1,500-year-old Ruins Shed Light on Peru’s Mysterious Moche People

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A team of archaeologists has uncovered two ceremonial chambers in Peru used by the ancient Moche culture1莫切文明，又称莫奇卡文明（Mochica culture），公元100—750年间兴起并繁盛于南美洲秘鲁北部沿海地区，随后骤然莫名消殒。古莫切人构建了高度发达的社会、政治制度，修筑了城市、神庙（Huaca）、金字塔等建筑，拥有发达的农业及灌渠体系，尤以栩栩如生的陶艺、金饰、壁画等精美的艺术作品而闻名。around 1,500 years ago.The find is shedding new light on2shed new light on为了解……提供新视角。the political life and rituals of the enigmatic3enigmatic神秘的；谜一般令人困惑的。civilization and could help us understand its sudden collapse.

[2]The Moche civilization, which once ruled the northern coast of Peru,was highly sophisticated4sophisticated 发达的；周详完备的。.They built impressive pyramids that still dominate the landscape today, they developed efficient farming technology, yet they also had a gory5gory血腥的；令人毛骨悚然的。tradition of human sacrifice.

[3]The two rooms unearthed at the Huaca Limón de Ucupe monument,an archaeological site in the coun-try’s northern Lambayeque region, are thought to have been used by the Moche for political debates and feasts.

[4]A staircase leads up to one room,the banquet hall, where two thrones face each other, thought to be where a powerful leader would dine with a guest.Murals6mural壁画。depicting fish and sea lions decorate the walls, in a naturalistic style contrasting with the supernatural art typically found on Moche ceramics7ceramic陶瓷。.

[5]The other room, attached to the banquet hall, has a tall circular podium8podium讲坛。,which archaeologists say would have been used by the ruler when making announcements.

[6]“They represent an important step to understanding and reconstructing the function of several architectural elements linked to the use of power protocols9protocol礼仪规范；协定。in the elites of the Moche culture,”Walter Alva, lead archaeologist of the project, told CNN.

[7]“It was an encouraging and instructive surprise to find archaeology that contributes to the interpretation of the Moche as a technologically advanced society, which is socio-politically very complex,”he said.

在秘鲁，一支考古队挖掘发现了两间约1500年前古莫切文化时代用于庆典活动的殿堂遗迹。这一考古发现为增进了解这一神秘古文明的政治生活和宗教礼俗提供了全新实证，或将有助我们洞悉其骤然消殒之谜。

[2]一度繁盛于秘鲁北部沿岸的莫切文明曾建立了高度发达完善的体制。他们修筑了恢宏雄伟的金字塔，至今依然巍然耸立，傲视周遭；他们发明了多产高效的农耕技术；然而，他们也有以活人祭祀的血腥传统。

[3]本次挖掘发现的两间殿堂遗址坐落于秘鲁北部兰巴耶克地区瓦卡利蒙德乌库佩纪念碑考古现场。据信，这些殿堂曾是古莫切人举行政治辩论及盛宴的场所。

[4]循台阶拾阶而上，首先抵达的是一间宴会大厅。大厅中面对面安放着两台宝座，据推测可能是某位权重位高的首领与某位宾客共餐之所。大厅四壁饰有壁画，上有海狮及其他鱼类，风格自然写实，与莫切陶艺常见的超自然艺术风格形成鲜明对照。

[5]另一间殿堂紧邻宴会大厅，内设一环形高台。据考古学家推断，这里很可能是统治者宣布重大决定的场所。

[6]“这标志着我们在了解、重构某些建筑元素方面又迈出了重大一步，而这些建筑元素与莫切文化精英阶层权力运用的规约范式之间有密切关系。”项目主要负责人、考古学家沃尔特·阿尔瓦如是向CNN记者介绍。

[7]“这一意外考古发现鼓舞人心，且极具启示意义。它进一步表明古莫切人已拥有高度发达的技术，其社会政治体制也十分繁复完备。”他接着说道。

The“master craftsmen”

[8]The Moche civilization occupied Chicama valley, a desert plain stretching between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean, from about 100 to 700 AD.Despite the harsh climate, the Moche flourished, growing corn, beans, and potatoes using an advanced network of irrigation canals, and creating settlements covering more than 350km of coastline.

[9]Jeffrey Quilter, a lecturer at Harvard University and a specialist on Moche history, said that the term“master craftsmen,”sometimes used to describe the Moche, was well-justified10be well-justified确有道理；（声誉等）名副其实。.

[10]“They were outstanding artists and technicians,”he said.“They had highly developed political and religious systems and they mastered the desert environment from within their lush,oasis-like valleys.”

[11]Although the Moche left no written record, vivid artistic depictions on their ceramics and gold work give insight into the society’s customs.Some feature animals, plants, rulers and warriors; others famously illustrate a variety of sexual acts.Processions, hunts and sacrifice ceremonies can also be seen on Moche iconography11iconography插图；图谱。.

[12]Until now, there was no evidence beyond that depicted on ceramics that grand feasts physically took place.“The recent discoveries have allowed us to document and confirm these scenarios12scenario情形；场景。,that correlate perfectly with the(ceramic)illustrations,”said Alva, director of the Tumbas Reales de Sipán museum,which houses many of the Moche’s archaeological treasures.

[13]Quilter agrees this is a significant breakthrough.“The newly discovered spaces help to provide us with a threedimensional view of architectural features previously known only through two-dimensional art,”he says.

