VOA慢速英语2018--The Iceman's Last Meal

 

Scientists have uncovered the last meal of a hunter who froze to death 5,300 years ago in the mountains of Europe.

Researchers said the discovery inside the stomach of a corpse¹, known as Oetzi the Iceman, showed what Europeans ate at the time.

Shortly before his death, they said, the Iceman ate the fat and meat of a wild goat, meat from a red deer and whole wheat seeds. They reported the findings Thursday in the journal Current Biology.

Researchers also found some fern leaves and seeds. They think he could have eaten the plant by mistake or used it as medicine.

Frank Maixner is a scientist at the Institute for Mummy Studies in Bolzano, Italy. He called the discovery “impressive.” He said, “We could see chunks² and pieces of food with (the) naked eye.”

Though researchers had previously³ examined Oetzi’s body, this was the first time they could look into his stomach.

Why did they wait so long?

Scientists did not find the Iceman’s stomach until 2009, 18 years after his body was discovered in the Alps near the Italy-Austria border.

A radiologist found his stomach hidden behind the rib⁴ cage. And it was full. After slowly defrosting the body, the team took samples and rehydrated them.

Nearly half the stomach contains body fat of an ibex, a kind of wild goat that still lives in the Alps.

Maixner observed that the Iceman and hunters from thousands of years ago had to be prepared. Maixner, who has climbed to the cold and windy site where Oetzi was found, said, “They had to have food that gave them the necessary energy (to survive).”

A scientist from the University of Oslo, Albina Hulda Palsdottir, believes the findings are very valuable.

She said, “They’re trying to use all the methods in the toolbox to answer this really important question of what people were really eating” back then.

I’m Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

wheat - n. a kind of grain

impressive - adj. deserving attention, admiration⁵, or respect

chunks - n. thick pieces of something

rehydrate - v. add water or moisture

1 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

2 chunks   

厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分

参考例句：

• a tin of pineapple chunks 一罐菠萝块
• Those chunks of meat are rather large—could you chop them up a bIt'smaller? 这些肉块相当大，还能再切小一点吗？

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 rib   

n.肋骨，肋状物

参考例句：

• He broke a rib when he fell off his horse.他从马上摔下来折断了一根肋骨。
• He has broken a rib and the doctor has strapped it up.他断了一根肋骨，医生已包扎好了。

5 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。