TPO-7 Reading 3 阅读译文

Agriculture,Iron,and theBantu Peoples农业、铁器和班图人There isevidence of agriculture inAfrica priorto3000B.C.It may have developedindependently,but manyscholars believe that thespread of agriculture and iron throughoutAfricalinked it to themajor centersof theNear Eastand Mediterraneanworld.The dryingupof whatis nowthe Saharadesert hadpushed manypeoples tothe southinto sub-SaharaAfrica.These peoplessettled atfirst inscattered hunting-and-gathering bands,although insomeplaces nearlakes andrivers,people whofished,with amore securefood supply,lived inlarger populationconcentrations.Agriculture seemsto havereached thesepeoplefrom theNear East,since thefirst domesticatedcrops weremillets andsorghums whoseoriginsare notAfrican butwest Asian.Once theidea ofplanting diffused,Africans begantodevelop theirown crops,such ascertain varietiesof rice,and theydemonstrated acontinuedreceptiveness tonew imports.The proposedareas of the domesticationofAfrican cropslie ina bandthat extendsfrom Ethiopiaacross southernSudan to WestAfrica.Subsequently,other crops,such asbananas,were introduced from SoutheastAsia.在非洲，早在公元前3,000年以前就有了农业的迹象它可能是独立发展的，但很多学者认为农业和铁器在非洲的传播将非洲与近东的中心和地中海世界联系了起来由于现在的撒哈拉沙漠地区的不断变得干旱使得很多人向南迁徙到撒哈拉沙漠以南的非洲地区这些部落起初分散地居住，并仍靠打猎和采集维生，尽管是在靠近湖泊和河流的地区人们以捕鱼为业，有较稳定的食物供给，聚集了较多的人口农业技术可能来自于近东最终为非洲人所知，因为最初驯化的农作物是起源于西亚而不是非洲的小米和高粱一旦种植的思想传播开来，非洲人就开始培育他们自己的农作物，比如某些水稻，并且他们一直愿意接受新的外来作物人们认为驯化非洲作物的地区从埃塞俄比亚一直延伸到苏丹的南部，再到西非接下来，其他的作物，比如香蕉，就从东南亚传入到非洲了Livestock alsocame fromoutside Africa.Cattle wereintroducedfromAsia,asprobably weredomestic sheepand goats.Horses wereapparently introducedby theHyksosinvaders ofEgypt1780-1560B.C.and thenspread across the SudantoWestAfrica.Rock paintingsin theSahara indicatethat horsesand chariotswere usedto traversethedesert andthat by300-200B.C.,there weretrade routesacrosstheSahara.Horses wereadoptedby peoplesoftheWest Africansavannah,and latertheir powerfulcavalry forcesallowedthem tocarve outlarge empires.Finally,the camelwas introducedaround thefirstcentury A.D.This was an importantinnovation,because thecarnePs abilitiesto thriveinharsh desertconditions and to carrylarge loadscheaply madeit aneffective andefficientmeans oftransportation.The cameltransformed thedesert from a barrierinto astilldifficult,but moreaccessible,route oftrade andcommunication.家禽也来自于非洲以外的地区牛是从亚洲引入的，家养绵羊和山羊也可能是这样的马匹显然是由埃及的Hyksos入侵者1780-1560B.C.