复活节岛探秘:复活节岛

　　Easter Island, or in Polynesian "Rapa 　　 Nui", is an island in the South Pacific belonging to Chile. The island has an area of 163.6 km2 and a population of 3,791, 3,304 of which live in its capital city Hanga Roa. Although a barren, small place covered almost entirely by grassland, the mysterious giant heads which seem to have been staring silently for countless generations have always been a source of fascination and curiosity, and for some of the more intrepid of us, the dream travel destination.
　　On average, the heads stand 13 feet high and weigh 14 tons, human heads-on-torsos carved in the male form from rough hardened volcanic ash. The islanders call them "moai", and they have puzzled ethnographers, archaeologists, and visitors to the island since the first European explorers arrived here in 1722. In their isolation, why did the early Easter Islanders undertake this colossal statue-building effort? Unfortunately, there is no written record (and the oral history is scant) to help tell the story of this remote land, its people, and the significance of the nearly 900 giant moai that punctuate Easter Island"s barren landscape.
　　The moai and ceremonial sites are along the coast, with a concentration on Easter Island"s southeast coast. Here, the moai are more "standardized" in design, and are believed to have been carved, transported, and erected between AD 1400 and 1600. They stand with their backs to the sea and are believed by most archaeologists to represent the spirits of ancestors, chiefs, or other high-ranking males who held important positions in the history of Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, the name given by the indigenous people to their island in the 1860s.
　　Archaeologist Jo Anne Van Tilburg, who has studied the moai for many years, believes the statues may have been created in the image of various paramount chiefs. They were not individualized portrait sculptures, but standardized representations of powerful individuals. The moai may also hold a sacred role in the life of the Rapa Nui, acting as ceremonial conduits for communication with the gods. According to Van Tilburg, their physical position between earth and sky puts them on both secular and sacred ground; secular in their representation of chief and their ability to physically prop up the sky, and sacred in their proximity to the heavenly gods. Van Tilburg concludes, "The moai thus mediates between sky and earth, people and chiefs, and chiefs and gods."
　　The word "ahu" has two meanings in Easter Island culture. First, an ahu is the flat mound or stone pedestal upon which the moai stand. The ahus are, on average, about four feet high. The word "ahu" also signifies a sacred ceremonial site where several moai stand. Ahu Akivi, for example, is an ahu site with seven moai.
　　In 1722, when Captain Jacob Roggeveen, a Dutchman, arrived on Easter Island"s shores, he became the first European known to have reached Easter Island. Ever since, scholars have debated the origins of the isolated population he found there. Did they sail from the east, from South American soil, or from Central Polynesia to the north and west? It is daunting to imagine a voyage to Easter Island from any direction, which would have taken a minimum of two weeks, covering several thousand miles of seemingly endless ocean. It is clear, however, that the original inhabitants must have come from a sea-faring culture, ①adept at building long-voyaging vessels and navigating the open seas.
　　Linguists estimate Easter Island"s first inhabitants arrived around AD 400, and most agree that they came from East Polynesia. The archaeological record suggests a somewhat later date of settlement, between AD 700 and 800. As early as BC 5500 people in Melanesia were voyaging in boats and trading in obsidian. The westward movement of people continued until Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands were reached, at least by AD 300. Voyaging canoes moved southward, northward and southeast to ultimately inhabit Easter Island, Hawaii, and New Zealand, all in the short period of about 400 years.
　　When Europeans first explored the Pacific and sailed from island to island, they noticed that the people of various islands, no matter how distant, had similar customs. Inhabitants looked similar in appearance and they were often able to understand each other, even though they came from islands thousands of miles apart. These linguistic links point to a genealogical bond that ties the people of the Pacific to one another. Indeed, in 1994, DNA from 12 Easter Island skeletons was found to be Polynesian.
