BBC 100件藏品中的世界史004:Swimming Reindeer對(duì)游水的馴鹿

BBC 100件藏品中的世界史

004: EPISODE 4 - Swimming Reindeer 大英博物館百件物品之4: 對(duì)游水的馴鹿

Swimming reindeer (made around 13,000 years ago). Sculpture carved from mammoth tusk, found at Montastruc, central France

猛犸象象牙雕“一對(duì)游水的馴鹿”，距今約于一萬(wàn)三千年前，出土于法國(guó)中部的Montastruc地區(qū)。

What does the past sound like? Of course, when we're as far back in deep time as we are this week, we can have no real idea.

過(guò)去的世界聆聽(tīng)起來(lái)如何?當(dāng)然，即使我們像本周一樣，努力追溯回宇宙洪荒的遠(yuǎn)古時(shí)代，我們?nèi)耘f沒(méi)能得到任何確切的答案。

Our modern human species, 'homo sapiens' ('thinking man' in the Latin), evolved in Africa at least 150,000 years ago.

我們的現(xiàn)在人種“智人”(拉丁語(yǔ)中意為“有思想的人”)是至少約十五萬(wàn)年前，在非洲進(jìn)化而來(lái)的。

But around 50,000 years ago, something dramatic seems to have happened to the human brain, because across the world, humans start to make patterns that decorate and intrigue, to make jewellery to adorn the body, and representations of the animals that share their world with them.

然后大概就在約五萬(wàn)年前，人類(lèi)大腦似乎發(fā)生在某些戲劇性的變化;因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)全世界各地的人類(lèi)紛紛不約而同，開(kāi)始使用形形色色的裝飾性與或滿足好奇心的圖案，使用珠寶首飾來(lái)裝飾身體，創(chuàng)造出大自然分享給他們的各種動(dòng)物的栩栩形態(tài)。

They are making objects that are less about physically changing the world than about exploring the order and the patterns that they see in it. In short, they are making art. Why? Why do all modern humans share the compulsion to make works of art? Why does man the toolmaker everywhere turn into man the artist?

他們進(jìn)行物品創(chuàng)造的目的，再也不僅僅是為了純粹的從物理上去改變周遭的世界，而更是為了去探索他們?cè)诖笞匀恢杏^察出來(lái)的眾多規(guī)律與模式。簡(jiǎn)而言之，他們?cè)趧?chuàng)造藝術(shù)。為什么呢?為什么所有現(xiàn)代人類(lèi)有這種創(chuàng)造藝術(shù)品的通性?為什么全球范圍內(nèi)原來(lái)是工具創(chuàng)造者的人類(lèi)變成了藝術(shù)創(chuàng)造者的人類(lèi)?

Our two reindeer represent the oldest piece of art in any British art gallery or museum, and it's alarmingly delicate. We keep it in a climate-controlled case and we hardly ever move it, because with any sudden shock it could just crumble to dust. It was made during the end of the last Ice Age, around 13,000 years ago. And it's a sculpture carved from the tusk of a mammoth - it must have been towards the end of the tusk, because it's slim, slightly curved, and it's about eight inches long.

我們這件雙馴鹿展品代表著任何英國(guó)藝術(shù)畫(huà)廊或博物館館藏的最古老藝術(shù)品，它卻是如此驚人地脆弱。我們一直把它保存在嚴(yán)格控制氣候變化的展示臺(tái)里，幾乎不曾移動(dòng)過(guò);因?yàn)槿魏瓮蝗徽饎?dòng)都可能使它瞬間崩潰，化為一地塵埃。這藝術(shù)品成型于最后一次冰河時(shí)期，大約一萬(wàn)三千年左右，一件雕刻在猛犸象牙上的雕塑作品。肯定利用的是象牙的接近尾端部分，因?yàn)槠湫蜖罾w細(xì)、略呈弧形;它約八英寸長(zhǎng)。

The two reindeer swim closely, one behind one the other, and the sculptor has brilliantly exploited the tapering shape of the tusk. The smaller, female reindeer is in front with the very tip of the tusk forming the tip of her nose; and behind her, in the fuller part of the tusk, comes the larger male.

這對(duì)游水中馴鹿緊緊相隨，一前一后;而且雕塑家極巧妙地完全利用了象牙尾端逐漸變細(xì)的特點(diǎn)。雌鹿在前，象牙細(xì)細(xì)的尖端構(gòu)成了它的鼻子尖;緊隨其后的是雄鹿，身型較大，就占據(jù)了型狀較粗的象牙主體部分。

Because of the curve, both animals have their chins up and their antlers are tipped back, exactly as they would when swimming - and along the undersides, their legs are at full stretch, giving a marvellous impression of streamlined movement. It's a superbly observed piece - and it can only have been made by somebody who has spent a long time watching reindeer swimming across rivers.

