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Ancient Mayan King Buried in Style 古代马雅国王盛装下葬

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Archaeologists discover buried royalty and a tomb filled with riches   考古学家发现被埋葬的王族，还有一座满是珍宝的坟墓

U.S. and Guatemalan archaeologists have found an unusually well-preserved burial chamber that they believe is the tomb of the founder of a Maya dynasty, a find that promises new information about the empire’s formative period.

美国与危地马拉的考古学家发现了一座保存得异常良好的墓室，他们认为应该是马雅某个王朝的创始者的陵墓。这项发现可望为马雅帝国的形成时期提供新信息。

A rare find  稀有的发现

Archaeologist Stephen Houston of Brown University said the tomb was so tightly sealed that the team found remains of textiles, wood carvings and other organic objects that normally disappear in the humid tropics. Even after 1,600 years, the smell of decay was still present when the team broke through the walls of the tomb, Houston said.

布朗大学考古学家史蒂芬．修斯顿表示，这座陵墓极为密闭，因此考古团队在里头发现了布料、木雕及其他有机物品的残骸，而这类物品在潮湿的热带通常都会消失无踪。虽然已经过了一千六百年，考古团队敲开这座陵墓的外壁之时，里面那种腐朽的气味却仍然存在．修斯顿如此表示。

Enclosed with the remains of what the team believes to be an early king were the bodies of six infants, who may have been sacrificed and sent to the afterlife with the king. Bowls surrounding the tomb contained human fingers and teeth wrapped in decaying organic matter, perhaps leaves, that may have been symbolic meal offerings, Houston said.

除了考古团队认为是一名早期国王的遗骸之外，还有六名婴儿的骨骸也同样封闭（在墓室里），可能是当初遭到献祭而和国王一起被送往来世。修斯顿指出，环绕着陵墓的碗内装有人类手指和牙齿，外表包覆着已经腐朽的有机物质，也许是树叶，这些物品可能是象征性的祭祀食品。

“If [Houston] is right and this is a dynastic founder …. it would be one of the only times we’ve found one of these people,” said archaeologist Simon Martin of the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the research. It is also “uncommon to find sacrifices in the tomb. …. That is one of the things that marks it out as pretty special.”

「如果修斯顿说得没错，这的确是个王朝的创始者……那么这将是（考古界）首度发现这类人物的绝无仅有的例子，」并未参与该项研究的宾州大学考古学家赛门．马丁表示。此外，「在陵墓里发现祭品也是很不寻常的现象……这也是这项发现之所以很特别的其中一个原因。」

El Diablo’s tomb  恶魔的陵墓

The tomb was found at a site called El Zotz, located about six miles from the city of Tikal in the Petén region of northern Guatemala. Tikal was one of the largest and most powerful urban centers in the Maya civilization and El Zotz apparently flourished on its border.

这座陵墓是在一个称为洛兹的地点被发现，距离危地马拉北部北店地区的提卡尔市约六哩。提卡尔是马雅文明中最庞大也最盛大的都会中心，洛兹显然在这座都市的边缘繁荣发展。

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Guatemalan [͵gwɑtəˋmɑlən] 危地马拉的（中美洲国家）

promise [ˋprɑmɪs] v. 使…很有可能; 给人以…的指望

tropics [ˋtrɑpɪks] n. 热带

afterlife [ˋæftɚ͵laɪf] n. 来世﹐来生

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The city originally lay in the valley due west of Tikal. But about A.D. 350, the population went into a dramatic decline and moved to more defensible positions on the escarpment on the sides of the valley. “I suspect they needed to skedaddle because of the increasingly fragile political position,” Houston said.

洛兹原本位于提卡尔正西方的谷地里。不过，在公元350年左右，这里的人口出现骤减，迁往了谷地侧边悬崖陡坡上较易防守的地点。「我猜测他们之所以必须匆忙逃到这里，原因是当时的政治情势已经愈来愈不稳定，」修斯顿说。

The new tomb is in a pyramid called El Diablo in “a supremely defensive position” at the top of a steep slope that is difficult to climb. The pyramids of Tikal are visible in the distance. The tomb is at the base of the pyramid and others, most now looted, were built on top – a chronology that supports the idea that the occupant was the founder of a dynasty.