　　According to an Easter Island legend, some 1,500 years ago a Polynesian chief named Hotu Matu"a ("The Great Parent") sailed here in a double canoe from an unknown Polynesian island with his wife and extended family. He may have been a great navigator, looking for new lands for his people to inhabit, or he may have been fleeing a land rife with warfare. Early Polynesian settlers had many motivations for seeking new islands across perilous oceans. It"s clear that they were willing to risk their lives to find undiscovered lands. Hotu Matu"a and his family landed on Easter Island at Anakena Beach. Te-Pito-te-Henua, "end of the land," or "land"s end," is an early name for the island.
　　On Rapa Nui, the more modern and local name for Easter Island, large palm forests flourished. Upon arrival, early Rapanui settlers would have planted the plants that they brought with them: banana trees, taro root, and perhaps even the sweet potato.
　　From at least AD 1000 to 1680, Rapa Nui"s population increased significantly. Some estimate the population reached a high of 9,000 by 1550. Moai carving and transport ②were in full swing from 1400 to 1600, just 122 years before first contact with European visitors to the island. In those 122 years, Rapa Nui underwent radical change. Core sampling from the island has revealed a slice of Rapa Nui history that speaks of deforestation, soil depletion, and erosion. From this devastating ecological scenario it is not hard to imagine the resulting overpopulation, food shortages, and ultimate collapse of Rapa Nui society.
　　Evidence of cannibalism at that time is present on the island, though very scant. Van Tilburg cautiously asserts, "The archaeological evidence for cannibalism is present on a few sites. Analysis of this evidence is only preliminary in most cases, making it premature to comment on the scope and intensity of the practice as a cultural phenomenon." Most scholars point to the cultural drive to complete the colossal stone projects on Rapa Nui as the key cause of depletion of the island"s resources. But it wasn"t the only one. Palm forests disappeared, cleared for agriculture as well as for moving moai. Van Tilburg comments, "The price they paid for the way they chose to articulate their spiritual and political ideas was an island world which came to be, in many ways, but a shadow of its former natural self."