因?yàn)檫@象牙天然的曲線，這對(duì)動(dòng)物都仰著下巴，鹿角翹向背部，游水的神態(tài)活靈活現(xiàn);順著下面兩側(cè)的邊緣，它們四腿充分伸展，栩栩如生地重現(xiàn)出流線型運(yùn)動(dòng)之感。這藝術(shù)確是精確入致觀察的結(jié)晶。只有花費(fèi)很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間觀察過(guò)馴鹿游水過(guò)河的人，才能創(chuàng)造出這件藝術(shù)品。

And it's probably no coincidence that it was found by a river, in a rock shelter at Montastruc in central France.

而它出土于法國(guó)中部 Montastruc河畔邊的一處巖石庇護(hù)處，這點(diǎn)也可能不是巧合。

This carving is an amazingly realistic representation of the reindeer who, 13,000 years ago, were roaming in great herds across Europe.

這雕塑品逼真而驚人地重現(xiàn)了一萬(wàn)三千年前馴鹿群的姿態(tài)，成千上萬(wàn)，浩浩蕩蕩，游遍歐洲大陸。

The continent at this time was far colder than it is today; the landscape consisted of open, tree-less plain, rather like the landscape of Siberia now and, for human hunter-gatherers in this unforgiving terrain, reindeer were one of the best hopes for survival. Their meat, skin, bones and antlers could supply pretty well all the food and the clothing you needed, as well as the raw materials for tools and weapons.

當(dāng)時(shí)的歐洲大陸遠(yuǎn)比現(xiàn)代更加冷寒;主要地貌是一空曠無(wú)限、寸木不生的遼原，與現(xiàn)代的西伯利亞景觀頗為相似;對(duì)于作為狩獵采集者的遠(yuǎn)古人類(lèi)而言，在這種嚴(yán)酷無(wú)情的地形中，馴鹿便是其生存最大希望之一。它們的肉、皮毛、骨骼與鹿角給你提供了可避寒、可裹腹的衣食，同時(shí)還是制作工具與武器的原材料。只要你能捕獵到馴鹿，一切都會(huì)好起來(lái)的。

As long as you could hunt reindeer, you were going to be alright. So, it's not surprising that our 'homo sapiens' artist knew the animals very well, and that he chose to represent them.

因此，我們的“智人”藝術(shù)家對(duì)馴鹿的一切了如指掌，而且選擇將這種動(dòng)物運(yùn)用到藝術(shù)品中去，也就不足為奇了。

The larger, male reindeer displays an impressive set of antlers, which run along almost the whole length of his back, and we can sex him quite confidently as the artist has carved his genitals under his belly. The female has smaller antlers and four little bumps on her underside that look just like teats.

體型較大的雄鹿展現(xiàn)出一對(duì)令人印象深刻的鹿角，長(zhǎng)度幾乎延伸完它整個(gè)后背，而且通過(guò)藝術(shù)家雕刻在它腹部下邊的生殖品也可以清晰判斷出它的性別。母鹿鹿角較小，而且腹部下邊四個(gè)小凸起似乎就是四個(gè)奶嘴。

But we can be much more specific than this even, because we're clearly looking at these animals in the autumn, at the time of rutting and migration to winter pastures. Only in the autumn do both male and female have full sets of antlers and coats in such wonderful condition.

我們還可以更進(jìn)一步地具體描繪，顯然我們觀察到的是秋天時(shí)向冬季牧地進(jìn)行大遷移的馴鹿。因?yàn)橐仓挥性诙?，雌雄馴鹿同時(shí)長(zhǎng)有鹿角，而且擁有如此光澤油亮的好皮毛。

On the female's chest, the ribs and the sternum have been beautifully carved. This object was clearly made not just with the knowledge of a hunter but also with the insight of a butcher, someone who not only looked at his animals, but cut them up.

雌鹿的胸部部位上，肋骨民胸骨雕刻得精致傳神。顯然制作這件藝術(shù)品的人，不僅僅擁有獵人的知識(shí)，還擁有屠夫的見(jiàn)識(shí);不僅僅觀察過(guò)這些動(dòng)物，而且屠宰過(guò)。

By an astonishing stroke of luck, we know that this detailed naturalism was only one of the styles that Ice Age artists had at their disposal.

通過(guò)極妙的機(jī)緣巧合，我們認(rèn)識(shí)到這種細(xì)節(jié)逼真的自然主義風(fēng)格僅僅冰河時(shí)代藝術(shù)家們進(jìn)行藝術(shù)創(chuàng)造的眾多風(fēng)格之一。

In the case next to the reindeer, the British Museum shows another sculpture found in that same cave at Montastruc.

