评论
打印
Our team suits up with only a vague idea of what we are going to see on the other side of that tiny hole in the ground.
我们的小组并不太清楚会在地上那个小洞的另一边看到什么。
We start with a meeting to discuss our plan.
我们先开会讨论一下计划。
Because of the way this cenote was formed, it is safer to be lowered into it rather than rappel. Aaron goes first. Once he gets down there, I can see just how far down that is.
由于这个天然井的形成方式，降着下去要比用绳索更安全。亚伦先下，他到下面后，我就能知道要下多少了。
I really don't want to climb a rope ladder out of this.
我真的不想从这爬绳梯。
As they lower me into the opening and through to the other side, I am swinging in free space as I descend, spinning with the rope!
他们把我放进洞口，我穿到另一边时，吊在绳子上自由地荡来荡去！
I'm rock climbing!
我在攀岩！
From down on the water, Aaron turns on a light so I can see. The room in here is massive!
亚伦从下面的水上打开一盏灯，让我能看见。这里真是太大了！
The ceiling is like a dome. You could never climb out. This cenote is a deadly trap for anything that falls, or is thrown inside.
天花板像个圆顶，永远也爬不出来。这个天然井对于任何落下或被扔进去的东西，都是一个致命的陷阱。
Once I'm in the water, I can see bats and stalactites.
我进水后，就能看到蝙蝠和钟乳石。
Soon, the guides lower the rest of the team, tanks, and cameras--one at a time.
很快，向导们就把其他队员、氧气瓶和摄像机都放下来。
It's a very slow process. By the time we start our dive, I have been floating in the water more than half an hour. I'm curious though, exactly how they are going to get me out of here!
这是一个非常缓慢的过程。开始潜水时，我已经在水里漂了半个多小时了。不过，我很好奇，他们到底会怎么把我弄出去！
But for the time being, I am ready with a camera, lots of lights and my natural curiosity.
但现在，我已经准备好了一台摄像机，很多的灯，还有我那天生的好奇心。
Aaron and Jeff lead us below.
亚伦和杰夫带领我们下去。
The sides of the cenote are covered in ancient dripstone formations—formed probably during the last ice age when sea levels were lower and this cenote was at least partially dry.
天然井的侧面覆盖着古老的钟乳石，这些钟乳石可能形成于上一个冰河时期，当时海平面较低，而这个天然井至少部分是干燥的。
The walls are made of sedimentary rock formed from an ancient seabed. All kinds of shells are stuck in it, including this perfectly-formed sea urchin skeleton.
墙壁是由古代海床形成的沉积岩所构成，里面卡着各种各样的贝壳，包括这个外形完美的海胆骨架。
As we drop further, I focus my camera on a jawbone. It's the jaw of a horse, which probably fell in here by accident and drowned. Nothing can escape this watery trap.
我们继续下潜，我把摄像机聚焦于一个颌骨上。这是一匹马的颌骨，它可能是意外掉进这里淹死的。没有什么能逃脱这个水陷阱。
Near the jaw, I find my first trace of a human presence—a broken piece of pottery.
在颌骨附近，我发现了人类存在的第一个痕迹，一块破碎的陶器。
I have to get my head around the fact that this is a pre-Columbian artifact more than a thousand years old.
我必须清醒地认识到，这是一件哥伦布发现美洲大陆以前就存在于此的人工制品，它已经有一千多年的历史了。
Moving away from the walls and out into the middle of the cenote, I find a bone.
我离开墙壁，走到天然井中间，发现了一块骨头。
This is no horse bone—it's a human tibia, the lower leg bone. And near it, the femur. Humans are buried here.
这不是马骨，而是人类的胫骨，也就是小腿骨。在它附近，是股骨。有人曾被埋在这里。
Not far away, a ghostly sight—a human skull resting peacefully next to a perfectly intact earthen bowl.
在不远处的景象很吓人，一个人的头骨静静地放在一个完好无损的陶碗旁。
At this depth in fact there are human remains almost everywhere I turn.
事实上，在这么深的地方，我到的任何地方都有人类的遗骸。
Aaron directs me to a field of human remains laying out on the sand on the sand in plain view.
亚伦领我来到一个地方，那里有一堆人的遗骸，安静地躺在沙滩上。
This skull has its jaw sitting nearby.
这个头骨的颌骨就在旁边。
Of course we don't touch or disturb anything. Not only is this a gravesite, it's part of an ongoing archaeological study. We can look but we definitely cannot touch.
我们当然不会碰或弄乱任何东西，这不仅是一个墓穴，也是正在进行的考古研究的一部分。我们可以看，但绝不能碰。
There are easily dozens of bodies at the bottom of this cenote, and I have to wonder what was happening here.
在这个天然井的底部很容易就能找到几十具尸体，我想知道这里发生过什么。
Were these people sacrificed to the Gods? Or were they simply people who died and were buried here?
这些人是不是用来祭祀的祭品？还是他们只是死后被埋葬在这？
What amazes me about this place is the preservation of the bones, which are at least 1,000 years old.
这里让我感到惊讶的是那些保存了至少1000年的骨头，
If only these bones could talk, what would they tell us about life in the pre-Columbian Maya culture?
如果这些骨头能说话，他们会告诉我们关于哥伦布发现美洲大陆以前的玛雅文化的生活吗？
Jeff and Aaron direct me to a shelf on the wall at 90 feet. There, resting peacefully, the remains of two people.
杰夫和亚伦把我引到墙上90英尺高的架子处。在那里，有两具安息的人类尸体。
Did they know each other? Is their proximity a coincidence? How did they get on this shelf? All questions that will likely never be answered.
他们互相认识吗？他们这么接近是巧合吗？他们怎么爬到那个架子上的？所有问题都不可能有答案了。
Nearby, a jaw with molars that have cavities. What can be learned of the ancient Mayans from clues like this?
在附近有一个臼齿上有空洞的颌骨，从这样的线索中能了解到古代玛雅人的什么呢？
But not everything down here is about death.
但并不是这里所有的东西都和死亡有关。
This cenote has some of the most prolific cave fauna I have ever seen, including many blind cavefish and a species of cave isopod.
这座天然井拥有我见过的最丰富的洞穴动物群，包括许多看不见的洞穴鱼和一种洞穴等足类动物。
I have never seen before.
我以前从没见过。
With the dive coming to an end, we slowly ascend and finally surface into the pitch darkness of the cenote.
潜水接近尾声，我们慢慢向上游，最后浮出水面，进入黑暗的天然井。
That was the spookiest dive of my life and I'm definitely ready to get back to the sunlit world above.
那是我一生中最诡异的一次潜水，我准备好回到上面阳光普照的世界了。
Elmer, Felipe and Carlos have to lift each of us, and all of our gear, out with a block and tackle. It's hard work and these guys are stronger than they look!
埃尔默、费利佩和卡洛斯必须用拦网和滑车把我们和所有的装备都提上去。这很费力，这些人比他们看起来更强壮！
Hi guys! Thanks for hoisting me up!
大家好！谢谢你们把我弄上来！
Merida Mexico is not particularly close to the ocean, but the vast network of unexplored cenotes nearby
墨西哥梅里达临海洋并不近，但附近那些未开发的巨大天然井网络
and the rich Mayan history of the area makes it one of the most fascinating dive destinations I have ever visited.
和丰富的玛雅历史，使它成为我造访过的最迷人的潜水目的地之一。
Without question, I'll be back to explore more cenotes.
毫无疑问，我会回来探索更多的天然井。
Who knows what secrets they hold in their deep blue depths.
谁知道在它们那深蓝的洞水深处藏着什么秘密。
