【原】Stonehenge

恐龙小逗逗 2022-04-12

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Deep in the heart of England, by the side of a road, stands a massive stone monument that has mystified visitors for millennia.

在英格兰的心脏深处，一条路边矗立着一座巨大的石碑，数千年来一直让游客感到困惑。

It is called Stonehenge, and it is an ancient stone circle, older than the pyramids of Giza.

它被称为巨石阵，是一个古老的石头圈，比吉萨金字塔还要古老。

What little is known about its history has been pieced together by archaeologists, because it is so old that there is no written record of its construction, or of its original purpose.

关于它的历史知之甚少的东西是由考古学家拼凑而成的，因为它太古老了，没有关于它的建造或最初用途的书面记录。

Stonehenge is probably between 4,000 and 5,000 years old, and its construction was spread across hundreds or even thousands of years.

巨石阵大概有4000到5000年的历史，它的建造跨越了数百甚至数千年。

It was used, among other things, as a place of burial.Some think it may also have been used as a calendar, or as a place to study the movements of the stars and worship the Sun and Moon.

除其他外，它还被用作墓地。一些人认为它也可能被用作日历，或者用作研究星星运动和崇拜太阳和月亮的地方。

Although we may never know exactly why Stonehenge was built, most believe it was used for religious ceremonies.

虽然我们可能永远不知道巨石阵的确切建造原因，但大多数人相信它是用于宗教仪式的。

The earliest versions of Stonehenge were made of earthworks and ditches dug with tools made of antlers.

最早版本的巨石阵是由土方工程和用鹿角制成的工具挖掘的沟渠构成的。

This was eventually replaced by some kind of wooden structure, which was replaced in turn by circles of massive standing stones.

这最终被某种木质结构所取代，而木质结构又被一圈巨大的立石所取代。

The stones at Stonehenge were brought there over a period of several hundred years.

巨石阵的石头是在几百年的时间里运到那里的。

The largest stones, called sarsens, measure up to 30 feet or 9 meters tall and weigh an average of 25 tons.

最大的石头，称为sarsens，高达30英尺或9米，平均重达25吨。

These stones were probably transported 20 miles or 32 kilometers to Stonehenge.

这些石头可能被运送到20英里或32公里的巨石阵。

Some of the smaller stones, called bluestones, are believed to have been brought from Wales, more than 140 miles or 225 kilometers away.

一些较小的石头被称为青石，据信是从140英里或225公里以外的威尔士运来的。

Although they are smaller than the massive sarsens, the bluestones still weigh an average of 4 tons each, and archaeologists are baffled as to how they were transported so far without modern technology—or even the wheel!

尽管这些青石比巨大的萨森石要小，但它们的平均重量仍为4吨，考古学家们对它们如何在没有现代技术甚至车轮的情况下运输至今感到困惑！

Some people think the stones were rolled on tree trunks, or dragged in huge baskets pulled by oxen.

有些人认为这些石头是用树干滚的，或者是用牛拉的大篮子拉的。

Others believe they were moved by boat, with the help of the nearby river Avon.

其他人相信他们是在附近的埃文河的帮助下乘船移动的。

However the stones were moved, they were placed with incredible precision.

不管石头是如何移动的，它们的放置都非常精确。

Certain stones in the ancient circle line up with the midsummer sunrise and the winter solstice sunset, marking the longest and shortest days of the year.

古代圆圈中的某些石头与仲夏日出和冬至日落排成一行，标志着一年中最长和最短的日子

Today Stonehenge is a carefully protected World Heritage Site visited by about a million people each year,

如今，巨石阵是一处受到精心保护的世界遗产，每年约有一百万人参观，

and many people still visit Stonehenge at midsummer and midwinter to view the ancient phenomena that marks the rising and the setting of the sun, and wonder at the mysteries Stonehenge still hides.

许多人仍然在仲夏和仲冬参观巨石阵，观看标志着太阳升起和落下的古老现象，并对巨石阵仍然隐藏的神秘感感到惊奇