在馴鹿雕塑品旁邊的展位臺(tái)上，顯現(xiàn)的是大英博物館的另一件同是出土于 Montastruc河畔的雕塑品。

By happy symmetry, where our reindeer are carved on mammoth tusk, the other sculpture shows a mammoth carved on a reindeer antler.

可喜可嘆的是，我們剛剛談?wù)摰氖且粚?duì)馴鹿雕刻在猛犸象牙上，那另一件雕塑品卻是一頭猛犸象雕刻到馴鹿鹿角上。

But the mammoth, although instantly recognisable, is drawn in a quite different way - simplified and schematised, somewhere between a caricature and an abstraction, and this is no one-off accident; Ice Age artists display a whole range of artistic styles and techniques: abstract, naturalistic, even surreal - as well as using perspective and sophisticated composition. These are modern humans with modern human minds, just like our own. They still live by hunting and gathering, but they're interpreting the world through art. So what's driving this? Here's Professor Steven Mithen:

然而即使這猛犸象即使形象可以馬上識(shí)別，展示的藝術(shù)手法卻迥然不同，更加的簡(jiǎn)化、更加的速寫(xiě)，介于一種漫畫(huà)與抽象畫(huà)之間。這事實(shí)也絕非是一種偶然性，冰何時(shí)代藝術(shù)家們顯示出豐富多樣的藝術(shù)風(fēng)格與技巧：抽象的、自然的、甚至是超現(xiàn)實(shí)的，還有使用角度因素與復(fù)雜的各種組合。這些人類(lèi)已經(jīng)是擁有現(xiàn)代頭腦的現(xiàn)代人，就跟我們自己一樣。他們的生存方式仍舊是狩獵與采集，然而他們已經(jīng)通過(guò)藝術(shù)來(lái)詮釋世界。那么，究竟是什么力量在驅(qū)動(dòng)這些?史蒂芬·米森教授說(shuō)道：

'I think what probably happens - around 100,000 years ago - is different bits of the brain get connected together in a new way, and they can combine different ways of thinking.

“我覺(jué)得大約十萬(wàn)年前，可能我們頭腦的不同部位以一種嶄新的方式連接了起來(lái)，使得人類(lèi)開(kāi)始可以結(jié)合不同思維方式進(jìn)行思考。”

So they can combine what they know about nature with what they know about making things, and this gives them a new capacity to produce pieces of art.

“因此，他們能夠把自己對(duì)大自然的認(rèn)知結(jié)合到制造物品的知識(shí)中去，從而給予了他們創(chuàng)造藝術(shù)品的新能力。

We can imagine the unchanging sounds of nature - wind, rain, sea, river - but for us, history is silent.

我們可以想象大自然里永恒不變的聲音——風(fēng)聲雨聲，或蒼海河流的濤聲依舊。

But if we can't hear the past, we can certainly see it. I'd like to introduce you to an object that's 13,000 years old, made by one of our ancestors who wanted to show his own world to himself and, in doing so, relayed that world with astonishing immediacy, to us.

然而歷史對(duì)于我們，卻是沉默的。但或許我們無(wú)法聆聽(tīng)歷史，我們卻可以看得到它。我想向你介紹這件擁有一萬(wàn)三千年歷史的物品，也許當(dāng)初我們某一位遠(yuǎn)古祖先想把自己生存的世界展示給自己，其結(jié)果恰好也將那世界以無(wú)比親密、讓人驚嘆的方式傳達(dá)給今天的我們。

It is, I think, a masterpiece of Ice Age art, and it's also evidence of a huge change in the way in which the human brain was working. Steven Mithen, professor at the University of Reading, and Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury, have both thought about this, in very different ways, and we'll hear more from them later in the programme.

我認(rèn)為這是一件冰河時(shí)代的藝術(shù)杰作，同時(shí)它也是人類(lèi)運(yùn)轉(zhuǎn)方式產(chǎn)生巨大變化的鮮明證據(jù)。雷丁大學(xué)的史蒂文·文森教授及坎特伯雷大主教羅文·威廉斯也都在通過(guò)非常不同的方式思考這同一問(wèn)題。節(jié)目中他們將會(huì)與我們分享更多的想法。

'You can feel that here's somebody making this, who was projecting themselves with huge imaginative generosity into the world around, and saw and felt in their bones that rhythm.' (Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams)

“你可能感受到制作這藝術(shù)品的人運(yùn)用巨大的想象力去感知自己周遭的世界，審視那節(jié)奏，并將其融合他們的骨雕作品中去。”坎特伯雷大主教羅文·威廉斯說(shuō)道。

'Something, between say 100,000 and 50,000 years ago, happens in the human brain, that allows this fantastic creativity, imagination, artistic abilities, to emerge.' (Professor Steven Mithen)

“大約在五至十萬(wàn)年前之間，人類(lèi)大腦產(chǎn)生了變化，允許了這夢(mèng)幻般的創(chuàng)造力、想象力，審美能力的涌現(xiàn)。”史蒂文·文森教授說(shuō)道。

In the last two programmes, we looked at stone tools, which raised the question of whether it's making 'things' that makes us human.

