【简译】西班牙阿尔塔米拉洞穴

2022-09-22 08:11 作者:神尾智代 0人读过 | 我要投稿

Altamira is a Paleolithic cave located in Santillana del Mar (Cantabria region) in northern Spain, containing prehistoric paintings. The cave was inhabited for millennia and so, besides Paleolithic cave art, it contains remains of the daily activities of the prehistoric population. It was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985.

阿尔塔米拉是一个旧石器时代的洞穴，位于西班牙北部的Santillana del Mar（坎塔布里亚地区），里面有史前的绘画。这个洞穴已经有几千年的居住史，因此，除了旧石器时代的洞穴艺术，它还包含了史前人口的日常活动遗迹。1985年，阿尔塔米拉被联合国教科文组织宣布为世界文化遗产。

Nowadays, the cave is 270 m long and the archaeological site can be found inside the cave, near the entrance, however, there are also remains outside since the original cave entrance fell down. The cave can be divided into three sections:

the cave entrance

the great room or polychrome room

the gallery.

这个洞穴长270米，考古遗址可以在洞穴内的入口附近找到；然而，原先的洞穴入口倒塌，所以我们可以在现今洞穴的外部发现一些遗迹。阿尔塔米拉洞穴可分为三个部分。

山洞口

大厅或多色厅（室）

画廊

The entrance is the part where people used to live; archaeologists found there remains of animal bones, ash belonging to continuous fireplaces, and flint objects such as knives, axes, and flint fragments, indicating human activity in this part of the cave. Given the fact that archaeologists have found these types of remains located in different layers of sediments, it seems reasonable to assume that the cave was inhabited for long periods of time. The so-called polychrome or great room, painted in several colors, can be found in the inner part of the cave, where there is no natural light. The entrance and the polychrome room form a great hall, but since the cave is a narrow gallery there is little room for large spaces, except for the larger chamber. The end of the cave is a narrow gallery with difficult access, but it also contains Paleolithic paintings and engravings.

洞穴入口处是人们曾经居住的区域；考古学家在那里发现了动物骨骼的遗迹，还有厚厚的灰烬，以及刀、斧、燧石碎片等燧石制品，这表明曾有人类在此地活动。鉴于考古学家在不同的沉积物层中发现了这类痕迹，我们似乎可以合理地推测出该洞穴曾长期有人居住。所谓用几种颜色绘制的多色室或大房间，可以在洞穴的内部找到，那里没有自然光。入口和多色室构成了一个大殿，但由于洞穴是一个狭窄的长廊，除了较大的房间外，几乎没有大的空间。洞穴的尽头是一个狭窄的长廊，很难进入，但它也包含旧石器时代的绘画与壁刻。

斯蒂芬·阿尔瓦雷斯（Stephen Alvarez）拍摄了一组与阿尔塔米拉洞穴内的画作的照片。

洞穴的历史

The cave was discovered in 1868 by a hunter, Modesto Cubillas, who told Marcelino Sanz de Sautola, a nobleman in the region, about it. However, Sanz de Sautola did not visit the cave until 1875 and the first excavation works at the site only started in 1879. He found objects made of flint, bone, and horn, as well as colourants, fauna, and shells that allowed the dating of the cave paintings. These works only took place at the entrance of the cave. Sanz de Sautola published his Breves apuntes sobre algunos objetos prehistóricos de la provincia de Santander ("Notes on some prehistoric objects in the Santander region") a year later. At the time of the discovery, the main research on Prehistory was carried out in France by scholars who did not accept the authenticity of the paintings since they did not show the same patterns and features of those caves studied in France. Sanz de Sautola was considered a liar, and Altamira was forgotten. In 1902, E. de Cartailach, a French prehistorian, published Les cavernes ornées de dessins. La grotte d'Altamira, Espagne. «Mea culpa» d'un sceptique ("The caves decorated with drawings. The cave of Altamira, Spain. «Mea culpa» of a sceptical") and, from that moment, the cave gained a key role in the international prehistoric research.

