骷髏湖的傳說越來越離奇了

骷髏湖的傳說越來越離奇了

High in an uninhabited region of the Himalayan mountains of India lies a lake with a dark secret.

在印度喜馬拉雅山脈無人居住的高處，有一個神秘的湖泊。

Known officially as Roopkund Lake, its notoriety has given rise to darker nicknames like Mystery Lake or Skeleton Lake. Covered in thick ice and snow for much of the year, Roopkund gives up its ghosts for only a few warm weeks of the year. It's then, in its clear blue-green waters and around its shores, when the remains of a disaster are revealed.

它的官方名稱是魯普昆德湖，它的惡名給它起了一些更黑暗的綽號，比如神秘湖或骷髏湖。在一年的大部分時間里，Roopkund都被厚厚的冰和雪覆蓋著，一年中只有幾個溫暖的星期它才會放棄它的幽靈。然后，在它清澈的藍綠色水域和周圍的海岸，災難的殘骸被發(fā)現。

Roopkund Lake, the scene of what was once believed to be one of the world's deadliest hailstorms, is located at an altitude of 16,500 feet in India. (Photo: Vishwas Krishnamurthy/Shutterstock)

When a British park ranger happened upon the scene in 1942, he came across hundreds upon hundreds of skulls and bones. The lake sits at 16,500 feet (roughly 5,000 meters) above sea level. Because of the frigid cold of the region, many of the bodies still had hair, clothing and even flesh. The site of what appeared to be a relatively recent massacre was enough for the British government — which was in the thick of World War II — to assume a Japanese land invasion had gone awry.

1942年，一位英國公園管理員偶然發(fā)現了這個場景，他發(fā)現了成百上千的頭骨和骨頭。這個湖海拔16500英尺(約5000米。由于該地區(qū)的嚴寒，許多尸體仍然有頭發(fā)、衣服，甚至還有肉。當時正值二戰(zhàn)最激烈時期的英國政府認為，日本的土地入侵已經走錯了路。

The slopes leading down to the lake are littered with human bones, some of which have been arranged like this. (Photo: Awanish Tirkey/Shutterstock)

An investigation calmed fears of an invasion after it was determined that the bones were of ancient origin, but the bigger mystery of what had killed hundreds of people remained. In 2004, a team sent by National Geographic discovered that not only were the remains from 850 A.D., but that the victims had all died the same way: severe blows to the head and shoulders.

在確定這些骨頭來自古代之后，一項調查平息了人們對入侵的恐懼，但導致數百人死亡的更大謎團仍然存在。2004年，國家地理雜志派出的一個小組發(fā)現，這些化石不僅是公元850年的，而且所有的受害者都以同樣的方式死去:頭部和肩膀受到嚴重的打擊。

But new research published in Nature Communications adds a dramatic twist to the story. Looking at the DNA of 38 of the bodies, scientists now say those who perished didn't die in one horrific moment. There are at least three genetically distinct groups represented in their research — a fraction of the hundreds of bodies discovered there — and they died in events that played out over more than 1,000 years.

但發(fā)表在《自然通訊》上的一項新研究給這個故事增添了戲劇性的轉折。通過對38具尸體的DNA分析，科學家們表示，遇難者并不是在一個可怕的時刻死亡的。在他們的研究中，至少有三個基因上截然不同的群體——只是在那里發(fā)現的數百具尸體中的一小部分——他們死于1000多年前的事件。

But what about the hailstorm theory?

但是冰雹理論呢?

The hailstorm theory had weight for such a long time because it made sense based on what scientists first found. With no shelter to speak of and to avoid the stinging ice, dozens may have began climbing back up the steep incline surrounding Roopkund. Anthropologists studying the impressions left on skulls and bones say the hail quickly became deadly, with the killer blows coming from bowling-ball hail as large as 9 inches in diameter.

冰雹理論在很長一段時間內都很有分量，因為根據科學家們最初的發(fā)現，它是有意義的。由于沒有避寒的地方，也沒有躲避刺骨的冰雪，數十人可能已經開始沿著魯普孔德周圍的陡坡往回爬。研究頭骨和骨頭上的印記的人類學家說，冰雹很快就變得致命，致命的打擊來自直徑9英寸的保齡球冰雹。

Legend has it

傳說

Hikers make their way around Roopkund. (Photo: Akash Dhyan/Shutterstock)

Based on a legend handed down by locals over the centuries, it's possible there may have been survivors who passed along the horror of what took place at Roopkund. The story goes that a medieval monarch named King Jasdhawal, on pilgrimage with his queen and royal entourage, disobeyed the Hindu goddess Mata.

根據幾個世紀以來當地人流傳下來的一個傳說，有可能有幸存者將發(fā)生在魯普昆德的恐怖事件傳遞給了其他人。故事是這樣的:中世紀一位名叫賈斯哈瓦的國王，在他的王后和皇室隨從的朝圣途中，不服從印度教的女神瑪塔。

"So furious was the Mata, that she enlisted Latu a local deity," Dinesh Kuniyal, a local Hindu priest told IndiaHikes. "With Latu's help she created thunderstorms and avalanches. Huge hailstones rained down on the king's army. The army of Kannauj didn’t have a chance. All of them perished in Mata’s fury. It is their skeletons at the Roopkund lake."

當地印度教牧師迪內什庫尼亞爾在接受印度徒步旅行采訪時表示:“瑪塔非常憤怒，她找來了一位當地神靈拉圖。”在拉圖的幫助下，她制造了雷暴和雪崩。大冰雹像雨點一樣落在國王的軍隊上。坎瑙伊的軍隊沒有機會了。他們都在瑪塔的憤怒中死去。是他們在魯普孔德湖的骸骨。”

More work to be done

還有更多的工作要做

Interestingly, the new team's work doesn't rule out the hailstorm theory completely.

有趣的是，新團隊的工作并沒有完全排除冰雹理論。

"Our study deepens the Roopkund mystery in many ways," study co-author Niraj Rai, head of the Ancient DNA Lab at Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences in India, told Vice in an email.

“我們的研究在很多方面加深了魯普昆德之謎，”研究合著者、印度Birbal Sahni古科學研究所古DNA實驗室主任Niraj Rai在一封電子郵件中告訴Vice。

In fact, the team will continue to study more of the human remains in an effort to find more clues to this ongoing mystery.

事實上，研究小組將繼續(xù)研究更多的人類遺骸，試圖找到更多線索來解開這個謎團。