VOA常速英语:Divers in Mexico Discover Ancient Mining Operation

Researchers diving into dark submerged caves under Mexicos 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，发现了一次古代采矿作业的遗迹。
Prehistory still holds many mysteries for researchers.
史前历史对研究人员来说仍然有许多谜团。
The mine is one of those discoveries that opens doors and windows to that remote past.
这个矿场是那些为遥远的过去敞开大门的发现之一。
It is extraordinary quite these CINDAQ explorers found within these flooded passages.
这些CINDAQ探险家在这些被洪水淹没的通道中的发现是相当不寻常的。
Evidence of mining ten thousand years ago.
这是一万年前采矿的证据。
Roberto Hunico is a deputy director of Mexicos National Institute of anthropology and history.
罗伯托·亨尼科是墨西哥国家人类学和历史研究所的副所长。
He applauds researchers from CINDAQ who discovered an ochre mining operation,that started 12,000 years ago.
他称赞来自CINDAQ的研究人员发现了始于一万两千年前的赭石开采作业。
CINDAQ is the Spanish acronym of the Research Center for the aquifer system of Quintana Roo.
CINDAQ是昆塔纳鲁奥含水层系统研究中心的西班牙语首字母缩写。
The Mexican state that is home to Cancun.
坎昆位于墨西哥的一个州内。
It already allows us to begin to understand some of the dynamics of those early societies.
它让我们开始了解那些早期社会的一些动态。
What were they doing with this ochre.
了解他们对这只赭石做了什么。
Ochre is a naturally occurring mustard colored pigment made of sand or clay mixed with an iron oxide.
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。
Its color and properties made it popular at the time.
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.
他们用它来在自己身上作画，就像今天一些非洲部落所做的那样。
They used it for medicine because ochre fights bacteria.
他们把它当药用，因为赭石可以对抗细菌。
They used it for symbolism.
他们用它来表示象征意义。
I love to think that this ochre was the beginning of the first artistic manifestations.
我喜欢把这只赭石看作是第一批艺术表现的开始。
Researchers found tools like hammer stones and piledrivers made of stalagmites.
研究人员发现了由石笋制成的锤子石和打桩机等工具。
They explored seven kilometers and more than 100 dives to find this abandoned mine,likely submerged 8,000 years ago amid rising sea levels following the last ice age.
他们进行了一百多次潜水，探索了七公里来寻找这个废弃的矿井，这个矿井很可能在八千年前在上一个冰河时代之后海平面上升的时候被淹没。
Arash Arabasadi VOA news Washington
美国之音记者Arash Arabasadi华盛顿报道