. It helped fuel our evolution and gave us bigger brains. Later, cooking would become central to the eating celebrations that brought communities together.
烹飪幫助改變我們的祖先。它幫助推動了我們的進化，并給了我們更大的大腦。后來，烹飪將成為將社區(qū)聚集在一起的飲食慶祝活動的核心。
 
The new study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, is based on material from Gesher Benot Ya'aqov in Israel — a watery place near an ancient lake.
這項發(fā)表在《自然生態(tài)學與進化》雜志上的新研究基于以色列 Gesher Benot Ya'aqov 的材料——一個靠近古老湖泊的水域。
 
Ancient objects from the area suggest it was home to a community of Homo erectus, a kind of early human that walked upright, explained study lead writer Irit Zohar of Tel Aviv University.
該地區(qū)的古代物品表明它是特拉維夫大學的研究主要作者 Irit Zohar 解釋說，直立人是一種直立行走的早期人類。
 
Naama Goren-Inbar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem led the research digs. She said researchers found fish remains, especially teeth. Many of the teeth were from two different kinds of fish known as carp.
耶路撒冷希伯來大學的 Naama Goren-Inbar 領導了這項研究挖掘。她說研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了魚的遺骸，尤其是牙齒。許多牙齒來自兩種不同的魚類，即鯉魚。
 
The remains were found near places where researchers also found signs of fire. Testing showed the teeth had been exposed to temperatures that were hot, but not super-hot. This suggests the fish were cooked low and slow, rather than being put right onto a fire, Zohar explained.
這些遺骸是在研究人員還發(fā)現(xiàn)火災跡象的地方附近發(fā)現(xiàn)的。測試表明，牙齒暴露在高溫但不至于過熱的溫度下。 Zohar 解釋說，這表明這些魚是用低溫慢火烹制的，而不是直接放在火上。

With all the evidence together, researchers concluded that these ancient human relatives had used fire for cooking some 780,000 years ago. That is much earlier than the next oldest evidence for cooking, about 170,000 years ago, which showed Stone Age humans ate cooked roots in South Africa.
根據(jù)所有證據(jù)，研究人員得出結(jié)論，這些遠古人類親屬曾用火烹調(diào)過大約 780,000 條魚幾年前。這比大約 170,000 年前的下一個最古老的烹飪證據(jù)要早得多，后者表明石器時代的人類在南非吃煮熟的根。
 
Cooking might have started even earlier
烹飪可能開始得更早

The researchers — like many other experts — believe cooking started long before this, though physical evidence has been hard to find.
研究人員——和許多其他專家一樣——相信烹飪早在這之前就開始了，盡管很難找到物證。

"I am sure that in the near future an earlier case will be reported," study writer Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University said in an email.
“我敢肯定特拉維夫大學的研究作者 Israel Hershkovitz 在一封電子郵件中說，在不久的將來會報告一個更早的病例。
 
That is in part because using fire for cooking was an important step in human evolution.
這在一定程度上是因為用火做飯是人類進化的重要一步。
 
Cooking food makes it easier for the body to digest and get nutrients, explained David Braun of George Washington University. Braun was not involved with the study. When early humans figured out how to cook, they were able to get more energy, which they could use to fuel bigger brains.
喬治華盛頓大學的大衛(wèi)布勞恩解釋說，烹飪食物使身體更容易消化和獲取營養(yǎng)。布勞恩沒有參與這項研究。當早期人類學會做飯時，他們能夠獲得更多的能量，可以用來為更大的大腦提供燃料。
 
Based on how human ancestors' brains and bodies developed, scientists estimate that cooking skills appeared nearly 2 million years ago.
根據(jù)人類祖先大腦和身體的發(fā)育方式，科學家估計烹飪技能出現(xiàn)在將近200萬年前。
 
"If we're out there eating raw items, it is very difficult to make it as a large-bodied primate," Braun said.
布勞恩說：“如果我們在外面吃生食，就很難將其變成體型龐大的靈長類動物。”
Those first cooked meals were far different from today's food. And in the many, many years in between, humans started not just eating for fuel, but for community.
那些最初的熟食與今天的食物大不相同。在其間的很多很多年里，人類開始不僅僅是為了燃料，而是為了社區(qū)。
 
Cooking food to build community
通過烹飪食物來建立社區(qū)
 
In a 2010 study, led by Natalie Munro of the University of Connecticut, researchers described the earliest evidence of a feast. The feast was a specially prepared meal that brought people together for an event 12,000 years ago in a cave in Israel.
在 2010 年由康涅狄格大學的 Natalie Munro 領導的一項研究中，研究人員描述了盛宴的最早證據(jù)。這場盛宴是為 12,000 年前在以色列的一個洞穴中舉行的一次活動而特別準備的一頓飯。
 
The cave, which served as a burial place, included the remains of one special woman who seemed to be a religious leader for her community, Munro said.
作為墓地的洞穴包括一位特殊女性的遺體，她似乎成為她社區(qū)的宗教領袖，Munro 說。
 
This "first feast" came at an important turning point in human history, right as hunter-gatherers were starting to settle into more permanent living situations, Munro said. Gathering for special meals may have been a way to build community and reduce tensions now that people lived closer to each other, she said.
芒羅說，這場“第一場盛宴”發(fā)生在人類歷史的一個重要轉(zhuǎn)折點，當時狩獵采集者開始適應更永久的生活環(huán)境。她說，現(xiàn)在人們住得更近了，聚在一起吃特別的飯菜可能是建立社區(qū)和緩解緊張局勢的一種方式。
 
Munro said she believes ancient feasts served a lot of the same social uses that modern gatherings serve: People exchange information, make connections, or try to improve their position.
Munro 說，她相信古代的盛宴有很多相同的社會用途現(xiàn)代聚會的目的是：人們交換信息、建立聯(lián)系或試圖改善他們的地位。
 
"This is something that's just quintessentially human," Munro said. "And to see the first evidence of it is exciting."
“這是典型的人類行為，”蒙羅說。 “看到它的第一個證據(jù)是令人興奮的。”