Sarah Kurnick: "Aliens built the pyramids" and other absurdities of pseudo-archaeology | TED

Transcriber:

翻译人员: Ingrid Xu 校对人员: Yip Yan Yeung

几年前，在飞机上 一个坐在我旁边的陌生人

问了我做什么为生。

我告诉他我是一个考古学家 而且我研究古代玛雅人。

A few years ago, a stranger sitting next to me on a plane,

他回答，“哇，我很喜爱考古，”

asked what I did for a living.

并且告诉我他每次 听到新发现时有多高兴。

I told him that I'm an archeologist and I study the ancient Maya.

然后他又跟我说，太神奇了，

He said, "Wow, I love archeology,"

外星人从尼比鲁行星 （Nibiru）到了地球

and told me how excited he gets when hearing about new finds.

并在美索不达米亚 开创了古代苏美尔。

Then he told me how amazing it is

that aliens from the planet Nibiru had come to Earth

我经常会在飞机上有这种对话，

and established the ancient Sumerian culture in Mesopotamia.

也可能在书店和酒吧里。

人们想跟我谈伪考古，

I have these conversations a lot on planes,

一个像考古但并不是考古的东西。

in bookstores and in bars.

People want to talk with me about pseudoarcheology,

说出一些对人类历史 天马行空又毫无根据的看法，

something that seems like archeology, but isn't.

像金字塔是外星人搭的，

It involves making wild and unproven claims about the human past,

或者来自失落的 亚特兰蒂斯大陆幸存者

发明了象形文字。

things like aliens built the pyramids

我们很多人都知道 这样的说法是没有根据的，

or survivors from the lost continent of Atlantis

完全是离谱的。

invented hieroglyphic writing.

但它们无处不在。

Now, most of us know that claims like these are unfounded

它们在电视节目里、 在电影和书里面。

and frankly absurd.

Yet they're everywhere.

比如历史频道系列 《远古外星人》（Ancient Aliens）

They're on TV shows, in movies and in books.

正在播出第 15 季，

或者最新的印第安纳琼斯电影，

Think of the History Channel series "Ancient Aliens,"

讲述水晶骷髅王国，

currently in its 15th season,

又或者埃利希·冯·丹尼肯 （Erich von Däniken）的

or of the most recent Indiana Jones movie

经典书籍《诸神的战车》 （Chariots of the Gods）？

about the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,

关键问题是：谁在意呢？

or Erich von Däniken’s classic book “Chariots of the Gods?”

这只是娱乐，对吧？

这难道不是一种逃避现实的好方法 和思考世界的有趣方式吗？

Here's the crucial question. Who cares?

并不是。

It's just entertainment, right?

大多数伪考古学是 种族主义和仇外的，

Isn't it a nice escape from reality and a fun way to think about the world?

并且像其他娱乐方式一样， 实际地影响着我们的文化。

It's not.

Most pseudoarcheology is racist and xenophobic

举个例子。

and like other forms of entertainment, it influences our culture in real ways.

通常伪考古学家会声称

古埃及或者古玛雅的这群人

Let me give you an example.

It's common to hear pseudoarcheologists claim

完成了不可思议的事情，

但是只是在外族的帮助下才 做成，比如外星人或亚特兰蒂斯人。

that groups like the ancient Egyptians or the ancient Maya

accomplished incredible things,

你很少听到伪考古学家称

but only with the help of outside groups, like aliens or people from Atlantis.

比如说，是罗马人帮搭了斗兽场，

What you rarely hear is pseudoarcheologists claiming

或是希腊人帮建了帕特农神庙。

为什么呢？

that, say, Romans had help building the Colosseum

对伪考古学家来说，

欧洲人本可以靠自己 完成他们的壮举，

or that Greeks had help building the Parthenon.

但非欧洲人必须有外部的指导。

Why is that?

