瑪雅人為什么被認(rèn)為是古代文明中最聰明的人？為什么瑪雅文明會衰落

今天的這段對話，在討論瑪雅人，

瑪雅人為什么被認(rèn)為是古代文明中最聰明的人？為什么瑪雅文明會衰落

來聽今天的講解:

A: Saskia, I'm doing some research about ancient cultures in South America. Which one do you think I should choose?

薩斯珂雅．我正在對南美的古代文化做些研究。你認(rèn)為我應(yīng)該選什么？

B: I think the Maya are your best bet, there's so much information available about them.

我覺得瑪雅人應(yīng)該是最好的選擇，這方面的資料很豐富。

A: Maya….OK.  There's certainly a lot of them! They Lived all over Mexico, in Tabasco, Chiapas, Guatemala, Belize and Western Honduras.

瑪雅人……好的。的確有關(guān)他們的信息太多!他們遍布墨西哥各地，在塔巴斯科、恰帕斯、危地馬拉、伯利茲城和西洪都拉斯。

B:They were believed to be the most intelligent of the ancient cultures. The culture's beginnings have been traced back to 1500BC, entering the Classic period about AD 300 and flourishing between AD 600 and AD 900.

瑪雅人被認(rèn)為是古代文明中最聰明的人?，斞盼拿鞯拈_始可以追溯到公元前1500年，公元300年進(jìn)入古典期，公元600至公元900年走向繁榮期。

A: They seemed to be exceUent farmers, too. They cultivated maize. beans, squash, and chili peppers, and also "cash crops" of corton and cacao.

瑪雅人好像也是非常出色的農(nóng)民。他們種植玉米、豆類、南瓜和辣椒，還有經(jīng)濟作物棉花和恒星豆。

B: This can't have been easy, the climate was inhospitable. They also built their settlements next to " cenotes" , natural watering holes.

這些可不是容另種植的，因為那里的氣候不太適宜。他們還在靠近“怪井”（天然水井）的地方建起了自己的居住地。

A: The Maya devised a complex style of hieroglyphic writing that has yet to be fully deciphered and they knew lots about science, maths and astrology.

瑪雅人發(fā)明了一種復(fù)雜的象形文字，到現(xiàn)在還沒有被完全破譯。他們懂得很多科學(xué)、數(shù)學(xué)和占星術(shù)知識。

B: They used maths and astronomy to predict eclipses and other heavenly events with great precision and formlulatcd a unlquc calendar system more exact than the one we use today.

他們用數(shù)學(xué)和天文學(xué)來預(yù)測口食和其他天文事件，非常精確。此外，還設(shè)計出獨一無的歷法體系，比我們今天用的還要準(zhǔn)確。

A: That's amazing! It says here that they were very religios too, but chey accepted science and religion together. That's interesting, because nowadays we think of science and religion as being totally differem things.

真了不起！據(jù)說他們也比較信奉宗教，但對科學(xué)和宗教一并接受。如今我們把科學(xué)和宗教當(dāng)作完全不同的兩種東西，所以這種觀點很有意思。

B: Their architecture was very interesting too, like all cultures in Mesoamerica.They built tall pyranudal temples, warren-like sintlle story palaces and courts around a broad centnl plaza.

他們的建筑也很特別，就像中美洲所有文明一樣。他們在寬闊的扣央廣場周圍建起高高的金字塔形寺廟，迷官般的單層宮殿和庭院。

A: Hmm…. they painted many exotic murah too, usually containing the human form.

嗯……他們還畫了很多異國情調(diào)的壁畫，通常少不了人體繪畫。

B: They were also very talented in working with ceramics and stoneware.

他們還在陶器和瓷器制作方面很有天賦。

A: But why did such a wonderful, gifted civilization fall? Why did they disappear?

可為什么這樣一個神奇?zhèn)ゴ蟮奈拿鲿ヂ淠?？他們?yōu)槭裁磿В?/font>