阿尔塔米拉洞穴，是在1868年由一个猎人莫德斯托·库比拉斯发现的，他把情况告诉了本地的贵族马塞利诺·桑斯·德·桑图奥拉。然而，马塞利诺·桑斯·德·桑图奥拉直到1875年才访问该洞穴，并且在1879年才组织人进行首次挖掘工作。他们发现了由燧石、骨头和动物的角制成的物品，以及着色剂、动物遗骸和贝壳，从而可以让考古学家们确定洞穴绘画的年代。这些工作只在洞穴的入口处进行。一年后，马塞利诺·桑斯·德·桑图奥拉出版了他的《关于桑坦德省一些史前物品的说明》（Breves apuntes sobre algunos objetos prehistóricos de la provincia de Santander）。在阿尔塔米拉洞穴被人们发现的时候，关于史前史的研究主要集中于法国；学者们不接受这些绘画的真实性，因为它们没有显示出与法国研究的那些洞穴相同的模式和特征。马塞利诺·桑斯·德·桑图奥拉被大多数学者们认为是骗子，阿尔塔米拉也逐渐被遗忘了。1902年，法国史前学家E.de Cartailach出版了《Les cavernes ornées de dessins》。La grotte d'Altamira, Espagne. "Mea culpa" d'un sceptique（《用图画装饰的洞穴》，西班牙阿尔塔米拉山洞。"一个怀疑论者的“罪过”），从这一刻起，该洞穴在国际史前研究中重新获得了关注。

Later, in 1903, H. Alcalde del Río continued the excavations and discovered two consecutive levels: one from the Upper Solutrean and another from the Lower Magdalenian, both of them belonging to the Paleolithic Period. These data were confirmed in the excavations made by Hugo Obermaier in 1924 and 1925, and J. González Echegaray and L. G. Freeman in 1980 and 1981, where they discovered a bigger complexity of the archaeological register. The studies and dating of the C14-AMS made in 2006 showed the different stages of human occupation of the cave. Eight levels were distinguished, from Middle Magdalenian (15,000-10,000 BCE) to Gravettian (25,000-20,000 BCE).

1903年，H. Alcalde del Río继续挖掘，发现了两个连续的层次：上梭鲁特时期，下马格德林时期，都属于旧石器时代。这些数据在胡戈·欧伯迈尔于1924年和1925年，以及华金·冈萨雷斯·伊克格拉和莱斯里·G·弗里曼于1980年和1981年进行的发掘中得到了证实，他们发现了更复杂的考古信息。2006年进行的C14-AMS的研究和测年显示了人类对该洞穴不同阶段的居住状况。从马格德林中期（公元前15,000-10,000年）到格拉维特时期（公元前25,000-20,000年），共分八个等级。

绘画

Based on the archaeological research, experts assume that the paintings and engravings on the cave walls were made by the people who inhabited the cave during the different periods. Most of the paintings and engravings of Altamira, ranging from animals to hands, are located in the polychrome room. The oldest paintings are located on the right of the roof and they include horses, positive and negative images of human hands, abstract shapes, and a series of dots; mostly drawn by using charcoal. There are also 'masks' created by drawing eyes and mouth on the natural contours of the rock walls, which have been dated to the Lower Magdalenian period. However, the majority of the paintings from this period represent deer.

根据考古研究，专家们认为洞壁上的绘画和壁刻是由不同时期居住在洞内的人完成的。阿尔塔米拉的大部分绘画和壁刻，从动物到人的手，都位于多色室大厅中。最古老的绘画位于洞顶的右侧，它们包括马、人手的正反图像、抽象形状和一系列的点；大部分是用木炭画的。还有一些通过在岩壁的自然轮廓上绘制眼睛和嘴巴而形成的“面具”，其年代为下马格德林时期。然而，这一时期的大多数画作表现的是鹿。

On the right of the roof, we can find the 25 coloured images of the cave (mostly in red and black): big representations of horses, paintings of bison, and a female deer that measures more than two meters. The drawing technique employed was engraving the wall with a flint object and, then, drawing a black line using charcoal. Afterwards, it was coloured with red or yellow. The details, such as hair, were made with a charcoal pencil while elements like eyes or horns were engraved. Although they may seem simple figures, bumps and cracks on the roof were purposely used to give volume to the animals.