For pseudoarcheologists

Europeans could have accomplished their feats on their own,

像这种的说法不仅是离谱，

更是侮辱性的。

but non-Europeans must have had outside guidance.

在这种和很多其他的情况下，

Claims like these are not just outrageous.

伪考古学是在维持 白人至上的神话，

They are offensive.

Here and in so many other instances,

贬低非欧洲人，

败坏他们祖先的成就。

pseudoarcheology sustains myths of white supremacy,

过去十二个夏天里，

disparages non-Europeans

我在玛雅地区做了实地考古考察。

and discredits their ancestors' achievements.

很多年前，

我在伯利兹-危地马拉边境的 一个小村庄里。

I've spent the last 12 summers

doing archeological fieldwork in the Maya area.

我天天待在实验室里，

盯着一片小小的、 棕色的、腐烂的陶瓷片。

Several years back,

I was staying in a small village along the Belize–Guatemala border.

一个住在马路对面的玛雅男子

I spent day after day in the lab,

会把他做的石板雕刻卖给游客。

staring at tiny, brown, eroded pieces of ceramics.

他偶尔会过来聊一下天。

The Maya man who lived across the street made slate carvings to sell to tourists.

有一天他带过来了 一个石板雕刻 ，

上面是这个图像。

He'd stop by every once in a while to chat.

图像雕刻在玛雅国王 帕卡尔（Pakal）石棺盖上，

And one day he brought over a slate carving,

于公元 683 年 他逝世之时制作。

and it was this image.

The image carved into the sarcophagus lid of the Maya king Pakal

这个图像令人震惊又非常复杂。

画着先王从冥界升起

around his death in 683 AD.

This image is incredible and it's complex.

重生成为了一个神。

中间是艺术风格的世界树，

It shows the deceased king rising from the jaws of the underworld

从冥界延伸到

生灵的王国，再到天界。

to be reborn as a deity.

In the center is a stylized world tree

边缘是一片天空， 上面有太阳、月亮和星星的图案。

that extends from the underworld

through the realm of the living into the upper world.

我特别兴奋能跟我的邻居聊

Around the edges is a sky band with symbols for the sun, moon and stars.

古玛雅的宗教、 宇宙学和图画学。

I was so excited to talk with my neighbor

但是，他只想聊

about ancient Maya religion, cosmology and iconography.

他看过的一集《远古外星人》，

讲玛雅的一集。

Instead, he wanted to talk

他告诉我这个图像是一名宇航员

about an "Ancient Aliens" episode he had seen.

在操作一艘火箭飞船。

The one about the Maya.

And he told me that this image was of an astronaut

我很震惊。

与其尊崇自己的祖先，

at the controls of a rocket ship.

他竟然崇拜一个虚拟的外星人。

I was shocked.

他还告诉我有朝一日，

Instead of marveling at his own ancestors,

他希望可以把这个雕刻送给

he was in awe of a fictional alien.

古外星人现象之父 埃利希·冯·丹尼肯。

He even told me that one day,

伪考古无疑会伤害它的主体，

he hoped to give this carving to Erich von Däniken,

father of the ancient aliens phenomenon.

通常是土著人，比如玛雅人，

但它也会伤害它的观众。

Pseudoarcheology undoubtedly harms its subjects,

它伤害我们所有人。

often Indigenous people, like the Maya,

和其他形式的种族歧视一样，

它恶化不平等现象，

but it also harms its viewers.

并让我们无法欣赏和 受益于人类的多样化。

It harms all of us.

Like other forms of racism,

it exacerbates inequality

其实真正吓人的

是伪考古只是一个 更大问题的一小部分。

and prevents us from appreciating and benefiting from human diversity.

它只是人们故意 弄错历史的一例子，

What's really scary

is that pseudoarcheology is a small part of a much bigger problem.

人们有意识地修改 历史和考古事实。

It's just one example of people getting history wrong on purpose,

为什么人们要这么做？

of people knowingly changing historical and archeological facts.

