剑桥雅思19Test3Passage1阅读原文翻译 Archaeologists discover evidence of prehistoric island settlers 考古发现
剑桥雅思19阅读第三套题目第一篇文章的主题为史前岛屿居民的考古发现。具体内容包括奥比岛的独特性，它在人类迁徙中的作用，两个洞穴中的发现，斧头变化所揭示的规律，以及岩棚的废弃与再次启用。下面是具体的每一段的翻译。
剑桥雅思19Test3Passage1阅读原文翻译
第1段：
In early April 2019, Dr Ceri Shipton and his colleagues from Australian National University became the first archaeologists to explore Obi, one of many tropical islands in Indonesia’s Maluku Utara province. The research team’s discoveries suggest that the prehistoric people who lived on Obi were adept on both land and sea, hunting in the dense rainforest, foraging on the seashore, and possibly even voyaging between islands.
2019年4月初，澳大利亚国立大学的塞里·希普顿博士和他的团队成为首批踏上印尼北马鲁古省奥比岛的考古学家。这座热带岛屿此前从未有过系统的考古发掘，而他们的发现表明，远古时代生活在这里的人类不仅擅长在陆地上活动，也精通海上技能——他们能在茂密的雨林中狩猎，在海边采集食物，甚至可能曾驾船往返于各岛之间。
第2段：
The excavations were part of a project to learn more about how people first dispersed from mainland Asia, through the Indonesian archipelago and into the prehistoric continent that once connected Australia and New Guinea. The team’s earlier research suggested that the northernmost islands in the group, known as the Wallacean islands, including Obi, would have offered the easiest migration route. It also seemed likely that these islands were crucial ‘stepping stones’ on humans’ island-hopping voyages through this region millennia ago. But to support this idea, they needed archaeological evidence for humans living in this remote area in the ancient past. So, they travelled to Obi to look for sites that might reveal evidence of early occupation.
这次考古工作是某个更大研究项目的一部分，项目旨在探究人类最初是如何从亚洲大陆出发，穿越印度尼西亚群岛，最终迁徙到连接澳大利亚和新几内亚的史前大陆。早期研究显示，这片被称为华莱士群岛的地区，包括奥比岛，很可能是当时人类最容易通过的迁徙路线。研究人员推测，这些岛屿在几千年前就像“跳板”一样，帮助人类一步步跨越广阔的海域。然而，要证实这个观点，就必须找到人类在这些偏远岛屿上远古生活的实物证据。于是，团队来到了奥比岛，寻找能揭示早期人类活动的遗址。
第3段：
Just inland from the village of Kelo on Obi’s northern coast, Shipton and his colleagues found two caves containing prehistoric rock shelters that were suitable for excavation. With the permission and help of the local people of Kelo, they dug a small test excavation in each shelter. There they found numerous artefacts, this article is from laokaoya website, including fragments of axes, some dating to about 14,000 years ago. The earliest axes at Kelo were made using clam shells. Axes made from clam shells from roughly the same time had also previously been found elsewhere in this region, including on the nearby island of Gebe to the northeast. As on Gebe, it is highly likely that Obi’s axes were used in the construction of canoes, thus allowing these early peoples to maintain connections between communities on neighbouring islands.
在奥比岛北海岸的凯洛村附近内陆，希普顿博士和他的团队发现了两处史前岩洞遗址，非常适合进行考古发掘。在获得凯洛村民的许可和协助后，研究人员分别在两个洞穴中进行了小规模的试掘。在那里，他们发现了大量文物，包括一些石斧碎片，其中一些可以追溯到大约1.4万年前。最早的斧头是用蛤蜊壳制成的。类似年代的贝壳斧头，此前也在这一地区的其他地方出土，比如东北方向不远的格贝岛。正如格贝岛上的情况一样，研究团队认为奥比岛的这些斧头很可能用于制作独木舟，使当时的人们能够与周围岛屿的社群保持联系。
第4段：
The oldest cultural layers from the Kelo site provided the team with the earliest record for human occupation on Obi, dating back around 18,000 years. At this time the climate was drier and colder than today, and the island’s dense rainforests would likely have been much less impenetrable than they are now. Sea levels were about 120 metres lower, meaning Obi was a much larger island, encompassing what is today the separate island of Bisa, as well as several other small islands nearby.
