Bones from German cave rewrite early history of Homo sapiens in Europe德國洞穴的骨骸改寫早期智人歐洲史

德國洞穴出土的智人骨骸經鑑定有4.5萬年以上歷史。（路透）

◎林家宇

Bone fragments unearthed in a cave in central Germany show that our species ventured into Europe’s cold higher latitudes more than 45,000 years ago - much earlier than previously known - in a finding that rewrites the early history of Homo sapiens on a continent still inhabited then by our cousins the Neanderthals.

從德國中部一座洞穴內出土的骨頭碎片，揭示了智人早在4.5萬年前便啟程進入歐洲寒冷的高緯度地區，較先前已知的時間早上許多。這項發現改寫了智人在當時仍由我們的表親尼安德塔人生活的大陸的早期歷史。

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Scientists said on Wednesday they identified through ancient DNA 13 Homo sapiens skeletal remains in Ilsenhöhle cave, situated below a medieval hilltop castle in the German town of Ranis. The bones were determined to be up to 47,500 years old. Until now, the oldest Homo sapiens remains from northern central and northwestern Europe were about 40,000 years old.

科學家表示，他們透過古代DNA鑑定出德國拉尼斯鎮一座中世紀山頂城堡下的Ilsenhöhle洞穴中的13具智人遺骸，這些骨骸最遠可追溯至4.75萬年前。迄今最古老的智人遺骸來自歐洲中北、西北部，約有4萬年歷史。

Homo sapiens arose in Africa more than 300,000 years ago, later trekking worldwide and encountering other human populations, including Neanderthals. The spotty fossil record has left unclear the details of how Homo sapiens spread through Europe and what role our species played in the extinction of Neanderthals, who disappeared roughly 40,000 years ago.

30萬年前智人在非洲現蹤，後來踏足於世界各地並遭遇了其他人類族群，包括尼安德塔人。這些參差不齊的化石紀錄尚無法明確解釋智人如何在歐洲擴散，以及我們這個物種在約4萬年前消失的尼安德塔人滅絕事件中扮演什麼角色。

新聞辭典

trek：動詞，跋涉、遠行。例句：His 2025 to-do lists will include trekking the Himalayas.（跋涉喜馬拉雅山是他的2025年目標之一）

extinction：名詞，滅絕。例句：An asteroid impact about 66 million years ago caused the extinction of dinosaurs.（約6600萬年前的一次小行星撞擊導致恐龍滅絕）

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