原作者：
來(lái)源【Discovery News】Chinese Noodle Dinner Buried for 2,500 Years
譯者Liz Xi

Noodles, cakes, porridge, and meat bones dating to around 2,500 years ago were recently unearthed at a Chinese cemetery, according to a paper that will appear in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

根據(jù)《考古科學(xué)雜志》即將刊登的一篇文章表明，最近，在一個(gè)中國(guó)墓地中發(fā)覺(jué)了迄今為止2500年的面條、糕點(diǎn)、粥和肉骨。

Since the cakes were cooked in an oven-like hearth, the findings suggest that the Chinese may have been among the world's first bakers. Prior research determined the ancient Egyptians were also baking bread at around the same time, but this latest discovery indicates that individuals in northern China were skillful bakers who likely learned baking and other more complex cooking techniques much earlier.

因?yàn)楦恻c(diǎn)是在烤箱一類的爐灶中烘焙出來(lái)的，考古成果表明，中國(guó)人也許是世界上最早會(huì)制作糕點(diǎn)的人。以前有研究推斷，古代埃及人大約也在同一時(shí)期會(huì)制作面包。但是這個(gè)最新發(fā)現(xiàn)表明，中國(guó)北方人是技術(shù)高超的烘焙者，可能在更早的時(shí)候就學(xué)會(huì)了烘焙和其他更復(fù)雜的烹調(diào)技術(shù)。

"With the use of fire and grindstones, large amounts of cereals were consumed and transformed into staple foods," lead author Yiwen Gong and his team wrote in the paper.

“古人使用磨石取火，用了大量谷物制作成常食用的食物。”作為發(fā)起人的龔易文和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)在文章中寫(xiě)道。

Gong, a researcher at the Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, and his team dug up the foods at the Subeixi Cemeteries in the Turpan District of Xinjiang, China. This important cultural communication center between East and Central China has a desert climate.

龔易文畢業(yè)于中國(guó)科學(xué)院，現(xiàn)在是中國(guó)科學(xué)院的研究員。他和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)在中國(guó)新疆吐魯番地區(qū)的蘇貝希墓地發(fā)掘了古代的食物。這個(gè)位于華東、華中之間的文化交流中心，屬于沙漠氣候。

"As a result, the climate is so dry that many mummies and plant remains have been well preserved without decaying," according to the scientists, who added that the human remains they unearthed at the site looked more European than Asian.

“所以，氣候干燥，導(dǎo)致許多干尸和植被都保存得完好，沒(méi)有腐蝕。”根據(jù)科學(xué)家補(bǔ)充說(shuō)道，在考古遺址發(fā)掘的人類食物的遺跡看起來(lái)更像是歐洲人吃的食物，而不是亞洲人吃的食物。

"Judging from the preserved mummies, most of them resemble typical Europeans, with light-colored hair, deep-set eyes, and protruding noses," the researchers wrote. "Of the 19 mummies examined, only three are Mongolian."

“根據(jù)保留下來(lái)的干尸發(fā)現(xiàn)，大多數(shù)干尸像典型的歐洲人的特征，淺色的頭發(fā)，深邃的眼睛，高高的鼻梁”研究員這樣寫(xiě)道。“檢驗(yàn)的19個(gè)干尸中，只有三個(gè)是蒙古人。”

The individuals may have been living in a semi agricultural, pastoral artists' community, since a pottery workshop was found nearby, and each person was buried with pottery. The archaeologists also found bows, arrows, saddles, leather chest-protectors, boots, woodenwares, knives, an iron aw, a leather scabbard, and a sweater in the graves. But the scientists focused this particular study on the excavated food.

由于考古人員在附近發(fā)現(xiàn)了一處陶器作坊，挖掘出的每具干尸都帶有陪葬的陶器，所以推斷人們當(dāng)時(shí)可能還生活在半農(nóng)業(yè)、半放牧社會(huì)?？脊艑W(xué)家在墳?zāi)怪羞€發(fā)現(xiàn)了金屬杯、箭、鞍具、皮革護(hù)胸、靴子、木制餐具、刀具、一副刀鞘和一件汗衫。但是科學(xué)家把此次特殊研究工作的重點(diǎn)放在被挖掘的食物上。

The food included noodles mounded in an earthenware bowl, sheep's heads (which may have held symbolic meaning), another earthenware bowl full of porridge, and elliptical-shaped cakes as well as round baked goods that resembled modern Chinese moon cakes.

