On October 9, Nature published a paper providing the results of new dating techniques that have been used to determine the age of prehistoric rock art motifs in volcanic caves on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Archaeologists have determined that some of the art was created at least 40,000 years ago, so that human cave art existed in Southeast Asia as long ago as in Europe.10月9日，《自然》雜志刊登了一篇文章提供了新的年代判定方法，用于確定印尼蘇拉威蘇島火山洞穴中史前巖石藝術(shù)作品的年代。考古學(xué)家已經(jīng)確認(rèn)有些藝術(shù)作品至少創(chuàng)建于4萬年前，因此東南亞洞穴人類藝術(shù)作品存在歷史與歐洲一樣久遠(yuǎn)。

Archaeologists have long been puzzled about the absence of prehistoric rock art in other places beside Europe, especially since they have already agreed that modern humans were established in South Asia and the Far East by 50,000 years ago. Thanks to new dating techniques, we now know that humans were producing rock art at both ends of the Pleistocene Eurasian world.

考古學(xué)家一直糾結(jié)于在歐洲之外缺乏史前巖石藝術(shù)品，特別是他們已經(jīng)認(rèn)可了南亞和中東存在現(xiàn)代人類的歷史能夠追溯到5萬年前的實(shí)歸功于新的年代判定技術(shù)，現(xiàn)在我們知道了在更新世期間歐亞大陸兩端的人類都曾創(chuàng)作了巖石藝術(shù)。

Sulawesi is the worlds eleventh largest island and is located in Wallacea, the zone of oceanic islands that lies between Asia and Australia. The Maros and Pangkep regions, where the rock art has been dated, cover about 450 square kilometers of the islands southwest peninsula. The caves containing the motifs were carved into the landscape by ancient volcanic lava flows that cut into the limestone, forming clusters of towers that erupt from the plains.蘇拉威蘇是世界上第十一大島，座落于亞洲和澳大利亞大陸之間的海域內(nèi)華萊士群島。發(fā)現(xiàn)巖石藝術(shù)品的馬洛斯和龐格普地區(qū)位于該島的西南部，占地450平方公里。由古老火山熔巖沖擊石灰?guī)r形成的洞穴中，存在著雕刻成風(fēng)景樣式的藝術(shù)作品，展現(xiàn)了平原上的成群的高塔.The network of foot caves formed around the bases of the towers were occupied by prehistoric humans who migrated east from Africa. As a result of this discovery, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has added these caves to a tentative list of protected world heritage sites. Final selection to the World Heritage List is based on criteria that demonstrate a sites importance for the worlds population.圍繞著高塔的基座形成了人類足以進(jìn)入的洞穴群，當(dāng)時(shí)被從非洲遷徙到東方的史前人類所占據(jù)。聯(lián)合國教科文組織將這一發(fā)現(xiàn)增補(bǔ)為臨時(shí)性世界保護(hù)遺址。世界保護(hù)遺址最終遴選結(jié)果將基于遺址對(duì)世界人口影響的重要性進(jìn)行評(píng)判。

Bird Cave in Maros馬洛斯地區(qū)的鳥類洞穴Archaeologists have previously discovered materials used by humans within many of the cave walls and have discovered a total of 90 rock art sites. Previously, the earliest dated evidence for human occupation at Sulawesi came from radiocarbon dates of excavated deposits in two different caves that showed people were using them for habitation approximately 35,000 years ago. Both sites had previously yielded evidence of pigment use, including hematite (iron oxide) crayons and ochre-smeared stone tools, implements that were likely used in the creation of rock art.之前考古學(xué)家在很多洞穴墻壁上都發(fā)現(xiàn)了人工痕跡，并且總共發(fā)現(xiàn)了90塊巖石藝術(shù)作品。之前，蘇拉威蘇遺址最早的人類居住痕跡來自于從兩處不同的洞穴中挖掘出的沉積物，放射性炭檢測顯示大約在3.5萬前有人類穴居于此。之前兩處遺址中出土的證據(jù)顯示有染色的痕跡，包括：使用赤鐵塊以及褐石，這些都可能用于巖石作品的創(chuàng)作。The Maros-Pangkep rock art was actually first recorded in the 1950s and has been studied extensively by researchers over the subsequent decades. There are two distinct styles of art within the caves, dated to the Pleistocene period, which extends between 2.58 million years ago and 11,700 years ago.

