3.23 阅读 GOG P368

joanwong

green OG P368

Archaeology as a profession faces two majorproblems. First, it is the poorest of the poor. Only paltry sums are availablefor excavating and even less is available for publishing the results andpreserving the sites once excavated. Yet archaeologists deal with pricelessobjects every day. Second, there is the problem of illegal excavation,resulting in museum-quality pieces being sold to the highest bidder.

考古学作为门专业面临着两个主要的问题。首先，它及其贫穷。只有微不足道的款项用来支持考古发掘，也只有更少的款项用于出版研究成果并保护已发掘的遗址。然而考古学家却每天都在和价值连城的文物打交道。其次，就是非法挖掘的问题，这一问题带来的后果就是将博物馆品质的文物卖给出价最高的人。

I would like to make an outrageous suggestionthat would at one stroke provide funds for archaeology and reduce the amount ofillegal digging. I would propose that scientific archaeological expeditions andgovernmental authorities sell excavated artifacts on the open market. Suchsales would provide substantial funds for the excavation and preservation ofarchaeological sites and the publication of results. At the same time, theywould break the illegal excavator’s grip on the market, thereby decreasing the inducement to engage inillegal activities.

我想提出一个反常的建议，这个建议将一举为考古学提供资金并减少非法挖掘。我建议科学考古队和政府部门在公开的市场上出售考古发掘的文物。这种买卖可以为考古发掘、保护已发掘的遗址以及出版研究成果提供必要的资金。同时，这也可以打破非法挖掘在市场上的根基，并最终降低从事非法行为的诱惑。

You might object that professionals excavate toacquire knowledge, not money. Moreover, ancient artifacts are part of ourglobal cultural heritage, which should be available for all to appreciate, notsold to the highest bidder. I agree. Sell nothing that has unique artisticmerit or scientific value. But, you might reply, everything that comes out ofthe ground has scientific value. Here we part company. Theoretically, you maybe correct in claiming that every artifact has potential scientific value.Practically, you are wrong.

你可能会反对：职业考古为的求知，而不是金钱。而且，古代文物也是我们全世界人类的文化遗产，是该让我们所有人一同欣赏的，而不是只属于出价最高的那个人。我同意这点。那些具有独特艺术价值和科学价值的文物当然不能用于出售。但是你可能会回答：每一样出土的文物一定都有它的科学价值所在。但实际上，你错了。

I refer to the thousands of pottery vessels andancient lamps that are essentially duplicates of one another. In one smallexcavation in Cyprus, archaeologists recently uncovered 2,000 virtuallyindistinguishable small jugs in a single courtyard. Even precious royal sealimpressions known as l’melekh handles have beenfound in abundance —more than 4,000 examples so far.

我指的是那些成百上千的陶器和古灯的复制品。近期，在塞浦路斯的一次小型发掘活动中，考古学家们仅仅在一个庭院中就挖掘出了2000个几乎一模一样的小壶。甚至是被称为I'melekh手柄的宝贵的王室印章也至今被挖掘出超过4000个复制品。

The basements of museums are simply not largeenough to store the artifacts that are likely to be discovered in the future.There is not enough money even to catalog the finds; as a result, they cannotbe found again and become as inaccessible as if they had never been discovered.Indeed, with the help of a computer, sold artifacts could be more accessiblethan are the pieces stored in bulging museum basements. Prior to sale, eachcould be photographed and the list of the purchasers could be maintained on thecomputer. A purchaser could even be required to agree to return the piece if itshould become needed for scientific purposes.

博物馆的地下室根本没有足够大的空间来储存未来可能被发掘的文物。甚至没有足够的资金来将发掘的文物分门别类，这样一来，他们就难以再次被找到，他们就像从没被挖掘出来一样难以接近。事实上，有了计算机的帮助，那些被卖出的文物可能比储藏在博物馆拥挤不堪的地下室里更容易被人们欣赏到。在出售前，每件文物都会被拍照，和买者的名单一起保存在计算机里。甚至当某件文物需要用作科学研究时，买者也必须同意归还文物。

It would be unrealistic to suggest that illegaldigging would stop if artifacts were sold on the open market. But the demandfor the clandestine product would be substantially reduced. Who would want anunmarked pot when another was available whose provenance was known, and thatwas dated stratigraphically by the professional archaeologist who excavated it?

通过在公开市场出售文物来阻止非法挖掘的建议是不切实际的。但市场上对于来历不明的文物的需求将会大幅减少。毕竟当我们能从正规渠道买到知根知底的文物（并且这件文物还是由挖掘出它的专业考古学家通过地层情况定位出它的生产年代）时，谁还会愿意花钱买一件来历不明真假难辨的陶罐呢？

PIE structure

第一段：

point：考古学面临两个问题

illustrate：这两个问题是资金不够和市场上非法挖掘盛行

第二段：

point：我想提出一个解决以上俩问题的建议：考古队和政府在公开市场上出售正规渠道的文物

illustrate：卖出的钱可以提供一系列资金，这种买卖机制同时也可以使非法挖掘出的文物在市场上无机可乘

第三段：

point：只出售那些没有特殊艺术和科学价值的出土物（并不是没见出土物都具有科学价值）

第四段：

point：其实很多出土物都只是一些珍贵文物曾经的复制品，他们数量很多

examples：近日在塞浦路斯的考古活动中，仅在一个庭院里就挖掘出了2000多个一模一样的壶；同时有一种很珍贵的皇家印章也被挖掘出过4000多个复制品

第五段：

point：有了计算机的帮助，文物出售比堆放在博物馆地下室里更好

illustrate：首先，博物馆地下室堆满了各种文物，还要为未来可能出土的文物留位置，所以很多文物一旦放进博物馆地下室就再难被找出来；其次，卖出的文物和买者的名单都在计算机里保存着，需要的时候随时可以要求买者归还

第六段：

point：政府公开出售考古发掘的文物虽然并不能制止非法挖掘，但至少让非法文物的市场需求减少

illustrate：非法文物来历不明，而政府出售的文物都有明确的标签：通过挖掘出它的专家鉴定，并且明确标注了文物的来源。在同等情况下，买家当然会买正规渠道的文物。