隱藏在瑪雅古城中的神秘城堡

Modern-day imaging technology is able to uncover ancient buildings and structures not visible on the surface, and we just got another excellent example: the discovery of a hidden neighborhood in one of the biggest historical Maya cities.

現(xiàn)代成像技術(shù)能夠發(fā)現(xiàn)表面看不見的古代建筑和結(jié)構(gòu)，我們剛剛得到了另一個極好的例子：在瑪雅歷史上最大的城市之一發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個隱藏的街區(qū)。

The city in question is Tikal, now in Guatemala. Thought to have been one of the most dominant settlements in the ancient Maya empire, particularly between 200-900 CE, at its peak it could have had as many as 90,000 people living there.

這個城市叫蒂卡爾，現(xiàn)在在危地馬拉。它曾被認為是古瑪雅帝國最主要的定居點之一，尤其是在公元200-900年之間，在鼎盛時期曾有多達9萬人居住在那里。

Using LIDAR scanning equipment, researchers found evidence of development under what was thought to be a natural area. What's more, the hidden ruins look to match the style of buildings in Teotihuacan – a sprawling metropolis established centuries before the rise of the Aztecs, built by a largely unknown culture.

利用激光雷達掃描設(shè)備，研究人員發(fā)現(xiàn)了在被認為是自然區(qū)域下發(fā)展的證據(jù)。更重要的是，隱藏的廢墟看起來與特奧蒂瓦坎的建筑風格相符。特奧蒂瓦坎是一座在阿茲特克人崛起前幾個世紀建立的大都市，由一種未知的文化建造而成。

That could give researchers some useful clues as to how these two cities interacted. Even though they were more than 1,000 kilometers (621 miles) away from each other, it's already known that traders traveled between the two urban centers.

這可以為研究人員提供一些有用的線索，以了解這兩個城市是如何相互影響的。盡管兩座城市相距1000多公里(621英里)，但人們已經(jīng)知道兩個城市中心之間有商人往來。

What makes the finding even more surprising is that Tikal has been extensively searched and explored since the 1950s – it's one of the ancient cities that we know most about. And all this time, there was part of it hidden from view.

這一發(fā)現(xiàn)更令人驚訝的是，自20世紀50年代以來，人們對蒂卡爾進行了廣泛的搜索和探索——它是我們最了解的古城之一。而在這段時間里，有一部分是隱藏在視線之外的。

The excavations revealed that the Tikal buildings were made out of mud plaster rather than the traditional Maya limestone, suggesting some attempt to build replicas. They also matched the specific 15.5-degree east-of-north orientation of Teotihuacan's buildings.

挖掘發(fā)現(xiàn)，蒂卡爾建筑是用泥灰而不是傳統(tǒng)的瑪雅石灰?guī)r建造的，這表明有人試圖建造復(fù)制品。它們還與Teotihuacan建筑北向東15.5度的特定方向相匹配。

Adding to the intrigue is the detail that Teotihuacan armies conquered Tikal in the late 4th century. It's clear that relationships ended badly between the two influential cities, but it's not certain what happened in the hundreds of years before that.

特奧蒂瓦坎的軍隊在4世紀末征服了蒂卡爾，這為故事增添了懸念。很明顯，這兩個有影響力的城市之間的關(guān)系以糟糕的方式結(jié)束，但不確定在那之前的幾百年里發(fā)生了什么。

As well as helping historians dig deeper into the past, the new study is also an opportunity to explore one of the most discussed topics of the modern day: colonialism, and how dominant political and economic systems are felt further around the world. Meanwhile, research at Tikal continues.

除了幫助歷史學家更深入地挖掘過去，這項新研究也是一個探索當代最熱門話題之一的機會:殖民主義，以及世界各地的主導(dǎo)政治和經(jīng)濟體系是如何被進一步感受到的。與此同時，蒂卡爾的研究仍在繼續(xù)。