事實(shí)上馬洛斯-龐格普巖石藝術(shù)最早記錄50年代，隨后幾十年來研究者們一直對(duì)此進(jìn)行了廣泛研究。在洞穴中，存在有兩種明顯的藝術(shù)風(fēng)格，可以追溯到更新世時(shí)期，即距今258萬年年至11700年前。

Hands in Pettakere Cave派塔克洞穴中的手形圖案The first consists of human hand stencils made by spraying wet pigment around human hands that were pressed against the surfaces. Pleistocene humans likely placed pigment in their mouths in order to create such a spray. The less common style of cave art found at Maros-Pangkep is characterized by larger, naturalistic profile paintings of wild land mammals that were native to the island during the Pleistocene period.最初的人類手形圖案通過將手掌壓在繪圖面上，圍繞手掌噴灑染料液進(jìn)行制作。更新世時(shí)期的人類可能將染料液含在口中制造噴灑效果。馬洛斯-龐格普地區(qū)的洞穴藝術(shù)品中較為少見的風(fēng)格是繪制較大的野生哺乳動(dòng)物的自然輪廓畫，這些動(dòng)物在更新世時(shí)期生活在該島上。Both motifs, primarily red in coloration, have typically been found on high roofs and elevated parts of rock walls that are difficult to access. They are often found close to site entrances, but archaeologists have also discovered specimens within deep, dark chambers. The subjects and placements found here often resemble those of European cave art of roughly similar age.兩種風(fēng)格的作品基本上都采用了紅色，通常發(fā)現(xiàn)于較難接觸到的洞頂和巖壁的高處，一般都接近洞口。但考古學(xué)家在黑暗的洞穴深處也發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些樣本。發(fā)現(xiàn)的樣本和布置方式都與同時(shí)期歐洲洞穴藝術(shù)較為相似。Archaeologists used uranium-series dating techniques to analyze coralloids associated with 12 human hand stencils and two figurative animal depictions from seven cave sites in the Maros-Pangkep caves. Coralloids are small nodes of calcite that form on the surfaces of limestone caves, including on top of and beneath the rock art found in考古學(xué)家利用鈾系列放射標(biāo)定技術(shù)分析了從馬洛斯-龐格普地區(qū)7個(gè)洞穴中12處手掌圖案和2處動(dòng)物圖形的珊瑚點(diǎn)。珊瑚點(diǎn)是在石灰?guī)r洞表面上形成的方解石小斑點(diǎn)，包括在巖石藝術(shù)品的頂部和底下發(fā)現(xiàn)的珊瑚點(diǎn)。In cases where coralloid formed on top of paintings, uranium dates provide a minimum age for the underlying rock art. In some cases, however, painters created their art over the tops of coralloids that then continued to grow. Technicians were therefore able to provide both minimum and maximum ages for such motifs.有些情況下，在圖案的上面形成珊瑚點(diǎn)，鈾判定能夠給出下部母巖上圖案的最低年份。然而，很多情況下，繪制者創(chuàng)作的圖案覆蓋到上面的珊瑚點(diǎn)，此后珊瑚點(diǎn)會(huì)繼續(xù)生長。因此技術(shù)人員能夠得出這些作品的最低和最高年份。The earliest dated image at Maros-Pangkep is a hand stencil with a minimum age of 39,900 years ago, making it the oldest known hand stencil in the world. A nearby painting of a “pig-deer” was also dated to 35,400 years ago and is now among the oldest known figurative depictions in the world.馬洛斯-龐格普地區(qū)最早的圖案是一幅手形圖，最低年份在39900年前，這也成為目前世界上最古老的手形圖。該圖案附近的一幅“豬鹿”圖也要追溯于35400年前，屬于世界上已知的最古老的形象畫之一。