纪录片《大英博物馆世界简史》 040银色霍克森胡椒瓶(7)

But Juliane and Aurelius never did come back, and the buried treasure remained in the ground until 1,600 years later a farmer, Eric Lawes, went to look for a missing hammer. What he found, with the help of his metal detector¹, was this spectacular hoard². And he did find the hammer-which is now also part of the British Museum's collection.

但朱利安与奥列里乌斯没能再回来，财宝一直深埋地底，直到1600多年后，一名叫埃里克劳斯的农夫丢了一把锤子，他带着金属探测器去找锤子，却在无意中发现了这个宝库。当然，锤子最后也找到了，它也成为大英博物馆的藏品之一。

It's perhaps worth noting that many of the objects in this series we wouldn't know much about, were it not for the work of thousands of people-archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and many others. And we wouldn't even have found many of these objects without metal detectorists like Eric Lawes, who in recent years have been re-writing the history of Britain. When he found the first few objects, he alerted local archaeologists, so that they could record the detail of the site and lift the whole hoard out in blocks of earth.

如果没有考古学家、人类学家、历史学家等人的辛勤工作，许多历史物品对我们来说都毫无意义。如果没有像埃里克劳斯这样的寻宝人，不知道它们的存在。他们的发现改写了不列颠的历史。埃里克发现了几件文物之后，立刻通知了当地的考古学家。他们记录了详细的出土地点，并将宝物连同附近的泥土一起取出研究。

Weeks of careful micro-excavation in the laboratories of the British Museum revealed not only the objects, but the way in which they had been packed. Although their original container, a wooden chest about two feet (60 cm) wide, had largely perished, its contents remained in their original positions. Our pepper pot was buried alongside a stack of ladles, some small silver jugs³ and a beautiful silver handle in the shape of a prancing⁴ tigress. Right at the top, lovingly wrapped in cloth, were necklaces, rings and gold chains, placed there by people uncertain of when or whether they would ever wear them again. These are objects that bring us very close to the terrifying events that must have been overwhelming these peoples' lives.

工作人员用了数周的时间进行细致挖掘，取出了所有文物，并弄清了它们当年的摆放方式。用于存放宝物的宽约六十厘米的木箱已基本腐朽，但里面物品的位置没有变动。我们的胡椒瓶与一堆长柄勺、几个小银罐和一把造型为跃起的母虎的漂亮银把手摆在一起。在箱子顶层还有用布仔细包裹的一些首饰，如项链、戒指和金链条等，主人不知道是否还有一天能再次佩戴它们。通过这些物品， 我们仿佛能近距离地感受到让这些人惶惶如惊弓之鸟的灾祸。

1 detector   

n.发觉者，探测器

参考例句：

• The detector is housed in a streamlined cylindrical container.探测器安装在流线型圆柱形容器内。
• Please walk through the metal detector.请走过金属检测器。

2 hoard   

n./v.窖藏，贮存，囤积

参考例句：

• They have a hoard of food in the basement.地下室里有他们贮藏的食物。
• How many curios do you hoard in your study?你在你书房里聚藏了多少古玩？

3 jugs   

（有柄及小口的）水壶( jug的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Two china jugs held steaming gravy. 两个瓷罐子装着热气腾腾的肉卤。
• Jugs-Big wall lingo for Jumars or any other type of ascenders. 大岩壁术语，祝玛式上升器或其它种类的上升器。

4 prancing   

v.（马）腾跃( prance的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The lead singer was prancing around with the microphone. 首席歌手手执麦克风，神气地走来走去。
• The King lifted Gretel on to his prancing horse and they rode to his palace. 国王把格雷特尔扶上腾跃着的马，他们骑马向天宫走去。 来自辞典例句