It tends to be darker, more subtle colors.

顏色往往更深、更微妙。

The Freer possesses one of the largest collections of ancient jades from the Neolithic culture that we now call Liangzhu.

自由博物館是收藏新石器時代（即我們現在所說的良渚文化）古代玉器最多的博物館之一。

The culture is named after its first discovery site near Hangzhou, China, which is essentially southwest of Shanghai.

該文化因其首次發現地位於中國杭州附近而得名，杭州位於上海西南部。

Bidisks are essentially round, flat donuts.

Bidisks 本質上是圓形、扁平的甜甜圈。

They're created from, in general, nephrite, which is a specific kind of jade material.

它們一般由軟玉製成，軟玉是一種特殊的玉石材料。

They were clearly important to the society that created them.

顯然，它們對創造它們的社會非常重要。

They're found in Chinese tombs, elite burials, often in large number.

它們出現在中國的墓葬和精英墓葬中，數量往往很多。

The ongoing mystery is exactly why they were made and why they were put in tombs.

一直以來的謎團是，為什麼要製作它們，為什麼要把它們放在墳墓裡。

I think that the shape of the bee was chosen because they learned how to work that shape using rotating tools, a turntable or some type of mechanical device to rotate the jade.

我認為，之所以選擇蜜蜂的形狀，是因為他們學會了如何使用旋轉工具、轉盤或某種機械裝置來旋轉玉石。

We have a lot of ideas about how jades were worked, and we are quite sure they were largely worked with mineral abrasives, so through the abrasive process of rubbing the surface of the jade one way or another, whether it's sawing or creating a drill hole, mineral abrasives would have been used because no tools would have been available during the Neolithic period.

我們對玉器的加工方式有很多想法，但可以肯定的是，大部分玉器都是用礦物磨料加工的，是以，無論是鋸切還是鑽孔，都會使用礦物磨料，因為新石器時代還沒有工具。

Clearly it was not made by average people.

顯然，它不是由普通人制作的。

These were highly trained artisans who were responsible for making these objects.

他們都是訓練有素的工匠，負責製作這些物品。

The material itself is rare, notoriously difficult to work, so that creation of these objects in nephrite represent a great expenditure of social wealth at the time.

這種材料本身就很稀有，而且出了名的難加工，是以用軟玉製作這些器物代表了當時社會財富的巨大消耗。

Normally when jade objects come into our laboratory for examination, the first thing we do is we study it visually under a microscope.

通常，當玉器進入我們的實驗室進行檢驗時，我們首先會在顯微鏡下對其進行直觀研究。

The curator usually would like to know the mineral composition of the object.

館長通常希望瞭解物品的礦物成分。

We use techniques such as x-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy to analyze the jade material.

我們使用 X 射線衍射和傅立葉變換紅外光譜等技術來分析玉石材料。

We look for evidence of manufacturing to learn how the object was made.

我們尋找製造的證據，以瞭解物品是如何製造出來的。

That includes looking at the overall shape and form of the object and a more detailed look at the tool marks left on the surface of the jade.

這包括觀察玉器的整體形狀和形態，以及更詳細地觀察玉器表面留下的工具痕跡。

Because of the development of archeology in China and the great interest in Liangzhu culture, it's encouraged us here at the museum to use our collection of some 125 objects as a kind of sample to improve our understanding of the manufacturing techniques of this ancient culture.

由於中國考古學的發展和人們對良渚文化的濃厚興趣，這促使我們博物館將我們收藏的約 125 件文物作為一種樣本，以提高我們對這一古代文化製造技術的瞭解。