本篇文章共分 5 段，針對古典瑪雅文明的興起過程，從負責典禮祭祀的禮儀中心、宗教對農民的作用、到學者對古典瑪雅文明興起原因的不同學說做有系統的整理與說明。

本篇考題英文原文與對應之中文翻譯整理如下。練習作答解題時若有對語意不清楚之處，請仔細查閱對照，以提升閱讀理解能力。

The Rise of Classic Maya Civilization 古典瑪雅文明的興起

1. 瑪雅禮儀中心的架構與運作

   Prior to the beginning of the Late Preclassic period in 300 B.C., Maya ceremonial centers of relatively substantial size had already appeared in Central America. The ceremonial center was a distinctive feature of Maya culture, acting as a focus for the community. Generally speaking, these centers were not what we would call cities. Although they did consist of a number of large and varied buildings, they did not have a substantial resident population. Some scholars have even labeled these Maya centers “vacant towns.” Their permanent population consisted mainly of rulers, priests, and their attendants plus a limited number of artisans. The elite lived in big houses or in palaces in and around the center. The bulk of the peasant population lived in much more modest wood and thatch homes in the areas surrounding the centers. At certain times of the year, on the occasion of major religious festivals such as the one at the time of the planting of their crops, scholars hypothesize, by analogy to historical and modern practices, that the peasants would flock to the centers to observe and participate in the ceremonies. At other times of the year, some of the peasants would be called into the centers to help in the construction of new temples and palaces dedicated to the glory of the gods and to the comforts of their earthly representatives, the priestly rulers. The peasants also would provide the food to help sustain the elite in the centers.

   在公元前 300 年晚期古典時期開始之前，在中美洲已經出現了規模相對較大的瑪雅禮儀中心。祭祀中心是瑪雅文化的一個獨特特徵，是社區的焦點。一般來說，這些中心不是我們所說的城市。雖然它們確實由一些大型和不同的建築組成，但它們沒有大量的居民人口。一些學者甚至給這些瑪雅中心貼上了「空城」的標籤，他們的常住人口主要由統治者、祭司和他們的隨從以及數量有限的工匠組成。精英們住在中心和周圍的大房子或宮殿裡。大部分農民則居住在中心周圍地區更為簡陋的木頭和茅草房中。在一年中的某些時候，在主要的宗教節日，如種植莊稼的時候，學者們透過類比歷史和現代的做法，推斷農民會湧向中心來慶祝和參加儀式。在一年中的其他時間，一些農民會被召集到中心，幫助建造新的寺廟和宮殿，以獻給神的榮耀和協助他們在地上的代表—祭司統治者—舒適生活。農民還將提供食物，幫助維持中心的精英階層生計。

2. 瑪雅宗教對農民的作用

   What the peasants received from the elite was certainly not as tangible as the services they provided. In return for food and labor, the peasants were offered a psychologically and spiritually secure and ordered world, as well as access to some trade goods. Apparently, this was enough. Agriculture in the tropical Maya lowlands was at best a chancy business even slight shifts in the onset of the rainy season or the dry season could mean disaster for that year's harvest. The religion of the ancient Maya helped the peasants cope with their precarious lives. If the gods were properly propitiated, the crops would be good—as would life in general.

   農民從精英那裡得到的東西當然不像他們提供的服務那樣有形。作為對食物和勞動的回報，農民得到了一個在心理和精神上安全和有序的世界，以及獲得一些貿易商品的機會。顯然，這已經足夠了。熱帶瑪雅低地的農業充其量是一種不穩定的行業，即使是雨季或旱季開始時的輕微變化也可能意味著該年收成的災難。古代瑪雅人的宗教幫助農民應對他們不穩定的生活。如果適當地祭祀神靈，莊稼就會豐收，一般生活也會順利。

3. 古典馬雅文明興起之宗教起因論

   One archaeologist, William Haviland, argues that it was the centralizing effects of Maya religion that led to the rise of Classic Maya civilization. He believes that the religious centers acted as magnets to peoples living in the surrounding areas. To support the growing populations around the centers, Haviland argues, the agricultural systems became intensified. This led to the evolution of a complex state Haviland believes that as early as 200 B.C., the “vacant” ceremonial centers at Tikal had begun transformation toward urban centers. Moreover, by this time or even earlier, other centers with huge, labor-intensive buildings had begun to emerge. Sites such as Nakbe, El Mirador, and Lamanai may have approached urban dimensions in the last few centuries of the first millennium B.C.

   一位考古學家威廉．哈維蘭認為，正是瑪雅宗教的集中化效應導致了古典瑪雅文明的崛起。他認為，宗教中心對生活在周圍地區的人們起到了磁吸作用。哈維蘭認為，為了支持這些中心周圍不斷增長的人口，農業系統變得更加強化。這導致了一個複雜國家的演變。哈維蘭認為，早在公元前 200 年，提卡爾的「空置」儀式中心就已經開始向城市中心轉變。此外，在這個時候甚至更早，其他擁有巨大的勞動密集型建築的中心已經開始出現了。諸如 Nakbe、El Mirador 和 Lamanai 等遺址可能在公元前一千年的最後幾個世紀就已經接近城市規模。

4. 古典馬雅文明興起之商業需求論

   Other scholars attribute the growth of the ceremonial centers to trade. William Rathje argues that the basic cause for the rise of Maya civilization was the necessity for the Maya, who lived in resource-poor lowlands, to trade with adjacent highlanders for materials such as obsidian (a rock used to make ornaments and cutting edges), salt, and hard stone for grinding implements. Rathje maintains that lowland sites such as Tikal, which were quite distant from the highland resource areas, were made bigger and architecturally magnificent to attract highland merchants and their trade. In order to undertake all the building, the elite had to attract more artisans and bring more laborers into the community to do the work. These population increases led in turn to even more building, population growth, greater population density, greater social differentiation, and occupational specialization. Critics have argued, however, that there were local substitutes for the external “necessities” and that foreign trade was present well before the rise of complex architecture.

   其他學者將禮儀中心的發展歸因於貿易。William Rathje 認為，瑪雅文明興起的基本原因是生活在資源匱乏的低地的瑪雅人有必要與鄰近的高地人進行貿易，以獲得諸如黑曜石（一種用於製造裝飾品和切削刃的岩石）、鹽和用於研磨工具的硬石等材料。Rathje 認為，像蒂卡爾這樣的低地遺址離高地資源區相當遙遠，為了吸引高地商人和他們的貿易，他們把遺址建得更大，建築更宏偉。為了進行所有的建築，精英們不得不吸引更多的工匠，並把更多的勞動力帶到社區來工作。這些人口的增加反過來又導致了更多的建築、人口增長、更大的人口密度、更大的社會分化和職業專業化。然而，批評者認為，外部的「必需品」有當地的替代品，而且在複雜建築興起之前，對外貿易就已經存在。

5. 其他因素交互作用

   Yet other factors beyond ideology and trade must have been important in the emerging Classic Maya civilization. Competition among the growing number of centers may also have played a key role in the growth of social, economic, and political complexity, as the organization of the centers grew to meet the pressures of other centers for new agricultural land and control of rising populations.

   然而，在新興的古典瑪雅文明中，除了意識形態和貿易之外，其他因素肯定也很重要。越來越多的中心之間的競爭也可能在社會、經濟和政治複雜性的增長中發揮了關鍵作用，因為中心組織要增長，以應付其他中心對新的農業用地和控制不斷增長的人口所帶來的壓力。