在洞顶的右侧，我们可以看到25幅彩色图像（主要是红色和黑色）：大型马匹、野牛的绘画，以及一只超过两米的雌鹿。所采用的绘画技术是用燧石物体在墙上刻画，然后用木炭勾画出一条黑线。之后，用红色或黄色进行着色。头发等细节是用炭笔画出来的，而眼睛或角等元素是刻出来的。虽然它们看起来很简单，但屋顶上的凹凸不平和裂缝被特意用来赋予绘画立体化。

The narrow gallery contains a special set of masks representing animal faces, for instance, deer and bison. The technique employed is simple and astonishing at the same time. The artist took advantage of the natural contours and the perspective to create a whole face with simple elements such as eyes and lines representing the mouth or the nose.

狭窄的画廊里有一套特殊的面具，代表动物的脸，例如鹿和野牛。所采用的技术很简单，同时也很令人吃惊。远古艺术家利用自然轮廓和透视的优势，用简单的元素，如眼睛和代表嘴巴或鼻子的线条，创造出一张完整的脸。

如今的阿尔塔米拉

Nowadays, Altamira cave is closed to the public due to preservation problems. As said before, the entrance fell over and covered the cave, creating a stable climate inside that ensured the preservation of the paintings, but when it was discovered, the air started entering from the outside and caused changes in humidity and temperature. Furthermore, during the 20th century, walls and paths were built inside the cave to accept hundreds of thousands of visitors. All these changes affected the paintings, as well as the human presence. Between 1997 and 2001, measures were taken to control the state of the cave. In 2002, the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) started an exhaustive conservation plan and, from 2011, an international committee of experts studies the feasibility of giving access to a restricted number of visitors without affecting the preservation of the paintings.

如今，阿尔塔米拉山洞由于保存问题，不对公众开放。如前所述，该洞穴的入口处倒塌，覆盖了洞穴，在里面形成了稳定的气候，保证了绘画的保存，但当它被发现后，空气开始从外面进入，造成湿度和温度的变化。此外，在20世纪，洞内修建了墙壁和道路，以接受成千上万的游客。这些变化都影响了绘画，以及古人类遗址。1997年至2001年间，科学家们采取了一些措施来控制洞穴的状况。2002年，西班牙国家研究委员会（CSIC）开始了一项详尽的保护计划，从2011年开始，一个国际专家委员会研究了在不影响绘画保存的情况下允许有限数量的游客进入的可行性。

Even though the original cave cannot be visited, archaeological studies and experts made possible the re-creation of the cave that can be visited as well as the Altamira Museum which contains a permanent collection of objects from Altamira and other surrounding caves.

尽管不能参观原来的洞穴，但在考古研究和专家们的努力下，人们仿建了可以参观的洞穴以及建造了阿尔塔米拉博物馆。该博物馆包含来自阿尔塔米拉和其他周围洞穴的永久收藏品。

参考书目：

Altamira Museum website: information of the cave Accessed 1 Dec 2016.

Carballo, J. The cave of Altamira and other caves with paintings in the province of Santander. Patronato de las cuevas prehistoricas de la provincia de Santander, 1963.

Curtis, G. The Cave Painters: Probing the Mysteries of the World's First Artists. Anchor, 2007.

Guinea, M.A.G. Altamira and other Cantabrian Caves. Silex, 1979.

UNESCO video: "Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain".Accessed 1 Dec 2016.