在上次兩期節(jié)目中，我們介紹了石制工具，并因些提出這個(gè)問(wèn)題：是否制造“物品”使我們?nèi)祟?lèi)之所以成為人類(lèi)呢?

Could you conceive of being human without using objects to negotiate the world? I don't think I can. But there's another question that follows quite quickly once you start looking at these very ancient things.

你能否想象作為人類(lèi)，卻不使用物品去應(yīng)付這個(gè)世界?我不能想象。然而當(dāng)你再次審視這些非常古老的物品時(shí)，卻引發(fā)了另一個(gè)問(wèn)題。

 

Our modern human species, 'homo sapiens' ('thinking man' in the Latin), evolved in Africa at least 150,000 years ago.

我們的現(xiàn)在人種“智人”(拉丁語(yǔ)中意為“有思想的人”)是至少約十五萬(wàn)年前，在非洲進(jìn)化而來(lái)的。

But around 50,000 years ago, something dramatic seems to have happened to the human brain, because across the world, humans start to make patterns that decorate and intrigue, to make jewellery to adorn the body, and representations of the animals that share their world with them.

然后大概就在約五萬(wàn)年前，人類(lèi)大腦似乎發(fā)生在某些戲劇性的變化;因?yàn)楫?dāng)時(shí)全世界各地的人類(lèi)紛紛不約而同，開(kāi)始使用形形色色的裝飾性與或滿足好奇心的圖案，使用珠寶首飾來(lái)裝飾身體，創(chuàng)造出大自然分享給他們的各種動(dòng)物的栩栩形態(tài)。

They are making objects that are less about physically changing the world than about exploring the order and the patterns that they see in it. In short, they are making art. Why? Why do all modern humans share the compulsion to make works of art? Why does man the toolmaker everywhere turn into man the artist?

他們進(jìn)行物品創(chuàng)造的目的，再也不僅僅是為了純粹的從物理上去改變周遭的世界，而更是為了去探索他們?cè)诖笞匀恢杏^察出來(lái)的眾多規(guī)律與模式。簡(jiǎn)而言之，他們?cè)趧?chuàng)造藝術(shù)。為什么呢?為什么所有現(xiàn)代人類(lèi)有這種創(chuàng)造藝術(shù)品的通性?為什么全球范圍內(nèi)原來(lái)是工具創(chuàng)造者的人類(lèi)變成了藝術(shù)創(chuàng)造者的人類(lèi)?

Our two reindeer represent the oldest piece of art in any British art gallery or museum, and it's alarmingly delicate. We keep it in a climate-controlled case and we hardly ever move it, because with any sudden shock it could just crumble to dust. It was made during the end of the last Ice Age, around 13,000 years ago. And it's a sculpture carved from the tusk of a mammoth - it must have been towards the end of the tusk, because it's slim, slightly curved, and it's about eight inches long.

我們這件雙馴鹿展品代表著任何英國(guó)藝術(shù)畫(huà)廊或博物館館藏的最古老藝術(shù)品，它卻是如此驚人地脆弱。我們一直把它保存在嚴(yán)格控制氣候變化的展示臺(tái)里，幾乎不曾移動(dòng)過(guò);因?yàn)槿魏瓮蝗徽饎?dòng)都可能使它瞬間崩潰，化為一地塵埃。這藝術(shù)品成型于最后一次冰河時(shí)期，大約一萬(wàn)三千年左右，一件雕刻在猛犸象牙上的雕塑作品?？隙ɡ玫氖窍笱赖慕咏捕瞬糠郑?yàn)槠湫蜖罾w細(xì)、略呈弧形;它約八英寸長(zhǎng)。

The two reindeer swim closely, one behind one the other, and the sculptor has brilliantly exploited the tapering shape of the tusk. The smaller, female reindeer is in front with the very tip of the tusk forming the tip of her nose; and behind her, in the fuller part of the tusk, comes the larger male.