凯洛遗址中最早的文化层，为研究人员提供了奥比岛人类定居的最早证据，距今大约有1.8万年。那时的气候比现在更加干燥寒冷，岛上的雨林也远没有今天这么茂密难行。由于海平面比现在低了约120米，奥比岛当时的面积也更大，还包括如今已经分离的比萨岛以及周围几个小岛。
第5段：
Roughly 11,700 years ago, as the most recent ice age ended, the climate became significantly warmer and wetter, no doubt making Obi’s jungle much thicker. According to the researchers, it is no coincidence that around this time the first axes crafted from stone rather than sea shells appear, likely in response to their heavy-duty use for clearing and modification of the increasingly dense rainforest. While stone takes about twice as long to grind into an axe compared to shell, the harder material keeps its sharp edge for longer.
大约在11,700年前，随着最后一个冰河时代的结束，气候变得明显更温暖、更潮湿，奥比岛的雨林也随之变得更加茂密。研究人员认为，正是在这个时期，第一批用石头而非贝壳制成的斧头开始出现，这并非巧合。人们文章来自老烤鸭雅思很可能是为了应对更艰难的伐木和林地改造工作，才转而使用更坚硬的材料。虽然石头斧的打磨时间大约是贝壳斧的两倍，但石头更耐用，刃口也能保持锋利更久。
第6段：
Judging by the bones which the researchers unearthed in the Kelo caves, people living there mainly hunted the Rothschild’s cuscus, a possum-like creature that still lives on Obi today. As the forest grew more dense, people probably used axes to clear patches of forest and make hunting easier.
从凯洛洞穴中出土的骨骼来看，当时生活在这里的人主要猎捕一种名为罗斯柴尔德袋貂的动物，这种类似负鼠的生物如今仍生活在奥比岛。随着森林愈发密集，人们很可能会用斧头清理出部分林地，以方便追踪和捕猎猎物。
第7段：
Shipton’s team’s excavation of the shelters at the Kelo site unearthed a volcanic glass substance called obsidian, which must have been brought over from another island, as there is no known source on Obi. It also revealed particular types of beads, similar to those previously found on islands in southern Wallacea. These finds again support the idea that Obi islanders routinely travelled to other islands.
希普顿博士团队在凯洛遗址的岩棚发掘中，发现了一种名为黑曜石的火山玻璃，这种材料在奥比岛上并无已知产地，因此很可能是从其他岛屿带来的。他们还发现了一些特定类型的珠饰，与此前在瓦拉西亚南部岛屿上发现的类似。这些发现再次印证了奥比岛居民曾频繁往返于周边岛屿之间。
第8段：
The excavations suggest people successfully lived in the two Kelo shelters for about 10,000 years. But then, about 8,000 years ago, both were abandoned. Did the residents leave Obi completely, or move elsewhere on the island? Perhaps the jungle had grown so thick that axes were no longer a match for the dense undergrowth. Perhaps people simply moved to the coast and turned to fishing rather than hunting as a means of survival.
考古结果显示，人们在凯洛这两处岩棚中持续生活了大约一万年。然而，大约在8000年前，这两个岩棚被废弃。居民是完全离开了奥比岛，还是迁移到了岛上的其他地方？或许是雨林过于茂密，斧头已难以应对密集的灌木丛；也有可能是人们转向沿海生活，靠捕鱼而非狩猎维生。
第9段：
Whatever the reason for the departure, there is no evidence for use of the Kelo shelters after this time, until about 1,000 years ago, when they were re-occupied by people who owned pottery as well as items made out of gold and silver. It seems likely, in view of Obi’s location, that this final phase of occupation also saw the Kelo shelters used by people involved in the historic trade in spices between the Maluku islands and the rest of the world.
不论他们离开的原因是什么，从那以后直到大约1000年前，都没有再有人使用这两处岩棚。之后重新出现的人类活动迹象显示，新一批居民拥有陶器、金器和银器。考虑到奥比岛的地理位置，这最后一阶段的使用者很可能是参与马鲁古群岛与世界其他地区之间香料贸易的人。