引入的，之后就从苏丹传到西非撒哈拉石画表明马匹和马车曾被用于穿越沙漠，并且，在公元前300到200年间，有商队横穿撒哈拉沙漠的路线西非大草原上的人们使用马匹，后来他们强大的骑兵力量使他们缔造了庞大的帝国最后，骆驼大约在公元1世纪被引入到非洲这是一次重要革新，因为骆驼有能力生存在恶劣的沙漠环境，另外，骆驼可以便宜地运输大量的物质，这使得它们成为了一种方便高效的运输方式骆驼使得沙漠从障碍转换为一条虽依然艰难但已经更加容易接近的Iron camefrom WestAsia,although itsroutes ofdiffusion weresomewhat differentthanthose ofagriculture.Most ofAfrica presentsa curiouscase inwhich societiesmoveddirectly froma technologyof stoneto ironwithout passingthrough theintermediate stageofcopper orbronze metallurgy,although someearly copper-working siteshave been foundin WestAfrica.Knowledge of iron makingpenetrated intothe forestand savannahsofWest Africaat roughlythe sametime thatiron makingwas reachingEurope.Evidence ofironmaking hasbeenfoundin Nigeria,Ghana,and Mali.铁器来自于西亚，虽然它的传播路径跟农业技术不同大部分非洲表现出一种奇怪的现象，那就是他们的社会直接从石器时代进步到铁器时代，而没有经过中间过渡的铜器或青铜器冶金术，尽管在西亚发现了一些早期使用铜器的地区冶铁技术在差不多到达欧洲的同时，就穿过了森林和大草原到达非洲在尼日尼亚、加纳和马里发现了制作铁器的证据This technologicalshift causeprofound changesin thecomplexity ofAfricansocieties.Iron representedpower.In WestAfrica theblacksmith whomade toolsandfunctions.Iron hoes,which madethe landmore productive,andironweapons,which madethewarrior morepowerful,had symbolicmeaning ina number of WestAfrica societies.Those whoknew thesecrets ofmaking irongained ritualand sometimespolitical power.科技的革新对非洲社会的复杂性产生了深刻的改变铁器代表着力量在西非的很多社会里，生产工具的铁匠、使土地更多产的铁锄、使战士更强大的铁制武器都有着象征意义这些对西非社会有着标志性的意义那些掌握了制铁技术的人们常可获得宗教权力，有时候获得政治权力Unlike inthe Americas,where metallurgywasavery latrand limiteddevelopment,Africans hadiion什omalelatively eadydate,developing ingeniousfurnaces toproducethe highheat neededfor productionandtocontrol theamount ofaii thatleached thecarbonand iionore necessaryfor makingiion.Much ofAfrica movedright intothe IronAge,taking thebasic technologyand adaptingittolocal;conditions andresources.美洲的冶铁技术发展得非常晚，并且发展有限，而非洲则完全不同，他们的冶铁技术从相对较早的时期就开始发展；他们制造了精巧的高炉以产生冶铁所需要的高温，并能控制与碳和铁矿石接触的空气用量以满足冶铁的需要大部分非洲人直接进入了铁器时代他们吸取了冶铁的基本技术并使之与当地的条件和资源相适应The diffusionofagricultureand laterofironwas accompaniedby agreat movementofpeople whomay havecarried theseinnovations.These peopleprobably originatedineastern Nigeria.■Their migrationmayhavebeen setin motionby anincrease inpopulationcaused bya movementof peoplesfleeing thedesiccation,or dryingup,of theSahara.■They spokea language,prior-Bantu“Bantu”means“the peoplewhich istheparent tongueofalanguage ofa largenumberofBantu languagesstill spokenthroughoutsub-Sahara Africa.Why andhow thesepeople spreadout intocentral andsouthern Africaremainsa mystery,but archaeologistsbelievethattheir ironweapons allowedthem toconquertheir hunting-gathering opponents,who stillused stoneimplements.-StilL theprocessis uncertain,and peacefulmigration-or simplyrapid demographicgrowth—mayhave alsocaused theBantu explosion.■农业以及后来的冶铁技术是伴随着那些已经掌握了新技术的人们的大迁徙而传播的这些人可能来源于尼日尼亚东部为了逃避撒哈拉沙漠的持续干旱，人们迁徙到尼日尼亚东部，使这里的人口增多，于是这里的人们也接着迁徙他们所说是前班图语，也就是现在仍然被撒哈拉沙漠南部的非洲人所广泛使用的班图语的源头这些人为什么扩散到非洲中部和南部？他们怎么迂徒的？这些问题仍然是个谜不过考古学家们相信他们的铁制武器足以让他们战胜那些靠采集打猎为生的、仍然利用石器工具的敌人不过过程仍然无人知道，另外，和平的移民或者简单的人口增长都可能导致班图的扩张。