Olympics Construction Projects Push Athens Archaeologists to

 

By Rebecca Ward¹
 
Bringing Athens' transportation up to speed ahead of the summer games proved more difficult than what most modern cities usually endure, as massive construction projects turned into excavation² sites. The city's archaeologists came up with a compromise keeping the very, very old along with the new.

For many Olympic visitors in the city of Athens, the metro³ is not just a way of getting somewhere, it's the destination.

Here in the Syntagma station in downtown Athens, Greek Archaeologist Olga Zachariadou stands amid glass display cases of clay pottery⁴, caskets and a two-meter-long segment of an ancient water pipeline⁵. She says construction at this metro stop and other recent projects in the city have unearthed⁶ a number of significant artifacts that date back to the 4th century B.C. to the 7th Century A.D.

"In this station, we had the largest excavation and we found many things as a riverbed, a very long part of this aqueduct, a very large graveyard⁷ of about 300 graves, a very extensive bath complex of the Roman period and some bronze foundries, also," says Ms. Zachariadou.

Pointing to a display of painted clay vessels⁸, Ms. Zachariadou says many of the items found during excavation of the site were well preserved because they were offerings placed inside burial graves.

"You see little perfume bottles, small plates," she notes. "In other cases you can see other things also, marble vases, oil lamps, weight [for] looms⁹, and some memorials with the names of the dead people. Sometimes we have also children, then the offerings are small."

Ms. Zachariadou says any time construction plans are laid out in specific districts of Athens, an archaeologist must be consulted and special care must be taken to preserve any artifacts found at the site. While this is a normal building procedure in Athens, Ms. Zachariadou says the time constraints¹⁰ of the Olympics made the job a little harder.

Zachariadou: At the same time, we had more means. I mean we had more money, more personnel to do our work and that was good. Of course, the pressure of the time was very laborious¹¹ for us.

Ward: So, the government gave you more money than they normally do?

Zachariadou: Yes, that is true, but I don't know after the Olympics what they will do.

Just one stop away in either direction are two other metro stations with exhibits of antiquities¹². Nearby, at the Monastiraki stop is a Roman bathhouse, which Ms. Zachariadou says was discovered during construction of a ventilation shaft¹³.

"We had there a very well preserved bathhouse complex of the Roman period, the 3rd-4th Century A.D. and because of that we decided¹⁴ to preserve these baths in their position and the ventilation shaft removed," she adds.

Although the excavation work delayed some metro projects by as much as two years, Ms. Zachariadou says Greeks are very proud of their heritage and happy to see such artifacts displayed at the sites where they were found.

Rebecca Ward, VOA News now, in Athens.
注释：
excavation 挖掘
archaeologist 考古学家
metro 地铁
amid 在……中
pottery 陶器
casket 棺材
segment 部分，片段
pipeline 管道
unearth（从地下）掘出
artifacts 史前古器物
excavation 出土文物
riverbed 河床
aqueduct 沟渠, 导水管
graveyard 墓地
clay 粘土
vessel 容器
perfume 香水
marble 大理石
oil lamp 油灯
loom 织布机
offering 祭品
laborious 辛苦的
antiquity 古代的遗物
ventilation shaft 通风塔

 

1 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

2 excavation   

n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地

参考例句：

• The bad weather has hung up the work of excavation.天气不好耽误了挖掘工作。
• The excavation exposed some ancient ruins.这次挖掘暴露出一些古遗迹。

3 metro   

n.地铁；adj.大都市的；(METRO)麦德隆(财富500强公司之一总部所在地德国，主要经营零售)

参考例句：

• Can you reach the park by metro?你可以乘地铁到达那个公园吗？
• The metro flood gate system is a disaster prevention equipment.地铁防淹门系统是一种防灾设备。

4 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。

5 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

6 unearthed   

出土的（考古）

参考例句：

• Many unearthed cultural relics are set forth in the exhibition hall. 展览馆里陈列着许多出土文物。
• Some utensils were in a state of decay when they were unearthed. 有些器皿在出土时已经残破。

7 graveyard   

n.坟场

参考例句：

• All the town was drifting toward the graveyard.全镇的人都象流水似地向那坟场涌过去。
• Living next to a graveyard would give me the creeps.居住在墓地旁边会使我毛骨悚然。

8 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 looms   

n.织布机( loom的名词复数 )v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的第三人称单数 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• All were busily engaged,men at their ploughs,women at their looms. 大家都很忙，男的耕田，女的织布。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The factory has twenty-five looms. 那家工厂有25台织布机。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 constraints   

强制( constraint的名词复数 )； 限制； 约束

参考例句：

• Data and constraints can easily be changed to test theories. 信息库中的数据和限制条件可以轻易地改变以检验假设。 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• What are the constraints that each of these imply for any design? 这每种产品的要求和约束对于设计意味着什么？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 laborious   

adj.吃力的，努力的，不流畅

参考例句：

• They had the laborious task of cutting down the huge tree.他们接受了伐大树的艰苦工作。
• Ants and bees are laborious insects.蚂蚁与蜜蜂是勤劳的昆虫。

12 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

13 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。