英语新闻|三星堆上新：为中华文明多元一体再添新证

Cultural relics that are more than 3 millennia old and feature previously unknown shapes were recently found during an archaeological excavation in the Sanxingdui site in Sichuan province, and they appear to be a mysterious yet key part of ancient Chinese civilization.

近日，在四川省展开的三星堆遗址考古发掘中，再一次发现了三千多年前异彩纷呈的出土文物，三星堆给中华文明又增添了浓墨重彩的一笔。

Ran Honglin, a leading archaeologist on the project, said in a news conference on Monday in the Sanxingdui Museum in the city of Guanghan that 3,155 cultural relics in complete structure－including 1,238 bronze wares and 543 gold and 565 jade artifacts－were recovered from six pits on the site.

6月13日，四川省文物考古研究院三星堆考古研究所所长冉宏林在四川广汉召开的三星堆遗址考古发掘阶段性成果新闻发布会上表示，新发现的6座祭祀坑中出土接近完整的器物3155件，其中包括1238件青铜器、543件金器和565件玉器。

Including broken parts and fragments, a total of 13,000 relics offered new clues to the ancient civilization of Shu. The ancient state of Shu dominated what is today's Sichuan province, but documentation on the state is insufficient.

包括破碎的部分及碎片在内，有共计13000件文物出土，为古蜀文明提供了新的线索。古代蜀国主要位于今天的四川省内，目前有关该国的文献资料不足。

The Sanxingdui site, discovered in 1929, has been key to unveiling the brilliance of the state lost in history.

1929年发现的三星堆遗址是揭开我国历史上消失文明的关键。

In 1986, two pits full of bronze artifacts, notably bizarre-looking masks and human figurines, were accidentally found in Sanxingdui, drawing worldwide attention to the site. They are now generally thought by archaeologists to have been used for sacrificial ceremonies.

1986年，在三星堆意外发现了两个装满青铜器的坑，特别是纵目面具和青铜大立人，引发全世界的关注。如今考古学家普遍认为这些青铜器用于祭祀仪式。

In the latest round of excavations, which began in 2020, another six "sacrificial" pits were found next to the original pair.

自2020年以来的最新一轮挖掘工作中，在原来的两个“祭祀坑”旁边相继发现了六个“祭祀坑”。

Ran, who is from the Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute, said new carbon-dating results on about 200 relics in the pits showed they dated from 1131 to 1012 BC, about 3,200 to 3,000 years ago, during the late period of the Shang Dynasty.

四川省文物考古研究院三星堆考古研究所所长冉宏林表示，坑中约200件文物经过碳14测年结果表明，其年代为公元前1131年至1012年的商代晚期，距今约3200至3000年。

"The question of its age, which had been bothering us the past 30-some years, has been solved," Ran said.

冉宏林说：“这解决了过去三十年来关于‘祭祀坑’埋藏年代的争议。”

More bronze masks, covered with gold, and figurines in various shapes continued to be unearthed this year. An exquisite bronze altar and other ceremonial artifacts made of bronze and jade may further highlight the Shu people's religious rites.

今年陆续出土更多覆盖着黄金的青铜面具，以及各种形状的小雕像。精美的青铜祭坛和其他由青铜和玉石制成的器物，进一步呈现古蜀文明的宗教仪式。

Among the stunning finds in recent months were a netlike grid covering a tortoise shell-shaped vessel, a human figurine with a serpent body carrying a ritual vessel known as a zun on its head, and a bronze dragon-shaped artifact with a pig's nose.

最近几个月发现了很多前所未有的器物，包括一件龟背形网格状器，一件顶尊蛇身铜人像以及一件铜猪鼻龙形器。

"We had never seen anything like these, and we don't even know how to describe the patterns of their shapes in few words," Ran said. "It's also confusing for us to speculate how they were used, before further study.

“我们从未见过这样的东西，甚至不知道如何来描述它们的样式，”冉宏林说。“在进一步研究之前，让我们感到困惑的就是要推测它们是如何使用的。”

"But these artifacts feature a mixture of typical local cultural relic styles as well as those from China's Central Plains at that time," he explained. "It demonstrates that, through close communication, the ancient Shu culture became a key part of an early-stage Chinese civilization."

