评论
打印
Some people find it hard to believe Chauvet is so much older than Altamira and Lascaux,
一些人发现很难相信夏维特的年代比阿尔塔米拉及拉斯科还要久远，
and they noted that only one lab did the dating for Chauvet, without independent confirmation from any other lab.
他们指出,只有一个实验室做为夏维特做了确认,而任何其他实验室没有独立的确认。
But be that as it may, whatever the exact date, whether it's 15,000, 20,000 or 30,000 years ago,
但尽管如此,无论确切日期是15000年、20000年或30000年前,
the Chauvet paintings are from the dawn of art.
夏维特岩画是艺术的黎明时期。
So they are a good place to start our discussion of cave painting.
所以它们是我们讨论岩画一个很好的开始。
Now, one thing you've got to remember is the context of these paintings.
现在, 你们要记住的一件事是这些画的背景。
Paleolithic humans-that's the period we are talking about here,
旧石器时代的人类—这是我们在此讨论的时期,
the Paleolithic, the early stone age, not too long after humans first arrived in Europe.
旧石器时代,早期的石器时代，人类第一次出现在欧洲之后不久。
the climate was significantly colder then and so rock shelters, shallow caves were valued as homes protected from the wind and rain.
那时的气候异常寒冷，而且石窟,浅洞穴作为免受风雨的房屋存在。
And in some cases at least, artists drew on the walls of their homes.
至少,在某些情况下,艺术家们是在自己家中的墙上作画。
But many of the truly great cave art sites like Chauvet were never inhabited.
但像是夏维特这样许多真正伟大的洞穴艺术地点则是人类居住之地。
These paintings were made deep inside a dark cave, where no natural light can penetrate.
这些画是在一个黑暗的洞穴深处所作,那里没有自然光线可以穿透。
There's no evidence of people ever living here.
而且没有证据表明人类曾在这里居住。
Cave bears, yes, but not humans.
曾经有过洞穴里的熊,是的,但不是人类。
You would have had to make a special trip into the cave to make the paintings, and a special trip to go see it.
你将不得不进行一次特殊的旅行进入这个洞穴作画,并且专程去看它。
And each time you'd have to bring along torches to light your way.
而且每一次你不得不带上火把照亮你的前进道路。
And people did go see the art.
人们确实是这样去欣赏这一艺术品。
There are charcoal marks from their torches on the cave walls clearly dating from thousands of years after the paintings were made.
洞穴墙壁上来自他们火把的木炭标记显然可以追溯到绘画的几千年后。
So we can tell people went there. They came but they didn't stay.
所以我们可以说的是人们曾去过那里。他们来过,但没有停留。
Deep inside a cave like that is not really a place you'd want to stay, so, why?
来到洞穴身处,却并不是一个你想留下来的地方,所以,为什么?
What inspired the Paleolithic artists to make such beautiful art in such inaccessible places?
是什么启发了旧石器时代的艺术家们在这样难以进入的地方绘制这样漂亮的艺术品?
We'll never really know of course, though it's interesting to speculate.
尽管进行这样的推测会很有趣，但当然我们永远不会真正知晓。
But, um, getting to the paintings themselves,
但是,嗯,他们是自己去画,
virtually all Paleolithic cave art represents animals, and Chauvet is no exception.
几乎所有的旧石器时代的洞穴艺术呈现的是动物们,夏维特也不例外。
The artists were highly skilled at using, or even enhancing, the natural shape of the cave walls to give depth and perspectives to their drawings,
艺术家纯熟的使用,甚至提高,自然形状的洞壁赋予他们绘画深度及透视感，
the sense of motion and vitality in these animals.
让这些动物看起来活灵活现，充满了生机。
Well, wait till I show you the slides.
嗯,等我展现给你们幻灯片。
Anyway, most Paleolithic cave art depicts large herbivores.
无论如何,大多数旧石器时代的岩画描绘的是大型食草动物。
Horses are most common overall with deer and bison pretty common too, probably animals they hunted.
马是最常见的，鹿,野牛也是,可能这是他们捕猎的动物。
But earlier at Chauvet, there is a significant interest in large dangerous animals, lots of rhinoceros, lions, mammoth, bears.
但早在夏维特岩洞中,有人则明显对于大型危险动物感兴趣,所以这里出现了大量的犀牛，狮子、猛犸,熊。
Remember that the ranges of many animal species were different back then so all these animals actually lived in the region at that time.
需要记住的是,那时候许多动物物种的活动范围是不同的,所以所有这些动物当时实际上生活在这一地区。
But the Chauvet artists didn't paint people.
但是夏维特的艺术家们却没有画人。
There is a half-man-half-bison creature and there is outline of human hands but no depiction of a full human.
有一种半人半野牛的生物，而且有人类手的轮廓,但没有对于一个完整人类的描述。
So, why these precise animals?
那么,为什么这些动物被如此细致的画出?
Why not birds, fish, snakes?
为什么不是鸟、鱼、蛇呢?
Was it for their religion, magic or sheer beauty?
这是他们的宗教、魔法或纯粹之美吗?
We don't know.
我们并不知晓。
But whatever it was, it was worth it to them to spend hours deep inside a cave with just a torch between them and utter darkness.
但是不管它是什么,这值得他们花几个小时来到山洞深处，而他们只拿着火炬和黑暗作伴。
So, on that note, let's dim the lights, so we can see these slides and actually look at the techniques they used.
所以,在这点上,让我们把灯光调暗,我们可以看看这些幻灯片,真正看看他们使用的技术。
