日本出土世界最古老鱼钩 距今2.3万年

Archaeologists have found the world's oldest fish hooks in a cave on the Japanese island of Okinawa.

近日，在日本冲绳岛上的一个山洞里，考古学家们发现了目前全球最古老的鱼钩。

The pair, dating from about 23,000 years ago, were carved from sea snail shells and found with other ancient relics, according to a paper.

根据一篇论文显示，这对鱼钩可以追溯到大约23000年前，由海螺贝壳雕刻而成，同时发现的还有其他古代遗迹。

It is thought humans inhabited the island from at least 30,000 years ago, surviving despite scarce resources.

人们认为至少三万年前就有人类定居在冲绳岛上，尽管资源稀少，但是还是顽强存活了下来。

The findings suggest a wider use of advanced maritime technology in that era than previously thought.

和之前的看法相比较，这些发现表明那个时期人们更加广泛地使用先进的海事技术。

Modern humans first moved to offshore islands some 50,000 years ago.

大约在五万年前，现代人类第一次搬迁到沿海岛屿上居住。

While fishing has been essential for early humans to spread around the planet, it is unclear how the technology evolved, with evidence limited to sites in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

尽管捕渔在早期人类全球迁徙时发挥了十分重要的作用，但是却并不清楚这种技术到底是如何改进发展的，仅在印尼和巴布亚新几内亚的一些遗迹中发现了考古证据。

"The new evidence demonstrates a geographically wider distribution of early maritime technology that extended north to the mid-latitude areas along the western Pacific coast," according to the National Academy of Sciences.

据美国科学院表示：“这一新证据表明，早期海事技术的地理分布范围更广，顺着西太平洋沿岸传播到了中纬度地区。”

The fish hooks predate ones found in Timor, thought to be at least 16,000 years old, and Papua New Guinea, from at least 18,000 years ago.

此前东帝汶曾发现过古代的鱼钩，距今至少16000年，巴布亚新几内亚也发现过距今至少18000年的鱼钩。

Also found in the cave were two partially carved fish hooks, tools, beads and food debris.

考古学家们在这个山洞里同时发现了两枚部分雕刻打磨的鱼钩，工具、珠子、以及食物残骸。