Archeology from space | Sarah Parcak

Translator: Jenny Zurawell

翻译人员: Lyman Zhang 校对人员: Dennis Guo

当我在缅因州长大的时候，

When I was a child growing up in Maine,

one of my favorite things to do

一件我最喜欢做的事

是在海滩上找沙钱（一种贝壳）。

was to look for sand dollars on the seashores of Maine,

because my parents told me it would bring me luck.

因为大人说沙钱会带来好运。

但其实这些贝壳不好找，

But you know, these shells, they're hard to find.

They're covered in sand, they're difficult to see.

因为沙子会盖在上面，几乎看不到。

However, over time, I got used to looking for them.

但是过了一段时间，我就找到诀窍了。

I started seeing shapes

我开始习惯

沙钱的形状以及规律

and patterns that helped me to collect them.

之后我养成了一股找东西的热情，

This grew into a passion for finding things,

一股对古物和考古学的热爱。

a love for the past and archaeology.

And eventually, when I started studying Egyptology,

后来当我开始研究埃及的时候，

我意识到光用肉眼去看是不够的。

I realized that seeing with my naked eyes alone wasn't enough.

Because all of the sudden, in Egypt,

因为在埃及，忽然间

my beach had grown from a tiny beach in Maine

我的沙滩，从一片缅因的小海滩

变成了800公里长，紧邻尼罗河的沙滩。

to one eight hundred miles long,

next to the Nile.

And my sand dollars had grown to the size of cities.

而我的沙钱

也变得跟城市一样大。

这是我启用卫星照片的原因。

This is really what brought me to using satellite imagery.

For trying to map the past, I knew that I had to see differently.

为了画出过去的地图，我必须从另一个角度去观察。

让我来给你们一个例子，如何运用红外线

So I want to show you an example of how we see differently

using the infrared.

来从另一个角度观察。

这个遗址坐落在埃及三角洲东部，

This is a site located in the eastern Egyptian delta

called Mendes.

名叫班迪克斯。

And the site visibly appears brown,

从肉眼看来，遗址看起来是褐色的。

但当我们用红外线时，

but when we use the infrared

经过假色处理，忽然间，

and we process it, all of the sudden,

using false color,

the site appears as bright pink.

遗址反映出亮粉色。

What you are seeing

你看到的其实是

are the actual chemical changes to the landscape

古埃及人的建筑施工的材料

caused by the building materials and activities

对地面产生的化学影响。

of the ancient Egyptians.

我今天想和你们分享的是

What I want to share with you today

is how we've used satellite data

我们是如何用卫星数据

to find an ancient Egyptian city,

来找到一座已经失踪了数千年之久的

called Itjtawy,

missing for thousands of years.

埃及古城： “伊其塔维”。

Itjtawy was ancient Egypt's capital

伊其塔维曾经是古埃及的首都，

历时400年，

for over four hundred years,

at a period of time called the Middle Kingdom,

当时古埃及处于中王国时期，

about four thousand years ago.

大约4000年前。

The site is located in the Faiyum of Egypt,

遗址坐落在如今埃及的法尤姆。

and the site is really important,

这座遗址非常珍贵，因为在中王国时期

because in the Middle Kingdom there was this great renaissance

是一个古埃及艺术，建筑，宗教的复兴时期

for ancient Egyptian art, architecture and religion.

埃及学家很早就知道伊其塔维的大概位置，

Egyptologists have always known the site of Itjtawy

was located somewhere near the pyramids of the two kings who built it,

在两位开城国王的金字塔附近，

也就是用红圈的区域，

indicated within the red circles here,

but somewhere within this massive flood plain.

在这片广阔的泛洪区的某处。

这篇区域非常广阔，

This area is huge --

it's four miles by three miles in size.

四公里长，三公里宽。

尼罗河曾经在“伊其塔维”古城周围流过

The Nile used to flow right next to the city of Itjtawy,

and as it shifted and changed and moved over time to the east,

随着河道变化，河流渐渐的向东移动

it covered over the city.

