Ancient Geoglyph Destroyed by Amazon Farming

消失的“鬼斧神工”：农企破坏亚马逊古老地雕

 

Damage to the geoglyph on a farm in Brazil’s Acre state reveals the dangers agribusiness pose to Amazon heritage.

 

巴西阿克里州一农场的地雕遭到破坏，反映了农业企业对亚马逊地区历史遗迹造成的威胁。

 

For decades, researchers have been uncovering archaeological treasures that prove complex civilisations existed in the Brazilian Amazon before colonialism. Perhaps the most fascinating are the more than 500 ancient geoglyphs revealed in Acre state since the 1970s.

 

数十年来，研究人员一直在巴西亚马逊地区进行考古挖掘，大量考古珍品出土，推翻了殖民主义之前该地区不存在复杂文明的说法。其中最吸引人的历史遗迹或许是20世纪70年代以来在阿克里州发现的500多处古老的“地雕”（geoglyphs）。

 

But some of these enormous geometric designs, etched into or built onto the ground, have been destroyed even before scientists could learn about the civilisations behind them. At the end of last year, employees at Crixá farm levelled a geoglyph hundreds of square metres in size and thousands of years old to make way for grazing cattle and a corn plantation.

 

然而，还没等科学家们了解地面上这些巨大几何图案背后的文明，有些就已经被摧毁了。在本月初，为了给放牧和种植玉米腾出空间，一个数百平方米大小、拥有数千年历史的地雕被夷为平地。

 

The damage was only recently discovered during a routine analysis by palaeontologist Alceu Ranzi, who has researched the structures for 40 years.

 

去年年底，克里萨农场的雇员摧毁了该地雕，但直到最近，研究地雕已40年之久的古生物学家阿尔塞乌·兰兹（Alceu Ranzi）才在一次例行分析中发现地雕被毁的事实。

 

“This is a historical monument of importance for all humanity,” said Ranzi, lamenting the loss of a design he himself had discovered in 2001. Ranzi had described the geoglyph as “an open-air museum that in no way hinders the development of agribusiness in the region”.

 

兰兹说：“这对全人类来说是一个重要的历史遗迹。”他在2001年发现了这处遗迹，如今，失去它令他深感惋惜。他说“这是一个露天博物馆，根本不会妨碍该地区农业经济的发展”。

 

The geoglyph at Crixá farm, in Capixaba municipality, is not the first to succumb to the machines and agricultural expansion that are putting Acre’s heritage at risk in order to meet growing global demand for commodities like soy.

 

位于卡皮萨巴市克里萨农场的这处地雕并不是第一个被机械化农业扩张的滚滚车轮推平的历史遗迹。为了满足全球对大豆等大宗商品日益增长的需求，阿克里州的遗迹都有被破坏的风险。

 

A few years ago, two geoglyphs in the state were lost to road-building: one to the BR-317, which opens up the Amazonian municipality of Boca do Acre; and the other to the BR-364 in the municipality of Brasiléia, an important route for local agribusiness. In both cases, the geoglyphs were only discovered during the works.

 

几年前，该州修建道路导致两处地雕消失:一条是亚马逊地区博卡杜·阿克里市（Boca do Acre）通往外界的BR-317号公路；另一条则是对巴西利亚市当地农业企业非常重要的BR-364号公路。这两处地雕都是在道路作业过程中才发现的。

 

The destruction of archaeological sites by public works is common in Amazonia. In Pará state, indigenous Munduruku fought for years to recover sacred urns unearthed during the construction of a hydroelectric dam.

 

公共工程对考古遗迹的破坏在亚马逊地区很普遍。在帕拉州，原住民蒙杜鲁库人（Munduruku）为恢复在修建水电站时出土的圣瓮抗争了很多年。

 

The owner of Crixá farm, Assuero Veronez, who is also president of the Acre Federation of Agriculture, said the destruction of the geoglyph was an accident.

 

阿克里农业联合会的主席、克里萨农场的主人阿苏埃罗·韦罗内兹（Assuero Veronez）称，地雕被破坏纯属意外。

 

“A couple of years ago I told them not to interfere in the ditch area,” he said, adding: “I am willing to mitigate the damage as much as possible.”

 

他说：“几年前我就告诉他们不要碰这个沟渠区。”还补充道：“我愿意尽可能地降低对这里的破坏。”

 

Veronez is now awaiting a visit by staff from the Institute of National Historical and Artistic Heritage (Iphan), who will assess the damage to the site’s archaeological heritage. Ranzi’s complaint also mobilised the Federal Public Ministry and the federal police, who are investigating the case.

 

韦罗内兹正在等待国家历史和艺术遗产研究所（Iphan）的工作人员来访，他们将对这次环境犯罪的严重程度以及该考古遗址的破坏程度进行评估。兰兹的投诉还惊动了联邦公共事务部和联邦警察，他们已经对此案展开调查。

 

Geoglyphs: Humanity’s heritage

地雕：远古人类的遗迹

 

The archaeological site at Crixá farm appeared on the Indicative List of World Heritage sites that the Brazilian government presented to Unesco in 2015. In 2018, the 2,500-year-old geoglyph at the Jacó Sá archaeological site, 50 kilometres from Acre’s capital Rio Branco, became the first in the country to be listed as a cultural heritage site.