This dating of rock art in Sulawesi has implications for our understanding of symbolic traditions in the wider region. Similar art styles have previously been discovered in Borneo and other locations in Southeast Asia, and rock art in northern Australia also features hand stencils and paintings of animals. Many of the excavated deposits associated with these motifs have been dated to as far back as 50,000 years ago, and evidence of ochre processing and hematite crayons have also been found in these areas.標(biāo)定蘇拉威蘇地區(qū)巖石藝術(shù)對(duì)于我們理解更廣泛地區(qū)的象形傳統(tǒng)具有較高意義。此前，在婆羅洲和東南亞其他地區(qū)也發(fā)現(xiàn)過相似風(fēng)格的藝術(shù)作品。澳洲北部的巖石藝術(shù)也以手形圖和動(dòng)物繪畫而見長。已發(fā)掘的很多與這些藝術(shù)品相關(guān)的沉積物能夠追溯遠(yuǎn)到5萬年前，在這些地區(qū)也發(fā)現(xiàn)了赤石和褐石作為染料的痕跡。These new findings also provide us with new information regarding the origins of Paleolithic rock art, which has previously been dominated by a Eurocentric focus. Archaeologists have generally fallen into two camps regarding the origins of prehistoric cave art. Some argue that rock art originated in Europe and developed over thousands of years, resulting in the more sophisticated representations of animals at Lasceaux and Altamira 20,000 years ago.這些新發(fā)現(xiàn)還為我們研究更新世巖石藝術(shù)提供了新的信息，而之前一直被歐洲的考古發(fā)現(xiàn)所主導(dǎo)。對(duì)于更新世洞穴藝術(shù)的起源問題，基本上考古學(xué)家們分化成兩種陣營。有些人認(rèn)為巖石藝術(shù)發(fā)源于歐洲，并且發(fā)展了數(shù)千年，形成了2萬年前拉斯西奧斯和阿塔米亞洞穴中更加復(fù)雜的動(dòng)物圖案。Others, including the authors of the Nature article, suggest that cave art developed more broadly, and some even go so far as to suggest that cave painting may have been widely practiced by the first wave of Homo sapiens who left Africa tens of thousands of years earlier.另外一些人包括《自然》雜志上文章的作者在內(nèi)，都認(rèn)為洞穴藝術(shù)的發(fā)展更具廣泛性，有些人甚至進(jìn)一步認(rèn)為或許數(shù)萬年前離開非洲的第一波赫姆智人便已經(jīng)普遍創(chuàng)作過洞穴圖案。One limitation of examining rock art is the survivability and deterioration of the motifs over time. The Nature article authors explain in their paper that, even in prehistoric times, rock art was already in an advanced state of deterioration. Local custodians have further reported that the loss of the art has accelerated in recent decades. Many pieces of rock art have undoubtedly disappeared over the millennia, leaving only remnants for archaeologists to analyze.研究巖石藝術(shù)的限制之一便是經(jīng)歷時(shí)間洗禮這些作品的可延續(xù)性和受到的風(fēng)化。作者在《自然》雜志的文章中解釋到，即使在史前時(shí)代，巖石藝術(shù)品已經(jīng)遭受較嚴(yán)重的風(fēng)化。當(dāng)?shù)氐谋Ｗo(hù)者進(jìn)一步報(bào)告稱近幾十年這些藝術(shù)品的損失越來越嚴(yán)重。幾千年來，很多巖石藝術(shù)樣本無疑已經(jīng)消失了，只留下殘跡令考古學(xué)家分析。