通常，人们故意改变历史，

要不为了辩护现代的种族歧视，

Why would anybody do that?

要么为了展示更好版本的历史，

Often, the past is knowingly changed

either to justify racism in the present

一个让我们引以为豪的版本。

六年前，

or to present a nicer version of history,

科罗拉多州杰斐逊县 成为了一个“战场”

a version of history that we can all take pride in.

讨论应该怎么教高中生 美国的历史。

Six years ago,

Jefferson County, Colorado became a battleground

美国大学先修课程 （Advanced Placement）的课程

over how to teach American history to high school students.

已延伸至将美洲原住民迁至保留地，

The Advanced Placement curriculum had been expanded

以及极端经济不平等的加剧 这样的事件。

to include things like the removal of Native Americans to reservations

当地学校的校董很不高兴。

and the rise of extreme economic inequality.

他们激烈地抗议了这个改进，

争辩说新的课程

Members of the local school board were upset.

在促进资本主义或 美国例外主义方面做得不够。

They vigorously protested the changes,

arguing that the new curriculum

我们现在如火如荼地讨论着

didn't do enough to promote capitalism or American exceptionalism.

公共雕塑以及有争议的人物。

像罗伯特·李（Robert E. Lee）和

Right now we are in the midst of a heated debate

克里斯托弗·哥伦布 （Christopher Columbus）这样的人。

over public monuments to controversial figures.

这些雕像是应该被留下来，

还是被毁坏或放入博物馆里，

People like Robert E. Lee and Christopher Columbus.

或者我们应该怎么处理那些

Should these monuments be left as they are,

损害纪念物的抗议者？

destroyed or put in museums

他们是应该因为帮助揭穿 白人至上的神话而被表扬？

and what should happen to the protestors

who deface these monuments?

或是应该因“义警”行为、 目无法纪而受到惩罚？

Should they be praised for helping debunk myths of white supremacy?

我们该怎么面对这种场面？

Or should they be punished for vigilantism and lawlessness?

对我而言，

关于历史课程和公共雕塑的争论

What do we make of scenes like this?

传达着相同的信息。

For me,

一，历史是政治化的。

debates about history curricula and public monuments

我们选择记住和忘掉的

suggest similar messages.

与现在的政治忧患息息相关。

First, the past is political.

二，我们需要思考谁代表过去、

What we choose to remember and forget

谁有权利选择历史课本的内容

relates directly to current political concerns.

以及公共雕塑的主体。

Second, we need to consider who presents the past,

想象一下

who chooses the content of history textbooks

如果历史不是由有权利的人，

而是由被忽视的人讲述的，我们 对历史的理解可能会有什么不同。

and the subject matter of public monuments.

我们可以通过 改变我们对过去的看法，

Imagine how our understanding of history might be different

对抗现在的种族主义和仇外心理。

if it was told by the marginalized,

rather than the powerful.

考古学家需要做两件事。

We can help combat racism and xenophobia today

首先，我们必须要让 我们的学科更包容。

by changing how we think about the past.

Archeologists need to do two things.

我们要和我们研究的人的后代 一起工作，并为了他们工作。

First, we need to make our discipline more inclusive.

理查德·利文撒尔（Richard Leventhal） 在墨西哥的蒂霍苏科的工作

We need to work with and for the descendants of the people we study.

是开天“辟地”的，双关语意。

一个多世纪以来，国外的 考古学家来到了玛雅地区

Richard Leventhal's work at Tihosuco, Mexico

is groundbreaking, pun intended.

发掘他们认为有趣的东西。

For over a century, foreign archeologists have traveled to the Maya area

大多数是神殿和金字塔。

利文撒尔走了一条不一样的路。

to excavate the things they thought were interesting.

他问了

蒂霍苏科（Tihosuco）的 现代玛雅人

Mostly temples and pyramids.

他们自己觉得什么有趣，

Leventhal took a different approach.