　　The world that the Europeans first observed when they arrived on Rapa Nui in 1722 has puzzled us for centuries, and continues to hold many secrets we have yet to discover. We can only use the scientific methods available to us today to try and understand the methods and reasons behind the mysterious "Moai". Maybe it will still be a long time in the future before we can fully comprehend and solve the puzzle of this fascinating culture.
　　
　　复活节岛，在波利尼西亚语中被称为“拉帕
　　
　　 努伊岛”，是南太平洋中一座隶属于智利的岛屿。该岛占地163.6平方公里，人口3791人，其中有3304人居住在首府――罕加鲁亚。虽然此地贫瘠、狭小，几乎全部为草原所覆盖，但那些似乎已在默默凝视中度过无数岁月的神秘巨型头像，却一直都在散发着魅力，激发着好奇之心，而对于我们之中更加勇敢的一些人来说，就是理想的旅游目的地。
　　这些头像平均起来有13英尺高，14吨重，是用粗糙的火山灰凝岩雕琢而成的“有头有身”的男性人像。该岛岛民将其称为“摩艾”，而它们自首批欧洲探险者于1722年来过此地后就一直在困惑着人种学家、考古学家和来该岛旅游的人们。身处隔绝之地的复活节岛早期岛民为什么要耗费如此之大的努力去建造雕像？遗憾的是，没有可借助的书面记载（而且鲜有口传历史）来讲述一下这座遥远的岛屿和其居民的故事，以及近900尊散落在复活节岛贫瘠地貌之上的巨大“摩艾”的意义所在。
　　“摩艾”和仪典场所分布在海岸沿线，密布于复活节岛的东南海岸。在那里，“摩艾”在设计上更加“标准化”，而且据信，是在公元1400到1600年之间被雕刻、搬运和竖立起来的。它们背对大海而立，按照大多数考古学家的说法，（它们）代表着祖先、酋长或其他在复活节岛（即“拉帕努伊岛”――当地人在19世纪60年代给他们的岛屿所起的名字）历史上占有重要地位的男性权臣的魂灵。
　　研究“摩艾”多年的考古学家乔安・范提尔伯格相信，这些雕像是按照许多最重要的酋长的形象进行创造的。它们不是个性化的肖像雕塑，而是标准化的权势人物的象征之物。“摩艾”可能还在“拉帕努伊岛”的生活中扮演着一个神圣的角色，充当仪典中与众神沟通的渠道。按照范提尔伯格的说法，它们位于大地与天空之间的具体位置使它们兼具着世俗性和神圣性：世俗性在于它们象征着酋长以及它们能够挺身擎天，而神圣性在于它们与天神们相近。范提尔伯格推断道：“‘摩艾’因而就在上天与大地之间，在民众与酋长之间，在酋长与神灵之间进行着沟通。”
　　“阿胡”这个词在复活节岛的文化中有两个意思。首先，“阿胡”是放置“摩艾”的平坦土墩或石质基座。“阿胡”平均有4英尺高。另外，“阿胡”这个词还指矗立有若干尊“摩艾”的仪典场所。例如，“阿胡亚基维”就是一个拥有7尊“摩艾”的“阿胡”场所。
　　1722年，当荷兰人雅克布・洛加文船长抵达复活节岛海岸时，他就成为了已知的第一位踏上复活节岛的欧洲人。自那时起，学者们一直争论着他在那里所发现的封闭人群的起源。他们是来自东面，从南美的土地上航行而来，还是来自波利尼西亚中部，向北部和西部航行而至？从任何方向航行至复活节岛都是不敢想象的，那一航行将至少用去2个星期的时间、在看似无边无际的洋面上跨越数千英里的距离。然而，有一点是清楚的，即这些原始居民肯定是来自一个擅长制造远航船只和远洋航行的航海文明。
　　语言学家们估计，复活节岛的最初居民大约是在公元400年抵达的，而且大多数人认为他们来自波利尼西亚东部。而考古记录上则提出了一个稍晚一点儿的殖民日期――在公元700到800年之间。早在公元5500年以前，美拉尼西亚群岛的人们就在乘船出航了并进行着黑曜石的交易。人们不断向西迁移，直到抵达了塔希提岛和马克萨斯群岛，那时起码已是公元300年了。出航独木舟向南部、北部和东南部行进并最终在复活节岛、夏威夷岛和新西兰安顿下来，所有这一切都发生在短短的400年间。
　　当欧洲人最初在太平洋探险并在岛屿间航行之时，他们注意到各个岛屿上的人们无论相距多远，都有着相同的习俗。居民们在外表上是相象的，而且他们经常能够明白彼此的意思，即使他们来自相隔数千英里的岛屿。这些语言上的联系揭示出一种将太平洋地区的人群彼此连结到一起的宗谱关系。正是如此，在1994年，取自复活节岛上12具骨骸中的DNA被发现同属于波利尼西亚人。
