Spain cave shoes turn out to be over 6,000 years old 科学家发现西班牙洞穴出土草鞋有6000多年历史

科学家们表示，他们发现先前出土的多双草编凉鞋是欧洲最古老的鞋子，据信已有6000多年的历史。

The items were first discovered deep inside the cave in the 19th Century. But scientists have only recently realised that they're much older than previously¹ thought – 6,200 years old – to be exact. 

这些草编凉鞋于19世纪在一处洞穴深处首次被人发现。但科学家们直到最近才认识到，它们比之前想象的要古老得多，确切地说，已有6200年的历史。

Some parts of the sandals didn't survive, but the intricately-woven esparto grass soles are still intact². And because they're small in size, they probably belonged to children and would have been kept on their feet with twisted or braided cords³.

凉鞋上有一些部分没能保存下来，不过编织精巧而复杂的西班牙草制鞋底仍然完好无损。凉鞋很小，很可能是童鞋，而且是通过缠绕扭绳或编绳固定在脚上的。

But the shoes are not the oldest items that were found. Several esparto grass baskets were also discovered, and they date back 9,500 years to the Mesolithic period. Four of them are in very good condition.

但这些鞋子并不是这一批文物中最古老的物品。人们还发现了几个西班牙草篮子，可以追溯到9500年前的中石器时代。其中四个草篮子的保存状况非常好。

Scientists are also examining the mummified bodies, stone stools⁴, ancient boar's teeth and other artefacts that were also found in the cave.

科学家们还在检测这个洞穴中发现的木乃伊尸体、石凳、古代野猪的牙齿和其它人工制品。

But it's the prehistoric shoes that are causing the most excitement. Until now, the oldest shoes found in Europe were made from grass and leather and were around 5,000 years old. They were discovered on the Italy-Austria border in 1991.

但最令人兴奋的发现是这些史前的鞋子。在这之前，在欧洲发现的最古老的鞋子是由草和皮革制成的，约有5000年的历史，于1991年在意大利与奥地利的边境被人发现。

So, don't throw your espadrilles away at the end of the summer. Who knows, they might last another few thousand years!

所以，不要过完夏天就扔掉你的渔夫鞋。没准它们还能再保存个几千年呢！

词汇表

sandals 凉鞋
intricately-woven 编织精巧而复杂的
esparto grass 西班牙草，细茎针草
soles 鞋底
Mesolithic 中石器时代
mummified 制成木乃伊的
boar 野猪
artefacts 人工制品
prehistoric 史前的
espadrilles 渔夫鞋，布面藤底凉鞋