Losing the plot: death is permanent, but your grave isn’t 青山难留：死亡是永恒的，但你的坟墓不是 作者：Lynley Wallis ; Alice Gorman ; Heather Burke @2014-11-6

译者：Drunkplane

校对：带菜刀的诗人（@带菜刀的诗人_），林翠（@cwlinnil）

来源：The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/losing-the-plot-death-is-permanent-but-your-grave-isnt-33459 [caption id="attachment_6004" align="alignnone" width="335"] Space can be at a premium in cemeteries ... and when it runs out, reusing old graves is an option.[/caption]

Headstones at the Dudley Park cemetery in Payneham, South Australia, were recently bulldozed as part of the ongoing “ recycling ” of more than 400 graves. Some people were shocked to realise that gravesites are not permanent and many have expressed their “ disgust ” and concern over the practice.

南澳大利亚佩纳姆镇，达德利公园墓地里的墓碑最近全被推土机清理掉了。这只是400多个正被“循环利用”的墓地之一。有些人震惊地发现墓地居然不是永久的，许多人感到“恶心”并表达了对此种做法的关切。

The reuse of graves is far from a modern phenomenon, caused by exponential population growth and overcrowding in towns and cities. Reusing the same place for burials is a tradition that has been repeated time and again in different cultures across the world, for thousands of years.

因为人口指数式增长，城镇过度拥挤，重复利用墓地早已不是什么现代才有的现象。几千年来，在全世界不同的文化里，重复利用墓地时常可见，成了一种传统。

Over the entirety of human history, around 108 billion people have lived – and died. That’s a lot of bodies that need disposing of in some way.

整个人类历史上，大约一千零八十亿人曾降临人世——又死去。那可是许许多多的尸体，总得以某种方式处理。

In the early centuries of the Common Era (AD), people in northern Europe reused burial mounds from the earlier Bronze Age and Neolithic periods. The catacombs beneath Paris were an 18th century solution to cemeteries that were so overcrowded bodies were stacked on top of one another.

在公历纪元的最初几个世纪，北欧人将早前青铜时代和旧石器时代留下的坟冢重新利用。18世纪巴黎的地下墓穴，便是为了解决地上墓地过度拥挤，尸体层叠堆放的难题。 In the 19th century, the garden cemetery movement arose to create more spacious burial grounds — usually on what were then the outskirts of towns and cities. These new cemeteries doubled as places where one could picnic on a Sunday, with children playing games among the headstones and elegant ladies and gentlemen promenading along the avenues.

到了19世纪，花园墓地运动兴起，促使更多宽敞墓园出现——这些墓园往往坐落于城镇的郊区。新式墓园同时也成了一个你可以周日来野餐的地方，孩子们在墓碑间玩耍，优雅的淑女和绅士在大道上徜徉。

By romanticising the relationship between the living and the dead the Victorians repurposed the idea of a graveyard from a functional to a recreational space that allowed for continual remembrance of loved ones as part of everyday activities.

通过柔化生者和死者之间的关系，维多利亚那代人重塑了墓地的概念，将之从一个功能性地点变成了一个休闲场所。在这里每天都可以缅怀自己爱的人。 Grave concerns 墓园的隐忧 In the contemporary world grave recycling is often driven by economic imperatives rather than purely spatial concerns. If the sole source of a cemetery’s income derives from the leasing of plots — as is the case with many independent cemetery trusts — how are they to remain financially viable when all the spaces are filled?

现如今，经济利益的需要取代了单纯的空间考量，成为驱动墓地回收利用的强大动力。如果场地租赁是墓园的唯一收入来源——许多独立墓园信托公司正是如此——当墓园的所有空间都填满了，它们还怎么保持盈利？

Cemeteries must serve the burial needs of contemporary local communities, and often this can only be accomplished through destroying older graves so that newer interments can take place.

墓园必须满足当代地方社群的丧葬需求，而这往往只能通过毁掉旧的墓地才能实现。只有这样，后来者才能得以埋葬。

But what is the boundary between a “grave” and a “heritage site”? This varies across jurisdictions. Under the Burial and Cremations Act 2013 of South Australia, a site may be reused once an interment right expires — usually after a set period has elapsed and if no relative or other party can be found to take on the right (and the payment for it).

但是，又如何区分普通墓地和遗迹呢？不同的司法辖区有不同规定。依照南澳州于2013年颁布的《丧葬与火化法案》，当一处墓地的安葬权到期，则该地便可被重新利用。这种情况往往发生在一段时间后仍无亲属或其他当事人被找来行使该权利（并为之付费）时。【译注： 有别于对安葬地的所有权，安葬权特指一个人被安葬于此地的权利。 】

In such a case the burial and its headstone are given the “lift and deepen” treatment. The existing burial is removed and replaced lower down in the grave so that another burial can be included on top. The headstone is either smashed and buried with them, or removed to an inconspicuous place.

当这种情况发生时，坟墓和墓碑便会被作“挖起-深埋”处理。现有的坟墓被重新安置到墓地下方更深的地方，这样新的坟墓才能被放在上面。而墓碑要么一并粉碎深埋，要么就被移到一个隐秘的地方。

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmwFB-bUf2E[/embed]

Before reusing any site, though, the Act requires that details of both the grave and the memorial are recorded photographically and in writing for posterity. Technological advances in recent years means that laser scanning is now a viable option for the recording process and, in all cases, digitisation of the data enables it to be easily made publicly available.

