科学家发现由猛犸骨骼构成的奇特冰河时期结构

Archaeologists have unearthed a bizarre monument built by ancient humans in Russia. It’s a large circular structure built using the bones of a creature that no living human has ever seen: a mammoth. Nobody has any idea what it was used for why it exists in the first place.

考古学家在俄罗斯发现了一座由古代人类建造的奇特纪念碑。这是一个巨大的圆形结构，是用一种从未见过的生物的骨骼建造的：猛犸象。没有人知道它最初被用来做什么，为什么会存在。

Other mammoth bone monuments have been found in Russia in the past, though this particular location has the others beat in terms of size. At a whopping 41 feet across, it’s quite large, but figuring out who made it and why are proving difficult.

过去在俄罗斯也发现过其他的猛犸象骨骼遗迹，尽管这个特殊的地点在尺寸上比其他地方更胜一筹。它的直径高达41英尺，相当大，但很难弄清楚是谁制造了它，以及为什么要制造它。

The best guess at this point is that the mammoth bone structures littered across the region were the sites of homes or other shelters. This supersized example dating back 25,000 years could have provided safety from the elements for several people, but was that really its primary use? That’s a question researchers are still trying to answer.

在这一点上，最合理的猜测是，这些散落在该地区的猛犸象骨结构是住宅或其他避难所的遗址。这个巨大的例子可以追溯到25000年前，它可以为一些人提供安全的环境，但这真的是它的主要用途吗?这是一个研究人员仍在试图回答的问题。

The circular monument that survived through to today doesn’t offer many clues. There doesn’t appear to be designated entrance and its circular shape suggests it may have had a purpose beyond mere shelter. Inside the circle, the team was able to find evidence of burnt wood, suggesting the structure may have been used during the frigid winters.

幸存至今的圆形纪念碑并没有提供多少线索。这里似乎没有指定的入口，它的圆形形状表明，它可能有超越仅仅是避难所的目的。在圆圈内部，研究小组找到了烧焦的木头的证据，表明这个结构可能在寒冷的冬天被使用过。

“Mammoth bones are very heavy and building the circular structure represents a huge investment of time and energy by the humans that built this,” lead author Alexander Pryor said in a statement. “It clearly meant something to them and there was very likely a ritual element to it, even if the structure ultimately had some sort of practical purpose too.”

研究报告的主要撰写人亚历山大·普赖尔在一份声明中说:“猛犸象的骨头非常重，建造这种圆形结构需要人类投入大量的时间和精力。”“这显然对他们有意义，很可能是一种仪式元素，即使这个结构最终也有某种实际用途。”

The structure includes the remains of a huge number of mammoths. The team counted an incredible 64 mammoth skulls and 51 mandibles. That’s a whole lot of hunting and hauling for the purpose of building it and suggests that the ancient humans were wiping the animals out in huge numbers.

该结构包括大量猛犸象的遗骸。研究小组发现了令人难以置信的64个猛犸象头骨和51个下颚骨。为了建造它，人类进行了大量的狩猎和运输，这表明古代人类正在大量地消灭动物。

Along with the mammoth bones, the researchers were able to find clues as to what the site’s residents were eating besides plenty of mammoth meat. “We found pieces of soft plant tissue typically found in edible roots or tubers, hinting at a plant food component in peoples’ diet,” Pryor reveals. “These finds are important because they illustrate how our human ancestors adapted to survive the harsh environments of the last Ice Age by making use of the resources they found around them.”

除了猛犸象的骨头，研究人员还发现了一些线索，表明除了大量的猛犸象肉外，该地区的居民还吃些什么。“我们发现了一些通常存在于可食用的根或块茎中的软植物组织，这暗示了人们饮食中的一种植物性食物成分，”普莱尔说。“这些发现很重要，因为它们说明了我们的人类祖先如何利用在周围发现的资源，在上一个冰河时代的恶劣环境中生存下来。”

It’s an interesting window into the lives of ancient humans and even if we don’t know exactly why it exists, the fact that we found it 25,000 years later is something pretty special.

这是了解古代人类生活的一扇有趣的窗户，即使我们不知道它存在的确切原因，但我们在两万五千年后发现它的事实是相当特别的。