2007-11-27, First Gunshot Victim - 史上第一个倒在枪口下的人

Archaeologists in Peru have discovered the nearly 500-year-old skeleton of a man who died in a surprisingly modern way, from a gunshot wound to the head. A team of experts believes the man is the first documented victim of a shooting in the new world.

The skeleton was uncovered by a team of archeologists headed by Guillermo Cock, a National Geographic¹ society grantee who began excavating² this ancient Inca cemetery³ in 2004. The Inca once ruled the entire Andes region until they were conquered by the Spanish in the 1530s,the scientists realized the cemetery was unusual when they found bodies buried in unexpected ways.

It was evident that they didn't follow the burial rituals. They were without, not the proper offerings. Now the question is why these individuals have been buried in such an unusual way.

Many of the bones revealed fractures, puncture⁴ wounds and signs of violent death. One skull⁵ stood out,marked with what appeared to be the entrance wound from a musket⁶ ball.

"What's especially exceptional about this is not only that we have, in fact, the entrance wound,but also that I recovered the plug of bone that actually was in this position on the inside of the skull."

To test their theory, the team X-Rayed the skull,searching for the metal fragments a musket ball would leave behind. When the X-Ray came up negative, the scientists turned to a more sensitive tool. A scanning electron microscope hit pay dirt, revealing bits of iron embeded in the bone.It appeared that as the musket ball punched into the back of the skull and passed through the head, it left iron fragments deep inside the bone which stayed there for some 500 years. Guillermo Cock believes the wound and the hastily buried bodies in the cemetery point to one conclusion: the victim was killed by a Spanish conquistador wielding⁷ a primitive⁸ gun called an arquebus .The Inca battled the Spanish outside Lima in 1536 near the site of the graveyard⁹. Cock believes that the bodies buried there are the first ever forensic¹⁰ remains¹¹ from the battles of Spanish conquest.

1 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

2 excavating   

v.挖掘( excavate的现在分词 )；开凿；挖出；发掘

参考例句：

• A bulldozer was employed for excavating the foundations of the building. 推土机用来给楼房挖地基。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A new Danish expedition is again excavating the site in annual summer digs. 一支新的丹麦探险队又在那个遗址上进行一年一度的夏季挖掘。 来自辞典例句

3 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

4 puncture   

n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破

参考例句：

• Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
• My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

5 skull   

n.头骨；颅骨

参考例句：

• The skull bones fuse between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five.头骨在15至25岁之间长合。
• He fell out of the window and cracked his skull.他从窗子摔了出去，跌裂了颅骨。

6 musket   

n.滑膛枪

参考例句：

• I hunted with a musket two years ago.两年前我用滑膛枪打猎。
• So some seconds passed,till suddenly Joyce whipped up his musket and fired.又过了几秒钟，突然，乔伊斯端起枪来开了火。

7 wielding   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The rebels were wielding sticks of dynamite. 叛乱分子舞动着棒状炸药。
• He is wielding a knife. 他在挥舞着一把刀。

8 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

9 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。

10 forensic   

adj.法庭的，雄辩的

参考例句：

• The report included his interpretation of the forensic evidence.该报告包括他对法庭证据的诠释。
• The judge concluded the proceeding on 10:30 Am after one hour of forensic debate.经过近一个小时的法庭辩论后，法官于10时30分宣布休庭。

11 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。