這對(duì)游水中馴鹿緊緊相隨，一前一后;而且雕塑家極巧妙地完全利用了象牙尾端逐漸變細(xì)的特點(diǎn)。雌鹿在前，象牙細(xì)細(xì)的尖端構(gòu)成了它的鼻子尖;緊隨其后的是雄鹿，身型較大，就占據(jù)了型狀較粗的象牙主體部分。

Because of the curve, both animals have their chins up and their antlers are tipped back, exactly as they would when swimming - and along the undersides, their legs are at full stretch, giving a marvellous impression of streamlined movement. It's a superbly observed piece - and it can only have been made by somebody who has spent a long time watching reindeer swimming across rivers.

因?yàn)檫@象牙天然的曲線，這對(duì)動(dòng)物都仰著下巴，鹿角翹向背部，游水的神態(tài)活靈活現(xiàn);順著下面兩側(cè)的邊緣，它們四腿充分伸展，栩栩如生地重現(xiàn)出流線型運(yùn)動(dòng)之感。這藝術(shù)確是精確入致觀察的結(jié)晶。只有花費(fèi)很長(zhǎng)時(shí)間觀察過(guò)馴鹿游水過(guò)河的人，才能創(chuàng)造出這件藝術(shù)品。

And it's probably no coincidence that it was found by a river, in a rock shelter at Montastruc in central France.

而它出土于法國(guó)中部 Montastruc河畔邊的一處巖石庇護(hù)處，這點(diǎn)也可能不是巧合。

This carving is an amazingly realistic representation of the reindeer who, 13,000 years ago, were roaming in great herds across Europe.

這雕塑品逼真而驚人地重現(xiàn)了一萬(wàn)三千年前馴鹿群的姿態(tài)，成千上萬(wàn)，浩浩蕩蕩，游遍歐洲大陸。

The continent at this time was far colder than it is today; the landscape consisted of open, tree-less plain, rather like the landscape of Siberia now and, for human hunter-gatherers in this unforgiving terrain, reindeer were one of the best hopes for survival. Their meat, skin, bones and antlers could supply pretty well all the food and the clothing you needed, as well as the raw materials for tools and weapons.

當(dāng)時(shí)的歐洲大陸遠(yuǎn)比現(xiàn)代更加冷寒;主要地貌是一空曠無(wú)限、寸木不生的遼原，與現(xiàn)代的西伯利亞景觀頗為相似;對(duì)于作為狩獵采集者的遠(yuǎn)古人類(lèi)而言，在這種嚴(yán)酷無(wú)情的地形中，馴鹿便是其生存最大希望之一。它們的肉、皮毛、骨骼與鹿角給你提供了可避寒、可裹腹的衣食，同時(shí)還是制作工具與武器的原材料。只要你能捕獵到馴鹿，一切都會(huì)好起來(lái)的。

As long as you could hunt reindeer, you were going to be alright. So, it's not surprising that our 'homo sapiens' artist knew the animals very well, and that he chose to represent them.

因此，我們的“智人”藝術(shù)家對(duì)馴鹿的一切了如指掌，而且選擇將這種動(dòng)物運(yùn)用到藝術(shù)品中去，也就不足為奇了。

The larger, male reindeer displays an impressive set of antlers, which run along almost the whole length of his back, and we can sex him quite confidently as the artist has carved his genitals under his belly. The female has smaller antlers and four little bumps on her underside that look just like teats.

體型較大的雄鹿展現(xiàn)出一對(duì)令人印象深刻的鹿角，長(zhǎng)度幾乎延伸完它整個(gè)后背，而且通過(guò)藝術(shù)家雕刻在它腹部下邊的生殖品也可以清晰判斷出它的性別。母鹿鹿角較小，而且腹部下邊四個(gè)小凸起似乎就是四個(gè)奶嘴。

But we can be much more specific than this even, because we're clearly looking at these animals in the autumn, at the time of rutting and migration to winter pastures. Only in the autumn do both male and female have full sets of antlers and coats in such wonderful condition.

我們還可以更進(jìn)一步地具體描繪，顯然我們觀察到的是秋天時(shí)向冬季牧地進(jìn)行大遷移的馴鹿。因?yàn)橐仓挥性诙?，雌雄馴鹿同時(shí)長(zhǎng)有鹿角，而且擁有如此光澤油亮的好皮毛。

On the female's chest, the ribs and the sternum have been beautifully carved. This object was clearly made not just with the knowledge of a hunter but also with the insight of a butcher, someone who not only looked at his animals, but cut them up.

雌鹿的胸部部位上，肋骨民胸骨雕刻得精致傳神。顯然制作這件藝術(shù)品的人，不僅僅擁有獵人的知識(shí)，還擁有屠夫的見(jiàn)識(shí);不僅僅觀察過(guò)這些動(dòng)物，而且屠宰過(guò)。

By an astonishing stroke of luck, we know that this detailed naturalism was only one of the styles that Ice Age artists had at their disposal.

