人們認為來自倫敦的一位家具管理員解開了冰河時期洞穴壁畫里一系列標記的謎團。此發現有助于理解為什么當時的狩獵采集者會畫洞穴壁畫。

Archaeologists have long puzzled over series of dots, lines, and marks shaped like a letter 'Y', placed on or near the often-beautiful depictions of Palaeolithic animals in European caves – creatures like mammoths, bison and horses.

長期以來，考古學家一直對一系列點、線和形狀像字母 “Y” 的標記感到困惑，這些點、線和標記多出現在歐洲洞穴中如猛犸象、野牛和馬的美麗的舊石器時代動物壁畫上方或附近。

Ben Bacon, an enthusiast, studied thousands of images – pursuing a theory the marks could depict a lunar calendar linked to the animal's life cycles. The branching 'Y' sign, he postulated, could mean giving birth.

本·培根是一位考古愛好者，他研究了數千幅壁畫圖像，并提出一種理論，即這些標記描繪了與動物生命周期有關的陰歷。他推測，上方分支的 “Y” 形標記可能代表生育。

Bringing in academics and using statistical analysis, the team are shown striking correlations between the sequences and the months that such animals would have mated and given birth. They argue it's the first proto-writing system in human history.

通過邀請學術人員參與研究和使用統計分析，該考古團隊發現，這些符號序列與動物的交配和分娩月份之間存在著顯著的相關性。他們認為這是人類歷史上第一套原始書寫系統。

詞匯表

archaeologists 考古學家
puzzled 困惑了
depictions 描繪
enthusiast 愛好者
lunar calendar 陰歷
life cycles 生命周期
correlations 相關性
mated 交配了
proto-writing system 原始書寫系統

閱讀理解：請在讀完上文后，回答下列問題。

1. What have archaeologists long puzzled over about Ice Age cave paintings?

2. Where have these marks been seen?

3. What did enthusiast Ben Bacon think the 'Y' sign might mean?

4. True or false? Ben Bacon thought the marks illustrated an animal's life cycle.

答案  

1. What have archaeologists long puzzled over about Ice Age cave paintings?
A series of dots, lines, and marks shaped like a letter 'Y'.

2. Where have these marks been seen?
These marks have been seen on or near the often-beautiful depictions of Palaeolithic animals in European caves.

3. What did enthusiast Ben Bacon think the 'Y' sign might mean?
He thought the 'Y' sign could mean giving birth.

4. True or false? Ben Bacon thought the marks illustrated an animal's life cycle.
False. Ben Bacon thought the marks could depict a lunar calendar linked to the animal's life cycles.