Stonehenge

Stonehenge. Written by Sarita Krishan. Focus question. What is Stonehenge and why is it a mystery?

《巨石阵》 作者：萨里塔·克里尚 核心问题：什么是巨石阵？为什么它是个未解之谜？

an ancient monument. Out in the countryside in southern England is a monument formed of dirt and giant stones. Built thousands of years ago, it is known as Stonehenge. Scientists, called archaeologists, have been studying it for a long time. They are trying to learn how and why it was built. They also want to know more about the people who built it. They are searching for clues about the mysteries of this ancient monument.

一处古老的遗迹。 在英格兰南部的郊外，有一座由泥土和巨石构成的遗迹。 它建造于数千年前，被称作巨石阵。 被称为考古学家的科学家们已经研究它很久了。 他们一直试图弄清楚它的建造方式和建造原因。 他们也想更多地了解建造它的人。 他们正在寻找能解开这处古老遗迹谜团的线索。

Earth and giant stones. From the sky, Stonehenge looks like a small circle inside a big circle. The bigger circle is a ditch around a raised mound of dirt. The giant sarsen stones in the outer stone circle are made of a type of sandstone. Stones called lentils once lay atop the sarsen stones, connecting them all together. The inner stones form a horseshoe shape. They are sarsen stones called trilithons, which means they're made of three parts. Two stones stand upright and one lentil lies across them. Other rocks in the circle are made of bluestone.

泥土与巨石。 从高空俯瞰，巨石阵看起来就像大圆圈里套着一个小圆圈。 外面的大圆圈是环绕着凸起土堆的壕沟。 那些巨大的外环砂岩漂砾是一种砂岩材质。 曾经有一种叫做楣石的石块架在砂岩漂砾的顶部，把所有石块连在一起。 内环的石块呈马蹄形。 它们是被称为三石塔的砂岩漂砾，意思是由三部分组成。 两块石头竖直立着，一块楣石横架在它们上面。 石圈里的其他岩石都是蓝砂岩材质。

Where is Stonehenge? Stonehenge sits in an open field in southern England. Experts say people have been living in that area for about 10 ,000 years. The settlement may have been one of the biggest in England at one time. Long ago, the area was covered in trees. People cut them down to clear land for farming.

巨石阵在哪里？ 巨石阵坐落在英格兰南部的一片开阔田野上。 专家表示，人类在那片区域已经居住了大约一万年。 这片聚居地曾经可能是英格兰规模最大的聚居地之一。 很久以前，这片区域被树木覆盖。 人们砍倒树木，开垦出土地用来耕作。

Building Stonehenge Experts believe that people started building Stonehenge about 5 ,000 years ago. Back then, people only had simple stone tools like deer antlers and animal bones, not powerful machines. They did almost everything with their clever minds and muscles. The stones must have been brought to Stonehenge from far away. Researchers have done tests to prove it was possible to move the stones to Stonehenge. They put huge stones on wooden sleds and dragged them on wooden rails greased with animal fat.

建造巨石阵 专家认为，人类大约从五千年前就开始建造巨石阵了。 那时候，人们只有鹿角、兽骨这类简单的石制工具，没有威力强大的机器。 他们几乎全靠聪明的头脑和一身力气完成所有工作。 这些巨石肯定是从很远的地方运到巨石阵所在地的。 研究人员做了测试，证明把石块运到巨石阵是可以做到的。 他们把巨石放在木雪橇上，在涂了动物油脂的木轨道上拖拽前进。

Lifting the standing stones must have been very difficult. Experts think the builders might have dug holes and then tipped the bottoms of the stones into the holes. Then they could be pulled upright using ropes. Workers might have slid the tops of the arches up ramps and built of dirt and wood. Then the tops could be set on the standing stones. No one knows exactly how the builders built Stonehenge. They did not leave pictures or writing to explain how they did it. That is why Stonehenge remains a big mystery.

把这些立石抬起来肯定非常困难。 专家认为建造者可能先挖好坑，然后把石块的底部斜放进坑里。 接着他们用绳子把石块拉得竖直起来。 工人们可能顺着斜坡把拱门的顶部石块滑上去，斜坡是用泥土和木头搭建的。 之后就能把顶部石块安放到立石上了。 没有人确切知道建造者是怎么建成巨石阵的。 他们没有留下图画或者文字记录来解释建造方法。 这就是巨石阵至今仍是一大未解之谜的原因。