Ancient X-Files II|古老 X档案之二：印加人解碼

Ancient X-Files II: Decoding the Incas

by Marcus Maurice

A mystery about khipus is clarified on National Geographic Channel.

The Incas of South America have fascinated experts for years. The Incan Empire absorbed a large part of western South America from 1438 through 1533. They were a vibrant civilization, left monumental architecture, invented new technologies, and had ways to mobilize people and resources, but they were missing one thing written language. Most cultures have a system of writing, which is a defining attribute of a complex civilization, so archeologists studying the Incas have been stumped for years. Now, National Geographic Channel (NGC) may have new answers in Ancient X-Files II: Decoding the Incas.

While no traces of a written Incan language have been discovered, historians have always been fascinated with their khipus, which are a series of knotted threads on a line. These knots are nothing like the ones Boy Scouts tie, though. Instead, khipus consist of individual strings that hang down from horizontal cords. They were originally thought to be counting devices like abacuses. One investigator took a look at 450 of the 600 khipus left in existence and came up with a new theory. She examined them with a multi-spectral scanner and now believes that they are three-dimensional systems for record keeping. Also, a growing number of experts agree that some of the khipus tell stories about Incan history. If this is true, then the Incas would have had a written language very different from that of any other society in the world. The decoding of the riddle of the khipus would be a breakthrough of epic proportions. Check out NGC this month to see for yourself.

古老 X档案之二：印加人解碼

国家地理频道将澄清一则关于奇普的奥秘。

南美洲的印加人多年来都让专家们感到着迷。印加帝国自公元 1438 年到 1533 年并吞了南美洲西部的大部分地区。印加人有着生气蓬勃的文明、遗留下具纪念性的建筑物、发明了新技术、也有办法动员人力及资源，但他们却少了一样东西──文字。大多数的文化都有文字系统，而文字系统的特性就是它可以界定复杂的文明，因此那些不断研究印加文明的考古学家多年来一直未能突破。如今，国家地理频道在《古老 X 档案之二：印加人译码》节目中可能会有新的解答。

虽然从没人发现过印加文字的遗迹，历史学家却还是始终着迷于他们的「奇普」，这是印加人在绳子上打出来一串串的绳结。但是这些绳结和童子军所绑的那些绳结不同。相反地，「奇普」是由水平绳索上垂挂下来的独立细绳所组成。起初，大家都认为它是用来计算东西的工具，就像算盘一样。某研究员看了所留存 600 个奇普中的 450 个后，提出了一个新理论。她利用多光谱扫描仪检视那些奇普，她现在相信奇普就是用作记录的 3D 系统。此外，越来越多的专家同意，这些奇普当中有一些诉说着印加帝国的历史。如果这一切属实的话，那么印加人原来就有文字，只不过是它与世上任何其他社会的文字大不相同。破解奇普之谜将是令人震惊的突破。欲知详情请观赏本月份的国家地理频道。

印加本来只是一个位于库斯科的小国，主要的领土扩张到 15 世纪才开始，图帕克·印卡·尤潘基将印加帝国的版图扩大到哥伦比亚的帕斯托，以及阿根廷的图库曼和智利的毛雷河边。然而他的后嗣因争夺皇位引起了许多内战，导致印加帝国政治不安，提供了后来的西班牙殖民者有挑拨离间的机会。

印加帝国在 1533 年灭亡，结束了 400 年以上繁荣的帝国历史。不过，印加帝国皇室在曼科及其继承人的领导下继续抗击西班牙殖民者，直到 1572 年才被最终消灭。「印加」一词有国王之意，这个帝国的真正名称是叫「塔王汀斯尤」，意为「四州之国」。

（数据源：维基百科）