Ancient metal tubes unearthed in 1897 could be oldest surviving drinking straws

 

1897年出土的古老金屬管可能是現存最早的吸管

【摘要2022.1.30.日.中時】◎國際新聞中心

A set of ancient gold and silver tubes dating to about 5,500 years ago and unearthed in North Caucasus in Russia could be the world’s oldest surviving drinking straws, experts have claimed.

專家宣稱，一組在俄羅斯北高加索出土，年代測定約在5500年前的古老的黃金與白銀管子，可能是全世界現存最早的吸管。

The eight thin-walled tubes, each more than a meter in length with a narrow perforated tip, were found in the largest of three compartments containing human remains, discovered during the excavation of a mound near Maykop in the summer of 1897.

這八根薄壁管子各自長度都超過1公尺，有著狹窄穿孔的頂端，是在1897年夏天於梅科普附近一處土丘挖掘時出土，它們是在裝有人類遺骸的三個隔間中最大的一間所發現。

The tubes, now in the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, date to the fourth millennium BC, and were made of segments joined together. Four of the tubes also feature gold or silver bull figurines.

這些可以追溯到西元前4千年的管子是由分段連接而成，現存於聖彼得堡的隱士廬博物館。當中四根管子還有金或銀的公牛雕像。

Writing in the journal Antiquity, a team of experts in Russia suggest the items are drinking straws “designed for sipping a type of beverage that required filtration during consumption”.“If correct, these objects represent the earliest material evidence of drinking through long tubes.”

俄羅斯一個專家團隊在「古物」期刊上撰文指出，這些物品是吸管，「用來啜飲一種在食用過程中需要過濾的飲料」。「如果沒錯的話，這些物品代表透過長管子飲用的最早物證。」

新聞辭典

perforated：形容詞，有孔的、打了洞的。perforate為動詞，指穿孔、打洞。例句：In advanced stages the opaque corneas may ulcerate and even perforate.（在晚期，不透明的角膜可能會潰爛和甚至穿孔。）

figurine：名詞，小塑像、小雕像。例句：In the Qing Dynasty, there were professional clay figurine workshops in Huishan.（在清朝，惠山有專業的泥塑作坊。）

material evidence ：實質性證據、物證。通常也稱為physical evidence或 real evidence。