Researchers have found the earliest direct evidence for horseback riding. The evidence comes from 5,000-year-old human skeletons in central Europe.
研究人员找到了最早的骑马直接证据。证据来自中欧 5000 年前的人类骨骼。
 
The research study was published last week in the publication Science Advances.
该研究于上周发表在《科学进展》杂志上。
 
Horseback riding was a development that changed history. It was "the fastest a human could go before the railroads," said David Anthony. He is a co-writer of the study and an archaeologist at New York's Hartwick College.
骑马是一项改变历史的发展。大卫安东尼说，这是“人类在铁路之前可以走的最快速度”。他是该研究的合著者，也是纽约哈特威克学院的考古学家。
 
The researchers examined the bones of more than 200 ancient people in museum collections in Bulgaria, Poland, Romania, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The bones came from the period known as the Bronze Age between 3,000 and 5,000 years ago. The researchers looked for signs of "horse rider syndrome."
研究人员检查了保加利亚、波兰、罗马尼亚、匈牙利和捷克共和国博物馆收藏的 200 多具古代人的骨骼。这些骨头来自 3,000 到 5,000 年前的青铜时代。研究人员寻找“骑马者综合症”的迹象。
 
Martin Trautmann, another writer of the study, explained the condition. He said there are six markers that show whether a person rode an animal. They include wear marks on the hips, thigh bone and pelvis, said Trautmann, an anthropologist at the University of Helsinki in Finland.
该研究的另一位作者马丁·特劳特曼 (Martin Trautmann) 解释了这种情况。他说有六个标记可以显示一个人是否骑过动物。芬兰赫尔辛基大学的人类学家特劳特曼说，它们包括臀部、大腿骨和骨盆上的磨损痕迹。
 
The researchers identified five humans who likely rode horses. They are estimated to have lived between 4,500 and 5,000 years ago. They belonged to a Bronze Age people called the Yamnaya.
研究人员确定了五个可能骑马的人。据估计，他们生活在 4,500 到 5,000 年前。他们属于青铜时代的颜那亚人。
 
Alan Outram is an archaeologist at Britain's University of Exeter. He was not involved in the research, but he praised the methods the scientists used. He said, "There is earlier evidence for harnessing and milking of horses, but this is the earliest direct evidence so far for horseback riding."
Alan Outram 是英国埃克塞特大学的考古学家。他没有参与这项研究，但他赞扬了科学家们使用的方法。他说，“有较早的马匹套马和挤奶的证据，但这是迄今为止关于骑马的最早直接证据。”
 
Domesticating wild horses on the plains of Eurasia was a process, not a single event, the researchers said. Archaeologists have previously found evidence of people drinking horse milk. There have also been signs of horses controlled by harnesses dating back more than 5,000 years. But that does not mean humans rode the horses.
研究人员说，在欧亚大陆平原上驯化野马是一个过程，而不是一个单一的事件。考古学家此前曾发现过人们饮用马奶的证据。还有 5000 多年前的挽具控制马匹的迹象。但这并不意味着人类骑马。
 
The Yamnaya culture developed in what is now part of Ukraine and western Russia. The Yamnaya are important because of their expansion across Eurasia in only a few generations. They moved west to Hungary and east to Mongolia, said University of Helsinki archaeologist and study co-writer Volker Heyd. "The spread of Indo-European languages is linked to their movement, and they reshaped the genetic make-up of Europe," Heyd said.
颜那亚文化在现在属于乌克兰和俄罗斯西部的地区发展起来。颜那亚人之所以重要，是因为他们仅用了几代人的时间就在欧亚大陆扩张。赫尔辛基大学的考古学家和研究合著者沃尔克海德说，他们向西迁移到匈牙利，向东迁移到蒙古。“印欧语言的传播与他们的运动有关，他们重塑了欧洲的基因构成，”海德说。
 
Their relationship with horses may have partly made this movement possible, the researchers suggested.
研究人员表示，它们与马的关系可能在一定程度上使这种运动成为可能。
 
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."
哈特威克学院考古学家大卫安东尼说，“马扩展了距离的概念——你开始认为以前遥不可及的地方是可以到达的。”
 
That does not mean the Yamnaya people were warriors on horseback. The horses they rode were likely not used in battlefield situations, Anthony said. 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.
这并不意味着颜那亚人是骑在马背上的战士。安东尼说，他们骑的马可能没有在战场上使用过。但是马可能帮助颜那亚人更有效地发送通讯、建立联盟和控制对他们的经济很重要的牛群。