Skellig Michael
斯凯利格·迈克尔岛

An Irish riddle wrapped in a mystery
一个来自爱尔兰的难解之谜

Sep 10th 2009
From The Economist print edition

An unholy row may yet shed light on a unique Christian monument

争吵也能把问题说明白？一个独一无二的基督教建筑可以证明


The dramatic Peak
酷峰

NEAR the top of a half-submerged mountain, jutting out of the Atlantic on the south-western tip of Ireland, stands a set of monastic remains that present historians with a puzzle. They are among the most revealing and the most elusive remnants of the early Christian era.

爱尔兰西南角的大西洋海域，一座山从海面上突出出来。靠近山顶的地方有一组（古代）修道院的遗迹，在历史学家眼中，这个基督教早期的修道院是一个谜题，是那些最为神秘的遗址之一，但同时也极为清楚地展现了某些历史信息。

On one hand, the beehive-shaped stone huts where monks lived, prayed and worked are more intact than at any comparable site. They provide insights into the building and engineering skills as well as the religious practices of Ireland’s Christian pioneers. On the other hand, much about the Skellig Michael site, including its age, remains enigmatic. References to it in written sources, the earliest in the late eighth century, are fleeting; only a handful of artefacts have been found.

一方面，这些（僧侣们居住，祈祷和工作用的）状如蜂箱的石头屋要比类似的建筑保存得更完好，人们从这片遗迹中可以洞见其建筑风格和技巧，以及（当时）爱尔兰基督教先驱们的宗教习俗。另一方面，人们对于这个修道院的来龙去脉——包括它的年龄——几乎不甚了解。斯凯利格·迈克尔修道院最早出现在公元8世纪的文献中，但是（历来的）史料中对该修道院的文字记载只是稍着笔墨；而且（史料中提到的）人造物件也只找到了一点点。

But is the veil of mystery hanging over Skellig Michael, where excavation and conservation have been under way since 1978, even thicker than necessary? That is a debate raging among Ireland’s archaeologists, and it is one in which UNESCO, the UN agency for cultural heritage, has become deeply involved.

但是我们真的需要知道那么多笼罩在斯凯利格·迈克尔岛上的谜团吗（对该遗址的考古发掘和保护工程从1978年就开始了，直到今天）？爱尔兰的考古学家一直对于这个问题争论不休，联合国教科文组织（联合国负责文化遗迹的部门）也深陷其中。

UNESCO listed Skellig Michael as a “World Heritage Site” in 1996. Last year it published a report on the island that tried to settle the Irish argument. Its intervention was largely prompted by Michael Gibbons, an independent historian who had asserted that archaeological mistakes were being made there, and were being covered up by a conspiracy of silence.

教科文组织在1996年将斯凯利格·迈克尔岛列入了“世界文化遗产”。去年，为解决这个爱尔兰（考古学家间）的争论，该组织发布了关于此岛的报告。联合国的插手主要是由迈克尔·吉本斯促成的，此人是一名独立历史学家，他称岛上正在发生的事违背了考古学的原则，而且当事人对此都心照不宣。

Some of his criticisms concentrated on the well-known monastic enclosure, seen every year by tens of thousands of visitors who are ferried out by local boatmen and must then climb more than 600 steps. But Mr Gibbons’s graver complaints concerned an even more remote place: an amazing set of structures perched on a ledge below the island’s summit, in an area known as the South Peak.

他的部分批评集中在著名的“修道院生活区”，每年有上万人坐着当地渔民的船——（上了岸）还要再登600级台阶才能——到那里参观。但是吉本斯的更猛烈的批评声是关于一个人迹更为罕至的地方：岛内最高峰附近的一个平台上座落着一组叹为观止的建筑，那里被人们成为“南峰”。

Grellan Rourke, the conservationist who has overseen the island for three decades, passionately defends his labours at the South Peak. He says the works there—which have included shoring up a stone retaining wall and restoring an outdoor stone altar—were not only necessary, but a feat. “We worked with harnesses and climbing ropes and set up our plane table on the most incredible ledges with… sheer drops all around,” he has written. “[B]ut the results were worth the efforts.”

