The site was once a spring-fed pond, full of water.
这片区域过去是泉水供养的池塘，有充足的水源。
Mammoths were tempted in to drink.
猛犸象就曾经尝试过到此饮水。
But when they tried to climb back out, the banks were steep and slippery.
但当它往回爬的时候，河堤又陡又滑。
Just like the short-faced bear imprisoned underground, some became trapped.
像被困在地下的短面熊一样，有些猛犸象也被困住了。
Scavengers would have been attracted by the mammoths' plight.
这会吸引食腐动物（来吃）。
The bones of wolf, coyote, and the short-faced bear have also been recovered from the dried-up sediment.
河水干涸的时候狼，郊狼和短面熊的尸体会露出来。
The search for food was probably their death pool,too.
池塘成了他们到河边觅食的死亡地。
These prairie ponds are like time capsules. And they store another kind of data, showing how the plains have changed across millennia.
这些大草原池塘就像时间胶囊一样。它们也留存了另一样数据，即记录了大草原几千年来是怎样变化的。
Each spring, pollen from nearby plants is blown into the water.
每年春天，附近的花粉被风吹入池塘。
It sinks and settles layer upon layer on the bottom, building into a data bank of local plant life that we can still read today.
它们在池塘底部落了一层又一层，形成了本地植物的数据库，使我们今天仍能品读研究。
And grass pollens aren't the only clue still sandwiched in the sediment.
然而，这些沉积物中的植物花粉并不是寻找古植物痕迹的唯一线索。
There are a wide variety of tree pollens, too, from aspens, spruce and other trees, both coniferous and deciduous.
沉积物种还有很多其他植物的种子，比如白杨，云杉和其他针叶科和落叶科树木。