这座新陵墓位于一座称为恶魔的金字塔内，而金字塔则是坐落于「一个极具防御优势的地点」，位在一处难以攀爬的陡坡端，远处可以望见提卡尔的金字塔。这座陵墓位于金字塔底部，然而其他（马雅文明的）陵墓则往往建造于金字塔顶端，后者大部分都已遭劫掠一空──这种（陵墓坐落位置不同的）纪事，足以支持其中埋葬的人物（译注：occupant指占用者，亦即占据陵墓的那位人物）可能是王朝创始者的论点。

Riches for the afterlife  为来世准备的珍宝

The tomb was large by Maya standards, about 9 feet deep and 4.5 feet high. It is sealed with alternating layers of mud and rock, which helped preserve the contents. The primary occupant was arrayed like a dancer, with bell-like ornaments made of shells and “clappers” made of canine teeth. It appears he was wearing an elaborate headdress with small glyphs on it, and his teeth were embedded with jewels.

这座陵墓以马雅文明的标准来说算是大的，深约九呎，高约四点五呎，由泥土与岩石层层交迭密封，而有助于保存内容物。墓里的主要受葬者装扮得像个舞者，身上佩戴着贝壳制成的钟铃饰品与狗齿制成的「铃锤」。这名人物似乎戴了一具华丽的头饰，上面还刻有小型肖像，而他的牙齿还镶嵌了珠宝。

“We have known from the ’90s on that a big role of kings was to be a ritual dancer,” Houston said. “This is the clearest instance I have seen of the king being put in a tomb in that role.”

「自1990年代以来，我们就已经知道国王所扮演的一项主要角色是仪式中的舞者，」修斯顿说：「这是我见过把国王按照这项角色下葬的最明确案例。」

Other treasures in the tomb included shells imported from the Pacific coast, colorful bowls, remnants of textiles and ingots of a brilliant red pigment called specular hematite, similar to the bronze ingots in Mediterranean shipwrecks.

墓里的其他珍宝包括从太平洋岸引进的贝壳、色彩丰富的碗、布料的残骸以及一块块亮红色颜料，称为镜铁矿，和地中海沉船残骸中发现的铜块类似。

“This guy is taking his riches with him,” Houston said. “They speak to the vast divide that separates the king from the people who supported him.”

「这家伙想把自己的珍宝一起带走，」修斯顿说：「这些物品显示了这位国王和支持他的人民（在生活享受上的）差异有多么大。」

－by Thomas H. Maugh II

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burial [ˋbɛrɪəl] adj. 埋葬的；葬礼的 referring to the act of putting a dead body into the ground, or the ceremony connected with this

formative [ˋfɔrmətɪv] adj. 形成的；构成的 relating to the time when something is starting develop

decay [dɪˋke] n. 腐朽，腐烂 damage, or a state that becomes gradually worse

flourish [ˋflɝɪʃ] v. 繁荣﹐ 兴旺 to grow or develop successfully

escarpment [ɪsˋkɑrpmənt] n. 陡坡；悬崖 a steep slope or cliff, such as one which marks the edge of a range of hills

pigment [ˋpɪgmənt] n. 颜料 a substance which gives something a particular color when it is present in it or is added to it

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due [dju] adv.（置于方位词前）正

skedaddle [skɪˋdæd!] v.【口】逃走；仓皇逃散 to leave hastily; flee

supremely [sʊˋprimlɪ] adv. 极度地; 极其

loot [lut] v. 掠夺；抢劫

chronology [krəˋnɑlədʒɪ] n. 年代学；年表 the arrangement of events in time

occupant [ˋɑkjəpənt] n. 占有人 one that occupies a position or place

alternating [ˋɔltɚnetɪŋ] adj.（两个）交替的

glyph [glɪf] n.【建】纵沟纹；雕像

ritual [ˋrɪtʃʊəl] adj.（宗教）仪式的，典礼的

ingot [ˋɪŋgɪt] n. 锭，铸块

specular [ˋspɛkjəlɚ] adj. 镜子的；会反射的

hematite [ˋhɛmə͵taɪt] n.【矿】赤铁矿

divide [dəˋvaɪd] n.〔尤指两个羣体在信仰或生活方式上的〕差异﹐ 差别 a division

Tikal National Park, Petén, Guatemala