VOA慢速英语--专家在墨西哥古城研究古文字

Experts Study Writing in Ancient Mexican City

Many mysteries surround the ancient Mexican city of Teotihuacan. One mystery is especially difficult to solve. What is the meaning of the symbols that are on its paintings and statues?

Earlier this month, the area's pyramids reopened to visitors as coronavirus restrictions¹ eased². But the most interesting neighborhood remains³ off-limits to tourists.

The neighborhood has a patio⁴ floor with rare painted symbols, known as glyphs. Their discovery, in the 1990s, led a growing number of experts to question the long-held belief that the city did not have a writing system. These experts hope to one day understand the meaning of the glyphs - just as other scholars have done with ancient Mayan and Egyptian writing.

Teotihuacan is about 50 kilometers outside the Mexican capital, Mexico City.

Teotihuacan was possibly founded more than 2,000 years ago. It was an active city for over six centuries.

At one time, it was the largest city in the Americas and home to at least 100,000 people.

Yet much is unknown about its occupants and their civilization. It is unclear what language they spoke⁵. It is also unclear if they developed a system of writing like that of the Aztecs. The Aztecs controlled the same area about 800 years later.

Experts have debated several theories about the glyphs. They say the glyphs may have been used to teach writing or may have been the names of places.

Art historian⁶ Tatiana Valdez wrote a book about the glyphs of Teotihuacan. She says the patio's 42 glyphs are the longest text ever found at the city's ruins.

Valdez added that more than 300 of Teotihuacan's glyphs have been tentatively⁷ identified.

Many ancient Mexican codices - paper books covered in ancient writing - were ordered to be burned in colonial⁸ times by Catholic⁹ officials. Only about 10 of the codices still exist.

Valdez believes that such books were also part of Teotihuacan's written tradition.

Walking around La Ventilla, where you can find the patio, is like exploring an ancient neighborhood. It has religious centers, stores, houses, and beautiful paintings.

Mexico's government-operated National Institute of Anthropology¹⁰ and History says more work is still needed to be able to open the area to visitors.

Pictures and images of the city's most recently confirmed glyph will likely be published in a paper next year.

It is the kind of find expected by the University of Michigan's Joyce Marcus, who has argued that writing was absent in the city.

"So far, we have not seen the long texts," she told Associated Press reporters in an email.

A painting discovered in the 1960s in Teotihuacan shows what appears to be a religious leader holding a book. The picture was a "hugely important" discovery, said Christophe Helmke of the University of Copenhagen. He is a leading expert on the city's writing system.

Helmke added that writing in Teotihuacan was probably mostly limited to its books.

David Stuart of the University of Texas said it is difficult to understand Teotihuacan's glyphs because researchers are not sure what language was spoken there.

Stuart has been a leader in decoding¹¹ ancient Mayan writing.

"It's true that many still say that Teotihuacan had no writing system," he said. "But, in fact, it's there."

Words in This Story

symbol – n. a mark used to represent an object or process

pyramid – n. a large structure with a three- or four-sided base and sides that meet in a point at the top

text – n. a piece of written material; writing words that form a collected piece of work

absent – adj. missing; not present at all; not existing

1 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

2 eased   

adj. 放松的 动词ease的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• After the patient received acupuncture treatment,his spasms eased off somewhat. 病人接受针刺治疗后，痉挛稍微减轻了。
• The news that her child was safe eased her mind. 孩子平安的消息使她放心了。

3 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。

4 patio   

n.庭院，平台

参考例句：

• Suddenly, the thought of my beautiful patio came to mind. I can be quiet out there,I thought.我又忽然想到家里漂亮的院子，我能够在这里宁静地呆会。
• They had a barbecue on their patio on Sunday.星期天他们在院子里进行烧烤。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 historian   

n.历史学家，编史家

参考例句：

• As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家，他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
• He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家，但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。

7 tentatively   

ad.犹豫地，迟疑不决地

参考例句：

• I tentatively suggested that she might be happier working somewhere else. 我试探性地建议换个地方工作她可能会更开心。
• The term of practice is tentatively fixed at half a year. 实习期限暂定半年。

8 colonial   

adj.殖民地的，关于殖民的；n.殖民地，居民

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• The people of Africa have successfully fought against colonial rule.非洲人民成功地反抗了殖民统治。

9 catholic   

adj.天主教的；n.天主教徒

参考例句：

• The Pope is the supreme leader of the Roman Catholic Church.教皇是罗马天主教的最高领袖。
• She was a devoutly Catholic.她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。

10 anthropology   

n.人类学

参考例句：

• I believe he has started reading up anthropology.我相信他已开始深入研究人类学。
• Social anthropology is centrally concerned with the diversity of culture.社会人类学主要关于文化多样性。

11 decoding   

n.译码，解码v.译（码），解（码）( decode的现在分词 )；分析及译解电子信号

参考例句：

• We cannot add any other memory to this system without further decoding. 如果不增加译码，就不能使系统的存贮容量有任何扩展。 来自辞典例句
• Examples using the 8250 will be presented in hardware section to clarify full-decoding schemes. 在硬件一节中有应用说明全译码方案8250的例子。 来自辞典例句