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Researchers diving into dark submerged caves under Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula found the remains of an ancient mining operation.
研究人员潜入墨西哥尤卡坦半岛下黑暗的水下洞穴，发现了一个古代采矿作业的遗迹。
Prehistory still holds many mysteries for researchers. The mine is one of those discoveries that opens doors and windows to that remote past.
史前史对研究人员来说仍然有许多谜团。这座矿场的发现为遥远的过去打开了一扇门窗。
It is extraordinary what these CINDAQ explorers found within these flooded passages: evidence of mining 10-thousand-years ago.
“CINDAQ”探险家们在这些被淹没的通道中发现的东西非同寻常：一万年前采矿的证据。
Roberto Junico is a Deputy Director at Mexico's National Institute of Anthropology and History.
罗伯托·朱尼科是墨西哥国家人类学和历史研究所的副主任。
He applauds researchers from CINDAQ who discovered an ochre-mining operation that started 12-thousand-years ago.
他为来自“CINDAQ”的研究人员鼓掌，他们发现了一个始于1.2万年前的赭石采矿。
CINDAQ is the Spanish acronym of the Research Center for the Aquifer System of Quintana Roo, the Mexican state that is home to Cancun.
“CINDAQ”是“金塔纳罗奥州含水层系统研究中心”的西班牙语缩写，金塔纳罗奥州是墨西哥的一个州，位于坎昆市。
It already allows us to begin to understand some of the dynamics of these early societies. What were they doing with this ochre?
它已经让我们开始了解这些早期社会的一些动态。他们拿这赭石干什么？
Ochre is a naturally-occurring, mustard-colored pigment made of sand or clay mixed with an iron oxide. Its color and properties made it popular at the time.
赭石是一种天然的芥末色颜料，由沙子或粘土与氧化铁混合而成。它的颜色和特性使它在当时很受欢迎。
They used it to paint themselves as some African tribes do today. They used it for medicine, because ochre fights bacteria.
他们用它来粉刷自己，就像今天的一些非洲部落一样。他们把它用作药物，因为赭石能抗菌。
They used it for symbolism. I love to think that this ochre was the beginning of the first artistic manifestations.
他们用它来象征。我喜欢认为这赭石是第一次艺术表现的开始。
Researchers found tools like hammerstones and piledrivers made of stalagmites.
研究人员发现了石笋做成的锤子和打桩机等工具。
They explored seven kilometers in more than 100 dives to find this abandoned mine
为了找到这个废弃的矿井，他们在100多次潜水中探索了7公里
likely submerged eight-thousand-years ago amid rising sea levels following the last Ice Age.
可能是在八千年前，在上一次冰河时代之后海平面上升的情况下被淹没的。
Arash Arabasadi, VOA new, Washington
阿拉什·阿坝莎迪，VOA新闻华盛顿报道