However, we do have evidence of the use of pigments as early as 400,000 years ago, which were also used in the practice of body painting. In 1999, archaeologists discovered more than 300 pieces of pigment in the Twin Rivers Cave in Zambia. The stratigraphic layer in which the pigments were found also contained Middle Stone Age artifacts and sediment dating to between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago. The pigments were found in a range of colors including brown, red, yellow, purple, blue, and pink that all derived from locally available minerals.然而，我們確實(shí)掌握了早在40萬年前人類利用染料的證據(jù)，也被用于人體彩繪。1999年，考古學(xué)家在贊比亞的雙子河流域洞穴中發(fā)現(xiàn)300多個(gè)染料樣本。發(fā)現(xiàn)染料的地層中還包含有中石器時(shí)代器物和沉積物，起始于40萬至20萬年間。發(fā)現(xiàn)的染料包含有棕色、紅色、黃色、紫色、藍(lán)色以及粉色，全部來自于當(dāng)?shù)氐牡V物質(zhì)。In an interview with National Geographic, Alistair Pike, one of the archaeologists who authored the Nature article, speculated on why prehistoric humans around the world started creating cave art. He explained that in the past one argument was that when modern humans migrated to Europe, they competed with Neanderthals for caves, which led to a cultural change.《自然》雜志上文章的作者之一，派克接受國家地理頻道采訪時(shí)，圍繞著世界各地的史前人類開始創(chuàng)作洞穴藝術(shù)，思索他們?yōu)楹螘?huì)這樣做。他解釋道過去的一種觀點(diǎn)認(rèn)為“這源于現(xiàn)代人類移居到歐洲時(shí)，他們需要與當(dāng)?shù)匮ň尤烁偁幎囱ǎ虼藢?dǎo)致了文化的變遷。”Whats clear now is that the phenomenon happened elsewhere, he continued. Once modern people left Africa, they might have faced a different environment and social situation [and] different puzzles. They may have had to live in larger groups to survive, which leads to a need for stronger socialization. One way to display rituals and symbols is with cave art.“目前我們清楚了解了其他地區(qū)出現(xiàn)的現(xiàn)象，”他繼續(xù)說道。“一旦現(xiàn)代人類離開非洲，他們或許要面對(duì)一個(gè)不同的環(huán)境和社會(huì)狀態(tài)，要處理不同的難題。他們或許不得不為了生存而組成更大的居住群體，導(dǎo)致他們需要更高的社會(huì)化。辦法之一便是通過洞穴藝術(shù)來舉行儀式，展示象征符號(hào)。”His interview also hints at just how similar prehistoric humans were to us today. Certainly making hand stencils seems a universal human practice. Children love to make handprints, even today. We see them in cave art in different times and places everywhere, Pike stated. It could just be that the urge to make cave art is universal.采訪中他還暗示史前人類與我們今天的做法會(huì)如此相似。“制作手形圖案似乎肯定是人類的一種普遍行為。即使今天，兒童們也喜歡制作手形印記。在不同的時(shí)期不同地點(diǎn)的洞穴藝術(shù)中我都發(fā)現(xiàn)了這一點(diǎn)，”派克說道。“可能就是源于這種沖動(dòng)使洞穴藝術(shù)成為普遍現(xiàn)象。”He further states that similarities between cave art in Europe and Asia undoubtedly go much deeper. This is why we need to find more cave paintings, he explained. In addition, we must obtain the resources and financial ability to perform similar tests on rock art motifs that we already know about. While we know of approximately 90 motifs on Sulawesi, there are, without a doubt, thousands or even tens of thousands around the world, both discovered and undiscovered, waiting to tell us more about our ancestors.

