But while many deemed it uninhabitable, recent findings suggest that a hidden society persisted in the Swamp until the mid-1800′s.

雖然許多人認為這裡無法居住， 但近期的發現顯示，在 1800 年代中期之前，一直有一個聚落藏在該沼澤中。

So, who lived there? And what happened to them?

所以，是什麼人住在那裡？ 他們後來怎麼了呢？

People long suspected that communities had settled in the Swamp, but the historical record was spotty. It wasn't until 2003 that the first systematic archaeological foray finally launched.

長期以來都有人懷疑有人定居在這個沼澤裡， 但歷史記錄零散不完整。一直到 2003 年才有首次系統性的考古行動。

But, despite having been extensively drained over the years, the wetland still presented many practical challenges: researchers had to penetrate thorny thickets, wade through waters studded with sinkholes, and braved the threats of dangerous animals.

儘管這些年來， 這塊濕地乾竭的範圍急速擴大， 但考古隊仍然面對重重的困難：研究者得要穿越多刺的灌木叢，涉過滿佈滲穴的水域，還要勇敢面對危險動物的威脅。

After several months, they finally found islands in the Swamp's interior. These formations quickly revealed traces of centuries-old secrets.

數月之後， 他們終於在沼澤內部找到了島嶼，這些島嶼構造很快地揭露出隱藏了數百年的秘密。

Archeologists found buried markings that appear to have been left by raised log cabins, fire pits, and basins that may have collected drinking water.

考古學家發現一些被埋掉的痕跡， 顯然遺址上原本有加高的木屋、火堆， 和可能是用來儲存飲用水的水池。

They identified what seems to have been a palisade wall and excavated more than 3,000 artifacts, including weaponry, stone tools, and fragments of ceramic pipes and vessels.

他們找到了可能是尖柱式柵欄的圍牆， 並挖出了至少三千件工藝品，包括武器、石器， 以及陶管和容器的碎片。

These discoveries, combined with previous findings, helped tell a story that reaches far back in time.

這些新發現再加上先前的發現，拼湊出發生在很久以前的故事。

Indigenous American people began regularly inhabiting or visiting the area around 11,000 BCE, before it was even a swampland.

西元前一萬一千年，經常有美國原住民定居或造訪這個區域， 這裡在當時還不是沼澤地。

A second era of occupation began much later. In the early 1600′s, more Indigenous people came seeking refuge from colonization. And later that century, it seems that Maroons — or people escaping from slavery — began entering the area.

這裡有人居住的第二段時期是許久之後的事了。1600 年代初期，有更多原住民來此尋找庇護，躲避殖民。似乎在同世紀較晚些的時候，逃亡的黑奴開始進入這個區域。

In fact, the team's findings support the theory that the Great Dismal Swamp was home to the largest Maroon settlement in all of North America.

事實上，考古團隊的發現也支持這個理論：整個北美最大的有色人種聚落就在大迪斯默爾沼澤。

Because their success and survival depended on staying hidden from the outside world, these Swamp communities were largely self-sufficient.

因為成功以及生存都要仰賴藏身的隱密性，不被外界發現， 所以這些沼澤聚落大致上都能自給自足。

Based on primary sources, historians believe that people cultivated grains and created homes, furniture, musical instruments, and more from the Swamp's available resources.

根據較可靠的資訊來源， 歷史學家相信，這些人用來打造住房、 家具、樂器等的材料，都是沼澤中可取得的資源。

These organic materials had probably already decomposed by the time archaeologists came to investigate.

等到考古學家來此進行調查時，這些天然材料可能都已經分解掉了。

But researchers were able to find more durable objects, like ceramic and stone items that were likely left by ancient Indigenous people then reused and modified by others later on.

但研究者也找到了更多耐久的物品，當中有一些陶器和石器，可能是遠古時代的原住民遺留下來，再被後來的人重新使用並改造。

Around the turn of the 19th century, it seems the relationship between the Swamp's community and the outside world changed.

在進入十九世紀時，沼澤聚落和外界之間的關係似乎改變了。

Lumber and manufacturing companies began encroaching on the Swamp's interior. They brought thousands of free and enslaved workers to live in the Swamp and made them harvest wood, excavate canals, and drain fields.

伐木業與製造業開始侵入沼澤內部，把數千名免費的奴隸工人帶進來並安置在沼澤裡，要他們伐木、挖渠道， 並排乾地面的水。

Certain findings suggest that the Swamp's hidden communities might have switched to a more defensive mode during this period, but researchers also observed more mass-produced objects from this time, indicating that trading was taking place.

某些發現指出，在這段時期，藏在沼澤中的聚落可能轉換成了比較防禦性的模式，但研究者也觀察到，在這個時期有比較多量產的物品，表示有貿易行為發生。

Researchers think that the secret Swamp communities dispersed during or soon after the American Civil War, by the end of which slavery was abolished in the United States.

研究者認為，這些神秘的沼澤聚落在美國內戰期間或結束沒多久後就解散了，因為內戰結束後， 美國便廢除了奴隸制度。

Some people may have stayed in the Swamp until they passed away or left to settle elsewhere.

有些人可能在沼澤度完餘生， 或者離開沼澤，到別處定居。

Most of what we know about these hidden communities has come to light after archeologists excavated sections of a single island; however, there may have been hundreds of habitable islands dotting the Swamp's interior at the time.

我們現在對這些隱藏聚落的了解多半是因為考古學家挖出了一個島嶼的某些部分，然而，當時在沼澤內部可能有數百個可居住的島嶼分佈在各處。

Between 1600 and 1860, many people lived in these hidden settlements. Some probably lived their entire lives within the Swamp and never saw a white person or experienced racial persecution in broader American society.

在 1600 年到 1860 年間，有許多人居住在這隱藏的居住地。有些人可能一生都生活在沼澤中，從來沒有見過白人，也沒有經歷過廣大的美國社會中發生的種族迫害。

Generations of Black Maroons and Indigenous Americans resisted slavery and colonization by creating an independent society in the heart of the Great Dismal Swamp.

有些逃亡黑奴以及美國原住民的世世代代反抗奴隸制度和殖民的方式，就是在大迪斯默爾沼澤的心臟地帶建造一個獨立的社會。

They fostered a refuge in what might seem like the unlikeliest of places — but one that was more hospitable than what lay outside.

他們避難的地方是最意想不到的地方——但這個地方卻還比外界更易生存。

Today, this area offers a partial record of that secret, self-reliant world, imagined and built for survival and the preservation of freedom.

現今，這個區域為那個自力更生的秘密世界、那個為了生存和守護自由而想像和建構的世界，留下了部分的紀錄。