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Spindly trees, rusted gates, crumbling stone, a solitary mourner -- these things come to mind when we think of cemeteries.
细长的树木，生锈的大门，摇摇欲坠的石头，孤独的哀悼者--当我们想到墓地时，这些景象常常会浮现在脑海中。
But not so long ago, many burial grounds were lively places, with blooming gardens and crowds of people strolling among the headstones.
但不久之前，许多墓地都是热闹的地方，百花盛开，攒动的人群漫步在墓碑之间。
How did our cemeteries become what they are today?
我们的墓地是如何演变成今天的样子的？
Some have been around for centuries, like the world's largest, Wadi al-Salaam, where more than five million people are buried.
有些已经存在了几个世纪，比如世界上最大的Wadial-Salaam墓地，那里埋葬了五百万余人。
But most of the places we'd recognize as cemeteries are much younger.
但现今广为人知的大多数墓地一般没有如此久远的历史。
In fact, for much of human history, we didn't bury our dead at all.
事实上，人类历史的大部分时间里，我们根本没有将死者埋葬。
Our ancient ancestors had many other ways of parting with the dead loved ones.
我们的古代祖先有许多其他方式与死去的亲人分别。
Some were left in caves, others in trees or on mountaintops.
有的将死者留在洞穴里，有些留在树上，或是山顶上。
Still others were sunk in lakes, put out to sea, ritually cannibalized, or cremated.
还有一些沉入湖中，或者投入海中，或者举行仪式吃掉死者，或者火化。
All of these practices, though some may seem strange today, were ways of venerating the dead.
所有这些做法，虽然有些在今天看起来很奇怪，却是当时对死者表示尊重的方式。
By contrast, the first known burials about 120,000 years ago were likely reserved for transgressors,
相比之下，最早为人所知的埋葬，在大约12万年前，很可能仅限于对违法违规者施用，
excluding them from the usual rites intended to honor the dead.
旨在将他们排除在纪念死者的常规仪式之外。
But the first burials revealed some advantages over other practices:
但最初的埋葬揭示了一些优于其他做法的优势：
they protected bodies from scavengers and the elements, while shielding loved ones from the sight of decay.
即保护尸体免受食腐动物和自然力量的侵害，同时免使亲人们目睹尸体腐烂。
These benefits may have shifted ancient people's thinking toward graves designed to honor the dead, and burial became more common.
这些利处可能已经改变了古人对于旨在纪念死者的坟墓的想法，埋葬变得更加普遍。
Sometimes, these graves contained practical or ritual objects, suggesting belief in an afterlife
有时候，这些坟墓包含着实用或祭祀的物件，暗示对死后世界的信仰，死者可能需要这样的工具。
Communal burials first appeared in North Africa and West Asia around 10 to 15,000 years ago,
公共的埋葬首先出现在北非和西亚，大约1万年前或1万五千年前，
around the same time as the first permanent settlements in these areas.
和这些区域最早的永久定居点出现时间大致相同。
These burial grounds created permanent places to commemorate the dead.
这些墓地建造了纪念死者的永久性场所。
The nomadic Scythians littered the steppes with grave mounds known as kurgans.
游牧塞西亚人在草原上散落着坟墩，人们称之为墓穴。
The Etruscans built expansive necropoles, their grid-patterned streets lined with tombs.
伊特鲁里亚人建造了广阔的墓地，他们网格图案的街道两旁排列着墓穴。
In Rome, subterranean catacombs housed both cremation urns and intact remains.
在罗马，地下墓穴安放着火葬瓮和完整的遗骸。
The word cemetery, or "sleeping chamber," was first used by ancient Greeks, who built tombs in graveyards at the edges of their cities.
“墓地”这个词，或者叫作“睡房”，是古希腊人最早使用的词，他们在位于城市边缘的墓地建造墓穴。
In medieval European cities, Christian churchyards provided rare, open spaces that accommodated the dead, but also hosted markets, fairs, and other events.
在中世纪的欧洲城市，基督教教堂院内提供很罕见的开放空间，用以容纳死者，但它也是集市、集会和其它活动的场所。
Farmers even grazed cattle in them, believing graveyard grass made for sweeter milk.
农民甚至在那里牧牛，认为墓地草产出的牛奶更甜。
As cities grew during the industrial revolution, large suburban cemeteries replaced smaller urban churchyards.
随着城市在工业革命期间的发展，大型郊区公墓取代了较小的城市教堂院落墓地。
Cemeteries like the 110-acre Père-Lachaise in Paris
比如巴黎110英亩的Père-Lachaise墓地，
or the 72-acre Mt. Auburn in Cambridge, Massachusetts were lushly landscaped gardens filled with sculpted stones and ornate tombs.
还有马萨诸塞州剑桥市72英亩的奥本山墓地，都是郁郁葱葱的园景花园，拥有无数雕刻的石头和华丽的墓穴。
Once a luxury reserved for the rich and powerful, individually marked graves became available to the middle and working classes.
曾为权势阶层特权的奢侈墓地，后来中产阶层和工人阶级亦可享用。
People visited cemeteries for funerals, but also for anniversaries, holidays, or simply an afternoon outdoors.
人们来墓地不仅为了参加葬礼，而且纪念日和假期也来，或者只是下午到墓地走走。
By the late 19th century, as more public parks and botanical gardens appeared, cemeteries began to lose visitors.
到了19世纪末，随着更多的公共公园和植物园的出现，公墓开始失去了光顾者。
Today, many old cemeteries are lonely places.
今天，许多古老的墓地成了孤独的地方。
Some are luring visitors back with tours, concerts, and other attractions.
有些墓地通过举办游览、音乐会及其他盛会，吸引参观者们回来。
But even as we revive old cemeteries, we're rethinking the future of burial.
但即使我们使以往的墓地复兴，也在重新思考今后埋葬的问题。
Cities like London, New York, and Hong Kong are running out of burial space.
伦敦、纽约和香港这样的城市，几乎没有再建墓地的土地了。
Even in places where space isn't so tight, cemeteries permanently occupy land that can't be otherwise cultivated or developed.
即使在土地不那么紧缺的地方，公墓永久占用土地，一经占用，便不能再进行耕种或开发。
Traditional burial consumes materials like metal, stone, and concrete, and can pollute soil and groundwater with toxic chemicals.
传统的墓葬消耗材料，比如金属、石头和混凝土，而且会使土壤和地下水受到有毒化学物质的污染。
With increasing awareness of the environmental costs, people are seeking alternatives.
随着环境成本意识的增强，人们正在寻找其他选择。
Many are turning to cremation and related practices.
许多人更倾向于火葬和相关做法。
Along with these more conventional practices, people can now have their remains shot into space,
除了这些较为传统的做法，人们现在可以将他们的遗体射入太空，
used to fertilize a tree, or made into jewelry, fireworks, and even tattoo ink.
或者用来给树木施肥，或将其制成珠宝、烟花、甚至纹身墨汁。
In the future, options like these may replace burial completely.
将来，诸如此类选择可能会完全替换墓葬。
Cemeteries may be our most familiar monuments to the departed,
墓地可能是我们对逝者最熟悉的纪念地，
but they're just one step in our ever-evolving process of remembering and honoring the dead.
然而，这只是我们缅怀祭奠死者的不断进化过程中向前迈出的一步。