“这些文物融合了古蜀文明的特征以及当时中原地区文化的代表，”他解释说。“这表明，古时通过密切的交流，古蜀文化成为中华文明的重要组成部分。”

The archaeologists are amazed by more than the artifacts. In the northwestern part of the excavation area, an architectural foundation covering about 80 square meters was also newly excavated. It was found to be surrounded by more "small pits".

令考古学家们叹为观止的不仅是文物，在发掘区的西北部，还新挖掘了一个占地约80平方米的建筑地基，并发现其周围有很多“小坑”。

These small pits were essentially left untouched after some artifacts were exposed, but the complicated structure of the architecture made Ran speculate that they may be part of a large sacrificial area together with the previously found eight pits. However, he said it is too early to conclude that it is a shrine.

这些小坑在一些文物出土后基本上没有被触及，但复杂的建筑结构让冉宏林推测它们可能与之前发现的八个“祭祀坑”一起作为一个大祭祀区域。然而，他表示现在下结论认为它是神社还为时过早。

Ran said these latest excavations at the site will continue no later than Spring Festival next year, but more effort and time will be spent in laboratories.

冉宏林说，最新的现场挖掘工作将在明年春节前继续进行，但更多的精力和时间将花在实验室中。

"So many bronze wares were found, and we've fully cleaned about 70 of them so far," said Xie Zhenbin, a leading conservator at the Sichuan institute. "The number seems small, but the work requires patience and the determination to collect as much historical information as we can and conserve the relics in the best way."

四川文物考古研究院文物保护中心主任谢振斌说：“到目前为止，在多个出土的青铜器中已经彻底清理了大约70件。数量看似不多，但这项工作需要耐心和决心，尽可能多地收集历史信息，并以最好的方式保护文物。”

Xie said a breakthrough was made in taking care of fragile items, such as 600 ivory tusks recovered from the pits, by adopting new technologies. The use of high technology research and conservation techniques yields new discoveries from the artifacts in laboratories.

他表示，通过采用新技术，在处理易碎物品方面取得了突破性进展，例如从“祭祀坑”中发掘的600根象牙。高科技研究和保护技术的使用，令文保人员在实验室的文物研究中有了新的发现。

For example, no physical evidence of silk from 3,000 to 4,000 years ago was previously found in Southwest China. But about 20 artifacts in Sanxingdui were found to have been once covered by silk, filling a gap in historical studies.

例如，之前在我国西南地区没有发现3000到4000年前存在丝绸的物证，但在三星堆出土的约20件文物都是被丝绸包裹的，这一发现填补了历史研究的空白。

Research of plant and animal remains among the burned ashes detected in the pits could also yield greater understanding of the natural environment of Sanxingdui at that time, Xie added.

他补充说，对“祭祀坑”灰烬层中发现的动植物遗骸进行研究，也可以更好地了解当时三星堆的自然环境。

"We welcome conservators from across the world to join our work on Sanxingdui," Xie said. "Interdisciplinary research can help us better explain the value of the relics and thus reconstruct a picture of early Chinese civilization."

“欢迎来自世界各地的文保人员加入我们在三星堆的工作，”他说。“跨学科研究可以帮助我们更好地理解文物的价值，从而重建中华文明早期文化图景。”

archaeological

英[ˌɑːkɪəˈlɒdʒɪkəl]；美[ˌɑrkiəˈlɑdʒɪkəl]

adj.考古学的，考古学上的

excavation

英[ˌekskəˈveɪʃn]；美[ˌekskəˈveɪʃn]

n.挖掘；开凿；开凿的洞穴（或山路等）；（发掘出来的）古迹

exquisite

英[ɪkˈskwɪzɪt]；美[ɪkˈskwɪzɪt]

adj.精致的；剧烈的；敏锐的

speculate

英[ˈspekjuleɪt]；美[ˈspekjuleɪt]

vt.思索，猜测，推测

vi.投机；推测；思索

shrine

英[ʃraɪn]；美[ʃraɪn]

n.圣地，圣陵，神龛

ivory

英[ˈaɪvəri]；美[ˈaɪvəri]

n. 象牙；象牙制品；象牙色；象牙质

英语新闻 | 三星堆上新：为中华文明多元一体再添新证 06:07 Share

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英语新闻 | 三星堆上新：为中华文明多元一体再添新证