纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 051玛雅宫廷放血仪式浮雕（8）

Environmental factors are a popular explanation. There is some evidence of a prolonged drought, and given the density¹ of the population, the decline in resources a drought would cause could well have been catastrophic. But, in all events, the Maya people of course, did not vanish. Mayan settlements continued in a number of areas and a functioning Mayan society lasted right up to the Spanish Conquest.

Today there are about six million Mayans, and their sense of their heritage is strong. You have just heard the sound of a Maya uprising in 1994, when the Zapatista Army of National Liberation, as they call themselves, declared war on the Mexican State. Their independence movement profoundly shook modern Mexico. "We are in the new 'Time of the Mayas' ", a local play proclaimed, as statues of the Spanish conquistadors were toppled and beaten into rubble². Today, the Maya use their past to renegotiate their identity, and seek to restore their monuments and language to centre-stage in public life. New roads now open up access to the formerly³ "lost" cities. Yaxchilan, where our sculpture came from, used to be accessible only by light plane or a river trip across hundreds of miles, but since the 1990s it's just an hour's boat ride, and it's a big draw for tourists.

The disturbing image on our sculpture shows a powerful woman using self-mutilation to induce a vision of divinely ordained⁴ authority. In the next programme, we're going to be looking at an altogether more appealing aspect of privilege. We're moving from the politics of pain in Mexico to the politics of pleasure in the Middle East... to the world of the Arabian Nights.

1 density   

n.密集，密度，浓度

参考例句：

• The population density of that country is 685 per square mile.那个国家的人口密度为每平方英里685人。
• The region has a very high population density.该地区的人口密度很高。

2 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

4 ordained   

v.任命（某人）为牧师( ordain的过去式和过去分词 )；授予（某人）圣职；（上帝、法律等）命令；判定

参考例句：

• He was ordained in 1984. 他在一九八四年被任命为牧师。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was ordained priest. 他被任命为牧师。 来自辞典例句