河南省文物局12月6日消息称，河南灵井“许昌人”遗址出土的一座微型鸟雕像入选“2020年度世界十大考古发现”。 据悉，这个评选结果由美国考古学会主办的、已连续出版70余年的《考古》杂志公布。自2006年开始，该杂志每年都会评选本年度世界十大考古发现，在全球范围内具有较大的影响力。自评选以来，中国境内先后共有6项考古发现入选。 A tiny 13,500-year-old bird sculpture crafted from burned bone unearthed at the open-air Lingjing site, an archaeological site in central China's Henan Province, has been named one of the world's top 10 discoveries of 2020, according to the U.S. magazine Archaeology. The magazine published by the Archaeological Institute of America chose the miniature bird sculpture because it "can now lay claim to being the earliest three-dimensional object of art found in East Asia." The artwork depicts a bird, which was a member of the order Passeriformes or songbirds. 今年6月，一个来自中国、法国等国的国际研究小组在美国《公共科学图书馆·综合》杂志上公布了灵井鸟雕这项重大考古成果。这座微型鸟雕像已有13500年历史，是迄今为止发现的中国最古老的雕塑。研究人员认为，它的发现将东亚雕塑艺术的起源提前了8500多年。 An international team of archaeologists from China, Canada, France, Israel and Norway published their study on the sculpture in June, suggesting it is the oldest known work of Chinese sculpture art. The discovery pushes back the origin of sculpture in East Asia by more than 8,500 years.
Six views of the bird sculpture discovered at the Lingjing site in Henan, China. /Archaeology
我是一只来自一万多年前的“小小鸟”
从外形来看，灵井鸟雕像个头非常小，高1厘米多，宽仅0.5厘米。鸟的形体粗壮，短头，有圆形的喙及长尾，很可能属于雀形目。其颜色呈灰褐色，表面光滑，局部显示清晰的雕刻痕迹，已经形成化石，有很强的吸水性。它以均匀烧烤过的哺乳动物肢骨骨干碎片为材料，用细石器中的“雕刻器”精致雕刻而成。雕刻艺术高超，手法精湛，鸟身线条简洁流畅，形态完美，静中富有动感。翅膀部位刻线寓意羽毛，非常细致，栩栩如生。艺术家没有雕刻这只鸟的腿，而是削了一个可以让它站立的底座。 Measuring only 19.2 millimeters (mm) long, 5.1 mm wide and 12.5 mm high, the sculpture is dark brown on one side and bronze on the other. Made of a mammalian limb bone, which had been heated and charred before carving, the bird carving has a stout body shape, short head, round beak and long tail. Instead of carving the bird's legs, the unknown ancient artist cut a base for the sculpture to stand on.
An aerial view of the Xuchangren ruins. /CFP
河南“许昌人”遗址考古领队李占扬介绍说，鸟雕的足部前后两端刻有对称的凹槽，形成很平的底座。如果将鸟放置于平整的面上，可以平稳站立且能让它转动，说明当时人类已熟练掌握了重心平衡的原理。 Placed on a flat surface, it can stand and be rotate steadily, indicating that ancient people at that time have mastered the principles of gravity and balance, according to Li Zhanyang, lead of the archaeological team of Xuchangren ruins in the Lingjing site.
与河南“许昌人”遗址微型鸟雕一同入选“2020年度世界十大考古发现”的，还有埃及发现的木乃伊彩绘木棺、墨西哥发现的最古老的玛雅神庙，以及英国伦敦发现的最古老的剧院等。 Among the top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2020 are Mexico's oldest Maya Temple, the UK's first English playhouse, Egypt's Mummy Cache and Turkey's Luwian royal inscription. Archaeology votes for the top 10 discoveries every December. Six archaeological discoveries in China have been on the list since 2006. 推荐阅读：我的考古日记：三星堆遗址——面具下的古蜀国是什么样子？ 判令返还！“章公祖师”肉身坐佛像追索案一审宣判