古埃及木乃伊的制作秘方
The secret recipe for ancient mummification
Fabric fragments of ancient history.
这些布料碎片历史久远。
These 6,000-year-old pieces of linen contain the chemical secret of mummification.
这些有六千年之久的布块中含有关于木乃伊制作的化学秘密。
The Egyptian mummy - the body preserved as a vessel for the eternal soul - is an icon of this ancient civilisation.
古埃及木乃伊的身体被保存为容器，从而让灵魂永存，它是这个古老文明的一大象征。
It's been resurrected in many a Hollywood film.
木乃伊在众多好莱坞大银幕上 “起死回生”。
But far from Egypt's great tombs, here in a storage facility for Bolton Museum in Northern England
但在离埃及法老墓甚远的英格兰北部，在这个为博尔顿博物馆贮存藏品的设施里
the ancient Egyptians' embalming recipe has finally come to light, contained in textiles in the collection.
古埃及人的进行防腐处理的方法终于得以揭晓，答案就藏在这批木乃伊的纺织物中。
With things like these textiles that don't look much to look at at all…
这些一眼看上去并没有什么价值的纺织物…
but you do the chemistry, and suddenly they become hugely significant to our human past
但一旦研究其化学成分，就会发现它们对研究人类历史来说非常重要
and really gets to the heart of what they were about at this time through the science, which you simply can't tell by looking.
我们通过科学的方法抓住了那个时代的精髓，光凭肉眼是看不到这一点的。
So really, the science brings this material to life.
所以，是科学给这些材料赋予了生命。
The recipe they revealed, an embalming liquid containing plant extracts, was probably mixed in a base of sesame oil.
研究人员们发现的秘方是一种含植物提取物的防腐液体，其中混入的主要成份可能是芝麻油。
You can actually still find some of those key ingredients from that embalming recipe today.
直至今日，人们其实还可以找到防腐秘方中的部分主要原料。
So this is one of them - gum arabic, which is a plant-based confectioner's gum that's on sale in Egypt.
其中一种是阿拉伯胶，它是一种以植物为主要成分的糖胶，在埃及有售。
And this - this is a really key ingredient - this is pine resin, antibacterial to prevent the body from decaying.
而松脂真的是极为重要的原料，它可通过抗菌来防止身体腐蚀。
The same mixture of substances was found on this intact mummy from 3,500BC showing that the process is much older than previously thought.
科学家们还在这具完好无损的木乃伊身上发现了同样的混合物，它制作于公元前3500年，这表明制作木乃伊这一惯例要比此前人们认知的更早。
Pushing the timeline of mummification back by 1,500 years
该发现把制作木乃伊的习俗向前推了1500年
it shows to us that it wasn't just at the point where mummification we know was very popular: it was happening much earlier.
这说明该做法不仅出现在我们认为木乃伊制作已经很普及的时代，而是更早。
So, who knows what secrets scientists will unearth next in the storeroom of a local museum?
那么，谁知道下次科学家在某座地方博物馆的储物间里又会发现什么样的秘密呢？