[14]Another source of information on the Moche people has been their burial sites.Dismembered13dismember肢解；残缺不全。bodies found buried with marks on neck vertebrae suggesting they had their throats cuts,indicate that the Moche had a tradition of human sacrifice.The sacrifices may have been part of a ritual celebrating the rare occurrence of rain, as skeletons were found deeply encased in mud implying they deliberately took place in wet weather.

“匠师”

[8]莫切文明大约于公元100—700年间繁盛于秘鲁奇卡马谷地。这里是安第斯山脉与太平洋之间一片狭长的沙漠平地。虽然气候条件恶劣，古莫切人却在此繁衍兴旺。他们兴建了发达的灌渠网络，借此种植玉米、豆子及土豆等作物；建立了聚居村落，沿海岸线绵延350余公里。

[9]哈佛大学教师杰弗里·奎尔特是研究莫切文明史的专家，他说，人们有时用“匠师”一词来形容莫切人，这一称谓可谓实至名归。

[10]“他们堪称杰出的艺术大师、技艺娴熟的匠人，不仅创造了高度发达的政治、宗教体制，还以富饶肥沃的谷地绿洲为起点，渐渐征服了周围的沙漠环境。”他介绍说。

[11]虽然莫切人并未留下文字记录，但凭借其陶艺、金饰上所描绘的栩栩如生的画面，我们仍可一窥当时的社会习俗。这些艺术作品有的以动物、植物、首领和武士为题，有的则以形形色色的“春宫戏”而声名远播。此外，盛装游行、狩猎、祭祀庆典也是莫切画饰中偶见的题材。

[12]迄今为止，除陶艺作品中所刻画内容之外，并没有其他明确证据证明那些盛大的宴会场景在现实生活中确曾发生过。“新近的考古发现使我们有机会记录和确认这些场景，证明与陶艺所绘高度吻合。”西潘王博物馆馆长阿尔瓦介绍说。该馆收藏有莫切考古发现的大量珍品。

[13]奎尔特对此表示认同，认为这项考古发现是一次重大突破：“新发现的殿堂有助我们透过三维视角来了解此前只能在二维作品中看到的那些建筑特色。”

[14]了解古莫切人的另一个重要来源是其墓葬地。在墓葬中某些残缺不全的躯壳身上，考古人员发现其颈椎处存有缺痕，疑似遭割喉留下的痕迹。这表明莫切人很可能有用活人祭祀的传统。这些祭祀可能是古莫切人为难得的落雨而举行的庆祝仪式的一部分，因为现场发现的一些骷髅深深陷在污泥中，表明这些仪式是特意安排在潮湿天气举行的。

Powerful women

[15]The discovery of female mummies buried with gold and weaponry has led experts to believe that Moche women may have held political and re-ligious positions.Lady Cao, the name given to a mummy discovered at the ancient archaeological site of El Brujo in 2005, was found with a wealth of objects and elaborate tattoos over her arms and legs, suggesting she was a highranking Moche priestess, or even ruler.

[16]While Quilter encourages caution in interpreting the find, as being buried with symbols of rank and power does not necessarily mean that one had power in life, he says this theory follows the tradition of Andean societies from relatively recent times where“women have had much more autonomy and power than contemporary Western women have had until very recently.”

[17]Yet, the Moche culture is still shrouded14shroud包裹；笼罩。in mystery.All the evidence points towards a successful civilization that thrived in the middle of the desert,but its sudden decline around 700AD has left historians and archaeologists puzzled.

[18]Some researchers believe a natural disaster such as those caused by El Niño, which continues to periodically cause severe flooding in Peru, led to the Moche’s demise.

[19]Quilter says that though this is possible,“it is just as likely that there was a growing dissatisfaction of people regarding their leaders that made people no longer support the ‘system’ and so that ‘system’ changed, much the same as is happening today and has happened at many times and places in the past.”■

权位尊崇的女性

[15]考古发掘出来的女性木乃伊身边陪葬有金饰和武器，这使专家认为，古莫切的女性可能占据显赫的政治、宗教地位。2005年，在埃尔布鲁霍考古现场发现一具女性木乃伊，专家将其命名为“曹夫人”，不仅有大批陪葬品，双臂和双腿还刺有复杂精细的文身，表明她是地位甚高的莫切女祭司甚或首领。

[16]奎尔特认为，对这一发现进行诠释应持慎重态度，因为随葬品包含象征权力、地位的物件，未必意味着墓主人在现实生活中同样拥有权势。尽管如此，他仍表示，这一推测与近代安第斯地区某些社会群体的传统习俗十分相符，那些地区的“女性素来拥有较高的权力和自主性，远超当代西方女性直到历史近期才获得的权力和地位”。

[17]然而，莫切文化至今依然包裹在重重迷雾之中。所有证据都表明，这块沙漠腹地之中有一种文明曾盛极一时，却于公元700年左右骤然衰落，为史学家、考古学家留下了难解之谜。

[18]部分研究人员认为，厄尔尼诺现象所引发的那种自然浩劫是导致莫切文明骤然消殒的罪魁。时至今日，厄尔尼诺仍会周期性给秘鲁带来严重洪涝灾害。

[19]奎尔特分析说，虽然这一推断不无道理，但“另一种解释的可能性也同样极高，即当时的人们日益不满于首领的统治，进而不再支持其‘体制’，于是这一‘体制’随之瓦解。这一现象当下有之，历史上也曾在多个地方多次发生过”。□