按照该法案的规定，在重复利用墓园前，都必须将坟墓和墓碑的细节拍照和记录，以留给墓主人的子孙。近些年，科技的进步让激光扫描成为了一种可能的记录方式，不管什么情况吧，数字化总是让数据更易于被公众获得。

This, at least, retains some of the historical information that contributes to the heritage and social value of these places that would otherwise be destroyed.

这样，那些经历了历史风霜，有传承和社会价值的信息至少有一部分被保留了下来，否则就只能眼看它们灰飞烟灭了。

If a grave is considered a heritage site, however, different legislation takes precedence. Section 27 of the South Australian Heritage Places Act 1993 affords blanket protection for all archaeological artefacts, whether known or unknown. Any disturbance then requires a permit. Sometimes archaeologists become involved in the process of reclaiming land in cemeteries.

然而，如果一个墓地被当作遗迹，那不同的法律都会给予优先保护。1993年颁布的《南澳遗迹法案》第27节为所有有考古价值的文物提供了全面的保护，无论它们是否为人熟知，且任何扰动都必须得到批准。有时考古学家会加入到对墓地的改造进程中来。 Reuse, recycle, research 再利用，循环使用，研究 Famous Australian examples of the reuse of historical cemeteries in conjunction with archaeological excavation and analysis include the site of Lang Park in Brisbane, the Queen Victoria Market in Melbourne and Town Hall in Sydney.

对有历史价值墓园的再利用，结合了考古挖掘和研究分析，澳大利亚的著名例子包括布里斯班的Lang Park、墨尔本的Queen Victoria Market和悉尼的Town Hall。

In Adelaide, the archaeological study of the Maesbury cemetery in Kensington, and the St Mary’s cemetery in the suburb of St Mary’s, have led to unique insights into the burial practices and lifestyles of South Australia’s earliest European settlers.

在阿德莱德，对肯辛顿的梅斯布里墓园和位于圣玛丽郊区的圣玛丽墓园的考古研究，赋予我们独特的视角，让我们对南澳大利亚最早一批欧洲移居者的丧葬情况和生活方式能一探究竟。

[caption id="attachment_6006" align="alignnone" width="112"] The Kippist headstone.[/caption]

At Maesbury, only one headstone remained to mark hundreds of bodies now under parkland. This was before a Flinders University archaeology team began work at the site.

弗林德斯大学考古队来到梅斯布里墓园开展工作之前，只有一座墓碑被保留了下来，这座墓碑是地底下数百具尸体唯一的标示。

It was an exciting day when a neighbour came forth with a headstone they had found while digging in their garden (pictured right) making it only the second headstone to survive.

考古队在墓园挖出另一块墓碑的当天令人振奋，这意味着发现了死者们的旧邻，于是它就成了侥幸被保存下来的第二块墓碑。

Research revealed that it had marked the grave of three children from one family who died between 1850 and 1863, in the first few decades of the settlement of South Australia.

研究显示，这块墓碑属于来自同一个家庭的三个孩子，他们死于1850年至1863年之间，那正是南澳大利亚刚刚被开拓的一段岁月。

Infant mortality was scandalously high in 19th century Adelaide but the causes were mysterious. The gravestone speaks to a grief both public and private, when thousands of children died from the vague disease of “ debility ”.

19世纪的阿德莱德有着骇人的婴儿死亡率，但具体原因仍是个谜。当成百上千的孩子因为说不清的“虚弱”症而死去，墓碑悲伤地述说着往事，既是对世人也是对亲人。

At the St Mary’s Anglican Cemetery, archaeologists from Flinders University were invited by the Church to carry out excavations to recover the bodies from a pauper’s area before the land was reused.

弗林德斯大学的考古学家当初受教堂邀请参与了圣玛丽的圣公会墓园的挖掘，以便在土地再利用前恢复贫民区墓地的骸骨。

This study told us much about the nutritional and health standards of the urban poor. Contrary to expectations, they ate lots of meat (approximately 60% of their diet), but hardly any carbohydrates (wheat or barley). The majority were younger than 15 when they died, probably from infections. Most adult skeletons indicated a hard-working, physically active lifestyle.

考古学家的研究向我们揭示了许多有关城市贫民的营养和健康状况的信息。同原有估计相反的是，当时的城市贫民摄入了大量的肉（大约占到他们饮食的60%），但却很少摄入碳水化合物（小麦和大麦）。死去的人多数不到15岁，也许是因为传染病。大部分成年人的骸骨表明他们依靠艰苦的体力劳动而生活。

As the only study of its kind in South Australia, St Mary’s also highlighted how little we know about the living conditions and lifestyles of South Australia’s early settlers more generally.

作为南澳州唯一此类研究，圣玛丽墓园也向我们强调了，我们对于南澳早期开拓者的生活条件和生活方式是多么的无知。

All graves contain a story; some touch us more than others, but none of them should be subject to the disrespect of a bulldozer. As George Eliot reminds us, our dead are never dead to us until we have forgotten them.

每块墓地都藏着一个故事，有些故事更能打动我们，但没有哪个应该被交给那不敬的推土机。正如乔治·艾略特提醒我们的：逝去者并未真正死去，除非我们已将他们遗忘。

（编辑：@whigzhou）

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