他進(jìn)一步陳述到歐洲和亞洲洞穴藝術(shù)的相似性無疑會(huì)進(jìn)一步加深。這是“為何我們需要發(fā)掘更多洞穴繪畫的原因，”他解釋到。此外，我們必須得到對(duì)已知的巖石藝作品開展類似研究的資源和資金。雖然我們研究了蘇拉威蘇的大約90塊藝術(shù)作品，但毋庸置疑的是全世界仍存在數(shù)千乃至數(shù)萬件巖石藝術(shù)作品，無論是已發(fā)掘出的還是為被發(fā)現(xiàn)的，都在等著我們?nèi)ヌ角笞嫦攘粝碌男畔ⅰ?/p>

On October 9, Nature published a paper providing the results of new dating techniques that have been used to determine the age of prehistoric rock art motifs in volcanic caves on the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. Archaeologists have determined that some of the art was created at least 40,000 years ago, so that human cave art existed in Southeast Asia as long ago as in Europe.10月9日，《自然》雜志刊登了一篇文章提供了新的年代判定方法，用于確定印尼蘇拉威蘇島火山洞穴中史前巖石藝術(shù)作品的年代。考古學(xué)家已經(jīng)確認(rèn)有些藝術(shù)作品至少創(chuàng)建于4萬年前，因此東南亞洞穴人類藝術(shù)作品存在歷史與歐洲一樣久遠(yuǎn)。

Archaeologists have long been puzzled about the absence of prehistoric rock art in other places beside Europe, especially since they have already agreed that modern humans were established in South Asia and the Far East by 50,000 years ago. Thanks to new dating techniques, we now know that humans were producing rock art at both ends of the Pleistocene Eurasian world.

考古學(xué)家一直糾結(jié)于在歐洲之外缺乏史前巖石藝術(shù)品，特別是他們已經(jīng)認(rèn)可了南亞和中東存在現(xiàn)代人類的歷史能夠追溯到5萬年前的實(shí)歸功于新的年代判定技術(shù)，現(xiàn)在我們知道了在更新世期間歐亞大陸兩端的人類都曾創(chuàng)作了巖石藝術(shù)。

Sulawesi is the worlds eleventh largest island and is located in Wallacea, the zone of oceanic islands that lies between Asia and Australia. The Maros and Pangkep regions, where the rock art has been dated, cover about 450 square kilometers of the islands southwest peninsula. The caves containing the motifs were carved into the landscape by ancient volcanic lava flows that cut into the limestone, forming clusters of towers that erupt from the plains.蘇拉威蘇是世界上第十一大島，座落于亞洲和澳大利亞大陸之間的海域內(nèi)華萊士群島。發(fā)現(xiàn)巖石藝術(shù)品的馬洛斯和龐格普地區(qū)位于該島的西南部，占地450平方公里。由古老火山熔巖沖擊石灰?guī)r形成的洞穴中，存在著雕刻成風(fēng)景樣式的藝術(shù)作品，展現(xiàn)了平原上的成群的高塔.The network of foot caves formed around the bases of the towers were occupied by prehistoric humans who migrated east from Africa. As a result of this discovery, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has added these caves to a tentative list of protected world heritage sites. Final selection to the World Heritage List is based on criteria that demonstrate a sites importance for the worlds population.圍繞著高塔的基座形成了人類足以進(jìn)入的洞穴群，當(dāng)時(shí)被從非洲遷徙到東方的史前人類所占據(jù)。聯(lián)合國教科文組織將這一發(fā)現(xiàn)增補(bǔ)為臨時(shí)性世界保護(hù)遺址。世界保護(hù)遺址最終遴選結(jié)果將基于遺址對(duì)世界人口影響的重要性進(jìn)行評(píng)判。

Bird Cave in Maros馬洛斯地區(qū)的鳥類洞穴Archaeologists have previously discovered materials used by humans within many of the cave walls and have discovered a total of 90 rock art sites. Previously, the earliest dated evidence for human occupation at Sulawesi came from radiocarbon dates of excavated deposits in two different caves that showed people were using them for habitation approximately 35,000 years ago. Both sites had previously yielded evidence of pigment use, including hematite (iron oxide) crayons and ochre-smeared stone tools, implements that were likely used in the creation of rock art.之前考古學(xué)家在很多洞穴墻壁上都發(fā)現(xiàn)了人工痕跡，并且總共發(fā)現(xiàn)了90塊巖石藝術(shù)作品。之前，蘇拉威蘇遺址最早的人類居住痕跡來自于從兩處不同的洞穴中挖掘出的沉積物，放射性炭檢測顯示大約在3.5萬前有人類穴居于此。之前兩處遺址中出土的證據(jù)顯示有染色的痕跡，包括：使用赤鐵塊以及褐石，這些都可能用于巖石作品的創(chuàng)作。The Maros-Pangkep rock art was actually first recorded in the 1950s and has been studied extensively by researchers over the subsequent decades. There are two distinct styles of art within the caves, dated to the Pleistocene period, which extends between 2.58 million years ago and 11,700 years ago.

