《A Short History of Nearly Everything》第154章

ing　some　projects　run　by　the　charity　careinternational；　but　my　hosts；　knowing　of　my　interest　in　humans　for　the　present　volume；　hadinserted　a　visit　to　olorgesailie　into　the　schedule。
after　its　discovery　by　gregory；　olorgesailie　lay　undisturbed　for　over　two　decades　beforethe　famed　husband…and…wife　team　of　louis　and　mary　leakey　began　an　excavation　that　isn’tpleted　yet。　what　the　leakeys　found　was　a　site　stretching　to　ten　acres　or　so；　where　toolswere　made　in　incalculable　numbers　for　roughly　a　million　years；　from　about　1。2　million　yearsago　to　200；000　years　ago。　today　the　tool　beds　are　sheltered　from　the　worst　of　the　elementsbeneath　large　tin　lean…tos　and　fenced　off　with　chicken　wire　to　discourage　opportunisticscavenging　by　visitors；　but　otherwise　the　tools　are　left　just　where　their　creators　dropped　themand　where　the　leakeys　found　them。
jillani　ngalli；　a　keen　young　man　from　the　kenyan　national　museum　who　had　beendispatched　to　act　as　guide；　told　me　that　the　quartz　and　obsidian　rocks　from　which　the　axeswere　made　were　never　found　on　the　valley　floor。　“they　had　to　carry　the　stones　from　there；”　hesaid；　nodding　at　a　pair　of　mountains　in　the　hazy　middle　distance；　in　opposite　directions　fromthe　site：　olorgesailie　and　ol　esakut。　each　was　about　ten　kilometers；　or　six　miles；　away—along　way　to　carry　an　armload　of　stone。
why　the　early　olorgesailie　people　went　to　such　trouble　we　can　only　guess；　of　course。　notonly　did　they　lug　hefty　stones　considerable　distances　to　the　lakeside；　but；　perhaps　even　moreremarkably；　they　then　organized　the　site。　the　leakeys’　excavations　revealed　that　there　wereareas　where　axes　were　fashioned　and　others　where　blunt　axes　were　brought　to　be　resharpened。
olorgesailie　was；　in　short；　a　kind　of　factory；　one　that　stayed　in　business　for　a　million　years。
various　replications　have　shown　that　the　axes　were　tricky　and　labor…intensive　objects　tomake—even　with　practice；　an　axe　would　take　hours　to　fashion—and　yet；　curiously；　they　werenot　particularly　good　for　cutting　or　chopping　or　scraping　or　any　of　the　other　tasks　to　whichthey　were　presumably　put。　so　we　are　left　with　the　position　that　for　a　million　years—far；　farlonger　than　our　own　species　has　even　been　in　existence；　much　less　engaged　in　continuouscooperative　efforts—early　people　came　in　considerable　numbers　to　this　particular　site　to　makeextravagantly　large　numbers　of　tools　that　appear　to　have　been　rather　curiously　pointless。
and　who　were　these　people？　we　have　no　idea　actually。　we　assume　they　were　homoerectus　because　there　are　no　other　known　candidates；　which　means　that　at　their　peak—theirpeak　—the　olorgesailie　workers　would　have　had　the　brains　of　a　modern　infant。　but　there　is　nophysical　evidence　on　which　to　base　a　conclusion。　despite　over　sixty　years　of　searching；　nohuman　bone　has　ever　been　found　in　or　around　the　vicinity　of　olorgesailie。　however　muchtime　they　spent　there　shaping　rocks；　it　appears　they　went　elsewhere　to　die。
“it’s　all　a　mystery；”　jillani　ngalli　told　me；　beaming　happily。
the　olorgesailie　people　disappeared　from　the　scene　about　200；000　years　ago　when　the　lakedried　up　and　the　rift　valley　started　to　bee　the　hot　and　challenging　place　it　is　today。　butby　this　time　their　days　as　a　species　were　already　numbered。　the　world　was　about　to　get　itsfirst　real　master　race；　homo　sapiens　。　things　would　never　be　the　same　again。
。。　
30GOOD…BYE
小？说网
in　the　early　1680s；　at　just　about　the　time　that　edmond　halley　and　his　friends　christopherwren　and　robert　hooke　were　settling　down　in　a　london　coffeehouse　and　embarking　on　thecasual　wager　that　would　result　eventually　in　isaac　newton’s　principia　；　henry　cavendish’sweighing　of　the　earth；　and　many　of　the　other　inspired　and　mendable　undertakings　thathave　occupied　us　for　much　of　the　past　four　hundred　pages；　a　rather　less　desirable　milestonewas　being　passed　on　the　island　of　mauritius；　far　out　in　the　indian　ocean　some　eight　hundredmiles　off　the　east　coast　of　madagascar。
there；　some　forgotten　sailor　or　sailor’s　pet　was　harrying　to　death　the　last　of　the　dodos；　thefamously　flightless　bird　whose　dim　but　trusting　nature　and　lack　of　leggy　zip　made　it　a　ratherirresistible　target　for　bored　young　tars　on　shore　leave。　millions　of　years　of　peaceful　isolationhad　not　prepared　it　for　the　erratic　and　deeply　unnerving　behavior　of　human　beings。
we　don’t　know　precisely　the　circumstances；　or　even　year；　attending　the　last　moments　of　thelast　dodo；　so　we　don’t　know　which　arrived　first；　a　world　that　contained　a　principia　or　one　thathad　no　dodos；　but　we　do　know　that　they　happened　at　more　or　less　the　same　time。　you　wouldbe　hard　pressed；　i　would　submit；　to　find　a　better　pairing　of　occurrences　to　illustrate　the　divineand　felonious　nature　of　the　human　being—a　species　of　organism　that　is　capable　of　unpickingthe　deepest　secrets　of　the　heavens　while　at　the　same　time　pounding　into　extinction；　for　nopurpose　at　all；　a　creature　that　never　did　us　any　harm　and　wasn’t　even　remotely　capable　ofunderstanding　what　we　were　doing　to　it　as　we　did　it。　indeed；　dodos　were　so　spectacularlyshort　on　insight；　it　is　reported；　that　if　you　wished　to　find　all　the　dodos　in　a　vicinity　you　hadonly　to　catch　one　and　set　it　to　squawking；　and　all　the　others　would　waddle　along　to　see　whatwas　up。
the　indignities　to　the　poor　dodo　didn’t　end　quite　there。　in　1755；　some　seventy　years　afterthe　last　dodo’s　death；　the　director　of　the　ashmolean　museum　in　oxford　decided　that　theinstitution’s　stuffed　dodo　was　being　unpleasantly　musty　and　ordered　it　tossed　on　abonfire。　this　was　a　surprising　decision　as　it　was　by　this　time　the　only　dodo　in　existence；stuffed　or　otherwise。　a　passing　employee；　aghast；　tried　to　rescue　the　bird　but　could　save　onlyits　head　and　part　of　one　limb。
as　a　result　of　this　and　other　departures　from　mon　sense；　we　are　not　now　entirely　surewhat　a　living　dodo　was　like。　we　possess　much　less　information　than　most　people　suppose—ahandful　of　crude　descriptions　by　“unscientific　voyagers；　three　or　four　oil　paintings；　and　a　fewscattered　osseous　fragments；”　in　the　somewhat　aggrieved　words　of　the　nineteenth…centurynaturalist　h。　e。　strickland。　as　strickland　wistfully　observed；　we　have　more　physical　evidenceof　some　ancient　sea　monsters　an