加拿大15歲男孩靠星象圖發現失落瑪雅古城
They may have lived some 1,700 years ago, but the ancient Maya had an incredible knowledge of celestial bodies, which they believed influenced everything.
古瑪雅人也許生活在距今1700多年前，不過他們對天體卻有着讓人難以置信的研究，瑪雅人相信天體可以影響一切事物。Now a 15-year-old boy has studied astronomical charts devised by these ancient Mexican people, as well as satellite photos, to pinpoint the location of a forgotten Mayan city. William Gadoury, from Quebec has named the 'lost city' in the Yucatan jungle K'aak Chi, or Mouth of Fire.
現在，一名15歲的男孩通過觀察由古墨西哥人繪製出來的星象圖，結合衛星圖像，發現了一座失落的瑪雅古城。這個來自加拿大魁北克、名叫威廉·甘德瑞的男孩將這座在尤卡坦叢林中發現的失落古城命名爲“火山口”。Satellite images suggest the lost city could be among the largest built by the ancient civilisation, which thrived between 300 and 700 AD.
根據衛星圖像顯示，這座失落古城有可能是在公元300年到公元700年間興盛的古文明時代最大的建築。
Wondering why the ancient people built their cities far away from rivers and in inhospitable mountains prompted the teenager to look to the sky for answers.
對瑪雅人爲何會遠離河流，選擇在深山的熱帶叢林中建立城市的好奇，促使了這位這位少年開始研究星象圖以找尋謎底。Incredibly, the brightest of the stars match up with the largest cities.
不可思議的是，最亮的星星恰好就代表的是那些主城。'I was really surprised and excited when I realised that the most brilliant stars of the constellations matched the largest Maya cities.' He told The Journal of Montreal.
他接受《蒙特利爾日報》採訪時表示：“當我發現那些最亮的星座正好對應瑪雅那些大城市時，我驚奇不已。”He is said to be the first to make the connection, which could lead to further finds.
據說，威廉是第一個發現這種對應關係的人，而這項發現會通向更進一步、更深層次的研究。It was in the 23rd constellation, containing three stars, that he found two matching cities on the map, suggesting one has not yet been re-discovered. To investigate further, he used satellite images from the Canadian Space Agency and Google Earth to search the dense jungle for any signs of buildings.
在研究第23張星座圖時，他發現圖中的三顆星星只有兩顆能與已知古城對上號，這就意味着極有可能還有一座尚未被髮掘的古城。爲了更深入地調查，他使用了加拿大太空局及谷歌地球提供的衛星圖片，尋找茂密的叢林中任何有關建築物的跡象。Armand LaRocque, from the University of New Brunswick believes one of the images shows network of streets leading to a large square, which may be a pyramid. 'A square is not natural, it is mostly artificial and can hardly be attributed to natural phenomena,' he said.
來自新不倫瑞克大學的專家阿爾芒·拉羅克認爲，其中一張圖片顯示出的街道佈局通向一個大廣場，這極有可能是一座金字塔。他說：“廣場並非天然形成，很可能是人工造的，不太可能是自然現象所致。”It's possible 30 buildings accompany an impressive pyramid at the site. If true, the lost city would be one of the five largest known to archaeologists, built by the Mayans.
除了這座讓人驚歎的金字塔，此處可能還有30棟建築。如果被驗證屬實，那座古城將會是考古學家已知的、瑪雅的第五大城市。Linking the position of stars and the location of a lost city and the use of satellite images on a tiny territory to identify the remains buried under dense vegetation, is quite exceptional. Dr la Rocque thinks William Gadoury's technique could lead archaeologists to pinpointing the location of more possible lost Mayan metropolises.
將星座的位置與失落的古城聯繫起來，使用一小塊地域的衛星圖象，以鑑別掩埋在濃密植被下的遺址，這真的是讓人非常意外。拉羅克教授認爲，考古學家或許能借鑑威廉的這種技術，發掘出更多的瑪雅失落古城。
