Narrator: Listen to part of a lecture in an anthropology class.

旁边：请听一段人类学的讲座。

Professor: OK, today we are going to be moving on and we're going to be talking about early pottery.

教授：好的，今天我们继续来谈谈早期陶器。

But rather than me just giving you a broad overview of how pots or ceramic vessels were developed and used in different regions of the world,

但与其让我直接给你们概括介绍一下陶器或陶瓷容器是如何在世界不同地区发展和使用的，不如我们考虑一个具体的例子，一个案例研究。我们将重点关注来自世界一个地区的陶瓷炊具。

we're gonna consider a specific example, a case study. And we're going to focus on ceramic cooking vessels from just one part of the world.

但与其让我直接给你们概括介绍一下陶器或陶瓷容器是如何在世界不同地区发展和使用的，不如我们考虑一个具体的例子，一个案例研究。我们将重点关注来自世界一个地区的陶瓷炊具。

So the question I want to look at today concerns the use of ceramic cooking vessels, clay pots, in the Arctic during ancient times.

今天的问题是关于古代在北极地区使用陶制炊具、陶罐的情况。 它们为什么会在那里被发明和使用呢？

Why were they developed and used there?

今天的问题是关于古代在北极地区使用陶制炊具、陶罐的情况。 它们为什么会在那里被发明和使用呢？

So, to begin with, we don't know for sure when human beings first started creating pottery, but we have evidence of it from over 15,000 years ago.

首先，尽管我们不知道人类第一次创造陶器的时间，但我们有15000多年前的证据。

And in the Arctic, ceramic cooking pots didn't appear there until some 2,500 years ago.

而在北极，陶制烹饪锅大约2500年前才出现。

Now, it's not surprising that they appeared relatively late there.

现在，陶制烹饪锅在北极出现的时间相对较晚并不意外。

In fact, what's been something of a mystery is why they were used at all, in the Arctic, I mean. Ken?

事实上，陶器为何能在北极地区被使用一直是个谜，我想问的是，为什么它们会在北极被使用呢。Ken？

Student: Why wouldn't they use pottery?

学生：为什么他们不使用陶器呢？

Professor: Good question. What would some of the drawbacks of ceramic containers be for ancient people groups in the Arctic?

教授：好问题。对于北极的古人来说，陶制容器有什么缺点呢？

Ancient Arctic societies were nomadic, right?

古代北极社会是游牧的，对吗？

Student: I get it! Clay pots are fragile.

学生：我知道了！泥罐是易碎的。

So if people were moving around all the time, well, the pots would probably keep breaking.

所以如果人们一直在迁徙，这些罐子可能会一个接一个碎掉。

Professor: Precisely! Ceramic cooking vessels can't be transported easily.

教授：非常好！陶制烹饪容器不易运输。

That's one thing.

这是一个原因。

And think of how ceramics are produced.

你们再想想陶制是如何制作的。

You need water and clay of course.

你需要水和粘土。你需要制作陶罐，让它长时间晾干。

You need to make the pot, allow it to dry for a long time.

你需要水和粘土。你需要制作陶罐，让它长时间晾干。

Warm, dry locations work best for this of course. And then you need to fire it, bake it.

当然，温暖干燥的天气最适合晾干。然后你需要烧制它，烘烤它。 所以你可以理解气候在古代人们是否创造和使用陶制炊具方面所起的作用。

So you can see the role that climate would play in whether or not ancient people created and used ceramic cooking pots.

当然，温暖干燥的天气最适合晾干。然后你需要烧制它，烘烤它。 所以你可以理解气候在古代人们是否创造和使用陶制炊具方面所起的作用。

And that's why manufacturing pottery would have been a challenge, actually quite difficult for people in the Arctic.

这就是为什么制造陶器是一个挑战，特别对于北极人来说是相当困难的。

Student: But you're saying they did make ceramic cooking pots.

学生：但您说他们还是制作陶制烹饪锅。

Professor: Yes. So the question is, given all these clear disadvantages, why would Arctic people choose to make and use ceramic cooking vessels? Sue?

教授：是的。因此问题是，鉴于所有这些明显的弊端，北极人为什么选择制造和使用陶制烹饪容器？Sue？

Student: I read somewhere that by cooking food in clay pots, people increase the... um... well, they made food easier to digest, something about making the nutritional components of foods more accessible?

学生：我在书上到，通过在陶瓷锅中烹饪食物，人们增加了……嗯……他们让食物更容易消化，让食物中的营养成分更容易被人体吸收

Professor: That's definitely true as far as many nutrients are concerned, but some nutrients, like vitamin C, are destroyed by cooking.

教授：对于许多营养物质来说这是事实，但一些营养素，比如维生素C，烹饪后会被破坏。

But the ancient Arctic people ate a diet that consisted almost entirely of raw or only minimally cooked meat and fish or shellfish.

但古代北极地区人们的饮食几乎完全由生肉或仅经过最低限度烹饪的肉、鱼或贝类组成。

Student: I saw something on television once, a documentary that talked about how healthy the diet was, how it provided all of the nutrients they needed.

学生：我在电视上曾看过一部纪录片，谈到这种饮食多么健康，如何为他们提供所需的营养。

I guess that would include vitamin C as well, but then what I don't understand is: why would they have cooked their food at all?

我想，这应该包括维生素C，但我不明白的是：为什么他们会煮熟他们的食物？

Professor: Ah, here's where we need to look beyond obvious factors and consider things like culinary preferences.

教授：除了一些明显的因素，这个时候我们应该想想其他一些原因，比如像烹饪的喜好。

Although the diet of ancient Arctic people mainly consisted of raw and minimally cooked food, it was carefully prepared.

虽然古北极人的饮食主要由生和最低限度烹饪的食物组成，但它是精心准备的。

It was based on an interplay of contrasts, um, different temperatures, or hard and soft textures.

它基于对比、不同的温度或硬和软的质地之间的相互作用。

Sometimes meat was only partially defrosted.

有时肉只是部分解冻。

For example, one way of preparing meat was to boil it briefly, leaving the center frozen.

例如，一种制备肉类的方法是，简单煮一下，保持中心仍然冻结。

So cooked food, or partially cooked food, for ancient Arctic people, was a matter of social preference.

所以，烹饪食物，或者部分烹饪的食物，对古代的北极人而言，是一个社会性偏好的问题。

So again, the question is - why did they use ceramic pots to cook their food?

同样的，问题是为什么他们使用陶制锅来烹饪他们的食物？

That's not the only way to cook food.

这不是烹饪食物的唯一方法。

And we've already looked at some disadvantages of ceramic pots.

我们已经讨论过陶制锅的一些缺点。

So why use them?

那么为什么要使用它们呢？

Well, first of all, wood for cooking fires was in short supply. And because of the extreme climate, food had to be prepared inside, indoors most of the year.

首先，用于烹饪火炉的木材供应不足。而且由于极端的气候，大部分时间里食物必须在室内烹煮。

Therefore, fires had to be small, and cooking methods had to be efficient.

因此，火必须较小，烹饪方法必须有效。

So in regions of the Arctic where wood was scarce, and where the houses could not withstand large fires and did not have good ventilation, we do find advantages associated with ceramic pots.

因此，在木材稀缺的北极地区，以及房屋不能承受大火并且没有良好通风的地区，陶制锅的相对优势就被凸显出来。