兩千年前的「巨貓」現身沙漠！秘魯發現又一神秘地畫
今日導讀
上世紀初，一位考古學家乘飛機經過秘魯南部上空時，意外發現在乾旱、荒蕪的沙漠上，竟然刻著一幅幅由神秘線條構成的圖案，它們有動物、植物，還有一些幾何圖形。這些形態各異、栩栩如生的圖案正是世界級奇觀——納斯卡地畫。如今，距離納斯卡地畫的發現已過去近百年，但它的創作原因卻依然是個未解之謎，而最近人們又在秘魯發現了一幅貓形地畫，這幅畫作能否提供一些新的解碼信息呢？讓我們一起走進今天的文章。
正文
Huge cat found etched into desert among Nazca Lines in Peru
秘魯納斯卡地畫群發現鑿刻在沙漠裡的巨貓圖案
The dun sands of southern Peru, etched centuries ago with geoglyphs of a hummingbird, a monkey, an orca — and a figure some would dearly love to believe is an astronaut — have now revealed the form of an enormous cat lounging across a desert hillside.
秘魯南部的灰褐色沙礫上，鑿刻著具有數百年歷史的各式地畫，形狀包括蜂鳥、猴子、虎鯨，以及一個某些人深信是太空人的圖樣。如今，這裡又發現了一隻巨大的貓形圖案，像是懶洋洋地躺在沙漠的山坡上。
The feline Nazca line, dated to between 200BC and 100BC, emerged during work to improve access to one of the hills that provides a natural vantage point from which many of the designs can be seen.***
這個貓形納斯卡地畫可以追溯到公元前 200 年到公元前 100 年之間。它是在修繕一條上山道路的過程中被發現的，而這座山丘正是觀賞眾多納斯卡地畫的絕佳位置。
A Unesco world heritage site since 1994, the Nazca Lines, which are made up of hundreds of geometric and zoomorphic images, were created by removing rocks and earth to reveal the contrasting materials below.
納斯卡地畫在 1994 年被聯合國教科文組織列為世界遺產，它們包含了上百幅幾何圖案和動物圖形，是通過移除表面的巖石和泥土，露出下面淺色的沙石而形成的。
"The figure was scarcely visible and was about to disappear because it's situated on quite a steep slope that's prone to the effects of natural erosion," Peru's culture ministry said in a statement this week.
「這個圖案之前幾乎無法辨識，並且快要消失了，因為它位於一個非常陡峭的斜坡上，容易受到自然侵蝕的影響。」秘魯文化部在本周的一份報告中如此說道。
It said the cat was 37 metres long, with well-defined lines that varied in width between 30cm and 40cm.
據報告稱，這幅貓畫長達 37 米，線條清晰，寬度介於 30 釐米到 40 釐米之間。
Johny Isla, Peru's chief archaeologist for the lines, said between 80 and 100 new figures had emerged over recent years in the Nazca and Palpa valleys, all of which predated the Nazca culture (AD200-700). "These are smaller in size, drawn on to hillsides, and clearly belong to an earlier tradition."
約翰尼·伊斯拉是秘魯當地研究地畫的首席考古學家，他說近年來在納斯卡山谷和帕爾帕山谷，已新出現了大約 80 到 100 幅地畫，它們均早於納斯卡文明時期（公元 200 年—公元 700 年）。「這些地畫的尺寸更小，且繪製在山坡上，顯然屬於更早期的傳統。」
The archaeologist said the cat had been put out during the late Paracas era, which ran from 500BC to AD200. "We know that from comparing iconographies," said Isla. "Paracas textiles, for example, show birds, cats and people that are easily comparable to these geoglyphs."
這位考古學家還稱，在公元前 500 年到公元 200 年的帕拉卡斯時代後期，這幅貓形地畫就存在了。「我們是通過圖像的比較研究得知這一信息的。」伊拉斯說道。「比如帕拉卡斯紡織物上的鳥、貓和人形圖案，很容易讓人們聯想到這些地畫。」
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