最终覆盖了这座城市。

So, how do you find a buried city

所以，如何在那么大的范围里

in a vast landscape?

寻找一座被埋没的城市？

Finding it randomly would be the equivalent

随機的去尋找这座城市

就好像在海底捞针的同时，

of locating a needle in a haystack,

blindfolded, wearing baseball mitts.

还蒙着眼，带着棒球手套。

(Laughter)

所以，我们用NASA的地形数据

So what we did is we used NASA topography data

to map out the landscape, very subtle changes.

来精确的画出地形图。

We started to be able to see where the Nile used to flow.

然后看出尼罗河过去流经哪里。

但你可以看到更多细节——更有意思的是

But you can see in more detail, and even more interesting,

这一小片略微隆起的区域

this very slight raised area

seen within the circle up here

就在这个圈内，是我们认为伊其塔维古城可能的位置

which we thought could possibly be the location of the city of Itjtawy.

So we collaborated with Egyptian scientists

所以我们和埃及的科学家合作

一起完成了取芯的工作，也就是你现在看到的

to do coring work, which you see here.

When I say coring, it's like ice coring,

我指的取芯工作，有点象是冰层取芯，

but instead of layers of climate change,

但我们寻找的是有人类的痕迹的地层，而不是气候变化的痕迹。

you're looking for layers of human occupation.

5米朝下，

And, five meters down,

underneath a thick layer of mud,

在一层厚厚的泥浆下，

我们发现了包含大量陶器的地层。

we found a dense layer of pottery.

这说明，在这个可能的位置

What this shows is that at this possible location of Itjtawy,

5米朝下

five meters down,

we have a layer of occupation for several hundred years,

是一层有几百年历史的地层，

dating to the Middle Kingdom,

其历史可以追溯到中王国时期，正好是我们认为伊其塔维存在的时期。

dating to the exact period of time we think Itjtawy is.

我们还找到了石料——

We also found work stone --

carnelian, quartz and agate

各种玛瑙，水晶，显示出

that shows that there was a jeweler's workshop here.

这里曾经有一个珠宝作坊。

These might not look like much,

这些可能看起来很普通，

但比较一下中王国时期

but when you think about the most common stones

used in jewelry from the Middle Kingdom,

珠宝最常用的石料，

这就是那些最常见的石料。

these are the stones that were used.

所以我们在这里找到了一层人类居住过的痕迹，

So, we have a dense layer of occupation

一直追溯到中王国时期。

dating to the Middle Kingdom at this site.

我们同样有一座名贵珠宝作坊的证据，

We also have evidence of an elite jeweler's workshop,

显示不论如何，这是一座非常重要的城市。

showing that whatever was there was a very important city.

No Itjtawy was here yet,

这里还不一定是伊其塔维，

but we're going to be returning to the site

但我们在不遠的未來就会回到这片遗址

in the near future to map it out.

去进行绘图。

And even more importantly,

更重要的是，

we have funding to train young Egyptians in the use of satellite technology

我们筹资训练年轻的埃及人

使用卫星技术，

这样他们自己也能够做出这些重要发现了。

so they can be the ones making great discoveries as well.

So I wanted to end with my favorite quote from the Middle Kingdom --

所以我想用中王国时期，我最喜欢的引述

来作为结尾——

it was probably written at the city of Itjtawy

这句话很可能在4000年前，在伊其塔维写下的

four thousand years ago.

“分享知识是最伟大的使命。

"Sharing knowledge is the greatest of all callings.

世间没有其他事可以相提并论。”

There's nothing like it in the land."

So as it turns out, TED was not founded in 1984 AD.

结果你发觉，TED并不是公元1984年建立的。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

这个想法其实是从公元前1984年，

Making ideas actually started in 1984 BC

从一座“失落了没多久”，又这样被找到的古城开始的。

at a not-lost-for-long city, found from above.

这也让人们对找贝壳这事有了新的理解。

It certainly puts finding seashells by the seashore in perspective.

Thank you very much.

非常感谢。

(Applause)

（掌声）

Thank you.

谢谢。

(Applause)