建筑工人无意中发现了康涅狄格的古迹

建筑工人无意中发现了康涅狄格的古迹

They were building a bridge when they happened to dig up history.

他们正在修建一座桥时，碰巧发现了历史。

Connecticut Department of Transportation crews were excavating the site of a new bridge in January 2019 when they came upon evidence of southern New England’s oldest humans, dating back 12,500 years, the Hartford Courant reports.

据《哈特福德报》报道，康涅狄格州交通部的工作人员在2019年1月挖掘一座新桥的遗址时，发现了新英格兰南部最古老的人类存在的证据，其历史可以追溯到12500年前。

Archaeologists had long suspected there may be ancient remnants beneath the soil by Avon’s Old Farms Road, but didn’t have the money to excavate it themselves. In the process of building a bridge over the area’s Farmington River, state workers found them.

长期以来，考古学家一直怀疑雅芳农场老路的土壤下可能有古代遗迹，但他们自己没有钱去挖掘。在建造法明顿河上的一座桥的过程中，州工作人员找到了他们。

“This is the once-in-lifetime opportunity to look [at a site of this age] in Connecticut,” State Historic Preservation Office staff archaeologist Catherine Labadia tells the Courant of the site, which is estimated to be more than 12,000 years old and date back to the Paleoindian Period. “This site has the potential to make us understand the first peopling of Connecticut in a way we haven’t been able to.”

国家历史保护办公室的考古学家Catherine Labadia告诉《新闻报》:“这是一个千年一遇的机会，让我们来看看康涅狄格的(这个时代的遗址)。”“这个网站有潜力让我们了解康涅狄格州的第一批居民，而这是我们以前无法做到的。”

The $14.7 million project unearthed prized evidence of human activity roughly six feet beneath the surface, showing “traces” of evidence regarding human behavior, archaeologist David Leslie says, including holes, walls, a hearth and house posts from temporary dwellings.

考古学家大卫·莱斯利表示，这项耗资1470万美元的工程发掘出了地表下约6英尺深处人类活动的珍贵证据，显示了与人类行为有关的“证据痕迹”，包括临时住所的洞、墙、壁炉和门柱。

And in addition to being ancient, the relics found are also vast. Leslie, who led the dig, says roughly 15,000 artifacts and 27 features — which are more highly valued — turned up at the site.

除了古老，发现的遗迹也很巨大。领导这次发掘的莱斯利说，大约有1万5千件文物和27件文物在现场找到，这些文物的价值更高。

While the bridge-building project wasn’t intended to uncover history, it’s quite common that construction reveals museum-worthy finds, experts say.

专家们说，虽然修建这座桥的目的并不是为了揭示历史，但很常见的情况是，修建这座桥的过程中会发现一些有博物馆价值的古物。

The discovered artifacts and historic landmark have been named the Dr. Brian D. Jones Paleoindian Site, in honor of a late archaeologist who worked on the site and lost his battle with cancer in July 2019.

这些被发现的文物和历史地标被命名为布莱恩·d·琼斯博士古印第安人遗址，以纪念一位已故的考古学家，他曾在该遗址工作，并在2019年7月输掉了与癌症的战斗。

“Brian had a feeling that there could be the potential for archaeology here,” says Leslie.

莱斯利说:“布莱恩觉得这里可能有考古的潜力。”

“It was almost like a gift that was given to him,” says Labadia.

“这几乎就是给他的一份礼物。”Labadia说。