通過(guò)極妙的機(jī)緣巧合，我們認(rèn)識(shí)到這種細(xì)節(jié)逼真的自然主義風(fēng)格僅僅冰河時(shí)代藝術(shù)家們進(jìn)行藝術(shù)創(chuàng)造的眾多風(fēng)格之一。

In the case next to the reindeer, the British Museum shows another sculpture found in that same cave at Montastruc.

在馴鹿雕塑品旁邊的展位臺(tái)上，顯現(xiàn)的是大英博物館的另一件同是出土于 Montastruc河畔的雕塑品。

By happy symmetry, where our reindeer are carved on mammoth tusk, the other sculpture shows a mammoth carved on a reindeer antler.

可喜可嘆的是，我們剛剛談?wù)摰氖且粚?duì)馴鹿雕刻在猛犸象牙上，那另一件雕塑品卻是一頭猛犸象雕刻到馴鹿鹿角上。

But the mammoth, although instantly recognisable, is drawn in a quite different way - simplified and schematised, somewhere between a caricature and an abstraction, and this is no one-off accident; Ice Age artists display a whole range of artistic styles and techniques: abstract, naturalistic, even surreal - as well as using perspective and sophisticated composition. These are modern humans with modern human minds, just like our own. They still live by hunting and gathering, but they're interpreting the world through art. So what's driving this? Here's Professor Steven Mithen:

然而即使這猛犸象即使形象可以馬上識(shí)別，展示的藝術(shù)手法卻迥然不同，更加的簡(jiǎn)化、更加的速寫(xiě)，介于一種漫畫(huà)與抽象畫(huà)之間。這事實(shí)也絕非是一種偶然性，冰何時(shí)代藝術(shù)家們顯示出豐富多樣的藝術(shù)風(fēng)格與技巧：抽象的、自然的、甚至是超現(xiàn)實(shí)的，還有使用角度因素與復(fù)雜的各種組合。這些人類(lèi)已經(jīng)是擁有現(xiàn)代頭腦的現(xiàn)代人，就跟我們自己一樣。他們的生存方式仍舊是狩獵與采集，然而他們已經(jīng)通過(guò)藝術(shù)來(lái)詮釋世界。那么，究竟是什么力量在驅(qū)動(dòng)這些?史蒂芬·米森教授說(shuō)道：

'I think what probably happens - around 100,000 years ago - is different bits of the brain get connected together in a new way, and they can combine different ways of thinking.

“我覺(jué)得大約十萬(wàn)年前，可能我們頭腦的不同部位以一種嶄新的方式連接了起來(lái)，使得人類(lèi)開(kāi)始可以結(jié)合不同思維方式進(jìn)行思考。”

So they can combine what they know about nature with what they know about making things, and this gives them a new capacity to produce pieces of art.

“因此，他們能夠把自己對(duì)大自然的認(rèn)知結(jié)合到制造物品的知識(shí)中去，從而給予了他們創(chuàng)造藝術(shù)品的新能力。

 

But also I think those Ice Age conditions were critical as well. That was a very challenging time for people living in harsh, long winters - the need to build up really intense social bonds, the need for ritual, the need for religion, I think is all related to this flowering of fantastically creative art at the time.

但我認(rèn)為當(dāng)時(shí)冰河時(shí)代的客觀條件也是極為關(guān)鍵的。當(dāng)時(shí)對(duì)于要渡過(guò)惡劣而漫長(zhǎng)冬季的人類(lèi)而言，那是一段非常具有挑戰(zhàn)性的歲月，從而他們延伸出建立非常親密的社交紐帶的渴望、祭祀的需求、宗教的需求;我認(rèn)為這一切都與同時(shí)期，如此多的創(chuàng)造性藝術(shù)極戲劇化的如燦爛繁花般涌現(xiàn)有關(guān)。

There must have been astonishing places ... you can imagine the mammoths, and the herds of horses and deer. And the birds, the migrating birds, would have had a massive impact on these hunter-gatherers. So I think part of the art is an overwhelming sense of delight and appreciation and celebration of the natural world.'

當(dāng)時(shí)肯定有很多震振人心的地方……你能想像那些猛犸象、大群大群的野馬與鹿群。還有形形色色的鳥(niǎo)，各種候鳥(niǎo)，肯定會(huì)對(duì)當(dāng)時(shí)那些狩豬采集者產(chǎn)生多么巨大的影響。因此，我因?yàn)樗囆g(shù)中的一部分是一種讓人難以控制的喜悅、一種對(duì)大自然世界的賞識(shí)與慶賀。”

And an appreciation not just of the animal world - these people know how to make the most of the rocks and minerals.

