EXPLORATIONS – Satellite Photos of Mayan Ruins

EXPLORATIONS – Satellite Photos of Mayan Ruins
By Paul Thompson

Broadcast: Wednesday, February 09, 2005

Paul Thompson

VOICE ONE:

I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Scientists are using the most modern space satellites to solve one of the great mysteries of the ancient world.

 
The ruins of Tikal, one of the great Mayan cities. (All Pictures - NASA)
Our report today begins more than one thousand years ago. Travel with us back in time to learn about the Mayan civilization. Our trip begins in the year eight hundred twenty-five. We are in an area near the border between modern Mexico and Guatemala.

VOICE ONE:

We are in the Mayan city of Tikal. The city has huge buildings made of stone. The morning sun makes the smooth, white stone shine brightly. One of the huge buildings is used for religious ceremonies. It is the temple to the Rain God Chac (chalk). The Rain God demands human blood or he will withhold¹ the rain needed to grow crops. The Mayans kill captured² enemies at the top of Chac's temple to please this fierce god.

Mayan scientists use another huge building to study the stars. They use this building and similar ones in other cities to make the Mayan calendar. This calendar correctly shows the seasons and the number of days in the year. Farmers use this calendar to plant crops during the best season for growing. Religious leaders use the calendar to help decide when to hold religious ceremonies.

VOICE TWO:

Thousands of people are in Tikal. Many farmers have come to the city to sell their crops. Many workers make pots or clothing. Others make buildings of stone.

Religious leaders are walking toward³ a temple. A member of the Mayan royal family is being carried in a large chair. He is followed by large groups of fierce Mayan soldiers. They wear bird feathers and animal skins. They carry dangerous weapons.

The city of Tikal is large. Its center is surrounded by many thousands of homes. The city stretches for several kilometers in many directions. The Mayan people who built Tikal had a very successful civilization.

The people do not know that their civilization will disappear very soon. The people will be gone. The soldiers with their fierce weapons will be gone. The royal family will be gone.

Nothing will remain but the huge stone buildings. In time, thick jungle will cover them, and they will become homes for birds and monkeys. The huge city will be empty.

VOICE ONE:

Many years before European explorers arrived in the western hemisphere⁵, the Maya lived in the area that is now southern Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. Explorers have discovered many of the great cities the Maya left behind. Tikal is one of the largest and most beautiful. But there are many others.

Within these cities, scientists found evidence of a complex written language, advanced mathematics, astronomy⁶ and beautiful works⁷ of art. But they could never find good evidence about what happened to the Mayan civilization.

What forced these people to leave their homes and their beautiful cities? Could it have been wars? A lack of food? Disease⁸? Recently, part of the answer to this question has come from satellites in orbit⁹ around the Earth.

VOICE TWO:

NASA scientists Tom Sever⁴ (SEE-ver) and Dan Irwin are experts in the history of the Maya. Mister¹⁰ Sever and Mister Irwin have been working to understand the history of the Maya and their natural environment. They believe that history may hold important lessons for people living in the same areas today.

Mister Sever, Mister Irwin and other scientists hope to help governments and people in the areas continue to live there. The scientists hope that by learning¹¹ from the Maya, people today will not make the mistakes that caused the Mayan civilization to fail.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Sever has found that by the year nine hundred fifty the huge Mayan population was gone. He believes as many as ninety to ninety-five percent of the Maya population died. The archeologist is using NASA satellites and weather information to study the soil in the area and the ancient Mayan cities for evidence.

He is trying to solve the mystery by studying pollen¹² -- extremely small particles¹³ produced by seed plants. He says soil from deep in the earth shows no evidence of any pollen from trees during the time just before the Mayan civilization ended. He says this is one piece of evidence to show why the Maya failed.

He says soil experts found only pollen from weeds and other small plants. Mister Sever says the Maya had always cut down huge amounts of forest. They used the wood for building. They burned it to cook food. They also burned large amounts of wood in extremely hot fires to work with a kind of stone. They used the stone to make floors. In time, the trees disappeared.

VOICE TWO:

 
Destruction¹⁴ of forests can be seen from Space. 
The loss of many trees led to loss of soil. Fertile¹⁵ topsoil washed into areas that had once been lakes. Evidence shows that the loss of trees may also have caused an increase in the area's temperature. The increase in heat caused water to disappear. Warmer temperatures also dried out the land. Rising temperatures also may have caused changes in rainfall. These actions all caused a decrease in the crops the Maya could harvest. A loss of food may have led to wars among the Mayan groups.

VOICE ONE:

The ancient city of Tikal is near an area of wetlands. About forty percent of the land used by the Maya were wetlands. Mayan cities were built on or very near these wetlands.

Rain soaks¹⁶ the soil in these wetlands during the rainy season now, much as it did during the Mayan period. This land was extremely important to their environment and survival¹⁷. The Maya learned¹⁸ to save huge amounts of water to be used during the growing season. Modern satellite photographs shows evidence that the Maya built a series of small waterways called canals. Mister Sever believes they may have done so to control, save and reuse rainwater so they could grow crops during the dry season.

