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The site was once a spring-fed pond, full of water.
這片區域過去是泉水供養的池塘，有充足的水源。
Mammoths were tempted in to drink.
猛犸象就曾經嘗試過到此飲水。
But when they tried to climb back out, the banks were steep and slippery.
但當它往回爬的時候，河堤又陡又滑。
Just like the short-faced bear imprisoned underground, some became trapped.
像被困在地下的短面熊一樣，有些猛犸象也被困住了。
Scavengers would have been attracted by the mammoths' plight.
這會吸引食腐動物（來吃）。
The bones of wolf, coyote, and the short-faced bear have also been recovered from the dried-up sediment.
河水干涸的時候狼，郊狼和短面熊的尸體會露出來。
The search for food was probably their death pool,too.
池塘成了他們到河邊覓食的死亡地。
These prairie ponds are like time capsules. And they store another kind of data, showing how the plains have changed across millennia.
這些大草原池塘就像時間膠囊一樣。它們也留存了另一樣數據，即記錄了大草原幾千年來是怎樣變化的。
Each spring, pollen from nearby plants is blown into the water.
每年春天，附近的花粉被風吹入池塘。
It sinks and settles layer upon layer on the bottom, building into a data bank of local plant life that we can still read today.
它們在池塘底部落了一層又一層，形成了本地植物的數據庫，使我們今天仍能品讀研究。
And grass pollens aren’t the only clue still sandwiched in the sediment.
然而，這些沉積物中的植物花粉并不是尋找古植物痕跡的唯一線索。
There are a wide variety of tree pollens, too, from aspens, spruce and other trees, both coniferous and deciduous.
沉積物種還有很多其他植物的種子，比如白楊，云杉和其他針葉科和落葉科樹木。
