A large conch shell brought little attention in a French museum for many years, but it is now quickly gaining attention.

在法国的一家博物馆里，一个大海螺壳多年来几乎没有引起过人们的注意，但现在它正迅速引起人们的关注。

The shell is thought to be the oldest known seashell instrument.

这个贝壳被认为是已知的最古老的贝壳器具。

And it still works, producing a deep sound, like a foghorn from the distant past.

它仍然还可以演奏，发出一种低沉的声音，就像来自遥远过去的雾号。

The shell was found during the exploration of a cave with prehistoric wall paintings in the Pyrenees Mountains in southwestern France.

这个贝壳是在法国西南部比利牛斯山脉的一个有史前壁画的洞穴探险中发现的。

It was believed to be a ceremonial drinking cup.

它被认为是一个仪式上使用的杯子。

Scientists from the University of Toulouse in France recently took a fresh look at the conch shell.

法国图卢兹大学的科学家最近对海螺壳进行了新的研究。

They now believe it was changed thousands of years ago to serve as a wind instrument.

他们现在相信几千年前它就已经被改变为管乐器了。

They also invited a French horn player to play it.

他们还邀请了一位法国圆号演奏家来演奏。

"Hearing it for the first time, for me it was a big emotion" and caused some worry, said archaeology researcher Carole Fritz.

考古学研究员卡罗尔·弗里茨说:“第一次听到这个消息，我真是又激动又担心。”

She feared that playing the 31-centimeter-long shell might damage it, but it did not.

她担心演奏这个31厘米长的贝壳会损伤它，但没有。

The horn produced clear musical notes in C, C sharp and D.

贝壳发出清晰的C、升C和D的音符。

The researchers estimate it to be about 18,000 years old.

研究人员估计它大约有18,000年的历史。

Their findings appeared Wednesday in the publication Science Advances.

他们的发现发表在周三的《科学进展》杂志上。

Conch shells have been used widely in musical and ceremonial traditions,

海螺壳被广泛用于音乐和仪式传统，

including in ancient Peru, Greece, Japan and India.

包括在古代秘鲁、希腊、日本和印度。

The shell instrument found in the Marsoulas cave is now the oldest known example.

在马索拉斯洞穴发现的贝壳乐器是目前已知的最古老的例子。

Earlier, Gilles Tosello, another archaeologist in Toulouse,

早些时候，图卢兹的另一位考古学家吉勒斯·托塞洛表示，

said a conch shell instrument found in Syria was estimated to be about 6,000 years old.

在叙利亚发现的海螺壳乐器估计有大约6000年的历史。

The latest discovery was made after a recent inventory at the Natural History Museum of Toulouse.

最新的发现是在图卢兹自然历史博物馆最近的一次盘点之后。

The researchers noticed some unusual holes in the shell.

研究人员注意到海螺壳上有一些不寻常的洞。

Especially important is that the end of the shell was broken off. That created a hole large enough to blow through.

特别重要的是，弹壳的末端脱落了，形成了一个足以吹穿的大洞。

Inspections with a microscopic showed that the opening was made by humans.

显微镜下的检查显示，这个缺口是人类制造的。

It was not accidental breakage or wear, Tosello said.

托塞洛说，这不是偶然的破损或磨损。

By putting a small medical camera into the shell, the researchers found that another hole had been carefully made farther inside.

通过将一个小型医疗摄像机放入贝壳中，研究人员发现了另一个被小心翼翼地在更深处凿出的洞。

They also found evidence of red coloring on the mouth of the conch.

他们还在海螺口发现了红色的证据。

It matched a design found on the wall of Marsoulas cave.

它与马苏拉斯洞穴墙上的设计相吻合。

"This is classic, really solid archaeology," said Margaret Conkey.

这是经典的、真正可靠的考古学，”玛格丽特·康基说。

She is an archaeologist at the University of California, Berkeley but was not involved in the research.

她是加州大学伯克利分校的考古学家，但没有参与这项研究。

This discovery reminds us that ancient people's lives were more complex than making stone tools and hunting large animals, she said.

她说，这一发现提醒我们，古人的生活比制造石器和狩猎大型动物要复杂得多。

Marsoulas cave is not near an ocean.

马索拉斯洞穴并不在海洋附近。

So the prehistoric people must have either moved around or traded to get the shell, Conkey and the researchers said.

康奇和研究人员说，所以史前人类一定是四处迁徙或交易来获得贝壳的。

"What makes conch shells so interesting is that the spiral" part formed by nature is great at making music, said Rasoul Morteza.

“让海螺壳如此有趣的是，”大自然形成的螺旋部分非常擅长制作音乐，拉苏尔·莫特萨说。

He is a musician in Montreal, Canada, who has studied how sound is made with conch shells.

他是加拿大蒙特利尔的一名音乐家，研究过海螺壳是如何发出声音的。

He also was not involved in the paper.

他也没有参与论文发表。

Using a model of the shell, the archaeologists plan to continue studying the horn's sounds.

考古学家计划利用贝壳模型继续研究号角的声音。

Tosello said he hopes to hear the ancient instrument played inside the cave where it was found.

托塞洛说，他希望能在发现它的洞穴里听到这种古老乐器的演奏。

It is wonderful when an object is forgotten somewhere and suddenly it "comes again into the light," he said.

他说，当一件物品被遗忘在某个地方，突然又“重见天日”，这是一件美妙的事情。

I'm Alice Bryant.

爱丽丝·布莱恩特报道。

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