被挖掘的食物包括在陶碗中被泥土包裹的面條，羊頭（可能有象征性意義），另一陶碗中裝滿了麥片粥，橢圓形糕點(diǎn)，還有圓形的烘焙食物，和現(xiàn)在中國(guó)的月餅相似。

Chemical analysis of the starches revealed that both the noodles and cakes were made of common millet.

這些淀粉類食物的化學(xué)分析顯示面條和糕點(diǎn)都由普通的小米磨制烹制而成的。

The scientists next put new millet through a barrage of cooking experiments to see if they could duplicate the micro-structure of the ancient foods, which would then reveal how the prehistoric chefs cooked the millet.

科學(xué)家們下一步用這種新發(fā)現(xiàn)的小米做了一系列烹調(diào)實(shí)驗(yàn)，看看是否能復(fù)制這些古代食物的微型結(jié)構(gòu)，從而以后就可以揭示史前廚師是怎樣烘焙由小米制作的食物了。

The researchers determined that boiling damages the appearance of individual millet grains, while baking leaves them more intact. The scientists therefore believe the millet grains in one bowl were once boiled into porridge, the noodles were boiled, and the cakes were baked.

研究員推斷，烹煮會(huì)破壞由小米制作而成的食物的特殊外觀，而烘烤谷物會(huì)使其外觀保留完整。科學(xué)家們因此相信其中一個(gè)碗里的由小米制作的食物曾經(jīng)在粥里烹煮過(guò)，面條也被烹煮過(guò)，糕點(diǎn)則是烘烤制作出來(lái)的。

"Baking technology was not a traditional cooking method in the ancient Chinese cuisine, and has been seldom reported to date," according to the authors, who nevertheless believe these latest food discoveries indicate baking must have been a widespread cooking practice in northwest China 2,500 years ago.

“在古代中國(guó)的烹飪方法中，烘焙技術(shù)并不是一種傳統(tǒng)的烹飪方法。”根據(jù)作者所言，他相信這些最新的古代食物發(fā)掘，表明在2500年前，烘焙技術(shù)一定在中國(guó)的西北地區(qū)廣泛傳播使用。

The discoveries add to the growing body of evidence that millet was the grain of choice for this part of China. Houyuan Lu of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Geology and Physics, along with other researchers, unearthed millet-made noodles dating to 4,000 years ago at the Laija archaeological site, also in northwest China.

考古挖掘提供了新的證據(jù)，小米是中國(guó)西北地區(qū)人們食用糧食的主要選擇。中國(guó)科學(xué)院地質(zhì)與物理研究所研究員侯原廬和其他幾名研究員，在萊加考古遺址發(fā)掘的迄今為止4000年的由小米制作而成的面條，也是位于中國(guó)的西北地區(qū)。

In that case, "the noodles were thin, delicate, more than 19.7 inches in length and yellow in color," according to Lu and his colleagues. "They resemble the La-Mian noodle, a traditional Chinese noodle that is made by repeatedly pulling and stretching the dough by hand."

既然這樣，”面條是細(xì)長(zhǎng)的，長(zhǎng)度超過(guò)19.7英寸，呈黃色“根據(jù)研究員侯原廬和他的同事所描述，”它們類似拉面，一種中國(guó)傳統(tǒng)面條，用手工反復(fù)地拉伸面團(tuán)制作而成。

Gong and his team point out that millet was domesticated about 10,000 years ago in northwest China and was probably a food staple because of its drought resistance and ability to grow in poor soils.

龔易文和他的團(tuán)隊(duì)指出，在一萬(wàn)年前，小米從中國(guó)西北地區(qū)引進(jìn)而來(lái)，可能是當(dāng)時(shí)此地區(qū)的主要糧食，原因是小米具有良好的抗旱性和在貧瘠土壤的強(qiáng)大生存能力。