几十年来首次在著名的“花葬”洞穴中发现尼安德特人骨骼

几十年来首次在著名的“花葬”洞穴中发现尼安德特人骨骼

Back in 1960, archaeologist Ralph Solecki unearthed a deeply divisive Neanderthal burial site at the Shanidar Cave in the Kurdistan Region. Amongst a set of skeletal remains, found curled up in the fetal position, was discovered the presence of plant pollen seemingly scattered across the grave. Solecki claimed the Neanderthal had been buried on a bed of colorful flowers and branches, indicating funerary rites and suggesting our hominin cousins were emotionally sensitive individuals with clear cognitive abilities, not the heavy-browed dopes they were portrayed as at the time. However, this theory was not without its critics.

早在1960年,考古学家拉尔夫人在库尔德斯坦地区的沙尼达尔穴发现了一个很具争议的尼安德特人的墓地。在一组骨骼残骸中,在胎儿的位置,发现了存在看似分散在坟墓的植物花粉。索莱茨基声称，尼安德特人被埋葬在一张铺满五颜六色的鲜花和树枝的床上，这表明了葬礼仪式，并表明我们的原始人表亲是情感敏感的个体，拥有清晰的认知能力，而不是像当时人们描述的那样，长着浓密眉毛。然而，这一理论并非没有受到批评。

Tom Hale

A new project has returned to the Shanidar Cave and unearthed one of the most complete articulated Neanderthal skeletons found in decades. Not only could this discovery shed light on the life and behavior of Neanderthals, but it could also help to settle the hotly debated “flower burial” case.

一项新的研究回到了沙尼达尔洞穴，并发掘出了几十年来最完整的尼安德特人骨骼。这一发现不仅有助于阐明尼安德特人的生活和行为，而且有助于解决备受争议的“花葬”问题。

“This find is incredibly exciting for a number of reasons. It’s rare that such complete, articulated – with bones in correct anatomical connection – Neanderthal skeletal remains are found. This is the first to our knowledge in 25 years,” Dr Emma Pomeroy, lead study author from the University of Cambridge's Department of Archeology, told IFLScience.

“这个发现非常令人兴奋，原因有很多。尼安德特人的骨骼化石如此完整、清晰，并具有正确的解剖学联系，实属罕见。这是25年来我们所知道的第一次，”剑桥大学考古系的首席研究作者Emma Pomeroy博士告诉IFLScience。

Excavation of the Shanidar Cave between 1951 and 1960. Fred Lewsey/Cambridge University

Reported in the journal Antiquity, early analysis suggests the Neanderthal died around 70,000 years ago, but it’s not yet possible to tell if they were male or female. Given the quality of the skeletal remains, the researchers hope it could provide a wealth of information about Homo neanderthalensis. For example, studying the chemical composition of its bones and teeth could identify insights into their diet and geographic origins.

据《古物》杂志报道，早期的分析表明，尼安德特人死于大约7万年前，但目前还无法确定他们是男性还是女性。考虑到遗骨的质量，研究人员希望它能为尼安德特人提供丰富的信息。例如，研究它的骨骼和牙齿的化学成分可以洞察它们的饮食和地理起源。

It also presents the possibility of obtaining ancient DNA from a south-west Asian Neanderthal for the first time, a feat that has proved difficult due to warmer climates not preserving genetic material very well.

它还首次展示了从西南亚尼安德特人身上获取古代DNA的可能性，由于气候变暖不能很好地保存遗传物质，这一壮举被证明是困难的。

Most exciting of all, this newly unearthed Neanderthal will provide much-needed revelations into the funerary practices of H. neanderthalensis. For starters, the new skeleton was discovered in the same small cave as at least four other Neanderthal individuals recovered in the 1960s, including the infamous “flower burial” Neanderthal. This suggests the group was buried in an organized fashion, like a Neanderthal graveyard.

最令人兴奋的是，这个新出土的尼安德特人将为尼安德特人的葬礼习俗提供急需的启示。首先，在20世纪60年代，至少有另外四名尼安德特人被发现，包括臭名昭著的“花葬”尼安德特人，他们在同一个小洞穴中发现了这具新骨骼。这表明这群人被有组织的埋葬，就像尼安德特人的墓地一样。

But was this part of a sophisticated ritualistic ceremony, ripe with meaning, like a human funeral? Or was it simply done out of practical concern, perhaps hiding the bodies from scavengers?

但是，这是一个复杂的仪式的一部分，充满了意义，就像一个人的葬礼?或者只是出于实际考虑，也许是为了躲避食腐动物的尸体?

Ribs of the newly discovered Neanderthal. Fred Lewsey/Cambridge University

A preliminary analysis of the new Neanderthal's bones also contains evidence of pollen. While it's still too early to jump to any solid conclusions from this, it could eventually be used to answer the debate around whether the “flower burial” was a coincidence or a conscious effort to memorialize death, just like modern humans.

对新尼安德特人骨骼的初步分析也包含了花粉的证据。虽然现在下结论还为时过早，但它最终可以用来回答“花葬”是巧合还是像现代人一样有意识地纪念死亡的争论。

“Burial of the dead has long been considered a hallmark of modern human behavior, suggesting compassion for group members, care and mourning for the dead, and even perhaps spirituality and ideas about what happens after death,” explained Dr Pomeroy.

“埋葬死者长期以来被认为是现代人类行为的一个标志，暗示着对群体成员的同情，对死者的关心和哀悼，甚至可能是对死后发生的事情的灵性和想法，”Pomeroy博士解释说。

“Our initial work on the soil micromorphology has shown mineralized plant material close to the bones of the new Neanderthal, and some evidence of pollen, which is highly relevant to the flower burial debate,” Pomeroy continued. "More work to identify pollen and other plant remains in soil samples taken from precisely recorded locations... will help us to show whether the plant remains are unique to the sediments surrounding the bones, identify the plants they come from, and exclude other explanations such as modern contamination or rodent activities."

“我们对土壤微形态的初步研究显示，矿化的植物物质接近新尼安德特人的骨骼，还有一些花粉的证据，与花葬的争论高度相关，”Pomeroy继续说。“更多的工作是从精确记录的地点采集的土壤样本中识别花粉和其他植物遗骸……这将有助于我们证明骨骼周围的沉积物中是否存在唯一的植物遗骸，识别它们来自哪些植物，并排除其他解释，如现代污染或啮齿动物活动。”