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Researchers have found the earliest direct evidence for horseback riding.
研究人員發現了人類騎馬的最早的直接證據。
The evidence comes from 5,000-year-old human skeletons in central Europe.
證據來自中歐5000年前的人類骨骼。
The research study was published last week in the publication Science Advances.
這項研究上周發表在《科學進展》雜志上。
Horseback riding was a development that changed history.
騎馬改變了歷史。
It was "the fastest a human could go before the railroads," said David Anthony.
戴維·安東尼說，這是“在鐵路出現之前人類能走的最快速度”。
He is a co-writer of the study and an archaeologist at New York's Hartwick College.
他是這項研究的合著者，也是紐約哈特威克學院的考古學家。
The researchers examined the bones of more than 200 ancient people in museum collections in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic.
研究人員調查了保加利亞、波蘭、羅馬尼亞、匈牙利和捷克博物館收藏的200多具古人的骨骼。
The bones came from the period known as the Bronze Age between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago.
這些骨骼來自3000至5000年前的青銅時代。
The researchers looked for signs of "horse rider syndrome."
研究人員尋找“騎手綜合癥”的跡象。
Martin Trautmann, another writer of the study, explained the condition.
該研究的另一位作者馬丁·特勞特曼解釋了這種情況。
He said there are six markers that show whether a person rode an animal.
他說，有六個特征可以表明一個人是否騎過馬。
They include wear marks on the hips, thigh bone and pelvis, said Trautmann, an anthropologist at the University of Helsinki in Finland.
芬蘭赫爾辛基大學的人類學家特勞特曼說，這些特征包括臀部、股骨和骨盆上的磨損痕跡。
The researchers identified five humans who likely rode horses.
研究人員確定了五個可能會騎馬的人。
They are estimated to have lived between 4,500 and 5,000 years ago.
據估計，他們生活在4500到5000年前。
They belonged to a Bronze Age people called the Yamnaya.
它們屬于青銅時代的亞姆納亞人。
Alan Outram is an archaeologist at Britain's University of Exeter.
艾倫·烏特勒姆是英國?？巳卮髮W的考古學家。
He was not involved in the research, but he praised the methods the scientists used.
他沒有參與這項研究，但他贊揚了科學家使用的方法。
He said, "There is earlier evidence for harnessing and milking of horses, but this is the earliest direct evidence so far for horseback riding."
他說：“有更早的證據表明存在套馬具和擠馬奶，但這是迄今為止騎馬的最早的直接證據?！?/p>
Domesticating wild horses on the plains of Eurasia was a process, not a single event, the researchers said.
研究人員表示，在歐亞大陸平原上馴化野馬是一個過程，而不是一個單一的事件。
Archaeologists have previously found evidence of people drinking horse milk.
考古學家此前發現了人們飲用馬奶的證據。
There have also been signs of horses controlled by harnesses dating back more than 5,000 years.
也有跡象表明，早在5000多年前，馬就已經被馬具控制了。
But that does not mean humans rode the horses.
但這并不意味著人類會騎馬。
The Yamnaya culture developed in what is now part of Ukraine and western Russia.
亞姆納亞文化發展于現在的烏克蘭和俄羅斯西部地區。
The Yamnaya are important because of their expansion across Eurasia in only a few generations.
亞姆納亞人之所以重要，是因為他們在短短幾代人的時間里就擴張到了歐亞大陸。
They moved west to Hungary and east to Mongolia, said University of Helsinki archaeologist and study co-writer Volker Heyd.
赫爾辛基大學考古學家、研究合著者沃爾克·海德說，他們向西遷移到匈牙利，向東遷移到蒙古。
"The spread of Indo-European languages is linked to their movement, and they reshaped the genetic make-up of Europe," Heyd said.
海德說：“印歐語的傳播與他們的遷徙有關，他們重塑了歐洲的基因構成?！?/p>
Their relationship with horses may have partly made this movement possible, the researchers suggested.
研究人員認為，他們與馬的關系可能在一定程度上使這種遷徙活動成為可能。
David Anthony, the Hartwick College archaeologist, said, "Horses expand the concept of distance – you begin to think about places previously out of reach as being reachable."
哈特威克學院的考古學家戴維·安東尼說：“馬擴大了距離的概念——你開始認為以前遙不可及的地方是可以到達的?！?/p>
That does not mean the Yamnaya people were warriors on horseback.
這并不意味著亞姆納亞人是騎馬的戰士。
The horses they rode were likely not used in battlefield situations, Anthony said.
安東尼說，他們騎的馬可能沒有在戰場上使用過。
But horses may have helped the Yamnaya more effectively send communications, build alliances and control the herds of cattle that were important to their economy.
但馬可能幫助亞姆納亞人更有效地通信，建立聯盟和控制對他們的經濟至關重要的牛群。
I'm Ashley Thompson.
阿什利·湯普森為您播報。
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