5. The Shape Of Stonehenge

5.巨石阵的形状

For a long time, historians have been divided on whether the stones at Stonehenge had originally formed a full circle. With no stones found in the southwest area, some researchers believed the structure had never been completed.

在很长一段时间，历史学家在巨石阵的石头在形成初期是否是一个完整的圆这个问题上有了分歧。因为在巨石阵的西南部并没有发现任何石头，一些研究者认为这个结构从未完整过。

But a short hosepipe accidentally solved the mystery without excavation or expensive equipment. Tens of thousands of people had earlier overlooked the answer.

但是一段小小的水管竟然偶然地解开了这个谜团，这并没有开掘现场或者用到任何昂贵的装备。数以万计的人们一早就忽略了这个谜底。

When a custodian couldn't water the grass in the entire Stonehenge area (as was usually done) due to the short hose, the grass failed to grow in the unwatered area, revealing depressions in the ground. If some of those parched areas had held stones, the circle would have been complete. Other brown patches matched areas of known archaeological excavations, confirming that the parched areas represented ground that had been intentionally disturbed.

因为水管不够长，看守人不能浇到整个巨石阵区域的草（就像之前每次做的那样），没有浇到水的区域长不出草来，显得这片地面比较萧条。如果这些干枯的区域上有过石头，那么巨石阵可能曾经确实是一个圈。其它褐色土地对应着已知的考古发掘现场，证实了这些干枯的区域代表着那些被人为破坏的地面。

"A lot of people assume we've excavated the entire site and everything we're ever going to know about the monument is known,” said historian Susan Greaney of English Heritage. “But actually, there's quite a lot we still don't know and there's quite a lot that can be discovered just through non-excavation methods.”

“很多人以为我们发掘了整个现场，并且关于这座历史遗迹所有我们该知道的都知道了，”英格兰遗产组织的历史学家苏珊·格里尼说，“但是实际上，我们仍然还有很多不知道的东西，而且有很多东西我们可以利用非开挖的方式来发现。”

That still leaves the mystery of what happened to the missing stones. Were they used to build houses or roads in the area? No one knows, but English Heritage may purposely avoid watering some areas of Stonehenge during the next dry spell to see if the answers to other puzzles emerge.

那些不见了的石头发生了什么仍然是个谜团。它们是否被用来在当地建造房屋和路面，没有人知道，但是英格兰遗产组织可能会在下一段干旱期有意识的避免给巨石阵的一些区域浇水，以观察其它谜团的答案是否会浮现。

4. The Disappearance Of The Nazca Civilization

4. 消失的纳斯卡文明

For years, historians were baffled by the mysterious disappearance of the Nazca people of Peru around A.D. 500. This was the civilization responsible for the Nazca lines, huge geoglyphs carved into the ground in that region. There have been many theories to explain the lines, but most historians agree that the Nazca probably used them as sacred pathways when practicing their rituals.

多年来，历史学家们一直对公元500年左右，神秘民族纳斯卡人的消失感到困惑。纳斯卡人创造了纳斯卡线，他们在这个地方深深地刻上了地质痕迹。对于纳斯卡线的说法众说纷纭，其中大多数历史学家们认同的观点是它们其实是在古代仪式中让人跟着走的神圣路线。

In recent years, scientists have determined that the Nazca civilization caused its own destruction. By clearing so many huarango trees in their valleys for farming, they did irreparable damage to their environment. These nitrogen-fixing trees increased moisture and soil fertility. Without enough of them, the climate became too arid to grow food.

近几年，科学家发现纳斯卡人是自己导致这个民族毁灭的。他们为了农业生产，不惜破坏Huarango树，对环境造成了不能弥补的破坏。Huarango树是有固氮作用的树种，同时可以增加土壤湿度和使土地变得肥沃。砍伐Huarango树会导致气候过于干燥，不能种植粮食。

"The huarango . . . was an important source of food, forage, timber, and fuel for the local people," said archaeologist David Beresford-Jones. The species was responsible for "enhancing soil fertility and moisture, ameliorating desert extremes in the microclimate beneath its canopy and underpinning the floodplain with one of the deepest root systems of any tree known. In time, gradual woodland clearance crossed an ecological threshold—sharply defined in such desert environments—exposing the landscape to the region's extraordinary desert winds and the effects of El Nino floods."

