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Surprise at Stonehenge
神奇的巨石阵
Wizards and aliens aside, actual scientists don’t have much to say about Stonehenge. That is, until now. Just recently, a four-thousand-year old gravesite was found within three miles of Stonehenge. The tomb contained what some archaeologists think may be one of the original craftsmen. Even better than that, he isn’t British.
除了巫师和外星人外，真正的科学家对于巨石阵并没有说明太多。到目前为止。就在最近，离巨石阵三公里以内的地方发现了一个有四千年历史的墓地。该墓可能是一些考古学家认为的最早的技工之一。甚至情况比那还要好，他不是英国人。
The ancient bones are referred to as “the archer,” because, whoever he was, he was buried with several arrows. The fact that the grave is so close to the stones suggests that the archer was somehow connected to Stonehenge, as does the fact that he lived in 2300 BC, the same time when the monoliths were erected. Was he its founder, a designer, a priest? It isn’t clear. But the archer was an important person. Along with the arrows, he has copper knives, ornaments, and pottery. Several of these have been identified as coming from what archaeologists call “the Beaker Culture.”
古老的骨骼暗示其为一名弓箭手，因为，不管他是谁，他的陪葬物品中有几支箭。实际上，因为墓地离巨石阵很近，所以这位弓箭手与巨石阵有一定关系，又因为他生活在公元前2300年，也就是那时这些巨石被竖立起来的。他是巨石阵的建造者，设计者或神父吗？目前尚无定论。但是这位弓箭手无疑是一位非常重要的人。除了箭，他还有铜质小刀，装饰物和陶器。其中几件物品已经被确认为是考古学家称作的“烧杯文化”。
There’s one of the surprises. The Beaker Culture had its Bronze-age heyday in the Alps, not in England. Researchers did chemical analysis of the remains and found that the archer most likely came from what is now Switzerland.
有一个惊奇的发现。烧杯文化在青铜时代达鼎盛时期于阿尔卑斯山一带，而不是在英格兰。研究人员对这些遗留下来的物品做了化学和分析，发现弓箭手很有可能来自于现在的瑞士。
Next surprise? Another grave was found nearby, this containing a younger man. This fellow grew up in England, but an unusual foot bone shows he’s related to the archer–the archer, it seems, came to England and raised a family.
另一个惊喜呢？在附近发现了另外一个墓，是一位比较年轻的人的墓。他生活在英格兰，但他独特的足骨表明他与弓箭手有关系。这位弓箭手好像是来自英格兰的，并且是他养家糊口的。
Who was this foreigner who was treated with such reverence? We won’t ever know for sure. His fame has disappeared into history. But the stone circle he may have built has never been forgotten, even four thousand years later.
这位如此受尊敬的外国人是谁呢？我们永远都不能确定。他的名声也已经随历史消失。但是这些可能由他建造的巨石阵却永远不会被遗忘，即使是四千年以后。