VOICE TWO:

Archeologist Tom Sever says experts used to argue about what caused the Maya to fail. Was it wars, lack of food, disease or political problems? He says scientists now think that all of these things led to failure. But these problems were all the result of a severe lack of water. A natural period of less rain and the cutting of trees reduced their water supply.

Trees began to grow again after the failure of the Mayan civilization. The trees and the jungle covered their huge ancient cities.

VOICE ONE:

Tom Sever studies the ancient Maya. What he has learned has caused great concern about what could happen to the population now living in the same area. This area includes southern Mexico, northern Guatemala and Belize. Farming in these areas is done by a method called slash¹⁹ and burn. Farmers cut down trees or burn them and then plant crops.

The soil is very rich for the first year of planting. But the soil becomes less rich during the second year then becomes poor the next year. Farmers then move deeper into the forest and again cut down or burn the trees to make room for planting new crops. Mister Sever says modern equipment has made it much easier to cut down trees more quickly.

VOICE TWO:

 
Severe deforestation on the Mexican side of the border with Guatemala. 
Mister Sever has used satellites to show how slash and burn farming is affecting the Earth. For example, satellite images show part of the border between Guatemala and Mexico. Most political borders are invisible²⁰ in satellite images. But these photographs show a sharp line between areas of rain forest and farmed areas. The rainforest still exists in Guatemala. But it stops at the Mexican border where the trees have been cut down for farming.

Mister Sever says the governments of the nations involved must take steps to protect the environment or they will suffer problems in the future. He and other scientists are now working with the Guatemalan Ministry²¹ of Agriculture to find areas in the ancient Mayan wetlands with good soil.

They also are considering planting test crops in those areas. They hope to bring water to the crops using the same method the Maya did – by building canals. Mister Sever says learning from the Maya is extremely important for the future of this area of the world. He says modern farmers should use those methods that worked well for the Maya and not make the same mistakes that caused the failure of their civilization.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced by Mario Ritter. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

1 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

2 captured   

俘获( capture的过去式和过去分词 )； 夺取； 夺得； 引起（注意、想像、兴趣）

参考例句：

• Allied troops captured over 300 enemy soldiers. 盟军俘虏了300多名敌方士兵。
• Most of the rebels were captured and disarmed. 大部分叛乱分子被俘获并解除了武装。

3 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

4 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。

5 hemisphere   

n.半球，半球地图

参考例句：

• This animal is to be found only in the Southern Hemisphere.这种动物只有在南半球才能找到。
• In most people,the left hemisphere is bigger than the right.多数人的左脑比右脑大。

6 astronomy   

n.天文学

参考例句：

• Mathematics is connected with astronomy.数学与天文学有联系。
• Astronomy is an abstract subject.天文学是一门深奥的学科。

7 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

8 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

9 orbit   

n.轨道；vt.使沿轨道运行；使进入轨道运行；vi.沿轨道运行，环行

参考例句：

• The space rocket was launched and went into orbit.宇宙火箭发射后进入轨道。
• We can draw the earth's orbit round the sun.我们可以画出地球绕太阳运行的轨迹。

10 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

11 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

12 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

13 particles   

微粒( particle的名词复数 )； 颗粒； 极少量； 小品词

参考例句：

• These small particles agglomerate together to form larger clusters. 这些颗粒聚结形成较大的团。
• The nucleus of an atom consists of neutrons, protons and other particles. 原子核由中子、质子和其他粒子构成。

14 destruction   

n.破坏，毁灭，消灭

参考例句：

• The enemy bombs caused widespread destruction.敌人的炸弹造成大面积的破坏。
• Overconfidence was his destruction.自负是他垮台的原因。

15 fertile   

adj.肥沃的，富饶的；多产的，丰产的

参考例句：

• The district is fertile of wheat.该地区盛产小麦。
• Plants grow well in fertile soil.植物在肥沃的土壤里长势良好。

16 soaks   

v.浸( soak的第三人称单数 )；泡；浸透；湿透

参考例句：

• Sponge soaks up water. 海绵吸水。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• That child soaks up new facts like a sponge! 那孩子吸收新知识像海绵似的！ 来自辞典例句

17 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

18 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

19 slash   

vi.大幅度削减；vt.猛砍，尖锐抨击，大幅减少；n.猛砍，斜线，长切口，衣衩

参考例句：

• The shop plans to slash fur prices after Spring Festival.该店计划在春节之后把皮货降价。
• Don't slash your horse in that cruel way.不要那样残忍地鞭打你的马。

20 invisible   

adj.看不见的，无形的

参考例句：

• The air is full of millions of invisible germs.空气中充满了许多看不见的细菌。
• Many stars are invisible without a telescope.许多星辰不用望远镜便看不见。

21 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。