英语中as early as意思是早在什么时候，后面接表示过去的时间名词。所以它往往是一般过去时的标志。
例如
早在三年前，那个可怜的男孩就死于了心脏病。
The poor boy died of heart disease as early as three years ago.
2000多年前中国人就发明了纸。
The Chinese people invented paper as early as 2000 years ago.
as early as和什么时态
as early as 有“在”的意思，所以呢in是多余的，直接加时间就可以，比如Traced back to as early as the year 960
