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A cemetery dating back roughly 1,700 yearshas been discovered along part of the Silk Road, a series of ancient trade routes that once connected China to the Roman Empire.
在絲綢之路上找到了一個1700年歷史之久的墓地。絲綢之路是一系列的古代貿易路線，曾經鏈接著中國和羅馬帝國。
The cemetery was found in the city of Kucha, which is located in present-day northwest China. Ten tombs were excavated, seven of which turned out to be large brick structures.
這個墓地在如今中國西北部的庫車縣被找到。已經有10個墳墓被挖掘出土，其中7個是大型的磚石結構。
One tomb, dubbed "M3," contained carvings of several mythicalcreatures, including four that represent different seasons and parts of the heavens: the White Tiger of the West, the Vermilion Bird of the South, the Black Turtle of the North and the Azure Dragon of the East.
其中一本被標上"M3"的墳墓里包含有神獸的雕刻，其中有四只代表一年四季以及天堂的各個部分：西邊的白虎，南邊的朱紅鳥，北邊的黑龜，東邊的青龍。
The M3 tomb also "consists of a burialmound, ramp, sealed gate, tomb entrance, screen walls, passage, burial chamberand side chamber" the researchers wrote in a report published recently inthe journalChinese Cultural Relics.
這個M3墳墓還包含有一座古墳，斜坡，密封的門，墳墓入口，屏風的墻，過道，墓室，以及偏殿，研究人員最近在《中國文化遺跡》雜志上寫到。
The cemetery was first found in July 2007and was excavated by the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology,with assistance from local authorities. The research team, led by Zhiyong Yu,director of the Xinjiang Archaeological Institute, published the findings in Chinese in the journal Wenwu. The article was recently translated into Englishand published in the journal Chinese Cultural Relics.
這座墓地在2007年7月份的時候首次被發現，由新疆文化遺產和考古研究院負責開挖，挖掘工作得到當地政府的支持。研究團隊將他們的發現發表在了中國的期刊《文物》上。這篇文章最近被翻譯成英語，并發布在了《中國文化遺跡》雜志上。
Who was buried here?
誰被埋葬在這里？
The identity of the people buried in the cemetery is a mystery. The cemetery had been robbed in the past and no writing was found that indicates the names of those buried or their positions in life.
墓地主人的身份依然是個迷。這座墓地曾經被盜過，而且墓地中沒有任何的文字記錄來表明這些死者的名字以及他們的職位。
The seven large brick tombs were likelyconstructed for people of wealth, the researchers said.
研究人員說，其中那7個磚石結構的墳墓可能是為富人建造的。
But, when the skeletal remains were analyzed, the researchers found that the tombs had been reused multiple times. Some of the tombs contain more than 10 occupants, and the"repeated multiple burials warrant further study," the researcherswrote.
但是在對遺骸進行分析后，研究人員發現這些墳墓被重復利用了多次。有些墳墓中包括有10多個的死者，多次的重復埋葬有待于進一步的研究，研究人員寫到。
City on the Silk Road
絲綢之路上的城市
The excavators think the cemetery datesback around 1,700 years, to a time when Kucha was vital to controlling the Western Frontiers (Xiyu) of China. Since the SilkRoad trade routes passed through the Western Frontiers, control of this key region was important to China's rulers.
挖掘者認為這個墓地可追溯到1700年前，在當時的中國，庫車在控制西部前線（西域）上扮演著關鍵的角色。由于絲綢之路的路線有經過西域，所以控制這個關鍵的區域對中國統治者來說是非常重要的。
"In ancient times, Kucha was called Qiuci in Chinese literature. It was a powerful city-state in the oasis of the Western Frontiers" the researchers wrote.
“在古代，庫車的名字在中國文學中叫做龜茲，是建立在西域綠洲上的一個非常強大的城邦，研究人員寫到。
For the dynasties that flourished in China around 1,700 years ago "the conquest and effective governance of Kucha would enable them to control all the oasis city-states in the Western Frontiers," the researchers said.
研究人員寫到，對于1700年前的中國朝代來說，如果能征服并有效的管理龜茲的話，那么他們就能夠控制住西域所有的綠洲城邦。
In fact, one ancient saying was, "ifyou have Kucha, only one percent of the states in the Western Frontiers remain unsubmissive."
實際上，有一句俗語就是這樣說的：“如果你擁有了龜茲，那么西域99%的城邦都會服從你。”
Chinese Cultural Relics is a new journal that translates Chinese-language articles, originally published in the journal Wenwu, into English. The discovery of the 1,700-year-old cemetery was included in its inaugural issue.
《中國文化遺跡》雜志是一本新創立的期刊，專門把發表在《文物》雜志上的原創文章翻譯成英文。其創刊號上就發表了這座1700年墓地的發現。