格莱兰·鲁尔克作为两派中主张保护的一方，监督（整修工程）已有三十载，他对于己方在那儿的所作所为充满了热情和自信。他说那里的施工——包括加固一面石头护墙，整修一个室外的石头祭坛——不仅必须，而且称得上壮举。“我们身上绑着安全带，通过悬挂的绳子爬到那些超级酷的平台上，安置我们的平板仪（一种测绘仪器——译者）……平台周围都是悬崖，立陡立崖的，” 他写到。“[但]旦是，结果令我们很满意，我们的努力没有白费。”

At issue is whether such acts of conservation threaten the site’s integrity. Mr Gibbons argues that his compatriots are out of step with new archaeological thinking, which favours leaving structures untouched for future investigators. “I approached UNESCO with a heavy heart,” he says, insisting that criticising fellow Irishmen was not a step taken lightly.

两派现在争执的焦点是整修是否会影响到遗址的完整性。吉本斯认为他的同胞（格莱兰·鲁尔克）没有跟上最新的考古理念，今天的考古学界倾向于不对建筑（遗址）动手脚，而是等到未来（条件具备时），留给那时的开发者。吉本斯认为批评爱尔兰同胞是要先过心里这道关的，这一步并不好走。他说：“我向教科文组织提出我的建议时，心里很不舒服。”

In a Solomonic judgment, UNESCO found that the structures on the South Peak—apparently an offshoot of the monastery, to which monks went for retreat or penance—had indeed been rendered “dramatically different”. UNESCO said Ireland’s Office of Public Works should have opened a broader debate before proceeding with any restoration; but it did agree that some conservation was necessary. The Irish government has followed some of UNESCO’s recommendations, including naming a panel of independent Irish scholars to oversee the site.

联合国教科文组织发现“南峰”的建筑——明显是修道院的一个分支，僧侣们走到那里休息，忏悔——已经被弄得面目全非，成了（和主体）“截然不同”的另外一个样子，这让人想到了“要把小孩分成两半的所罗门王”（所罗门王当年通过要把小孩一分为二的计策，知道了孩子的生母，判定了小孩的归属权。——译者）。该组织称，爱尔兰公共建设工程办公室本该在整修前听取更多的声音；但它也同意应该采取一定程度的保护措施。爱尔兰政府遵从了教科文组织的建议，其中包括指派一个由爱尔兰籍的独立学者组成的专家组来监督遗址（的整修）。

This panel has given heart to Mr Gibbons, who says he has insights of his own that merit a hearing. For example, he recently discovered a new pilgrimage route across the island, which connects with two existing ones. He has found a rare rock-hewn cross marking out the route.

小组的成立使吉本斯信心大增，他说自己的看法值得其他人一听。比如，他最近新发现了一条穿越该岛的朝圣路线，该路线与已知的两条路线相连。他还发现了一个石头削成的，用作路标的十字架。

History buffs are now waiting to see how Ireland’s authorities act on yet another injunction from UNESCO: that vastly more should be published about the site, explaining what has been done and learned over 30 years. Mr Rourke and his assistant, Alan Hayden, are eager to give a full account of their labours. Mr Rourke says he will spend the next few winters writing up his early work at the monastic site, a time when walls were shored up and new evidence emerged that its structures have been at risk of collapse in every era of the island’s history. Mr Hayden says he has around 4,000 photographs of the South Peak work, plus hours of film footage, which he will make available to the public as soon as resources allow.

历史迷们正期待爱尔兰当局如何执行教科文组织对其的又一个要求，即：公布关于该遗址的更多信息，以及过去30年间的所作和所得。鲁尔克和他的助手艾伦·海登正跃跃欲试地要详细描述他们（以往）的努力。鲁尔克说，接下来的几个冬天，他会将早期的研究所得整理成书；早期在进行墙体加固时，他们发现了新证据，可以证明该修道院在历史上曾多次濒临倒塌。鲁尔克说，他有4000幅照片都是关于“南峰”工程的，外加几个小时的影像资料。一旦条件允许，他就会将这些资源公之于众。

Scholars are keen to hold the conservationists to this promise. UNESCO especially wants the distinction between new and old work at the peak to be made clear. And if the promised torrent of information about this mysterious island is duly delivered, then one Irish argument at least will have produced more light than heat.

学者们正热切期待保护派一方履行其承诺。教科文组织尤其想知道“南峰”新旧工程之间的差别。如果关于这个“神秘岛”的信息能够依承诺按时出炉，那么，爱尔兰的争议双方中，至少其中的一方带来不仅仅是火药味，更多的是火药产生的光亮。