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Scientists Solve Mystery About Stonehenge

科学家破解英国巨石阵之谜

British scientists say they have solved a mystery involving Stonehenge, the world-famous stone monument in Wiltshire, England.

英国科学家称，他们已经破解了一个与巨石阵有关的谜团。巨石阵是位于英格兰威尔特郡的世界著名的石头纪念碑。

The scientists reported this week that they have identified where many of Stonehenge's large stones, called megaliths, came from. Thousands of years ago, people used such stones to build markers, monuments and other structures.

科学家们本周报告称，他们已经确定了巨石阵中许多被称为巨石的来源。数千年前，人们用这些石头建造标记、纪念碑和其他建筑物。

The researchers said part of one megalith helped solve the mystery. The small piece of stone had been kept in the United States for over 40 years.

研究人员表示，一块巨石中的部分石块帮助解开了这一谜团。该石块在美国保存了40多年。

Chemical testing suggests that most of Stonehenge's megaliths, known as sarsens, came from an area called West Woods. It is about 25 kilometers away from the ancient monument, the researchers said on Wednesday.

化学测试表明，巨石阵的大部分巨石，也就是众所周知的撒森岩，来自一个叫做西伍兹的地区。研究人员周三称，该地距这处古迹大约25公里。

People set up the sarsens at Stonehenge over 4,000 years ago. The largest sarsen is 9.1 meters tall. The heaviest weighs about 30 tons.

在4000多年前，人们将撒森岩放置在巨石阵上。最高的撒森岩高达9.1米。最重的大约有30吨。

David Nash of the University of Brighton led the study, which was published in the journal Science Advances.

布莱顿大学的大卫·纳什（David Nash）主导了这项研究，研究结果发表在《科学进展》杂志上。

Nash said that researchers still do not know how people moved the stones to Stonehenge. "Given the size of the stones, they must have either been dragged or moved on rollers," he said. Nash added, "We don't know the exact route but at least we now have a starting point and an endpoint."

纳什表示，研究人员仍然解释不了人们是如何把这些石头运到巨石阵的。他说，“考虑到这些石头的尺寸，他们肯定是用滚轮拖走或者搬移的”。纳什补充说：“我们不知道确切的路线，但至少我们现在锁定了起点和终点。”

Stonehenge also has smaller stones, called bluestones. Experts believe these stones came from Pembrokeshire in Wales, around 250 kilometers away.

巨石阵里也有较小的石头，称为“蓝砂岩”。专家认为这些石头来自约250公里外威尔士的彭布罗克郡。

A sarsen core sample, taken during repair work in the late 1950s, gave important information about Stonehenge's origins. The core sample was given to a man named Robert Phillips. Phillips worked for the company that was repairing the monument.

在20世纪50年代后期的修复工作中，撒森岩芯样本提供了关于巨石阵起源的重要信息。岩芯样本被交给了一个名叫罗伯特·菲利普斯（Robert Phillips）的人。菲利普斯任职于维修历史遗迹的公司。

Phillips took the sample with permission when he moved to the United States in 1977, Nash said. Phillips returned it to Britain for research in 2018. He died this year.

纳什指出，菲利普斯在1977年移民美国时获得许可，带走了石头样本。菲利普斯在2018年将其带回英国进行研究。他今年去世了。

The researchers studied very small pieces of the sample to find where it came from. It was similar to sandstone found at West Woods and all but two of the Stonehenge sarsens.

研究人员研究了石头样本中非常小的部分，以追踪其来源。这一石块与在西伍兹和巨石阵中发现的砂岩相似，只有两个例外。

Nash said he hopes the finding will help people better understand the hard work that went into building Stonehenge.

纳什说，他希望这一发现能帮助人们更好地理解建造巨石阵的艰辛工作。

I'm John Russell.

约翰·罗塞尔为您播报。