新奇事件簿 科学家解开巨石阵之谜

Scientists say they have uncovered details about who built the 5,000-year-old prehistoric¹ monument Stonehenge. The ancient stones in the southwest of England are famous all over the world. How Stonehenge was built has been a mystery for thousands of years. A new study shows that the architects and builders of Stonehenge could have come from Wales, which is more than 160 kilometres away. Researchers wrote in the Scientific Reports journal that some human bones found at the site were from the Preseli Mountains in west Wales. The researchers said the oldest human remains² discovered so far date back to about 3000 BC, which is over 5,000 years ago.

科学家表示他们揭晓了关于谁在五千年前建立了史前巨石阵的细节。这个位于英国西南部的古代石头举世闻名。几千年来，巨石阵如何建立一直是个未解之谜。一项新研究表明巨石阵的建筑师和建造者可能来自威尔士，距离这里有160千米之远。研究人员在《科学报告》杂志中写到，在巨石阵遗址发现的一些人骨来自于西威尔士的普雷塞利群山。研究人员表示已发现的最古老的人类可追溯到约公元前3000年，距今已有5000年历史。

”Stonehenge is a ring of standing³ monoliths - giant stones. Each standing stone is around four metres high and 2.1 metres wide. They each weigh around 25 tons. Scientists say Stonehenge was first used as a burial mound⁴. The giant monoliths also came from the Preseli Mountains. Scientists are not sure how ancient people transported the giant stones the 160 km to their site in Stonehenge. They now believe the people who are buried at Stonehenge helped transport, position and erect⁵ the stones. Researcher John Pouncett said: "People from the Preseli Mountains not only supplied the bluestones used to build the stone circle but moved with the stones and were buried there too."

巨石阵是一圈竖立的独石。每个石头高约4米，宽约2.1米。每块石头重约25吨。科学家表示巨石阵最初是被用作古坟。巨型独石也来自于普雷塞利山脉。科学家并不确定古人是如何将这些石头从160千米之远的地方运输到这里。他们现在认为埋葬在巨石阵的人帮助运输、安置并竖立起了这些石头。研究人员John Pouncett说：“来自普雷塞利山脉的人不仅提供了用于建立环状列石的胆矾还和和这些石头一块来到这里，并被安葬在这里。

1 prehistoric   

adj.（有记载的）历史以前的，史前的，古老的

参考例句：

• They have found prehistoric remains.他们发现了史前遗迹。
• It was rather like an exhibition of prehistoric electronic equipment.这儿倒像是在展览古老的电子设备。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

5 erect   

n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的

参考例句：

• She held her head erect and her back straight.她昂着头，把背挺得笔直。
• Soldiers are trained to stand erect.士兵们训练站得笔直。