The first DNA¹ analysis of 2,500-year-old remains² from one of the great early civilizations of the Middle East, the Phoenicians, has shown the man had European heritage, researchers said Wednesday.

周三，研究人员宣布对于2500年的尸体的首次DNA分析显示，该腓尼基男子具有欧洲血统。腓尼基文明曾是中东最灿烂的文明之一。

The mitochondrial DNA -- or genetic³ information from his mother’s side -- came from a man known as "Young Man of Byrsa" or "Ariche," whose remains were uncovered in the Tunisian city of Carthage.

该名被称作“毕尔萨青年”或者Ariche的男子被发现于土耳其城市迦太基。从他身上提取的线粒体DNA是从他母亲那里遗传来的。

The findings in the journal PLOS ONE suggest his maternal⁴ lineage likely came from the north Mediterranean⁵ coast, on the Iberian Peninsula, perhaps near what is modern day Spain or Portugal.

这项于期刊《PLOS ONE》上发表的研究表明，这名男子的母系血统可能来自地中海北岸的伊比利亚半岛，靠近今日西班牙或者葡萄牙的所在地。

Phoenicians are known as the creators of the first alphabet, and inhabited the coastal⁶ cities, Tyre, Sidon, Byblos and Arwad, in what is now Lebanon and southern Syria.

腓尼基人以字母表的创始人而闻名，并定居于海岸城市泰尔、西顿、布鲁比斯和艾尔瓦德。这些城市坐落在如今的黎巴嫩和利比亚南部内。

However, since their writings were made on papyrus⁷, little remains except what has been written about them by Greek and Egyptian scholars.

然而，由于他们的文章都书写在莎草纸上，很少有文章能够被保存下来。只有一些由希腊和埃及的学者记录下来的相关文本。

According to lead study author Lisa Matisoo-Smith, a professor in the department of anatomy⁸ at New Zealand’s University of Otago, the remains reveal the earliest known evidence in North Africa of a rare European genetic population, or haplogroup, known as U5b2c1.

Lisa Matisoo-Smith是新西兰奥塔哥大学的解剖学系教授，是该研究的首席作者。她表示，这具尸体是少数欧洲人在北非的最古老证据，或者是被称为U5b2c1的单倍群。

"U5b2c1 is considered to be one of the most ancient haplogroups in Europe and is associated with hunter-gatherer populations there," she said.

她说：“U5b2c1被认为是欧洲最古老的单倍群，和此地的狩猎人群有关。”

"It is remarkably⁹ rare in modern populations today, found in Europe at levels of less than one percent."

“这对现代人类来说十分珍贵，在欧洲找到这类样本的机率小于1%。”

The matriarchal DNA of the man, whose remains were found by gardeners working outside the National Museum of Carthage in 1994, "most closely matches that of the sequence of a particular modern day individual from Portugal," she added.

她补充道：“这名男子的母系基因和现代葡萄牙人的序列能够在最大程度上进行配对。”他的尸体在1994年被园丁发现于迦太基国家博物馆外。

The discovery sheds some new light on the history of the Phoenicians, who are thought to have originated in Lebanon and spread across the Mediterranean.

这次发现揭示了一些腓尼基人的历史。该人群被认为起源于黎巴嫩，之后迁徙到地中海地区。

Carthage was a prominent Phoenician port and trade center established by colonists¹⁰ from Lebanon.

迦太基是著名的腓尼基港口和贸易中心，为来自黎巴嫩的殖民者所建立。

However, researchers were unable to find any links between the ancient man’s mitochondrial DNA and that of 47 modern Lebanese people who were analyzed¹¹ for the study.

然而，研究人员并没能发现这名古代男子的线粒体DNA和47位现代黎巴嫩志愿者的DNA之间有任何联系。

"Hopefully our findings and other continuing research will cast further light on he origins and impact of Phoenician peoples and their culture," said Matisoo-Smith.

Matisoo-Smith表示：“希望我们的发现和其他后续的研究能够揭示我们的起源，以及腓尼基人的文化和留下的影响。”