遗失的法老城市09

　　That pottery¹ can be dated, and so tell you the date of the city itself. Bydating the pottery of all the settlements along the ancient lost branches ofthe Nile, that will tell you when each settlement was inhabited. Andtherefore, when that particular branch of the Nile was active.
Every kind of pottery or ceramic² has a unique signature that dates it intime, the type of clay, the way it was made, the techniques of firing andglazing, can all be pinpointed⁴ to specific periods.
Nowadays it is possible to date within approximately thirty to fifty yearsaccurately by ceramic alone.
So by combining his map of the ancient waterways with his knowledge ofdating pottery, Bietak was able to pinpoint³ where and when the Nile flowedthrough the delta⁵ at each moment in history. What's more, the amounts ofpottery along the old river beds would tell him where the biggest ancientsettlements were.
Just as Montet would have predicted Bietak found that one of these branchesof the Nile known as the Tanitic Branch ran directly past Tanis where Montethad found Piramesse. The problem came when Bietak dated the settlementsalong this branch.
Here is Tanis and this is the course of the Tanitic Branch of the Nile, withnumerous sites along its banks, but no site of dates from the time ofRamesses the Second."Which means this branch of the Nile didn't even exist at the time ofRamesses the Great.
"This eliminates the Tanitic Branch of being active in the time of Ramesses(the) Second, also it rules out that Tanis had been Piramesse"What Bietak had discovered was extraordinary. There was no pottery at Tanisfrom the time of Ramesses the Great, all of it dates from at least 200 yearsafter his death. This meant that despite all of Pierre Montet’s genuinefinds, the great pharaoh couldn't possibly have built his capital city here.
Tanis contained lots of ancient pottery and Montet assumed that like all thestatues and obelisks⁶ at the site, it also came from the time of Ramesses theSecond.

1 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。

2 ceramic   

n.制陶业，陶器，陶瓷工艺

参考例句：

• The order for ceramic tiles has been booked in.瓷砖的订单已登记下来了。
• Some ceramic works of art are shown in this exhibition.这次展览会上展出了一些陶瓷艺术品。

3 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

4 pinpointed   

准确地找出或描述( pinpoint的过去式和过去分词 )； 为…准确定位

参考例句：

• His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice. 他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。
• Computers pinpointed where the shells were coming from. 计算机确定了炮弹发射的位置。

5 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

6 obelisks   

n.方尖石塔，短剑号，疑问记号( obelisk的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One passes under pyramids and obelisks, all on a heroic scale. 试译：一个人经过规模宏大的金字塔和方尖石塔。 来自互联网
• He told me to seek them through secret obelisks. 它告诉我可以通过隐匿的方尖塔找到它们。 来自互联网