而且不僅僅是對(duì)動(dòng)物世界的賞識(shí)，這些人類(lèi)已經(jīng)知道如何物盡其能地利用巖石與礦物。

If you look closely, you can see that this little sculpture is the result, in fact, of four separate stone technologies.

細(xì)細(xì)觀察一下這個(gè)小小的雕塑品，你就清楚這是件由四種獨(dú)立石器工藝制作出來(lái)的成果。

First, the tip of the tusk was severed with a chopping tool; then the contours of the animals were whittled with a stone knife and scraper.

首先用砍砸器將這象牙尖從象牙上砍斷;然后用石頭刀與石刮刀將動(dòng)物的輪廓削出來(lái)。

Then the whole thing was polished using a powdered iron oxide mixed with water, probably buffed up with a chamois leather.

接下來(lái)用一種氧化鐵和水混合液體來(lái)拋光打磨整件物品，極可能是拿著塊麂皮來(lái)弄的。

And finally the markings on the bodies and the details of the eyes were carefully incised with a stone engraving tool. In execution as well as in conception, this is a very complex work of art. And it seems to me that it has all the qualities of precise observation and interpretation that you'd look for in any great artist.

最后，再利用一種石制雕刻工具對(duì)諸如身體與眼神等部位細(xì)節(jié)進(jìn)行精雕細(xì)琢。無(wú)論是實(shí)際操作還是概念構(gòu)思上，這無(wú)疑是一件極為復(fù)雜的藝術(shù)品。在我看來(lái)，它完全具備在你能在任何偉大藝術(shù)家身上找到的屬性，那入微的觀察力與精準(zhǔn)的表達(dá)力。

Why would you go to such trouble to make an object with no practical purpose? Here's Archbishop Rowan Williams:

但你怎么可能費(fèi)那么大心思去創(chuàng)造一件毫無(wú)實(shí)際用途的物品?大主教羅文·威廉斯說(shuō)道：

What I think you see in the art of this period is human beings trying to enter fully into the flow of life around them, so that they become part of the whole process of animal life that's going on around them, in a way which I think isn't just about managing the animal world, or guaranteeing them success in hunting or whatever.

“在我看來(lái)，這時(shí)期你所看到的藝術(shù)，反映出人類(lèi)試圖更充分地融入自己周遭的生命之河中，使自己成為這周而復(fù)始、生生不息的動(dòng)物生命過(guò)程的一部分;而且在我看來(lái)，是通過(guò)一種不僅僅是管理動(dòng)物世界，或者能保證他們成功地捕獲獵物之類(lèi)的方式。我認(rèn)為意義不止于此。

I think it's more than that. It's really a desire to get inside and almost to be at home in the world at a deeper level, and I think that that's actually a very deeply religious impulse, to be at home in the world.

其實(shí)真的是一種渴望，渴望在更深層次上，去認(rèn)知世界，在世界中尋找到歸屬感;我覺(jué)得這種在世界中尋找歸屬感的渴望，是具有要當(dāng)深刻的宗教情緒。

We tend to identify religion with not being at home in the world sometimes, as if the real stuff were elsewhere in heaven; and yet actually if you look at religious origins, if you look at a lot of the mainstream themes in the great world religions, it's the other way round - it's how to live here and now and how to be part of that flow of life.'

我們習(xí)以為常地傾向于把宗教認(rèn)知為一種超塵出世的感覺(jué)，似乎真諦只是存在遠(yuǎn)方的天堂樂(lè)園中;然而假如你追溯回所有宗教的根源，假如你細(xì)細(xì)觀察這世界上所有主流的偉大宗教的主流主題，情況恰恰是相反的——它是關(guān)于如何活在現(xiàn)在，活在世上，如何成為生命之流的一部分。”

This carving of the two swimming reindeer had no practical function, only form. Was it just 'art'? An image made just for its beauty? Or does it have a different purpose? By representing something, by making a picture or a sculpture of it, you give it a different kind of life, a kind of magical power, and you assert your relation to it in a world you're able not just to experience, but to imagine. Is it going too far to suggest that art like this is the earliest physical evidence for religion? Rowan Williams again:

