考古学家发现了世界上比较大的“大规模儿童祭祀”遗址

考古学家发现了世界上最大的“大规模儿童祭祀”遗址

The centuries-old remains of more than 200 children have been discovered in Peru, according to reports. Experts say that the macabre discovery is likely the world’s largest child sacrifice site.

据报道，秘鲁发现了200多具具有数百年历史的儿童遗骸。专家表示，这一令人毛骨悚然的发现可能是世界上最大的儿童祭祀场所。

Peruvian press agency Andina reports that archaeologists found the skeletal remains of 250 children and 40 warriors at Huanchaco, 346 miles north of Lima.

秘鲁通讯社Andina报道说，考古学家在利马以北346英里的万查科发现了250名儿童和40名战士的骸骨。

“This is the biggest site where the remains of sacrificed children have been found,” the excavation’s chief archaeologist, Feren Castillo, told AFP.

“这是发现儿童遗体规模最大的地点。”挖掘工作的首席考古学家费伦卡斯蒂略告诉法新社。

The children, who were between the ages of 4 and 14, reportedly were sacrificed to honor the gods of the pre-Columbian Chimu culture. Experts think that the children — killed during wet weather and buried facing the sea — were sacrificed in relation to an “El Niño” event.

据报道，这些孩子年龄在4岁到14岁之间，他们被祭祀是为了纪念哥伦布发现美洲大陆之前的奇穆文化中的神灵。专家们认为，这些孩子在潮湿的天气中被杀害，并被埋葬在面向大海的地方，他们是与“厄尔尼诺”事件有关的牺牲品。

El Niño is a weather pattern in which parts of the Pacific periodically get warmer. “The warmer tropical Pacific waters cause changes to the global atmospheric circulation, resulting in a wide range of changes to global weather,” explains the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on its website.

厄尔尼诺是太平洋部分地区周期性变暖的一种天气模式。美国国家海洋和大气管理局在其网站上解释说:“温暖的热带太平洋水域导致全球大气环流的变化，从而导致全球气候的广泛变化。”

Andina reports that the remains at Huanchaco have been dated to the 13th to 15th centuries. The Chimu civilization was conquered by the Inca in the 15th century.

安迪娜报告说，万查科的遗骸可以追溯到13世纪到15世纪。15世纪，奇穆文明被印加人征服。

Other sacrificial sites in Peru have revealed their secrets. In April 2018, the remains of more than 140 children and over 200 llamas or alpacas were found at a 15th-century ritual sacrifice site at nearby Huanchaquito-Las Llamas. Radiocarbon dating indicated that the remains are from around 1450 A.D., a time when Huanchaquito-Las Llamas was part of the Chimu culture.

秘鲁的其他祭祀遗址也揭示了他们的秘密。2018年4月，在万卡奎托-拉斯大羊驼附近的一个15世纪祭祀遗址，发现了140多名儿童和200多只大羊驼的遗骸。放射性碳年代测定法表明，这些遗骸来自公元1450年左右当时，万卡奎托-拉斯大羊驼(Huanchaquito-Las Llamas)是奇穆文化的一部分。

The grisly location is near the UNESCO world heritage site of Chan Chan.

这个可怕的地方靠近联合国教科文组织世界遗产遗址——昌昌(昌昌为奇穆王国的首都)。

In a separate project, experts in Chile have shed new light on how the Inca civilization used “trophy heads” to maintain control over conquered peoples.

在另一个项目中，智利的专家们对印加文明如何利用“战利品头像”来控制被征服的人民进行了新的探索。

At its height in the 16th century, the Inca Empire spanned modern-day Peru, as well as parts of Bolivia, Ecuador and Chile.

印加帝国在16世纪达到鼎盛时期，覆盖了今天的秘鲁，以及玻利维亚、厄瓜多尔和智利的部分地区。

Other grisly sacrificial sites have also been uncovered recently. A vast array of skulls buried beneath the streets of modern Mexico City, for example, has offered a chilling glimpse into Aztec human sacrifice.

最近还发现了其他一些可怕的祭祀遗址。例如，在现代墨西哥城的街道下埋藏着大量的头盖骨，这让人们对阿兹特克人的牺牲有了一个令人不寒而栗的一瞥。

LiveScience reports that hundreds of Mayan artifacts that may have been used in ritual animal sacrifices have been discovered at the bottom of a Guatemalan lake.

据《生命科学》报道，在危地马拉的一个湖底发现了数百件玛雅文物，这些文物可能用于祭祀某种动物。