　　按照复活节岛的一个传说，大约在1500年前，一个名叫霍图・玛图阿的波利尼西亚酋长（“圣祖”）带着他的妻子和一大家子人，乘坐一只双人独木舟从一个不知名的波利尼西亚岛屿航行至此。他可能是一名伟大的航海家，为他的人民寻找着新的栖身岛屿，或者他可能就是在逃离一个战火肆虐的岛屿。早期的波利尼西亚殖民者是拥有许多动机去穿越险象环生的大海来寻找新岛屿的。显然，他们愿意冒着生命危险去寻找未知的岛屿。霍图・玛图阿和他的家人从安纳根纳海滩登上了复活节岛。而“特-皮托-特-何努阿”，意即“大地之尽头”或“大地尽头”，就是这座岛屿的一个早期名称。
　　在“拉帕努伊岛”（这是复活节岛更为现代和本土化的名字），繁茂地生长着大片棕榈树林。而早期的“拉帕努伊岛”殖民者一经抵达，就会种植起他们随身带来的植物：香蕉树、芋头根儿，也许甚至还有甘薯。
　　至少从公元1000年起，一直到1680年，“拉帕努伊岛”的人口都在大幅攀升。有些人估计，到1550年的时候，人口曾达到了9000人的高峰。从1400年到1600年，“摩艾”的雕刻和搬运大行其道，而在122年之后，欧洲来访者才第一次来到了该岛。在那122年间，“拉帕努伊岛”经历了根本性的变革。该岛的钻芯取样已经揭示出“拉帕努伊岛”的一段历史――砍伐森林、土壤流失和侵蚀。从这种破坏性的生态景象中，不难想象出随之而来的人口过剩、食物短缺，以及“拉帕努伊岛”社会的最终瓦解。
　　关于那一时期自相残杀的证据，虽然非常稀少，但在该岛还是有发现的。范提尔伯格谨慎地断言道：“关于自相残杀的考古证据在一些场所都有发现。对于这一证据的分析在大多数情况下都刚刚起步，因而将这一行为作为一种文化现象，对其范围和程度加以评论还为时尚早。”大多数学者将推动完成“拉帕努伊岛”巨大石铸工程的文化驱动力归结为造成该岛资源流失的根本原因。但那并非是唯一原因。棕榈树林消失了，是为了农耕以及搬运“摩艾”而被加以清除的。范提尔伯格评论道：“对于他们所选择的用以表达其精神与政治理念的方式，他们付出的代价就是一个岛屿世界，而这个世界在许多方面都仅仅成为了其先前原貌的一个影子。”
　　欧洲人于1722年抵达“拉帕努伊岛”后最先发现的这个世界，数百年来一直都在困惑着我们，而且仍旧拥有许多我们还不曾发现的秘密。今天，我们只能动用现有的科学手段来试着搞清这些神秘“摩艾”的建筑方法和动机所在。也许，今后，在我们能够完全理解和解开这个迷人文化的谜题之前，仍将经历一段漫长的岁月。
　　intrepid /in`trepid/ adj.无畏的； 勇猛的
　　torso /`t5s9u/ n.(人体的)驱干
　　ethnographer /eF`n4Gr9f9/ n.人种 学者；民族志学者
　　colossal /k9`l4sl/ adj.巨大的； 庞大的
　　statue /`st2t(/ n.雕像
　　scant /sk2nt/ adj缺乏的；不足的
　　punctuate /`p7Mktjueit/ v.不时打断
　　erect /i`rekt/ vt.使竖立
　　archaeologist /,3ki`4l9_ist/n.考古学家
　　chief /tH1f/ n.酋长
　　indigenous /in`di_in9s/ adj.本土的
　　paramount /`p2r9maunt/ adj.至上的； 最重要的
　　sculpture /`sk7lptH9/ n.雕刻； 雕刻品
　　conduit /`k4ndit/ n.管道；导管
　　secular /`sekjul9/ adj.现世的；世俗的
　　proximity /pr4k`simiti/ n.接近；亲近
　　mediate /`m1dieit/ v.居中调停
　　mound /maund/ n.土墩
　　pedestal /`pedistl/ n.基架；底座
　　daunting /d5ntin/ adj.使人畏缩的
　　sea-faring /`s1fe9riM/ adj.航海事业的
　　obsidian /4b`sidi9n/ n.黑曜石
　　genealogical /,_1nj9`l4_ik9l/adj.宗谱的
　　skeleton /`skelit9n/ n.(动物之)
　　 骨架；骨骼
　　extended family 大家庭
　　rife /raif/ adj.普遍的
　　perilous /`peril9s/ adj.危险的
　　palm /p3m/ n.棕榈；手掌
　　taro /`t3r9u/ n.芋头
　　radical /`r2dik9l/ adj.根本的
　　deforestation /di,f4ris`teiH9n/n.采伐森林；森林开伐
　　depletion /di`pl1H9n/ n.损耗
　　erosion /i`r9uE9n/ n.腐蚀；侵蚀
　　ecological /,ek9`l4_ik9l/ adj.生态学的
　　cannibalism /`k2nib9lizm/ n.食人；自相残杀
　　preliminary /pri`limin9ri/ adj.预备的；初步的
　　articulate /3`tikjuleit/ vt.清楚地表达
　　
　　① adept at熟练于
　　② be in full swing 热烈地进行