事实证明，他们对神殿或金字塔 没什么特别的兴趣。

Instead he asks

the contemporary Maya of Tihosuco

what they thought was interesting,

他们反而对种姓战争 （Caste War）兴趣，

一场重大但未被充分研究的 玛雅殖民时期叛乱。

and it turns out they didn't particularly care about temples or pyramids.

They were interested in the Caste War,

第二，我们需要将 考古学推广给更多人。

a major but understudied colonial period Maya rebellion.

我最近去书店的时候，

Second, we need to make archeology more accessible.

我问了在哪里可以找到 考古相关的书。

店员带我去了一个标着 “古代奥秘和失落的知识”的片区。

The last time I walked into a bookstore,

I asked where I could find the archeology books.

上面摆着的书名像《外星体验》 （Extraplanetary Experiences）。

The clerk took me to a section labeled "Ancient Mysteries and Lost Knowledge."

可笑的是

It had books with titles like "Extraplanetary Experiences."

真正的考古学，

基于科学事实和历史 背景的考古，是迷人的。

And what is absolutely absurd about this

is that real archeology,

你不需要用外星人让它更有趣。

archeology based in scientific facts and historical context, is fascinating.

我们考古学家有责任

寻找与公众分享 我们的工作的新方式。

You don't need aliens to make it interesting.

It's up to us archeologists

以前都是这样。

1950 年代，CBS有一档名为

to find new ways to share our work with the public.

《世界有些什么》 （What in the World?）的游戏节目。

And this used to be the norm.

主持人会展示一个物体， 一个人工制品，

In the 1950s, there was a game show on CBS called "What in the World?"

然后考古学家参赛者要试着猜出

这个东西是什么，从哪里来。

The host would present an object, an artifact,

这是一档好玩有趣的节目，

and the archeologist contestants would try to figure out

让观众了解了人类文化的多样性。

what this thing was and where it was from.

The show was funny and interesting

从 1960 年代的中后期开始，

and exposed viewers to the diversity of human cultures.

考古学转换了焦点。

他们不再专注于公众参与，

Beginning in the mid-to-late 1960s,

而是开始共同努力 使这门学科专业化。

archeology changed focus.

Instead of concentrating on public engagement,

好处是

现在我们有了像 放射性碳日期的贝叶斯分析

archeologists began working together to professionalize the discipline.

和新唯物主义这样的理论方法。

On the plus side,

we now have things like Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates

但在这个过程中，

考古学放弃了公众。

and theoretical approaches, like the new materialisms.

像《世界有些什么》 这样的节目变稀有了，

But in the process,

伪考古学应运而生。

archeology left the public behind.

Shows like “What in the World?” became less common

但我们所有人都可以 致力于改变对过去的看法。

and pseudoarcheology emerged to fill the void.

当你看到一个伪考古的说法时，

But we can all contribute to changing how we think about the past.

要保持怀疑态度。 如果你发亚特兰蒂斯相关的信息，

When you see a pseudoarcheological claim,

或发表远古外星人的推文，

或转发一个伪考古电视节目的片段，

be skeptical and know that if you post about Atlantis,

就算你不是故意的，

tweet about ancient aliens

你也有可能在宣扬 种族主义和仇外心理。

or forward a clip from a pseudoarcheology TV show,

此外，记得历史是活的。

even if it's not your intention,

它是有政治性的，

you may be promoting racism and xenophobia.

它瞬息万变，

深刻影响我们的日常生活。

Also know that the past is alive.

It is political,

所以下一次打开历史频道、

it is ever-changing

and it influences our daily lives in meaningful ways.

读一本考古学书、

或欣赏一个公共雕塑时，

So the next time that you watch the History Channel,

记得每一个关于过去的说法

read an archeology book

都是一个对当下的有力陈述。

or view a public monument,

谢谢。

remember that every statement about the past

is a powerful statement about the present.

Thank you.