Lifelines of the Desert

Lifelines of the Desert

The Nasca desert in Southern Peru is a vast wasteland that stretches from the Andean 1)foothills to the Pacific Ocean. In 1926 came the first commercial flights over the area and it wasn't long before pilots were reporting strange sittings in the desert. Stretched out below them were enormous geometric designs. They were completely unknown to the modern world.

By the 1950s a German 2)mathematician 1, Maria Reiche, was mapping the area and discovered to her amazement 2 giant animals too vast to be appreciated from the ground. And in 1968, Swiss writer 3)Eric von Daniken said he believed that at last here was evidence of extra-terrestrial visitors. He alleged 3 that these were spaceship runways. And said that he thought, this giant image on a nearby hillside was to welcome the ET's to the spaceport.

But archaeologists have been studying these images to work out exactly how they were made and to try and understand their meanings. The first part is easy, by 4)scraping away the dark surface layer, the underlying 4 light layer is exposed. The clues to the meaning behind the animals can be found not in space, but on man-made artifacts, the local pottery 5. The themes on these pots were also selected to be featured on the desert. Like this 5)hummingbird 6. But the choice of animal designs to be drawn 7 out on the desert is strange, many don't come from the Nasca area. This monkey comes from the rain forest east of the Andes. Don Pablo a local artist and 6)shaman has an explanation for these amazing creatures.

Don: The monkey has the 7)agility 8 to escape the enemy and the quickness of reaction to catch their 8)darts. We admire the spider for its ability to make a 9)loom 10 and weave artistic 11 design, and we admire it for its fighting skill and its ability to defend itself.

They were farmers who lived in a desert, so water was more than just important, their lives depended on it. They cut these irrigation tunnels or 10)aquifers 13 to bring water from the mountains.

David Browne (Archeologist): The relationship between the Nasca people and water was simply this, no water, no life. If the waters failed if the mountains did not come down into the rivers or the underground aquifers, then the crops would fail and the society would slowly but surely die.

Their worst nightmare happened. Scientists have discovered that around 550 AD, climate change brought a terrible 40 year drought to Nasca. Much of their religious ritual was aimed at ensuring that they had a continual supply of water, and this is what helps explain the Nasca lines. The lines point to the mountains in the distance, the home of the gods and source of water. The lines are like 11)ritual aquifers to draw water from the mountains. By walking along the lines in ritual procession, they appealed to the gods to send them rain. It seemed that as the 40 year drought inexecrably worsened, the dying Nascans made bigger and bigger lines in the desert.

注释：
1) foothill [5futhil] n. 山麓小丘
2) mathematician [7mAWEmE5tiFEn] n. 数学家
3) Eric von Daniken 埃里奇·冯·达尼肯，古代宇宙航行的鼓吹者，其名著《神的战车》(Chariots of the Gods)声称人类文明曾受到古代宇航员的影响
4) scrape [skreip] v. （用利器）刮，削
5) hummingbird [5hQmiNbE:d] n. 蜂鸟
6) shaman [5FeimEn] n. 萨满，僧侣武医
7) agility [E5dViliti] n. 动作敏捷
8) dart 9 [dB:t] n. 突然飞快的动作
9) loom [lu:m] n. 织造术
10) aquifer 12 [5AkwEfE] n. 含水层
11) ritual [5ritFuEl] a. 仪式性的

未解之谜--纳斯卡线条

    位于秘鲁南部的纳斯卡沙漠是一片广阔的荒原，从安第斯山脉一直延伸到太平洋。1926年民航开始飞经该地区，之后不久飞行员们便报告说看到沙漠里有奇异的景色，许多巨大的几何图形展现在他们下方。现代世界对此一无所知。
    到了20世纪50年代，德国数学家玛丽亚·赖希在给该地区绘制地图时惊异地发现了巨大的动物图案，这些图案是如此之大以至于在地面上根本无法意识到它们的存在。1968年，瑞士作家埃里奇·冯·丹尼肯表示他相信这终究还是天外来客存在的证据。他宣称这些图案就是宇宙飞船的降落跑道。他还提到，他认为附近山坡上的这个巨人图像是用来对外星人降临太空中心表示欢迎之意。
    但是考古学家们一直在对这些图案进行研究，以弄清楚它们究竟是如何画出来的，并试图理解其真正含义。第一个问题很简单，将地表深色岩层刮掉以后，下部浅色岩层就露出来了。而这些动物图案的含义在太空中是找不到一丝线索的，在当地的一种手工制品--陶器中却有迹可寻。这些陶器上彩饰的主题也被选出来画在了沙漠上，比如说这只蜂鸟。但被选择画在沙漠上的动物却非常奇怪，有许多并非来自纳斯卡地区。例如这种猴子来自于安第斯山以西的热带雨林中。一位当地的艺术家及萨满巫医唐·帕布罗对这些令人称奇的生物自有一番解释。
唐：猴子敏捷而反应迅速，能脱逃敌人。我们为蜘蛛能编织出精美的图案，也为它的战斗技巧和自卫能力而称羡不已。
    他们是生活在沙漠中的农夫，所以说水不是一般的重要，而是他们赖以生存的东西。他们挖了这些灌溉沟渠或者说潜流水道以从山中引水。
大卫·布朗（考古学家）：纳斯卡人与水的关系可以这么说，没有水就没有生命。如果水源不足，不能从山中流入河流或是地下水道里的话，庄稼就会歉收，纳斯卡人必然会逐渐地消亡。
    最可怕的事情发生了。科学家发现，大约在公元550年，气候的变化导致纳斯卡遭遇了一场40年不遇的可怕干旱。那时他们许多的祭祀仪式都是为了确保他们能够得到持续的水源供应。这也有助于解释纳斯卡线条的存在。这些线条指向远方的群山--众神之国和水源所在，它们就像仪式中从山中引水的水道。在仪式队伍中，他们沿着线条行进，祈求神灵赐予甘霖。看起来，由于这场40年不遇的干旱无情地恶化，垂死的纳斯卡人在沙漠里绘制出越来越大的线条。