【3分リスニング&クイズ】BBC News: The mystery of the Himalayan 'Skeleton Lake'

Quiz　答えは下にあります

1.インド人のレンジャー隊員は、氷河湖の中に何を見つけましたか？

2. 最近のDNAサンプルで明らかになった、遺伝学的に異なる3グループを挙げてください。

全文書き出し）
During the second world war, in a remote valley deep in the Himalayas, an Indian forest ranger named Hari Kishan Madwa made a morbid discovery. At an elevation of 4800 meters, he came across a small glacier lake with something visible in its clear water. The lake was full of human skeletons. He had discovered the now infamous lake Roopkund or skeleton lake. The authorities feared the remains belonged to a group of Japanese soldiers who tried to infiltrate British controlled India. However, it turned out the roughly 500 skeletons were too old to be Japanese invaders. In the decades since a variety of theories have tried to explain the mysterious origin of the bones. Some have said the remains were those of an ancient Indian army returning across the mountains from battle. Others have suggested an epidemic was responsible for the dead. An intense hailstorm has also been blamed. A popular local folk song tells the story of disrespectful group of pilgrims traveling to the nearby Hindu shrine of the mountain goddess Nanda Devi. Incensed by their behavior, the goddess is said to have hurled balls as hard as iron at the deviants. Some of the bones have signs of trauma consistent with being hit by a round object. No weapons were found but bits of religious jewelry and clothing were. The skeletons were a mix men, women, and children in good health. Meaning warfare and epidemic were unlikely, thus, researchers concluded that the dead were probably pilgrims of south Asian origin that died in the 9th century. However, a recent DNA sample of 38 skeletons showed they came from three genetically distinct groups. 23 had ancestry related to people from present-day India. One had southeast Asian ancestry. And more shockingly, 14 had eastern Mediterranean origins. This could be explained by the existence of a Graeco-Indo-Kingdom in the area between the first and second centuries BC. However, carbon dating included that none of the bones are from this period. Those with South Asian ancestry date from a variety of different events between the 7th and 10th centuries, while those with Mediterranean origins date from one event in the 18th century. The differences in timing also suggest that the causes of death were likely varied. It is possible that the lake was actually a makeshift graveyard which would explain the diversity of the bones. Ultimately there is still no conclusive evidence explaining how the skeletons of Roopkund came to be. Every year with the arrival of spring the frozen lake melts once again revealing the bones but not their origin.

ranger　レンジャー部隊（奇襲攻撃を行う特殊任務歩兵部隊員）
morbid　ゾッとさせる
elevation　標高
glacier　氷河
infamous　悪名高い
remain　《remains》遺骨
infiltrate　～に潜入する
hailstorm　雹を伴う嵐
deviant　変人、［社会の基準から］逸脱した人
consistent with　～と一致した
carbon dating　放射性炭素年代測定法
date from　［ある日付・時代など］から始まる
makeshift　その場しのぎの
graveyard　墓地
conclusive　決定的な

Answer

1. たくさんの人骨

2. ①現在のインド人に結びつく祖先　②東南アジア人の祖先　③東地中海人の祖先