事實(shí)上馬洛斯-龐格普巖石藝術(shù)最早記錄50年代，隨后幾十年來研究者們一直對(duì)此進(jìn)行了廣泛研究。在洞穴中，存在有兩種明顯的藝術(shù)風(fēng)格，可以追溯到更新世時(shí)期，即距今258萬年年至11700年前。

Hands in Pettakere Cave派塔克洞穴中的手形圖案The first consists of human hand stencils made by spraying wet pigment around human hands that were pressed against the surfaces. Pleistocene humans likely placed pigment in their mouths in order to create such a spray. The less common style of cave art found at Maros-Pangkep is characterized by larger, naturalistic profile paintings of wild land mammals that were native to the island during the Pleistocene period.最初的人類手形圖案通過將手掌壓在繪圖面上，圍繞手掌噴灑染料液進(jìn)行制作。更新世時(shí)期的人類可能將染料液含在口中制造噴灑效果。馬洛斯-龐格普地區(qū)的洞穴藝術(shù)品中較為少見的風(fēng)格是繪制較大的野生哺乳動(dòng)物的自然輪廓畫，這些動(dòng)物在更新世時(shí)期生活在該島上。Both motifs, primarily red in coloration, have typically been found on high roofs and elevated parts of rock walls that are difficult to access. They are often found close to site entrances, but archaeologists have also discovered specimens within deep, dark chambers. The subjects and placements found here often resemble those of European cave art of roughly similar age.兩種風(fēng)格的作品基本上都采用了紅色，通常發(fā)現(xiàn)于較難接觸到的洞頂和巖壁的高處，一般都接近洞口。但考古學(xué)家在黑暗的洞穴深處也發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些樣本。發(fā)現(xiàn)的樣本和布置方式都與同時(shí)期歐洲洞穴藝術(shù)較為相似。Archaeologists used uranium-series dating techniques to analyze coralloids associated with 12 human hand stencils and two figurative animal depictions from seven cave sites in the Maros-Pangkep caves. Coralloids are small nodes of calcite that form on the surfaces of limestone caves, including on top of and beneath the rock art found in考古學(xué)家利用鈾系列放射標(biāo)定技術(shù)分析了從馬洛斯-龐格普地區(qū)7個(gè)洞穴中12處手掌圖案和2處動(dòng)物圖形的珊瑚點(diǎn)。珊瑚點(diǎn)是在石灰?guī)r洞表面上形成的方解石小斑點(diǎn)，包括在巖石藝術(shù)品的頂部和底下發(fā)現(xiàn)的珊瑚點(diǎn)。In cases where coralloid formed on top of paintings, uranium dates provide a minimum age for the underlying rock art. In some cases, however, painters created their art over the tops of coralloids that then continued to grow. Technicians were therefore able to provide both minimum and maximum ages for such motifs.有些情況下，在圖案的上面形成珊瑚點(diǎn)，鈾判定能夠給出下部母巖上圖案的最低年份。然而，很多情況下，繪制者創(chuàng)作的圖案覆蓋到上面的珊瑚點(diǎn)，此后珊瑚點(diǎn)會(huì)繼續(xù)生長。因此技術(shù)人員能夠得出這些作品的最低和最高年份。The earliest dated image at Maros-Pangkep is a hand stencil with a minimum age of 39,900 years ago, making it the oldest known hand stencil in the world. A nearby painting of a “pig-deer” was also dated to 35,400 years ago and is now among the oldest known figurative depictions in the world.馬洛斯-龐格普地區(qū)最早的圖案是一幅手形圖，最低年份在39900年前，這也成為目前世界上最古老的手形圖。該圖案附近的一幅“豬鹿”圖也要追溯于35400年前，屬于世界上已知的最古老的形象畫之一。