http://goo.gl/mnQPLu National Geograghic（内有图） 翻译有误，请指正 Beheaded Maya Massacre Victims Found 发现马雅时期被斩首的屠杀牺牲者 Two dozen Maya war captives were beheaded, dismembered, and buried unceremoniously some 1,400 years ago at the site of Uxul, an international team reported on Tuesday. 星期二，一个国际研究团队发表，在墨西哥 Uxul 发现24名被斩首、肢解、乱葬的 马雅战俘，距今约1400年前。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The victims were likely rulers of nearby towns at war with Uxul, located in southern Mexico, or the dethroned rulers of the town itself, according to the researchers. The discovery of the mass burial in an artificial cave adds to the evidence that the brutal warfare, torture, and sacrifice of captives widely depicted in ancient Maya artwork were real practices, says discovery team archaeologist Nicolaus Seefeld of Germany's University of Bonn. 这些骨骸也许是与 Uxul 交战的邻近城镇的统治者，位於南墨西哥，或者是被罢黜王位的 本地统治者。「这次在这个人造洞穴发现的乱葬岗，使得原本广泛地被描绘在马雅艺术品 上的残酷战斗及对战俘的凌虐有了确切的证据。」研究团队中的德国波昂大学考古学家 Nicolaus Seefeld 如是说。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Of the two dozen skeletons discovered at the site earlier this year, the team was able to determine that at least 13 were men and 2 were women. Their ages at death ranged from 18 to 42. "Some of them had jade inserts in their teeth, which we think means they were high-status members of the ruling class," says Seefeld. 在这24具骨骸中，研究团队判断至少有13名男性与2名女性，死亡时的年纪在18到42岁之 间，「有些人的牙齿有镶玉，表示他们是具有高地位的统治阶层。」Seefeld 说。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "All of them were decapitated, and the bones were scattered," Seefeld adds. The neck bones of the victims exhibit hatchet cuts, and several of the skulls bear unhealed marks from hatchet and cudgel blows. The skulls were piled some distance away from the skeletons in the burial chamber, a 344-square-foot (32-square-meter) rectangular cave once used to store water. 「所有人都被斩首，骨头四处散布。」Seefeld 补充道。颈骨部位显示出斧头的砍痕，一 些头颅受到斧头与棍棒的重击。头颅被堆放在一起，在墓穴中与骨骸分开堆放，而这墓穴 面积为344平方英尺（32平方公尺），是曾经被用来储水的矩形洞穴。　 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The victims were buried without any of the offerings or jewelry typically seen in royal burials, aside from a few potsherds that allowed the researchers to roughly date the time of their massacre. At the time, Uxul was apparently ruled by a local dynasty, though it later came under the control of Calakmul. The latter city was the superpower of the classic Maya era, which ended after A.D. 800 with the widespread abandonment, or collapse, of the pyramid-filled cities of Central America. 这些死者被埋葬时，并没有一般贵族丧礼中会出现的祭品或是宝物，除了一些瓦片，让研 究人员可以推敲出这场惨案大概的发生时间。在当时，Uxul 地区被当地的王朝统治，虽 然在後来被纳入 Calakmul 城邦的统治之下。後者（指 Calakmul）曾是中美洲马雅古典时 期的强大势力（superpower），在西元800年时没落，留下大规模的废墟。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Most likely these were soldiers dispatched after being captured in warfare, or else [were] the local rulers themselves after being usurped," says archaeologist Arthur Demarest of Vanderbilt University in Nashville, who was not part of the discovery team. 「最有可能的是，这些是战争中被捕获的战士，不然就是被篡夺王位的本地统治者。」 纳什维尔范德堡大学的考古学家 Arthur Demarest 说道。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Seefeld originally investigated the burial site looking to unearth the water system of the town, which was abandoned before A.D. 800, early in the era of Maya collapse. Instead of a cistern, he found the buried skeletons under 6.6 feet (2 meters) of sand and a layer of clay. "The cave once provided water to nearby elite residences, but we don't know if there is any connection to the people who lived there," he says. Seefeld 原本是在调查西元800年之前被遗弃的城镇水道系统。但是他找到了这个在2公尺 的砂与一层黏土底下的埋骨洞穴。「这个洞穴曾经为附近的高级居住区提供水，但我们不 晓得是否与居住在那里的人有任何关联。」Seefeld 说。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ For now, the team hopes that chemical isotope analysis of the bones will reveal whether the beheading victims were local nobles or invaders captured during a war between Maya cities. The results should be known in November, Seefeld says, offering more insight into who won and who lost this one particularly fierce fight. 目前，研究团队希望同位素分析这些骨骸，能知道这些被斩首的死者是本地权贵或是在马 雅城邦间的战争中被俘虏的入侵者。分析结果将会在十一月出炉，能更深入了解这场战斗 中谁输谁赢。 --

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