Researchers Discover Lost Cities in Amazon

Researchers Discover Lost Cities in Amazon

研究人员在亚马逊发现失落的城市

【听力音频】

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　　By John Russell

　　21 January 2024

　　Archeologists have found a group of lost cities in the Amazon rainforest. The cities were home to at least 10,000 farmers around 2,000 years ago.

　　Stéphen Rostain first noticed the earthen mounds and buried roads in Ecuador more than twenty years ago. But at the time, "I wasn't sure how it all fit together," said Rostain. He was one of the researchers who reported on the findings in the publication Science.

　　Recent mapping using laser technology revealed those locations to be part of a group of settlements and connecting roads. The settlements are in the forested areas near the Andes mountains.

　　"It was a lost valley of cities," said Rostain, who directs investigations at France's National Center for Scientific Research. "It's incredible," he added.

　　The Upano people lived in the settlements between around 500 B.C. and 300 to 600 A.D. That was around the same time period as the Roman Empire in Europe, the researchers found.

　　Ancient people built on over 6,000 earthen mounds in an area surrounded by agricultural fields with drainage canals. The largest roads were 10 meters wide and went for 10 to 20 kilometers.

　　While it is difficult to estimate populations, the area was home to at least 10,000 people, and possibly about 15,000 or 30,000 at its highest point, said Antoine Dorison, a study co-writer. That is comparable to the estimated population of Roman-era London, then Britain's largest city.

　　"This shows a very dense occupation and an extremely complicated society," said Michael Heckenberger of the University of Florida. He was not involved in the study.

　　José Iriarte of the University of Exeter was also not involved in the study. He said it would have required a complex system of organized labor to build the roads and thousands of earthen mounds.

　　Iriarte said, "The Incas and Mayans built with stone, but people in Amazonia didn't usually have stone available to build — they built with mud."

　　The Amazon is often thought of as a wild area "with only small groups of people. But recent discoveries have shown us how much more complex the past really is," he added.

　　Scientists have recently also found evidence of complex rainforest societies that came before European contact elsewhere in the Amazon, including in Bolivia and Brazil.

　　"There's always been an incredible diversity of people and settlements in the Amazon, not only one way to live," said Rostain. "We're just learning more about them."

　　I'm John Russell.

　　Christina Larson reported on this story for the Associated Press. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English.

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　　作者：约翰·罗素

　　2024年1月21日

　　考古学家在亚马逊雨林中发现了一群失落的城市。这些城市在大约2000年前曾是至少10,000名农民的家园。

　　斯蒂芬·罗斯坦在二十多年前首次注意到厄瓜多尔的土丘和被埋的道路。但当时，罗斯坦说：“我不确定这一切如何组合在一起。”他是在《科学》杂志上报告这些发现的研究人员之一。

　　最近使用激光技术进行的地图绘制揭示了这些地点是一组定居点和连接道路的一部分。这些定居点位于安第斯山脉附近的森林地区。

　　罗斯坦说：“这是一个失落的城市谷。”他在法国国家科学研究中心负责调查工作。“这太不可思议了，”他补充说。

　　研究人员发现，Upano人民大约在公元前500年到公元300年至600年间居住在这些定居点。这与欧洲罗马帝国的时期大致相同。

　　古人在一个被农田和排水渠包围的区域内建造了超过6000个土丘。最大的道路宽10米，长10到20公里。

　　尽管估计人口数量很困难，但该地区至少有10,000人，可能在最高点时有15,000或30,000人，研究合著者安托万·多里森说。这与估计的罗马时代伦敦人口相当，那时伦敦是英国最大的城市。

　　“这显示了非常密集的居住和极其复杂的社会，”佛罗里达大学的迈克尔·海肯贝格尔说。他并未参与这项研究。

　　埃克塞特大学的何塞·伊里亚特也未参与这项研究。他说，建造这些道路和数千个土丘需要复杂的有组织的劳动力系统。

　　伊里亚特说：“印加人和玛雅人用石头建造，但亚马逊地区的人通常没有石头可用于建造——他们用泥土建造。”

　　亚马逊通常被认为是一个“只有少数人群”的野生区域。但他补充说，“最近的发现向我们展示了过去实际上更复杂的情况。”

　　科学家最近还在亚马逊的其他地方，包括玻利维亚和巴西，发现了欧洲接触之前复杂的雨林社会的证据。

　　罗斯坦说：“亚马逊一直有着令人难以置信的人口和定居点多样性，不只有一种生活方式。我们只是在更多地了解他们。”

　　我是约翰·罗素。

　　克里斯蒂娜·拉森为美联社报道了这个故事。约翰·罗素为美国之音学习英语改编了它。

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　　本故事中的词汇

　　mound – n. 小山或土堆、石堆

　　incredible – adj. 极好的，伟大的，或大的；难以置信的

　　drainage – n.从地方或物体中排除水或液体的行为或过程

　　canal – n. 人造的长而狭窄的充满水的地方

　　complicated -- adj. 难以理解或解释