Why didn’t this 2,000 year old body decompose? - Carolyn Marshall

翻译人员: Boya Li 校对人员: Jiasi Hao

In 1984, two field workers discovered a body in a bog outside Cheshire, England.

1984 年，两名矿工在英国柴郡外的 林道沼泽里发现了一具尸体。

Officials named the body the Lindow Man

官方将这具尸体 命名为林道人（Lindow Man），

and determined that he’d suffered serious injuries,

并判定他曾受过重伤，

including blunt trauma and strangulation.

包括钝性损伤和绞勒痕迹。

But the most shocking thing about this gruesome story

但这段可怕的故事里最令人震惊的是，

was that they were able to determine these details from a body over 2,000 years old.

人们能从一具两千多年前的尸体中 发现这些细节。

Typically, decomposition would make such injuries hard to detect

一般来说， 即使是尸体下葬近有数星期，

on a body buried just weeks earlier.

尸体腐化会使这些创伤难以察觉。

So why was this corpse so perfectly preserved?

那么为什么这具尸体 保存如此完好？

And why don't all bodies stay in this condition?

为什么并非所有的尸体 都能维持这一状态？

The answers to these questions live six feet underground.

问题的答案 就在地面六英尺之下。

It may not appear very lively down here,

地下乍一看很难发现生命的痕迹，

but a single teaspoon of soil contains more organisms

但一茶匙土所含的微生物数量，

than there are human beings on the planet.

比全球的人口都多。

From bacteria and algae to fungi and protozoa,

从细菌、藻类到真菌、原生生物，

soils are home to one quarter of Earth’s biodiversity.

土壤里生存着地球上 1/4 生物种类。

And perhaps the soil’s most important inhabitants are microbes,

土壤里最重要的居民 或许是微生物，

organisms no larger than several hundred nanometers

它们的大小仅有几百纳米，

that decompose all the planet’s dead and dying organic material.

却能分解地球上 所有死亡或濒死的有机物。

Imagine we drop an apple in the forest.

想象我们在森林里扔了一颗苹果，

As soon as it contacts the soil,

它一旦接触到土壤，

worms and other invertebrates begin breaking it down into smaller parts;

虫子等无脊椎动物便开始将其分解，

absorbing nutrients from what they consume and excreting the rest.

一边吸收营养， 一边排泄废物。

This first stage of decomposition sets the scene for microbes.

这是分解的第一步， 为后续的微生物分解做好了准备。

The specific microbes present depend on the environment.

不同环境中 生存的微生物也有所不同。

For example, in grasslands and farm fields there tend to be more bacteria,

比如，草地和田地里细菌较多，

which excel at breaking down grass and leaves.

它们擅长分解草和树叶。

But in this temperate forest there are more fungi,

但这片温带森林里的真菌更多，

capable of breaking down complex woody materials.

它们能够分解结构复杂的木材。

Looking to harvest more food from the apple’s remains,

为从苹果残骸里获得更多的食物，

these microbes release enzymes

这些微生物开始释放生物酶，

that trigger a chemical reaction called oxidation.

并导致氧化反应。

This breaks down the molecules of organic matter, releasing energy,

这会分解有机物分子， 释放能量；

carbon, and other nutrients in a process called mineralization.

而碳和其它营养物质 则会发生矿化作用——

Then microbes consume the carbon and some nutrients,

微生物消耗碳和一些营养物质，

while excess molecules of nitrogen, sulfur, calcium, and more

而剩余的氮、硫、钙分子等

are left behind in the soil.

被留在土壤里。

As insects and worms eat more of the apple,

随着昆虫和蠕虫进食更多苹果，

they expose more surface area for these microbial enzymes

它们增加了苹果 暴露于这些生物酶的表面积，

to oxidize and mineralize.

从而促进氧化和矿化反应。

Even the excretions they leave behind are mined by microbes.

甚至是它们留下的排泄物 也会被微生物分解。

This continues until the apple is reduced to nothing—

这一过程会持续到苹果消失——

a process that would take one to two months in a temperate forest.

在温带森林里需要 1-2 个月时间。

Environments that are hot and wet support more microbes

与干冷的地方相比，

than places that are cold and dry,

湿热的环境适合微生物生存，

allowing them to decompose things more quickly.

同时促使微生物加速分解进程。

And less complex organic materials break down faster.

结构较为简单的有机物 分解速度较快。

But given enough time,

但只要有足够的时间，

all organic matter is reduced to microscopic mineral nutrients.

所有的有机物都会被分解为 微小的矿物营养物质。

The atomic bonds between these molecules are too strong to break down any further.

这些分子的原子键合力很强， 无法被继续分解。

So instead, these nutrients feed plant life,

于是，这些营养物质会滋养植物，

which grow more food that will eventually decompose.

植物会长出更多最终能被分解的食物。

This constant cycle of creating and decomposing supports all life on Earth.

这一创造和分解的链条不断循环， 养育地球上所有的生命。

But there are a few environments too hostile for these multi-talented microbes—

但有些环境却令这些 能干的微生物难以适应——

including the peat bogs outside Cheshire, England.

包括英国柴郡外的 那片泥炭沼泽。

Peat bogs are mostly made of highly acidic Sphagnum mosses.

泥炭沼泽中 基本上都是强酸性的泥炭藓苔。

These plants acidify the soil while also releasing a compound

这些植物会酸化土壤， 并释放出一种化合物。

that binds to nitrogen, depriving the area of nutrients.

这种物质会与氮结合， 使土壤里的营养物质流失。

Alongside cold northern European temperatures,

再加上欧洲北部的寒冷气候，

these conditions make it impossible for most microbes to function.

这些条件 使得大部分微生物无法正常工作。

With nothing to break them down,

由于没有微生物能将其分解，

the dead mosses pile up, preventing oxygen from entering the bog.

枯死的藓苔逐渐堆积， 因此氧气无法进入沼泽。

The result is a naturally sealed system.

结果形成了一个自然的密闭空间。

Whatever organic matter enters a peat bog just sits there— like the Lindow Man.

任何进入泥炭沼泽的有机体 都会维持原样——

比如林道人。

The acid of the bog was strong enough

沼泽所含的酸性物质足够强，

to dissolve relatively simple material like bone,

能够溶解构造较为简单的物质， 比如骨头，

and it turned more complex tissue like skin and organs pitch black.

并让皮肤、器官等结构复杂的组织 变成黑色。

But his corpse is otherwise so well-preserved,

但除此以外， 他的尸体保存完好——

that we can determine he was healthy, mid-20s,

我们能推断出他死前很健康。 年龄为 20 多岁，

and potentially wealthy as his body shows few signs of hard labor.

可能生活富足，因为他的身体没有 太多从事强力劳动的痕迹。

We even know the Lindow Man’s last meal—

我们甚至知道林道人最后一餐 吃了什么——

a still undigested piece of charred bread.

一片还未消化的干面包。

Scholars are less certain about the circumstances of his death.

学者们还不清楚他死亡的原因。

While cold-blooded murder is a possibility,

或许他死于一场冷血的谋杀，

the extremity of his injuries suggest a ritual sacrifice.

但尸体创伤的严重程度表示 他也可能作为献祭品死于祭祀。

Even 2,000 years ago,

即便在两千年前，

there’s evidence the bog was known for its almost supernatural qualities;

有证据表明，当时的人们认为 沼泽具有超自然力量——

a place where the soil beneath your feet wasn’t quite dead or alive.

在那里，你脚下的土壤 并没有绝对的死亡与生命。