http://goo.gl/mnQPLu National Geograghic（內有圖） 翻譯有誤，請指正 Beheaded Maya Massacre Victims Found 發現馬雅時期被斬首的屠殺犧牲者 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. 星期二，一個國際研究團隊發表，在墨西哥 Uxul 發現24名被斬首、肢解、亂葬的 馬雅戰俘，距今約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. 這些骨骸也許是與 Uxul 交戰的鄰近城鎮的統治者，位於南墨西哥，或者是被罷黜王位的 本地統治者。「這次在這個人造洞穴發現的亂葬崗，使得原本廣泛地被描繪在馬雅藝術品 上的殘酷戰鬥及對戰俘的凌虐有了確切的證據。」研究團隊中的德國波昂大學考古學家 Nicolaus Seefeld 如是說。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. 在這24具骨骸中，研究團隊判斷至少有13名男性與2名女性，死亡時的年紀在18到42歲之 間，「有些人的牙齒有鑲玉，表示他們是具有高地位的統治階層。」Seefeld 說。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "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. 「所有人都被斬首，骨頭四處散佈。」Seefeld 補充道。頸骨部位顯示出斧頭的砍痕，一 些頭顱受到斧頭與棍棒的重擊。頭顱被堆放在一起，在墓穴中與骨骸分開堆放，而這墓穴 面積為344平方英尺（32平方公尺），是曾經被用來儲水的矩形洞穴。　 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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. 這些死者被埋葬時，並沒有一般貴族喪禮中會出現的祭品或是寶物，除了一些瓦片，讓研 究人員可以推敲出這場慘案大概的發生時間。在當時，Uxul 地區被當地的王朝統治，雖 然在後來被納入 Calakmul 城邦的統治之下。後者（指 Calakmul）曾是中美洲馬雅古典時 期的強大勢力（superpower），在西元800年時沒落，留下大規模的廢墟。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "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，這些是戰爭中被捕獲的戰士，不然就是被篡奪王位的本地統治者。」 納什維爾范德堡大學的考古學家 Arthur Demarest 說道。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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 原本是在調查西元800年之前被遺棄的城鎮水道系統。但是他找到了這個在2公尺 的砂與一層黏土底下的埋骨洞穴。「這個洞穴曾經為附近的高級居住區提供水，但我們不 曉得是否與居住在那裡的人有任何關聯。」Seefeld 說。 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 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，研究團隊希望同位素分析這些骨骸，能知道這些被斬首的死者是本地權貴或是在馬 雅城邦間的戰爭中被俘虜的入侵者。分析結果將會在十一月出爐，能更深入了解這場戰鬥 中誰輸誰贏。 --

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