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A recent study found what could be the earliest known evidence of ancient cooking: the leftovers of a fish dinner from 780,000 years ago.
最近的一项研究发现了可能是已知最早的古代烹饪证据：78万年前鱼餐的残留物。
Cooking helped change our ancestors.
烹饪帮助改变了我们的祖先。
It helped fuel our evolution and gave us bigger brains.
它帮助推动了我们的进化，并给了我们更大的大脑。
Later, cooking would become central to the eating celebrations that brought communities together.
后来，烹饪成为将社区聚集在一起的饮食庆祝活动的核心。
The new study, published in Nature Ecology and Evolution, is based on material from Gesher Benot Ya'aqov in Israel — a watery place near an ancient lake.
这项发表在《自然·生态学与进化》杂志上的新研究基于来自以色列Gesher Benot Ya'aqov的资料，Gesher Benot Ya'aqov是一个靠近古老湖泊的水域。
Ancient objects from the area suggest it was home to a community of Homo erectus, a kind of early human that walked upright, explained study lead writer Irit Zohar of Tel Aviv University.
该研究的主要作者、特拉维夫大学的伊里特·佐哈尔解释说，该地区的古代物品表明，这里曾是直立人社区，直立人指的是能够直立行走的早期人类。
Naama Goren-Inbar of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem led the research digs.
耶路撒冷希伯来大学的Naama Goren-Inbar领导了这项研究的挖掘工作。
She said researchers found fish remains, especially teeth.
她说，研究人员发现了鱼的遗骸，尤其是牙齿。
Many of the teeth were from two different kinds of fish known as carp.
许多牙齿来自两种不同的鱼，即鲤鱼。
The remains were found near places where researchers also found signs of fire.
这些遗骸是在研究人员发现过用火迹象的地方附近发现的。
Testing showed the teeth had been exposed to temperatures that were hot, but not super-hot.
测试显示，这些牙齿曾暴露在高温（但不是超级高温）环境下。
This suggests the fish were cooked low and slow, rather than being put right onto a fire, Zohar explained.
佐哈尔解释说，这表明鱼是小火慢煮的，而不是直接放在火上烤的。
With all the evidence together, researchers concluded that these ancient human relatives had used fire for cooking some 780,000 years ago.
综合所有证据，研究人员得出结论，人类的这些远古亲戚在大约78万年前曾用火做饭。
That is much earlier than the next oldest evidence for cooking, about 170,000 years ago, which showed Stone Age humans ate cooked roots in South Africa.
这比第二古老的烹饪证据（大约17万年前）要早得多，后者表明石器时代的人类在南非吃煮过的根。
The researchers — like many other experts — believe cooking started long before this, though physical evidence has been hard to find.
研究人员和许多其他专家一样，认为烹饪早在此之前就开始了，尽管很难找到物证。
"I am sure that in the near future an earlier case will be reported," study writer Israel Hershkovitz of Tel Aviv University said in an email.
特拉维夫大学的研究作者伊斯雷尔·赫什科维茨在一封电子邮件中说：“我相信在不久的将来会有更早的案例被报道。”
That is in part because using fire for cooking was an important step in human evolution.
这在一定程度上是因为用火做饭是人类进化的重要一步。
Cooking food makes it easier for the body to digest and get nutrients, explained David Braun of George Washington University.
乔治·华盛顿大学的大卫·布劳恩解释说，烹饪食物使身体更容易消化和获得营养。
Braun was not involved with the study.
布劳恩没有参与这项研究。
When early humans figured out how to cook, they were able to get more energy, which they could use to fuel bigger brains.
当早期人类知道如何烹饪时，他们能够获得更多的能量，他们可以利用这些能量为更大的大脑提供能量。
Based on how human ancestors' brains and bodies developed, scientists estimate that cooking skills appeared nearly 2 million years ago.
根据人类祖先大脑和身体的发育情况，科学家估计烹饪技能出现在近200万年前。
"If we're out there eating raw items, it is very difficult to make it as a large-bodied primate," Braun said.
布劳恩说：“如果我们在外面吃生食，作为大型灵长类动物是很难做到的”。
Those first cooked meals were far different from today's food.
最初烹饪的食物与今天的食物大不相同。
And in the many, many years in between, humans started not just eating for fuel, but for community.
在这期间的许多年里，人类开始不仅仅为了能量而吃东西，也开始为了社区而吃东西。
In a 2010 study, led by Natalie Munro of the University of Connecticut, researchers described the earliest evidence of a feast.
在2010年由康涅狄格大学的娜塔莉·门罗领导的一项研究中，研究人员描述了盛宴的最早证据。
The feast was a specially prepared meal that brought people together for an event 12,000 years ago in a cave in Israel.
这场盛宴是为1.2万年前在以色列的一个洞穴里举办的一场活动而特别准备的一顿饭，这顿饭把人们聚集在一起。
The cave, which served as a burial place, included the remains of one special woman who seemed to be a religious leader for her community, Munro said.
门罗说，这个洞穴是一个墓地，里面躺着一个特别的女人的遗骸，她似乎是她所在社区的宗教领袖。
This "first feast" came at an important turning point in human history, right as hunter-gatherers were starting to settle into more permanent living situations, Munro said.
门罗说，“第一场盛宴”发生在人类历史上的一个重要转折点上，当时狩猎采集者正开始适应更持久的生活环境。
Gathering for special meals may have been a way to build community and reduce tensions now that people lived closer to each other, she said.
她说，因为人们住得更近了，所以聚在一起吃特别的晚餐可能是建立社区和缓解紧张关系的一种方式。
Munro said she believes ancient feasts served a lot of the same social uses that modern gatherings serve: People exchange information, make connections, or try to improve their position.
门罗说，她认为古代宴会和现代聚会有很多相同的社交用途：人们交换信息，建立联系，或试图提高自己的地位。
"This is something that's just quintessentially human," Munro said. "And to see the first evidence of it is exciting."
“这就是人类的本质，”门罗说。“看到第一个证据是令人兴奋的。”
I'm John Russell.
约翰·拉塞尔为您播报。
译文为可可英语翻译，未经授权请勿转载！
