本篇文章共分 5 段，考古證據的形成過程，到人類生活器物以及埋藏物所遺留給後世考古學家的分析材料，說明考古學面對前人遺物時所面臨的問題與研究方式。

本篇考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀理解能力。

Human Activity and the Archaeological Record 人類活動與考古記錄

1. 考古證據的形成過程

   Archaeologists distinguish the “cultural” formation processes of the archaeological record (those involving some kind of human activity) from the “natural” formation processes (those involving nonhuman activity, such as river action disturbing archaeological material). There are two kinds of cultural formation processes: those that reflect the original human behavior and activity before a find or site became buried and those (such as looting)that came after burial. Of course, most major archaeological sites are formed as the result of a complex sequence of use, burial, and reuse so that a simple twofold division of cultural formation processes may not be so simple to apply in practice, but the distinction is still useful.

   考古學家將考古記錄的「文化」形成過程（涉及某種人類活動的過程）與「自然」形成過程（涉及非人類活動的過程，如河流作用干擾了考古材料）區分開來。有兩種文化形成過程：一種是反映發現或遺址被掩埋前的原始人類行為和活動，另一種是掩埋後的文化形成過程（如掠奪）。當然，大多數主要的考古遺址都是由一系列複雜的使用、掩埋和再利用形成的，因此，文化形成過程的簡單兩重劃分在實踐中可能並不那麼簡單，但這種區分仍然是有用的。

2. 人類生活器物的考古分析

   Original human behavior is often reflected archaeologically in at least four major activities: in the case of a tool, for example, there may be (1) acquisition of the raw material, (2) manufacture, (3) use, and (4) disposal or discard when the tool is worn out or broken. The tool may of course be reworked and recycled, thus repeating stages 2 and 3.) Similarly, a food crop such as wheat will be acquired (harvested), manufactured (processed), used (eaten), and discarded (digested and the waste products excreted), although here one might add a common intermediate stage of storage before use. From the archaeologist's point of view, the critical factor is that remains can enter the archaeological record at any one of these stages. A tool may be lost or thrown out for being of inferior quality during manufacture, or a crop may be accidentally burnt and thus preserved during processing. In order to reconstruct the original activity accurately it is therefore crucial to try to understand which of the stages one is looking at. It may be quite easy to identify the first stage for stone tools, for instance, because stone quarries can often be recognized by deep holes in the ground with piles of associated waste flakes that survive well. But it is much more difficult to know beyond reasonable doubt where a sample of charred plant remains comes from, whether from an area where harvested wheat was taken for threshing or from the area where the grain was eaten. This may also make it difficult to reconstruct the true plant diet, since certain activities may favor the preservation of certain species of plant.

   人類的原始行為在考古學上通常至少反映在四個主要活動中：以工具為例，可能有 (1) 獲取原材料，(2) 製造，(3) 使用，(4) 工具磨損或損壞後的處理或丟棄。當然，該工具可以被重新加工和回收，從而重複第二和第三階段。）同樣，像小麥這樣的糧食作物也要經過獲取（收穫）、製造（加工）、使用（食用）和丟棄（消化和排出廢品），不過這裡可以加上一個常見的中間階段，即使用前的儲存。從考古學家的角度來看，關鍵的因素是，遺物可以在這些階段中的任何一個階段進入考古記錄。某個工具可能在製造過程中因質量低劣而丟失或被扔掉，或者某種農作物可能在加工過程中意外被燒毀，從而被保存下來。因此，為了準確地重建原始活動，關鍵是要努力瞭解我們所關注的是哪個階段。例如，識別石器的第一階段可能很容易，因為採石場通常可以通過地面上的深洞和保存良好的成堆相關廢片來識別。但是，要想毫無疑義地知道燒焦的植物殘骸樣本來自何處，是來自收割的小麥被拿去脫粒的地方，還是來自糧食被吃掉的地方，就困難得多。這也可能使我們難以重建真實的植物飲食，因為某些活動可能有利於某些種類的植物的保存。

3. 埋藏物的考古分析

   Deliberate burial of valuables or the dead is another human behavior that has left its mark on the archaeological record. In times of conflict or war, people often deposit prized possessions in the ground, intending to reclaim them at a later date; but sometimes, for one reason or another, they fail to do so. These hoards are a prime source of evidence for certain periods, such as the European Bronze Age, for which hoards of metal goods are common, or later Roman Britain, which has yielded buried treasures of silver and other precious metals. The archaeologist, however, may not find it easy to distinguish between hoards originally intended to be reclaimed and valuables buried—perhaps as offerings to supernatural powers—with no reclamation intended.

   有計畫地埋葬貴重物品或死者是另一種在考古記錄中留下痕跡的人類行為。在衝突或戰爭時期，人們經常將珍貴的財產埋在地下，打算以後再取回；但有時由於各種原因，他們並沒有取回。這些囤積物是某些時期的主要證據來源，如歐洲青銅時代，囤積的金屬物品很常見，或後來的羅馬不列顛，造就了埋藏的銀和其他貴金屬的寶藏。然而，考古學家可能會發現，要區分原本打算回收的囤積物和埋在地下不打算回收的貴重物品—也許是作為對超自然力量的祭品—並不容易。

4. 墓葬物的考古分析

   In addition to burial hoards, a major source of archaeological evidence comes from burial of the dead, whether in simple graves, elaborate burial mounds, or giant pyramids, usually with grave goods such as ceramic vessels or weapons, and sometimes with painted tomb-chamber walls as in ancient Mexico or Egypt. The Egyptians indeed went so far as to mummify their dead—to preserve them, they hoped, for eternity—as did the Incas of Peru whose kings were kept in the Temple of the Sun at Cuzco and brought outside for special ceremonies.

   除了墓葬囤積物，考古證據的一個主要來源是死者的埋葬，無論是簡單的墳墓，精心設計的墓塚，還是巨大的金字塔，通常都有陶瓷器皿或武器等墓葬物品，有時還有古代墨西哥或埃及的彩繪墓室牆壁。埃及人甚至把他們的死者做成木乃伊—他們希望能永遠保存下去—秘魯的印加人也是如此，他們的國王被保存在庫斯科的太陽神廟中，並在特殊的儀式上被請出來。

5. 考古分析的意外收穫

   Human destruction of the archaeological record might be caused by burials of the kind just described being dug into earlier deposits. But people in the past deliberately or accidentally obliterated traces of their predecessors in innumerable other ways. Rulers often destroyed monuments or erased inscriptions belonging to previous chiefs or monarchs. On the other hand, some human destruction meant to obliterate has inadvertently preserved material for the archaeologist to find. Burning, for example, may not always destroy. Clay daubing and adobe usually decay, but if a structure has been burned, the mud is baked to the consistency of a brick.

   人類對考古記錄的破壞可能是由於剛才描述的那種墓葬被挖到早期的沉積物中而造成的。但是，過去的人們有意或無意地以無數其他方式抹去了他們的先人痕跡。統治者經常毀壞屬於前任酋長或君主的紀念碑或抹去碑文。另一方面，一些旨在抹去的人為破壞卻無意中為考古學家保留了等待發掘的材料。例如，焚燒不一定會破壞。粘土塗抹和土坯通常會腐爛，但如果一棟建築被燒燬，泥土就會被烤成磚頭一般的堅實。