印尼的「哈比人」也許比之前認為的還要早滅絕

原文網址：www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160330135304.htm

Indonesian 'Hobbits' may have died out sooner than thought

印尼的「哈比人」也許比之前認為的還要早滅絕

An ancient species of pint-sized humans discovered in the tropics of Indonesia may have met their demise earlier than once believed, according to an international team of scientists who reinvestigated the original finding.

根據一個國際科學家團隊重新調查的結果，於熱帶印尼發現的一種矮小的古代人種，他們比當初發現時認為的還要早迎接滅亡。

Published in the journal Nature this week, the group challenges reports that these inhabitants of remote Flores island co-existed with modern humans for tens of thousands of years.

之前發表的論文認為這些住在遠離塵囂的佛羅勒斯島上的居民，曾經跟現代人共同生活了數萬年之久。但本周刊登於《自然》(Nature)期刊上的論文則對此說法提出了質疑。

They found that the youngest age for Homo floresiensis, dubbed the 'Hobbit', is around 50,000 years ago not between 13,000 and 11,000 years as initially claimed.

他們發現這些暱稱為「哈比人」的佛羅勒斯人(Homo floresiensis)年代最近的骨骸為距今50,000年前，而非原先聲稱的距今11,000年前。

Led by Indonesian scientists and involving researchers from Griffith University's Research Centre of Human Evolution (RCHE) the team found problems with prior dating efforts at the cave site, Liang Bua.

這個團隊由印尼的科學家領導，並且有格里菲斯大學人類演化中心(RCHE)的研究人員參與其中。他們發現之前對這些骨骸出土的洞穴場址-梁布亞(Liang Bua)進行的定年方法有些問題。

"In fact, Homo floresiensis seems to have disappeared soon after our species reached Flores, suggesting it was us who drove them to extinction," says Associate Professor Maxime Aubert, a geochronologist and archaeologist at RCHE, who with RCHE's Director Professor Rainer measured the amount of uranium and thorium inside Homo floresiensis fossils to test their age.

「事實上，佛羅勒斯人似乎在我們所屬的物種到達佛羅勒斯島不久後就消失了。這意味著他們的滅亡是由我們促成的。」 RCHE的地質定年學家及考古學家 Maxime Aubert副教授說。他跟RCHE的計畫主持人， Rainer教授測量了佛羅勒斯人化石中的鈾和釷含量，以測得他們的生存年代。

"The science is unequivocal,'' Aubert said.

「這些科學證據可說無庸置疑。」Aubert說。

"The youngest Hobbit skeletal remains occur at 60,000 years ago but evidence for their simple stone tools continues until 50,000 years ago. After this there are no more traces of these humans."

「年代最近的哈比人化石大約是距今60,000年前，而他們遺留下來的粗糙石器則證明了他們直到55,000年前仍生活於此。然而在這之後就再也沒有這些人類生存於此的蛛絲馬跡了。」

While excavating at the limestone cave of Liang Bua in 2003, archaeologists found bones from diminutive humans unlike any people alive today. The researchers concluded the tiny cave dwellers evolved from an older branch of the human family that had been marooned on Flores for at least a million years. It was thought that this previously unknown population lived on Flores until about 12,000 years ago.

考古學家於2003年挖掘了位於梁布亞的石灰岩洞穴，並發現這些跟現今生存的人們截然不同的矮小人類骨骸。研究人員得出的結論認為這些矮小的穴居人是從人屬中古老的一支演化而來，他們漂流並孤立在佛羅勒斯島上至少已有100萬年的歷史。過去認為這群前所未見的人種至少在距今12,000年前都還生活在佛羅勒斯島上。

But the site is large and complex and the original excavators dug only a tiny portion of it. Years of further excavation has led to a much clearer understanding of the order of archaeological layers. It is now evident that when the original team collected samples for dating the main layer containing Hobbit bones they mistakenly took them from an overlying layer that is similar in composition, but far younger.

然而，最初開挖工作挖掘的只不過是這個巨大且複雜的遺址的一部分而已。經過數年的後續開挖工作後，研究人員更加瞭解了這些考古地層的年代先後順序。現在他們確知原先的團隊在定年含有哈比人化石的主要岩層時，他們誤從上覆的岩層採集樣品，雖然成分相似，然而年代卻年輕了許多。

"This problem has now been resolved and the newly published dates provide a more reliable estimate of the antiquity of this species,'' Aubert said.

「我們現在已經解決了這項問題。在新發表的論文中，我們提供了對這個物種的年代更可信的預估結果。」

But the mystery of what happened to these creatures remains.

然而，這個物種遭遇的一切仍然是個懸而未解的謎團。

RCHE archaeologist Dr Adam Brumm, who also participated in the study, said Hobbits are likely to have inhabited other Flores caves which may yield more recent signs of their existence. He believes Homo floresiensis probably suffered the same fate that befell Europe's Neanderthals -- our species simply out-competed and replaced them within a few thousand years.

同樣參與了此研究的RCHE考古學家，Adam Brumm教授說哈比人很可能也曾在佛羅勒斯島上的其他洞穴居住過，而我們或許能從中取得他們生活過的證據，且比先前的年代還要更近。他相信佛羅勒斯人遭受的厄運跟降臨在歐洲尼安德塔人身上的相同-我們這個物種在幾千內便淘汰並徹底取代了他們。

"They might have retreated to more remote parts of Flores, but it's a small place and they couldn't have avoided our species for long. I think their days were numbered the moment we set foot on the island."

「他們相當有可能撤離到佛羅勒斯島上更加隱密之處，但那蕞爾之地並不足以讓他們逃離我們這個物種的威脅太久。我想當我們登上這座島嶼的那一刻開始，他們的喪鐘就已經響起了。」

引用自：Griffith University. "Indonesian 'Hobbits' may have died out sooner than thought." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 March 2016.