第1940期:West Point Time Capsule Contains More Than Just Dirt

Officials at the U.S. Military Academy West Point in New York state recently opened a time capsule that is 195 years old live on the internet. The event on August 28 caused disappointment because the container appeared to contain nothing more than dirt. But West Point officials said last Wednesday that the box did contain hidden treasure after all. A time capsule is a container that is filled with objects and buried or hidden. The capsule is meant to be opened by people living many years in the future. The lead box is believed to have been put in place by West Point military students. It was discovered inside the base of a memorial to Revolutionary War hero Thaddeus Kosciuszko.

纽约州美国西点军校的官员最近在互联网上现场打开了一个已有195年历史的时间胶囊。 8 月 28 日的事件令人失望，因为容器中似乎除了泥土之外什么也没有。但西点军校官员上周三表示，这个盒子里确实藏有隐藏的宝藏。时间胶囊是一个充满物体并被掩埋或隐藏的容器。这个胶囊是由未来许多年的人们打开的。据信铅箱是西点军校学生放置的。它是在革命战争英雄撒迪厄斯·科修斯科纪念碑的基座内发现的。

The capsule contained six silver American coins dating from 1795 and 1828 and a medal, West Point said in a news release. The ceremonial opening of the box happened at the military school in New York state. Speaking of the event, West Point archeologist Paul Hudson said: “When I first found these, I thought, man, you know, it would have been great to have found these on stage.” After the opening, he took the box back to his laboratory and began carefully looking through the remains.

西点军校在新闻稿中称，该胶囊内装有 6 枚 1795 年至 1828 年的美国银币和一枚奖章。开箱仪式在纽约州的军事学校举行。谈到这一事件，西点军校考古学家保罗·哈德森说：“当我第一次发现这些时，我想，伙计，你知道，如果能在舞台上发现这些就太好了。”打开后，他把盒子带回了实验室，开始仔细检查里面的残骸。

He said he then found the edge of a coin in the dust inside the box. “I thought, well that’s OK. That’s something, that’s a start,” Hudson said. He said he felt let down like everyone else by the lack of results from the live opening. The crowd that gathered at the U.S. Military Academy hoped to see historical military objects or documents when experts opened the top and pointed a camera inside. It was probably better to remove the coins and medal in a controlled setting, added Hudson. He still plans to study the remains for possible answers to what else might be inside.

他说他随后在盒子里的灰尘中发现了一枚硬币的边缘。 “我想，好吧，没关系。这就是事情，这是一个开始，”哈德森说。他说，他和其他人一样对现场开幕缺乏结果感到失望。当专家打开顶部并将相机对准里面时，聚集在美国军事学院的人群希望看到历史军事物品或文件。哈德森补充说，最好在受控环境下取出硬币和奖牌。他仍然计划研究遗骸，寻找里面可能藏着什么的可能答案。

It appears that moisture and possibly dirt entered the box through a damaged edge. The conditions could have destroyed materials like paper or wood. What did survive was a five-cent coin from the year 1795, an 1800 Liberty Dollar, an 1818 25-cent coin, 10-cent, and 1-cent coins from 1827, and an 1828 50-cent coin. There was also a medal remembering the Erie Canal from 1826. The discoveries seem to confirm school officials’ theory that the box was put in place by military students in 1828 or 1829. The monument to Kosciuszko, which included a statue of him, was completed at about that time.

看来湿气和可能的污垢通过损坏的边缘进入盒子。这些条件可能会破坏纸张或木材等材料。幸存下来的是 1795 年的 5 分硬币、1800 年的自由美元、1818 年的 25 分硬币、1827 年的 10 分硬币和 1 分硬币，以及 1828 年的 50 分硬币。还有一枚纪念 1826 年伊利运河的奖章。这些发现似乎证实了学校官员的理论，即该盒子是由军事学生于 1828 年或 1829 年放置的。科修斯科纪念碑（包括他的雕像）已完工大约在那个时候。

A group of five military students, or cadets, was involved in the ceremony dedicating the monument. One of them was U.S. Civil War general Robert E. Lee who graduated in 1829. Kosciuszko had designed wartime fortifications for the Continental Army at West Point during the Revolutionary War. He died in 1817. The statue of Kosciuszko was added to the monument in 1913. The historical preservation and research of the time capsule will continue. “I think there’s more that we can learn from this,” Hudson said.

五名军事学生或学员参加了纪念碑落成仪式。其中之一是美国内战将军罗伯特·E·李 (Robert E. Lee)，他于 1829 年毕业。科修斯科曾在独立战争期间为西点军校的大陆军设计了战时防御工事。他于 1817 年去世。科修斯科的雕像于 1913 年被添加到纪念碑中。时间胶囊的历史保存和研究将继续进行。 “我认为我们可以从中学到更多，”哈德森说。