This dating of rock art in Sulawesi has implications for our understanding of symbolic traditions in the wider region. Similar art styles have previously been discovered in Borneo and other locations in Southeast Asia, and rock art in northern Australia also features hand stencils and paintings of animals. Many of the excavated deposits associated with these motifs have been dated to as far back as 50,000 years ago, and evidence of ochre processing and hematite crayons have also been found in these areas.標(biāo)定蘇拉威蘇地區(qū)巖石藝術(shù)對(duì)于我們理解更廣泛地區(qū)的象形傳統(tǒng)具有較高意義。此前，在婆羅洲和東南亞其他地區(qū)也發(fā)現(xiàn)過相似風(fēng)格的藝術(shù)作品。澳洲北部的巖石藝術(shù)也以手形圖和動(dòng)物繪畫而見長。已發(fā)掘的很多與這些藝術(shù)品相關(guān)的沉積物能夠追溯遠(yuǎn)到5萬年前，在這些地區(qū)也發(fā)現(xiàn)了赤石和褐石作為染料的痕跡。These new findings also provide us with new information regarding the origins of Paleolithic rock art, which has previously been dominated by a Eurocentric focus. Archaeologists have generally fallen into two camps regarding the origins of prehistoric cave art. Some argue that rock art originated in Europe and developed over thousands of years, resulting in the more sophisticated representations of animals at Lasceaux and Altamira 20,000 years ago.這些新發(fā)現(xiàn)還為我們研究更新世巖石藝術(shù)提供了新的信息，而之前一直被歐洲的考古發(fā)現(xiàn)所主導(dǎo)。對(duì)于更新世洞穴藝術(shù)的起源問題，基本上考古學(xué)家們分化成兩種陣營。有些人認(rèn)為巖石藝術(shù)發(fā)源于歐洲，并且發(fā)展了數(shù)千年，形成了2萬年前拉斯西奧斯和阿塔米亞洞穴中更加復(fù)雜的動(dòng)物圖案。Others, including the authors of the Nature article, suggest that cave art developed more broadly, and some even go so far as to suggest that cave painting may have been widely practiced by the first wave of Homo sapiens who left Africa tens of thousands of years earlier.另外一些人包括《自然》雜志上文章的作者在內(nèi)，都認(rèn)為洞穴藝術(shù)的發(fā)展更具廣泛性，有些人甚至進(jìn)一步認(rèn)為或許數(shù)萬年前離開非洲的第一波赫姆智人便已經(jīng)普遍創(chuàng)作過洞穴圖案。One limitation of examining rock art is the survivability and deterioration of the motifs over time. The Nature article authors explain in their paper that, even in prehistoric times, rock art was already in an advanced state of deterioration. Local custodians have further reported that the loss of the art has accelerated in recent decades. Many pieces of rock art have undoubtedly disappeared over the millennia, leaving only remnants for archaeologists to analyze.研究巖石藝術(shù)的限制之一便是經(jīng)歷時(shí)間洗禮這些作品的可延續(xù)性和受到的風(fēng)化。作者在《自然》雜志的文章中解釋到，即使在史前時(shí)代，巖石藝術(shù)品已經(jīng)遭受較嚴(yán)重的風(fēng)化。當(dāng)?shù)氐谋Ｗo(hù)者進(jìn)一步報(bào)告稱近幾十年這些藝術(shù)品的損失越來越嚴(yán)重。幾千年來，很多巖石藝術(shù)樣本無疑已經(jīng)消失了，只留下殘跡令考古學(xué)家分析。However, we do have evidence of the use of pigments as early as 400,000 years ago, which were also used in the practice of body painting. In 1999, archaeologists discovered more than 300 pieces of pigment in the Twin Rivers Cave in Zambia. The stratigraphic layer in which the pigments were found also contained Middle Stone Age artifacts and sediment dating to between 400,000 and 200,000 years ago. The pigments were found in a range of colors including brown, red, yellow, purple, blue, and pink that all derived from locally available minerals.