 

2015年巴西政府向联合国教科文组织《世界遗产名录》提交的参考清单中就包括这处位于克里萨农场的雅克萨考古遗址（Jacó Sá）。而这个具有2500年历史的地雕就位于该遗址中，那里距离阿克里州首府布兰科50公里。2018年，该地雕成为巴西首个被列入世界文化遗产名录的历史遗迹。

 

Researchers know very little about the history of Acre’s geoglyphs. Unlike the majority of those in Peru and England, rediscovered over a century ago, they are among the most recent to warrant archaeologists’ attention. These enormous figures drawn on the ground were only revealed at the end of the 20th century because of deforestation in the Amazon.

 

研究人员对阿克里地雕的历史了解甚少。不同于一个多世纪前在秘鲁和英格兰发现的大多数地雕，它们是最近才进入考古学家视野的。直到20世纪末，随着亚马逊地区的森林砍伐，这些地面上的巨大图形才被发现。

 

The lack of genetic material in their structures suggests that there were no villages there. Some studies have argued that they represent traces of civilisations that worshipped geometric gods, and perhaps set the stage for religious rituals.

 

人们在这些遗迹中没有发现遗传物质，表明那里可能不曾存在过人类村庄。一些研究认为，这些构造是崇拜几何神灵的文明留下的痕迹，或许是进行宗教仪式的场所。

 

Whatever their purpose, researchers agree that geoglyphs are essential for understanding the process of occupation and settlement in the Amazon region by ancient civilisations. They also offer clues as to whether the Amazon may have been a savannah thousands of years ago, when low vegetation may have facilitated the designs.

 

无论其目的为何，研究人员一致认为，地雕对于理解古代文明在亚马逊地区定居和聚居的过程至关重要。它们还为我们了解数千年前亚马逊地区是否曾是一片热带草原提供了线索，因为当时低矮的植被可能为修建这些图案提供了便利。

 

Growing agriculture

农业扩张

 

The governor of Acre, Gladson Cameli, entered office in 2019 promising to clear any obstacles to the growth of agribusiness in Acre. Following the example of neighbouring state Rondônia, the most deforested in the Amazon, Cameli advocated expanding soy and beef production.

 

2019年，阿克里州州长格拉德森·卡梅利（Gladson Cameli）上任时曾承诺会为阿克里州农业企业的发展扫清一切障碍，而且他还追随邻州朗多尼亚州（Rondônia，该州是亚马逊森林砍伐最严重的州）的脚步，主张扩大大豆和牛肉的生产。

 

However, Edivan Maciel, Acre’s production secretary said clearing new terrain wasn’t necessary: “We already have enough anthropised areas [land converted by humans] to increase production and make Acre a major export hub.”

 

但是，阿克里州生产秘书埃迪万·麦克尼尔（Edivan Maciel）表示，没必要开辟新的土地：“我们已经有足够的人为土地（被人类改造的土地）来增加产量，并使阿克里州成为主要的出口枢纽。”

 

The new project came after decades of a left-wing government that advocated an environmentally sustainable economy but that failed to bring economic and social development to the state, one of the poorest in Brazil.

 

数十年来，阿克里州作为巴西最贫困的州之一，在倡导环境可持续发展的左翼政府领导下，并没有取得经济和社会方面的发展。

 

This policy shift concerns Miguel Scarcello from non-governmental organisation SOS Amazônia. According to Scarcello, any large-scale economic activity related to land exploitation puts the Amazon at risk.

 

而这一政策的转变让环保组织SOS Amazônia的米格尔·斯卡尔赛罗（Miguel Scarcello）深感担忧。斯卡尔佩罗说，任何与土地开发相关的大规模经济活动都会使亚马逊陷入危险。

 

“Unfortunately, the Amazon is a constant target for exploiters and each time it becomes more difficult to monitor and control damaging actions,” Scarcello says.

 

斯卡尔赛罗称：“不幸的是，亚马逊一直是开发者的目标，而且对破坏行为进行监督和管控的难度日益增加。”

 

One of the current administration’s most important projects is to create a special agricultural development zone in the region along the lines of Matopiba, a hub in the Cerrado savannah that has led to the destruction of half the biome’s native vegetation.

 

现任政府最重要的项目之一是在马托皮巴（Matopiba）各沿线地区创建一个农业发展特区，马托皮巴是塞拉多（Cerrado）大草原的枢纽，已经导致该生态区一半的原生植被遭到破坏。

 

The area has been tentatively named Amacro, a combination of the states of Amazonas, Acre and Rondônia. The man behind the scheme is none other than the owner of Crixá farmer, Assuero Veronez. In a recent interview about the project with environmental news website O Eco, Veronez did not attempt to disguise the project’s potential to cause environmental destruction:

 

该地区暂被命名为Amacro，由亚马逊州、阿克里州和朗多尼亚州三个州的名字组合而成。背后推动该计划的正是克里萨农场的主人——阿苏埃罗·韦罗内兹（Assuero Veronez）。在环境新闻网站O Eco最近对该项目的采访中，韦罗内兹并未试图掩饰该项目破坏环境的可能性。

 

“Deforestation for us is synonymous with progress, as much as it can shock people. Acre has no ore, no tourism potential, what it has are the best lands in Brazil. But this land has a problem, a forest on top.”

 

他说：“对我们来说，森林砍伐是进步的代名词，足可震撼人们。阿克里没有矿石，没有发展旅游业的潜力，它拥有的是巴西最好的土地。但是这块土地有一个大问题：上面长了一片森林。”

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