Certainly ruler 15 was trying to impress the population
第十五位统治者显然想给人们留下深刻印象
so he was really trying to cement in stone
所以他很努力地把科潘历史和王朝百态
what the history of Copan was and what the dynasty was
都铭刻在石头上
and to make sure that it stayed for the future.
保证后人能看得到
The hieroglyphic stairway sought to impress the people
建这座象形文字石阶是为了震撼世人
and to persuade the gods to continue to bring rain.
也为了让神明继续带来雨水
But by tunnelling beneath it, the archaeologists have discovered
但在它下方挖掘隧道时 考古学家发现
that this grand structure was, in fact, badly built.
这座宏大的建筑实际上是豆腐渣工程
You can see all these gaps in the fill itself
你可以看到这些填料中的间隙
indicate that it was just loose rubble.
证明这只是排列松散的碎石
This is a terrible way to build a pyramid.
这是很差劲的金字塔造法
What this tells us is that, at this point in time,
这告诉我们 在这时
people were no longer as enthusiastic
人们已不像以往那样
about supporting the rulers.
热情地支持统治者了
Even though a gorgeous and very
尽管在这里建造了一排
explicit hieroglyphic stairway was built here,
华美而精致的象形文字石阶
it was built on poor fills,
但它是建在差劲的填料上的
so it was a castle built on sand,
所以这就是个沙子做基石的城堡
and with time, eventually, it did decay
随着时间流逝 它终于腐朽
and the stairway itself
然后石阶本身
collapsed in a heap at the bottom of the pyramid.
垮塌成一堆废墟堆在金字塔底