玩具是每一个人一生中必不可少的，它随着大家度过无忧无虑的童年，又在大家成年将来给予大家心灵上的慰籍和美好的回忆。近年来伴随珍藏热的兴起，不少人也开始采集老玩具。那样世界上最古老的玩具在哪儿呢？
A carved animal figurine found buried alongside a prehistoric1（史前的） baby at Stonehenge（石器年代） may represent Britain's earliest known toy, researchers say.
The unique chalk relic2 of a hedgehog or pig, thought to be at least 2,000 years old, was unearthed3 in September near the stone monument on southern England's Salisbury Plain.
Evidence of toys during this period in British history is extremely scant, researchers said.
In fact, it's very rare to find any kind of representational art in British prehistoryalmost to the extent where you get the impression there's a bit of a taboo4 on making images of animals or people.
The young child's grave, tentatively dated to between 800 B.C. to 20 B.C., included a pottery5 vessel6, which may have contained food intended for the child's journey to the afterlife, the team said.
A pile of stones had been placed over the animal's head, indicating a sacrificial burial.
While it's possible the two infants were human sacrifices, more than likely they died naturally.
The newfound artifact is, as far as we know, without parallel, according to Stonehenge expert Mike Pitts, editor of British Archaeology7 magazine（英国家公务员考试古学杂志）.
Pitts agrees that it appears to have been made for a child as a personal toy.
However he strongly disagrees with those who say it depicts8 a hedgehog.
I would say it's without doubt a pig, said Pitts, who noted9 that both domestic and wild pigs were widespread in the region at the time.
Later, from the start of the Iron Age in Britain, between 700 and 800 B.C., animal figurines become relatively10 commonplace, Pitts added.
And once we get into historical times, we know the pig is quite important in Celtic mythology11（凯尔特人神话）, though notto my knowledgehedgehogs（刺猬类）, he said.