然而，我們確實(shí)掌握了早在40萬年前人類利用染料的證據(jù)，也被用于人體彩繪。1999年，考古學(xué)家在贊比亞的雙子河流域洞穴中發(fā)現(xiàn)300多個(gè)染料樣本。發(fā)現(xiàn)染料的地層中還包含有中石器時(shí)代器物和沉積物，起始于40萬至20萬年間。發(fā)現(xiàn)的染料包含有棕色、紅色、黃色、紫色、藍(lán)色以及粉色，全部來自于當(dāng)?shù)氐牡V物質(zhì)。In an interview with National Geographic, Alistair Pike, one of the archaeologists who authored the Nature article, speculated on why prehistoric humans around the world started creating cave art. He explained that in the past one argument was that when modern humans migrated to Europe, they competed with Neanderthals for caves, which led to a cultural change.《自然》雜志上文章的作者之一，派克接受國家地理頻道采訪時(shí)，圍繞著世界各地的史前人類開始創(chuàng)作洞穴藝術(shù)，思索他們?yōu)楹螘?huì)這樣做。他解釋道過去的一種觀點(diǎn)認(rèn)為“這源于現(xiàn)代人類移居到歐洲時(shí)，他們需要與當(dāng)?shù)匮ň尤烁偁幎囱ǎ虼藢?dǎo)致了文化的變遷。”Whats clear now is that the phenomenon happened elsewhere, he continued. Once modern people left Africa, they might have faced a different environment and social situation [and] different puzzles. They may have had to live in larger groups to survive, which leads to a need for stronger socialization. One way to display rituals and symbols is with cave art.“目前我們清楚了解了其他地區(qū)出現(xiàn)的現(xiàn)象，”他繼續(xù)說道。“一旦現(xiàn)代人類離開非洲，他們或許要面對(duì)一個(gè)不同的環(huán)境和社會(huì)狀態(tài)，要處理不同的難題。他們或許不得不為了生存而組成更大的居住群體，導(dǎo)致他們需要更高的社會(huì)化。辦法之一便是通過洞穴藝術(shù)來舉行儀式，展示象征符號(hào)。”His interview also hints at just how similar prehistoric humans were to us today. Certainly making hand stencils seems a universal human practice. Children love to make handprints, even today. We see them in cave art in different times and places everywhere, Pike stated. It could just be that the urge to make cave art is universal.采訪中他還暗示史前人類與我們今天的做法會(huì)如此相似。“制作手形圖案似乎肯定是人類的一種普遍行為。即使今天，兒童們也喜歡制作手形印記。在不同的時(shí)期不同地點(diǎn)的洞穴藝術(shù)中我都發(fā)現(xiàn)了這一點(diǎn)，”派克說道。“可能就是源于這種沖動(dòng)使洞穴藝術(shù)成為普遍現(xiàn)象。”He further states that similarities between cave art in Europe and Asia undoubtedly go much deeper. This is why we need to find more cave paintings, he explained. In addition, we must obtain the resources and financial ability to perform similar tests on rock art motifs that we already know about. While we know of approximately 90 motifs on Sulawesi, there are, without a doubt, thousands or even tens of thousands around the world, both discovered and undiscovered, waiting to tell us more about our ancestors.

他進(jìn)一步陳述到歐洲和亞洲洞穴藝術(shù)的相似性無疑會(huì)進(jìn)一步加深。這是“為何我們需要發(fā)掘更多洞穴繪畫的原因，”他解釋到。此外，我們必須得到對(duì)已知的巖石藝作品開展類似研究的資源和資金。雖然我們研究了蘇拉威蘇的大約90塊藝術(shù)作品，但毋庸置疑的是全世界仍存在數(shù)千乃至數(shù)萬件巖石藝術(shù)作品，無論是已發(fā)掘出的還是為被發(fā)現(xiàn)的，都在等著我們?nèi)ヌ角笞嫦攘粝碌男畔ⅰ?/p>