What can you learn from ancient skeletons? - Farnaz Khatibi

翻译人员: Haoyi Wang 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

在2008年和2012年之间

Between 2008 and 2012,

archeologists excavated the rubble of an ancient hospital in England.

考古学家在英格兰挖掘出了 一个古老医院的碎石遗迹

In the process, they uncovered a number of skeletons.

在这个过程中，他们发现了许多骨架

One in particular belonged to a wealthy male

有一个是属于一个富有的男性的

who lived in the 11th or 12th century

他生活在11或12世纪

and died of leprosy between the ages of 18 and 25.

在18至25岁时死于麻风病

How do we know all this?

我们是怎么知道这些的呢

Simply by examining some old, soil-caked bones?

只是通过检查一些古老的 被土壤包裹着的骨骼吗

即使是死亡后的好多世纪

Even centuries after death,

skeletons carry unique features that tell us about their identities.

骨架仍然携带着一些独一无二的特征 能告诉我们死者的身份

And using modern tools and techniques, we can read those features as clues.

并且使用现代工具和技术 我们能读出那些能作为线索的特征

This is a branch of science known as biological anthropology.

这是一个科学的分支，叫做生物人类学

It allows researchers to piece together details about ancient individuals

它能让研究者把有关 古人类的细节拼凑起来

and identify historical events that affected whole populations.

然后识别出影响了 整个人类的历史性事件

When researchers uncover a skeleton,

当研究者发现了一副骨架时

some of the first clues they gather, like age and gender,

有一些他们首先获得的线索 比如年龄和性别

lie in its morphology,

就表现在它的形态中

which is the structure, appearance, and size of a skeleton.

也就是骨架的结构 外表和形状大小

Bones, like the clavicle, stop growing at age 25,

骨骼 比如锁骨 25岁后就不生长了

so a skeleton with a clavicle that hasn't fully formed

所以一副骨架中如果有未完全成型的锁骨

must be younger than that.

肯定是小于25岁的

Similarly, the plates in the cranium can continue fusing up to age 40,

相似的是，头骨上的 骨盘能够持续融合到40岁

and sometimes beyond.

有些时候会超过40岁

By combining these with some microscopic skeletal clues,

通过把这些线索与微观的 骨骼线索相结合

physical anthropologists can estimate an approximate age of death.

人体人类学家可以估计出 一个大约的死亡年龄

Meanwhile, pelvic bones reveal gender.

与此同时，骨盆能反映出性别

Biologically, female pelvises are wider, allowing women to give birth,

生物学上来说 女性的骨盆要宽些 这样能够方便女性生育

where as males are narrower.

男性的则要窄些

Bones also betray the signs of ancient disease.

骨骼也可以是古老疾病的标志

Disorders like anemia leave their traces on the bones.

失调 比如贫血症 会在骨骼上留下痕迹

And the condition of teeth can reveal clues

另外 牙齿的状况能反映出

to factors like diet and malnutrition,

比如食谱和营养不良之类的因素

which sometimes correlate with wealth or poverty.

这些有时与富有或贫穷有关

A protein called collagen can give us even more profound details.

一种称作胶原蛋白的蛋白质 能够给我们甚至更深的细节

我们所呼吸的空气

The air we breathe,

water we drink,

所喝的水

and food we eat

所吃的食物

leaves permanent traces in our bones and teeth

以化合物的形式在我们的骨骼和牙齿中

in the form of chemical compounds.

留下了永久的痕迹

These compounds contain measurable quantities called isotopes.

这些化合物包括了 可计量的物质叫做同位素

Stable isotopes in bone collagen and tooth enamel varies among mammals

稳定的同位素在骨骼的胶原蛋白或 牙釉质中因不同的哺乳动物而异

这取决于它们住的地方和吃的东西

dependent on where they lived and what they ate.

所以通过分析这些同位素

So by analyzing these isotopes,

we can draw direct inferences regarding the diet and location of historic people.

我们可以直接推算出 有关历史上的人们的食谱和位置

Not only that, but during life,

不仅这些，在生命中

bones undergo a constant cycle of remodeling.

骨骼经历了一个持续的重塑的过程

So if someone moves from one place to another,

所以如果有人从一个地方 迁移到另一个地方

bones synthesized after that move

在迁移后合成的骨骼

will also reflect the new isotopic signatures of the surrounding environment.

会同样反映出有关 周围环境的新的同位素标志

That means that skeletons can be used like migratory maps.

这表明了骨架可以被当做迁移地图

For instance, between 1-650 AD,

比如在公元1年到650年

the great city of Teotihuacan in Mexico bustled with thousands of people.

墨西哥的大城市特奥蒂瓦坎有着几千人口

Researchers examined the isotope ratios in skeletons' tooth enamel,

研究者检查了骨架牙釉质中的同位素比例

which held details of their diets when they were young.

这里面体现了这些人年轻时的食谱

他们发现了非常明显的人口迁入的证据

They found evidence for significant migration into the city.

A majority of the individuals were born elsewhere.

一大部分人都是在别处出生的

With further geological and skeletal analysis,

随着更深入的对地质和骨骼的分析

they may be able to map where those people came from.

他们可能可以画出那些人的来源分布图

That work in Teotihuacan is also an example of how bio-anthropologists

这项在特奥蒂瓦坎的工作 也是一个生物人类学家如何

study skeletons in cemeteries and mass graves,

研究公墓和大量墓葬中的骨架

then analyze their similarities and differences.

然后分析它们的异同点的例子

From that information, they can learn about cultural beliefs,

从这些信息中 他们可以学到文化信仰

social norms,

社会规范

wars,

战争

还有他们的死因

and what caused their deaths.

Today, we use these tools to answer big questions about how forces,

现在我们用这些工具来研究有关力量

like migration and disease,

比如大迁徙和疾病

shape the modern world.

是如何塑造了现代世界

DNA analysis is even possible in some relatively well-preserved ancient remains.

DNA分析对于一些相对保存完好的 古代遗迹也同样适用

That's helping us understand how diseases like tuberculosis

这帮助我们理解疾病 比如肺结核

have evolved over the centuries

是如何跨越几个世纪发展的

所以我们能够给今天的人们 找出更好的治疗方法

so we can build better treatments for people today.

Ancient skeletons can tell us a surprisingly great deal about the past.

古老的骨架可以告诉我们的 历史信息多得惊人

So if your remains are someday buried intact,

如果你的遗骸有一天被完整的埋葬

what might archeologists of the distant future learn from them?

在遥远的未来 人类学家能从中发现什么呢