“ Huarango树是当地人最重要的食物，饲料，木材和燃料的来源。”考古学家大卫·贝雷斯福德·琼斯博士说，“这个树种可以提高土壤肥力和湿度，改变极端的沙漠气候，以其深深的树根保护所在地区免遭洪涝之苦。”随着时间推移，林地的不断砍伐到了生态临界点，将土地暴露于极端的沙尘暴以及厄尔尼诺洪水中。

Scientists believe that a major El Nino event occurred around the same time as the deforestation, triggering devastating floods due to the lack of trees. After that, the Nazca would have been unable to grow enough food for their people in that area.

科学家们相信，森林砍伐后，当厄尔尼诺现象来临，纳斯卡的灌溉系统被洪水所淹没，从那以后，纳斯卡不再适合生产，也不能为居民提供食物了。

3. A War Bracelet Comes Home

3.身份牌回家

While serving in the Army during World War II, Warren McCauley lost or left his silver identification bracelet ("dog tag") in Castel D'Aiano, Italy in 1945. According to an Army news release that year, war hero McCauley received the Bronze Star when he "fearlessly advanced under a hail of small-arms fire to restore communications" after the German enemy cut wire lines.

在二战服役时，沃伦·麦考利1945年在意大利的达伊阿诺城堡失去了能证明他身份的银牌（狗牌）。据当年的军方消息称，战争英雄麦考利被授予青铜奖章，为了表彰他在德军切断了金属线后，勇敢地去恢复通信。

While in Castel D'Aiano, McCauley stopped at the de Maria home, which the Italian family had opened to American soldiers for food and medical care. When McCauley left, his bracelet stayed behind, although no one knows if he lost it, forgot it, or left it on purpose as a kind of payment or tribute to the de Maria family. Nevertheless, Bruna de Maria, then eight years old and living there in poverty, found the bracelet and kept it as an unexpected treasure. She always lovingly cared for the bracelet but never tried to find its owner.

在达伊阿诺城堡，麦考利住在玛利亚家，这个意大利家庭为他这个美国士兵提供了食物和医疗帮助。麦考利离开时，他的姓名牌留在了那里，没有人知道，他当时是丢了，还是忘记了，或是作为酬谢或是礼物送给玛利亚家。

Decades later, her grown son, Stefano Sedda, persuaded his mother to return her treasure to its original owner. "This bracelet made history," Sedda explained. "It belonged to an American soldier who came here to fight, to defend our country—that's why I thought of giving it back."

数十年后，玛利亚长大的儿子斯特凡诺·萨奇劝他的母亲把这块姓名牌送还给它原来的主人。“这块姓名牌承载了历史，”萨奇解释道，“这是一个美国大兵来到我们国家为了保护我们而战斗。”这就是我为什么想还回去的理由。

Through a friend, Sedda contacted an American lawyer, who worked with a journalist and the Army to trace the bracelet's ID number to McCauley. Though McCauley had died 30 years earlier, they found his 85-year-old widow, Twila McCauley, living in Buena Vista, California. Warren McCauley had shared some wartime stories with his family—like the time he fell into a river and a donkey walked over him—but he'd never told them about the bracelet.

通过朋友，萨奇联系到一个美国律师，这个律师曾与一位记者工作过。后来，军队通过姓名牌编号查到这是属于麦考利的，尽管他已经过世30年了，但他们找到了他85岁的遗孀，特维拉·麦考利，她住在加利福尼亚的布埃纳维斯塔。沃伦·麦考利给他的家人讲述过他的故事，比如他掉入河中还有驴子从他身边走过，但他没有提到姓名牌。

Along with the rest of her family, Mrs. McCauley was touched and grateful to have this special connection to her late husband brought home almost 70 years after it went missing.

麦考利太太及全家都被触动了并很感激在她晚年能得到丈夫的身份牌。

2. The Cambyses Cover-Up

2.冈比西斯（Cambyes,古波斯帝国国王）之隐瞒事件

As we've discussed earlier, the lost army of Persian king Cambyses II has been a great historical mystery. Around 524 B.C., the king ordered 50,000 men into the Egyptian desert around the ancient city of Thebes (now Luxor). When the men disappeared, the official story from ancient historians said the army had been wiped out by a sandstorm.

正如我们之前讨论的，莫名消失的波斯国王冈比西斯二世（Cambyses II）的军队，成为了重大的历史之谜。大约公元前524年，冈比西斯二世命令5万士兵进驻埃及的底比斯城古城（现在的卢克索）的沙漠地区。这些士兵消失后，古代历史学家的官方报道声称，军队被沙尘暴所吞噬。

However, modern Egyptologist Olaf Kaper was skeptical. "Since the 19th century, people have been looking for this army: amateurs, as well as professional archaeologists," Kaper said. "Some expect to find somewhere under the ground an entire army, fully equipped. However, experience has long shown that you cannot die from a sandstorm, let alone have an entire army disappear."

