用英語說中國旅游華北地區(qū)08：周口店—北京人遺址自然概況1

自然概況

On December 2nd 1929.a Chinese paleoanthropologist named Pei Wenzhong discovered a complete skull of“Peking Man”on Dragon Bone Hill northwest of Zhoukoudian village，in the southwest suburbs of Beijing

1929年12月2日，我國人類考占學家裴文中先生在北京西南郊的周口店龍骨山北坡一個大洞穴中，發(fā)現(xiàn)了’完整的北京猿人頭蓋骨。

Later，archaeologists unearthed 40-odd individually fossilized skeletons of“Peking Man"，male，female，old and young，all at the same site. Zhoukoudian，therefore，became the most common site for human remains with the most abundant fossils in the world from the same period.The discovery pushed the history of Beijing's civilization back to some 600 000 years. These fossilized remains prove that“Peking Man" was primitive man in an evolutionary process from ancient ape to modern man，and is the ancestor of the Chinese nation.

后來，在這同一個地方，考古學家們又發(fā)現(xiàn)了40多具“北京人”的骨骼化石，其中有男有女，有老有少。從此，周日店北京猿人遺址聞名于世，這里保存著世界上數(shù)量最多的同一時期人類化石。“北京人”的發(fā)現(xiàn)將北京的歷史向前推進了約60萬年。這些化石證實，“北京人”就是處于古代猿人向現(xiàn)代人進化過程中的原始人類，是中華民族祖先。

About 600 000 years ago，living on the plain here were tigers，leopards deer, bovines，and beavers.For safety against these animals and shelter, Peking Man chose the limestone caves. At that time，Peking Man had a lower and flat forehead，bold superciliary ridges，high cheekbones already walked straight-up，was capable of making tools，began production，and have his language. Then at 4 o'clock(pm)on December 2 of 1929， Pei Wen zhong,an anthropologist of China，discovered an intact skull of Peking Man，in a big cave on the north slope of Dragon Bone Hill at Zhoukoudian， and this Peking Man site was soon known globe wide

60萬年前，這里平原遼闊，生長著虎、豹、鹿、牛、河貍等動物。為了躲避風雨和野獸的侵襲，北京猿人便存石灰?guī)r的洞穴中棲身.北京猿人前額低平、眉骨粗壯、顴骨高凸，嘴巴前伸已能直立行走、制造工具、進行勞動，并有了語言。

The discovery of Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian is regarded as the most valuable contribution in the 20th century to paleoanthropology. It advanced human history for tens of thousands years earlier，and so far it is still the world's most intact，the tichest，and the most convincing remains of the primitive mans activities，which strongly proves that“man originated from apes" and which provides the most precious first-hand evidences for the study of human origin and evolution as well as for reproducing the life of the earliest man.

周口店北京猿人遺址的發(fā)現(xiàn)，被認為是20世紀古人類學研究中最具價值的貢獻。它將人類歷史的年代推前了數(shù)萬年，并且至今仍是目前全球發(fā)現(xiàn)最完整。最豐富、最具說服力的古人類活動遺存。它證實了“人是從猿變化而來的”這一事實，為研究人類的起源及其發(fā)展，為再現(xiàn)早期人類的生活面貌，提供了極為珍貴的第一手資料。

Apart from Peking Man Site ,around Zhoukoudian are also discovered about 20 other sites with fossils of New Cave IVian about 100000 years ago and fossils of Upper Cave Man about 18 ()U0 years ago .as well as fossils of other vertebrates. Together they form a natural museum of the history of human beings and other living things.

除北京猿人遺址外，在周口店還發(fā)現(xiàn)了距今約10萬年的“新洞人”化石和約1.8萬年前的“山頂洞人”化石以及其他脊椎動物化石遺址20多處，構成了一個天然的生物史和人類史“博物館”。

Zhoukoudian is known world wide as the home of Peking Man. In 1953，Zhoukoudian Museum was open to the public，and the site was brought under the state protection as a key historic site by the State Council.In l98";，UNESCO inscribed the Peking Man Site at Zhoukoudian in the World Heritage List as a cultural heritage of the world.

周口店以“中國猿人之家”聞名于世。1953年，周口店遺址博物館對外開放;1961年，周口店遺址被國務院列為全國重點文物保護單位;1987年，聯(lián)合國教科文組織將周口店“北京人”遺址作為文化遺產(chǎn)列人《世界遺產(chǎn)名錄》。