On a fine September day last year, Simon Hunt took his boat from Team Keane Rowing Club down to the River Thames at Brentford, just as he normally does most days. But on that day, he spotted¹ something lurking² in the shallows.

去年九月的一个晴朗的日子，西蒙·亨特就像往常大多数日子一样，从伦敦泰晤士河布伦特福德的基恩队划船俱乐部划船出发。但在那一天，他发现了某样东西潜藏在浅滩上。

 

Simon Hunt, Team Keane Rowing Club

At first, I thought maybe it's an animal bone and it just would be quite funny just to sort of say to everyone on the water 'look, I found a bone'. But it was obviously from looking at it, you see the hip³, the hip joint⁴. And I thought, no, this is human bone. So, therefore, best to phone the police and report it.

西蒙·亨特       基恩队划船俱乐部

“一开始，我以为这可能是动物的骨头，想着我能跟河上周围的人打趣说：‘瞧！我找到了一根骨头！’ 但很显然，一番观察后，能看到髋关节。我才发觉：不，这是人的骨骼。所以，最好打电话报警。”

 

To determine if the river where Simon rows was now, in fact, a crime scene – having found a human femur there ­– they took it for carbon dating.

由于发现了一截人类股骨，所以为确定西蒙划船所在的河段是否实为犯罪现场，警方把骨头拿去做了碳年代测定。

 

Simon Hunt, Team Keane Rowing Club

And I got a phone call from the detective about a week ago. And she phoned me up and said: 'We've got the date, what do you think?' And, so, my only, it shows my education now – my frame of reference for things that are old – medieval maybe? Then she goes 'keep going'. So, then she tells me that between three, I think it's like – 3,500. And I was thinking that then 3,000 [years old]? And then of course, at the end, she adds BC.

西蒙·亨特       基恩队划船俱乐部

“大约一周前，我接到警探的电话。她打给我说：‘我们已经确定了骨骼的年代，你觉得它有多久远？’ 我的回答暴露了我的教育水平，因为说到旧事物，我只有一个参照时期，我说：‘也许是中世纪？’ 她说：‘要更久远。’ 然后，她告诉我，我记得好像是3500。当时我想：3000年前的骨骼？结果，最后她补充是公元前3500年左右。”

 

The bone is 5,300 years old – one of the most ancient objects ever found in the Thames.

这块骨骼有5300年的历史，是在泰晤士河发现的最古老的文物之一。

 

Simon Hunt, Team Keane Rowing Club

It predates the pyramids, predates Stonehenge. What was going on? What was this place like? Who was this person?

西蒙·亨特       基恩队划船俱乐部

“它比金字塔更古老，比巨石阵更古老。当时发生了什么？当时这个地方是什么样的？这个人是谁？”

 

Well, like today, there's almost a causeway across this part of the Thames at low tide.

当时，这里就如同今日，退潮时，泰晤士河的这个部分依稀可见一条堤道。

 

But 5,000 years ago, the river was much wider and shallower. Mudflats extending beyond into woodland. The landscape [was] sparsely⁵ populated by Neolithic⁶ man, semi-nomadic herder hunter-gatherers, who used flint tools and crude pottery⁷ vessels⁸.

但5000年前，这条河要宽得多，也浅得多。泥滩蔓延到了林地间。这里人烟稀少，居住着新石器时代的半游牧的、靠狩猎和采集为生的人，他们使用燧石工具和粗糙的陶器。

 

An artist's impression of Ötzi, the Iceman found in Italy, gives us an idea of what they might have looked like.

这是发现于意大利的奥兹冰人的模拟画像，让我们得以了解这些人可能的长相。

 

Simon Hunt, Team Keane Rowing Club

I'm going to give it to the Museum of London. That's my plan. I have no place for it in my house. The initial thing was: 'Oh, my word, it's a really old bone.' And then obviously the kind of: 'OK, be respectful'. Because this was actually a human being. This was a person. They had a life. They were doing stuff around here and so that's why I hope to say to give it to the museum so that they can put it on display and hopefully people will, as I have done, connect with the past.

西蒙·亨特       基恩队划船俱乐部

“我要把它交给伦敦博物馆。这就是我的计划。我家不适合藏着它。我最初的想法是：天呐，这是一截非常古老的骨骼。然后我琢磨了一下：好吧，要表现出尊重。因为这其实是人类，曾经是一个人，曾有自己的生活，并在这一带活动。所以这就是为什么我希望把它交给博物馆，这样就可以把它展出，希望人们会像我一样，通过它与历史相连。”

 

Wendy Hurrell, BBC correspondent

How's it feels to you to have been part of this extraordinary adventure?

温迪·赫雷尔       BBC通讯员

“作为这个不同寻常的奇遇的一部分，你有何感想？”

 

Simon Hunt, Team Keane Rowing Club

From the initial 'oh, it's quite funny I found a bone in the river' to 'actually then there it could be potentially criminal', to then finding out it's actually archaeologically⁹ significant. So, it has been an amazing adventure.

西蒙·亨特       基恩队划船俱乐部

“从一开始的 ‘哦，真有意思，我在河里发现了一根骨头’ 到 ‘这有可能是犯罪现场’，再到后来发现它其实具有考古意义。所以，这确实是一次神奇的经历。”

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