然而，当代埃及考古学家奥拉夫·开普（Olaf Kaper）对此却持相反观点，“自19世纪以来，民间人士和考古专家一直在寻找这支军队，”开普表示，“一些人期许在地底下找到这支全副武装的军队。然而，经验证实，沙暴不会吞噬一个人，更不必说吞噬整支军队。”

By piecing together information from excavations, historical records, and especially the writings of an Egyptian rebel leader (which Kaper had translated from ancient temple blocks), Kaper believes the Persian army was on its way to Dachla Oasis, where the rebel leader Petubastis III and his troops had been located. But the Persian army was ambushed by the rebel leader and suffered a crushing defeat. From his victory, Petubastis went on to reconquer much of Egypt and crown himself Pharaoh in the capital of Memphis.

开普从考古发掘、历史记载，尤其是一位埃及叛军领袖的手稿中判断，波斯军队是在去戴拉（Dachla）绿洲的路上莫名消失的，而该地是叛军领袖派塔贝斯特斯三世（Petubastis III）的军队所驻扎之地。如此，波斯军队遭遇叛军的伏击，并且惨败。战斗胜利后，派塔贝斯特斯三世继续征服更多的埃及领地并且在孟斐斯（Memphis）首都为自己加冕。

According to Kaper, the Persian king Darius I put an end to this Egyptian rebellion in a bloody battle two years after Cambyses was defeated. To restore Persia's dignity, Darius covered up his predecessor's embarrassing downfall with the sandstorm story.

开普认为，在冈比西斯战败后，波斯国王大流士一世（Darius I）平定了长达2年的残酷战争。为了挽回波斯的尊严，大流士以沙暴之说来掩盖其前期不堪入目的衰败时期。

1. What Caused The Hindenburg Explosion

1. 兴登堡号爆炸之迷

The promise of the Hindenburg, a hydrogen-filled airship that could cross the Atlantic in half the time of a ship at sea, exploded along with the craft itself as it prepared to land in Lakehurst, New Jersey in May 1937. Of the 100 people on board that day, 35 died.

兴登堡号是一艘充满氢气的飞艇。在当时，它穿过大西洋所需的时间只是普通轮船的一半。然而，1937年5月，正当兴登堡号准备在新泽西的莱克赫斯特海军航空总站着陆时，发生了爆炸。当时，兴登堡号上有100人，35人遇难。

Scientists have debated the reason for the explosion for decades. They knew that a spark ignited leaking hydrogen, but they differed on the reason for the spark and the leaking gas. Theories included lightning, explosive properties in paint, and a bomb.

科学家们为其爆炸原因争论了几十年。他们认为，是火花引燃了泄露的氢气。但是，科学家们对火花和泄漏的氢气的原因的看法产生了分歧。可能的原因包括闪电、油漆上的易爆物质或者炸弹引发了爆炸。

However, in 2013, a team of experts ruled out the other theories and determined that the Hindenburg had become charged with static electricity from a thunderstorm. Either a faulty gas valve or broken wire caused hydrogen to leak into the ventilation shafts. A spark of static electricity ignited the hydrogen, which started the fire in the tail section and led to the explosion.

然而，在2013年，一个专家团队排除了其他可能的原因，认为兴登堡号爆炸的原因是由于大雷雨所产生的静电所致。气体阀泄漏或者线路损坏，导致了氢气进入到通风装置中。在飞艇尾翼，静电产生的火花引燃了氢气，导致爆炸。

"I think the most likely mechanism for providing the spark is electrostatic," said British aeronautical engineer Jem Stansfield. "That starts at the top, then the flames from our experiments [blowing up or setting fire to scale models of the airship] would've probably tracked down to the center. With an explosive mixture of gas, that gave the whoomph when it got to the bottom."

英国航空工程师杰姆·斯坦斯菲尔德（Jem Stansfield）表示，“我认为，产生火花最可能的原因是静电。”实验用发泡类物质制作了一个同比例飞艇模型。在实验初始阶段，火焰在飞艇的顶部燃烧，进而燃烧到了飞艇中心。混合的爆炸性气体进入到飞船底部的时候，飞船发生了剧烈爆炸。

注：本文转载自前十网，译者：Freya然