Part A :

Good morning, everyone.

大家早上好。

I've been invited to talk about my research project into Australian Aboriginal rock paintings.

我受邀来说一说我的研究项目，关于澳大利亚土著人的岩石壁画。

The Australian Aborigines have recorded both real and symbolic images of their time on rock walls for many thousands of years.

几千年来，澳大利亚土著人都在岩石墙上记录有关时间的真实的以及象征的图像。

Throughout the long history of this tradition, new images have appeared and new painting styles have developed.

这一传统历史悠久，发展出新的图像和绘画风格。

And these characteristics can be used to categorize the different artistic styles.

这些特征可以用来区分不同的艺术风格。

Among these are what we call the Dynamic, Yam and Modern styles of painting.

其中有我们所谓的Dynamic, Yam和Modern风格。

One of the most significant characteristics of the different styles is the way that humans are depicted in the paintings.

区分不同风格的重要特征之一就是图像如何描绘人类。

The more recent paintings show people in static poses.

越是现代，图像越是静止。

But the first human images to dominate rock art paintings, over 8,000 years ago, were full of movement.

但是，8000多年前的岩石壁画上，人们都是动态的。

These paintings showed people hunting and cooking food and so they were given the name 'Dynamic' to reflect this energy.

这些画表现了人们狩猎和烹煮食物，所以把这些图像命名为Dynamic，以反映这种动态能量。

It's quite amazing considering they were painted in such a simple stick-like form.

那时就会用简单的棍状图形描绘人类，这是非常惊人的。

In the Yam period, there was a movement away from stick figures to a more naturalistic shape.

在Yam时期，人形就开始脱离简单的棍状，变得更加自然更加贴近人形。

However, they didn't go as far as the Modern style, which is known as "X-Ray" because it actually makes a feature of the internal skeleton as we" as the organs of animals and humans.

然而这个时期并没有Modern时期贴近人形，因为Modern时期都用一种近乎X射线的方式来描绘，会画出动物和人的内部骨骼以及器官。

The Yam style of painting got its name from the fact that it featured much curvier figures that actually resemble the vegetable called a yam, which is similar to a sweet potato.

Yam风格的绘画的名字由来，是源于那个时期的图像曲线优美，会很像一种蔬菜叫做甘薯，甘薯和地瓜很像。

The Modern paintings are interesting because they include paintings at the time of the first contact with European settlers.

现代绘画很有意思，因为上面有第一次接触欧洲殖民者时期的图像。

Aborigines managed to convey the idea of the settlers' clothing by simply painting the Europeans without any hands, indicating the habit of standing with their hands in their pockets!

土著人通过画出没有手的欧洲人来表现他们的服饰，来说明他们习惯手插口袋站着!

Size is another characteristic.

画的大小是另一个特点。

The more recent images tend to be life size or even larger, but the Dynamic figures are painted in miniature.

越是现代，图像就越是接近真实大小，甚至更大，但是Dynamic的图像都比较微型。

Aboriginal rock art also records the environmental changes that occurred over thousands of years.

土著岩石艺术还记录了几千年来的环境变化。

For example, we know from the Dynamic paintings that over 8,000 years ago, Aborigines would have rarely eaten fish and sea levels were much lower at this time.

例如，我们可以从Dynamic的画中看出，8000年前，土著人就很少吃鱼和海平面也低很多。

In fact, fish didn't start to appear in paintings until the Yam period along with shells and other marine images.

事实上，直到Yam时期才出现鱼和贝壳以及其他海洋生物的图像。

The paintings of the Yam tradition also suggest that, during this time, the Aborigines moved away from animals as their main food source and began including vegetables in their diet, as this feature prominently.

也可以从Yam传统中看出，在这段时间里，土著人渐渐放弃动物作为他们的主要食物来源，然后在他们饮食中加入蔬菜。

Freshwater creatures didn't appear in the paintings until the Modern period from 4,000 years ago.

直到4000年前的Modern时期，才出现了淡水生物的图像。

Part B :

So，these paintings have already taught us a lot.

所以，这些图像已经告诉我们很多了。

But one image that has always intrigued us is known as the "Rainbow Serpent".

但有一个叫做Rainbow Serpent的图像一直让我们非常好奇。

The Rainbow Serpent, which is the focus of my most recent project, gets its name from its snake or serpent-like body and it first appeared in the Yam period 4 to 6,000 years ago.

Rainbow Serpent是我最新项目的焦点，它的名字源于它的身形很像蛇，最先出现在4到6000年前的Yam时期。

Many believe it is a curious mixture of kangaroo, snake and crocodile.

许多人认为它是一种奇怪的混合体，有袋鼠，蛇和鳄鱼。

But we decided to study the Rainbow Serpent paintings to see if we could locate the animal that the very first painters based their image on.

但我们决定研究Rainbow Serpent的图像，看看我们能否找到第一批画家所画的动物。

The Yam period coincided with the end of the last ice age.

Yam时期和冰河世纪的最后时期有所重叠。

This brought about tremendous change in the environment, with the sea levels rising and creeping steadily inland.

这对环境造成了巨大的变化，海平面上升和慢慢出现的内陆。

This flooded many familiar land features and also caused a great deal of disruption to traditional patterns of life, hunting in particular.

这淹没了许多熟悉的地理特点，破坏了传统生活方式，特别是狩猎。

New shores were formed and totally different creatures would have washed up onto the shores.

新的海岸形成了，完全不同的生物会被冲到岸边。

We studied 107 paintings of the Rainbow Serpent and found that the one creature that matches it most closely was the Ribboned Pipefish, which is a type of sea horse.

我们研究了107幅Rainbow Serpent，然后发现一个与它关系最密切的生物是 Ribboned Pipefish，它是一种海马。

This sea creature would have been a totally unfamiliar sight in the inland regions where the image is found and may have been the inspiration behind the early paintings.

这种海洋生物在内陆地区被发现，也是早期绘画的灵感。

So, at the end of the ice age there would have been enormous changes in animal and plant life.

因此，冰河世纪末期，动物和植物的生活发生巨大变化。

It's not surprising then, that the Aborigines linked this abundance to the new creatures they witnessed.

那么土著人把这些变化和看到的新的生物联系起来就不足为奇了。

Even today, Aborigines see the Rainbow Serpent as a symbol of creation, which is understandable given the increase in vegetation and the new life forms that featured when the image first appeared.

即使在今天，土著人都把 Rainbow Serpent作为创新的标志，这是可以理解的，因为当它出现时，植被和生命形式全都变得更多了。