這對(duì)游水的馴鹿雕刻品其實(shí)也沒(méi)有任何實(shí)際功能，具有一種形式。難道它僅僅是“藝術(shù)”?一件純粹為美而制造的形象物品?還是它還蘊(yùn)含著不同的目的?通過(guò)重新詮釋一樣物品，例如為它繪制一幅畫(huà)或者雕一件雕塑，你賦于了給另一種全新的生命，一種神奇的力量;同時(shí)你不止通過(guò)體驗(yàn)，還有想像，重新定位了你與它在這世上間的關(guān)系。如果說(shuō)這樣的藝術(shù)品便是宗教藝術(shù)最早的實(shí)物證據(jù)，會(huì)不會(huì)太言過(guò)其實(shí)了呢?羅文·威廉斯大主教再次說(shuō)道：

'At the beginning, of course, you can't really pull apart religion and art can you? Art is sacred because it is taking you to this space where you're not just doing the subject/object arm's-length approach to nature, it takes you to a new place and that's a religious activity. It's only as time goes on that religion becomes much more involved with issues around power, and art becomes much more involved with issues around self-expression, and these days, the two often look at each other from separate mountain peaks, peering in a puzzled kind of way through the mists.

“在最開(kāi)始的時(shí)候，你肯定不能真正地把宗教與藝術(shù)區(qū)分開(kāi)來(lái)的，不是嗎?藝術(shù)是神圣的，因?yàn)樗鼘⒛銕ьI(lǐng)到另一個(gè)空間，讓你不僅僅是主體與客體方式對(duì)待大自然，并且保持著一臂之距的疏離感。它同時(shí)帶領(lǐng)你走進(jìn)一個(gè)新領(lǐng)域，這便是一種宗教行為。只是在勿勿時(shí)光流逝中，宗教演變得越來(lái)越是涉及圍繞權(quán)力之類(lèi)的問(wèn)題，而藝術(shù)越來(lái)越成為一種表達(dá)自我的方式;到了今天，兩者往往是分別高居于兩座巍然屹立的高峰之上，透過(guò)迷霧用謎一般的眼光審視著對(duì)方。”

'I don't think that primitive human beings just had a ready-made word in their heads that sounded like 'God', and they immediately knew what it was. They were discovering how to be human in a world that was much more complicated because of their intelligence, and because of the new environmental challenges they were working with, and slowly the world - how should I say it? - almost reshapes itself. With that, and in your identification with the processes of the world, you begin to understand or intuit what in the 'Old Testament' is called 'wisdom', a kind of principle of cohesion or cohesiveness underlying it all, and you identify that eventually with the mind of God.'

“我不認(rèn)為遠(yuǎn)古人類(lèi)腦中能有現(xiàn)成‘神’這個(gè)字，并能立刻感知‘神’的含義。隨著他們自身智力發(fā)展，及他們自身正在對(duì)付的各種挑戰(zhàn)，這世界變得越來(lái)越復(fù)雜，而他們還正在探索著如何成為這世界中的人類(lèi);慢慢地，這世界就，怎么說(shuō)呢，幾乎重新塑造了自身。憑借這點(diǎn)，加上在你自身識(shí)別這世界的過(guò)程中，你開(kāi)始理解了，或者直覺(jué)地感受到了那《舊約》中所稱的‘智慧’，一種最本質(zhì)最基礎(chǔ)的凝聚力或融合力，最終你能夠定義了‘神’的含義。”

It seems that much of the art made around the world at the time of the Ice Age did have a religious dimension, although we can only guess at any ritual use. This art is part of a tradition still very much alive today, and it's also part of an evolving religious consciousness which still shapes many human societies. Objects like this sculpture of swimming reindeer take us into the minds and imaginations of people like us - into a world unseen but understood. And I think it's that ability to see beyond the functional and the physical - to use our imaginations - that ultimately makes us modern. At the time our swimming reindeer were carved in Europe, the people of north-east Asia were about to settle the Americas. That's for the next programme.

看來(lái)，冰河時(shí)代時(shí)世界各地的藝術(shù)品確實(shí)大部分都渲染上宗教的色彩，盡管我們只能猜測(cè)究竟是運(yùn)用于什么儀式用途。這種藝術(shù)仍然是當(dāng)代非?；钴S的一種傳統(tǒng)，同時(shí)也是一種不斷塑造著人類(lèi)社會(huì)、演化中的宗教意識(shí)。像這種游水馴鹿雕塑像這樣的物品，把我們帶近那些具有與我們相同的思想與想象力的原始人類(lèi)，進(jìn)入一個(gè)看不見(jiàn)但了解得到的世界。我想正是這種能超越功能與物質(zhì)的見(jiàn)解能力，最終使我們成為現(xiàn)代人。當(dāng)歐洲的定居者雕刻出我們這件馴鹿雕塑時(shí)，東北區(qū)地區(qū)的人類(lèi)即將要在美洲安家。這將是下期節(jié)目的內(nèi)容。