VOA慢速英语--里斯本餐馆附近发现的罗马遗迹

Roman Remains¹ Found Near Lisbon Restaurant

Portuguese² archaeologists have discovered a large Roman burial place holding 2,000-year-old human remains in Lisbon.

The scientists were digging near Solar dos Presuntos, a very famous restaurant in the city.

It was found after the restaurant’s owners decided³ to expand their space, which opened in 1974 in Lisbon’s historical center.

To get the expansion project approved, city officials required that a team of archaeologists first examine the land.

Nuno Neto is an archaeologist and founding partner at Neoepica, the company that performed the dig. His team went down to a depth of around six meters.

Neto told Reuters news agency: “What we found was a big surprise… The level of preservation⁴ is excellent, and the set of artifacts is fabulous⁵.”

The burial place was found to contain the skeletons of 25 people, 35 sets of burned remains, pottery⁶ and money used in ancient burial ceremonies. All have been moved to Neoepica’s research laboratory. Later, they will go to the city council.

The findings were made public last month, but archaeologists have been working on the area since 2016.

Workers have begun to build onto the restaurant. The owners see the discovery of the Roman burial site as a good thing. They hope to have some of the ancient objects on display in the future.

Roman armies occupied Olissipo, as Lisbon used to be known, around 200 BC and it remained under Roman control for several centuries.

I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

preservation – n. the act of keeping something in its original state or in good condition

artifact – n. a simple object, such as a tool or weapon, that was made by people in the past

pottery – n. objects, such as bowls, that are made out of clay and then baked at high temperatures so that they become hard

display – n. an arrangement of objects intended to decorate, advertise, entertain, or inform people about something

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

3 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。

4 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

5 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

6 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。