On a warm September day, a group of underwater archaeologists(考古学家) and researchers were boiling water for tea on their campfire on the banks of the Dnipro River, tents pitched on the sandy shoreline. They were three weeks into an archaeological expedition(探险) of the waters around Khortytsia(霍尔蒂察岛) – a rocky island 12.5km long and 2.5km wide that lies just downstream(下游) of the city of Zaporizhzhia, in south-eastern Ukraine.
九月一个温暖的日子，一群水下考古学家和研究人员正在第聂伯河岸边的篝火上烧水泡茶，帐篷搭在沙质海岸上。他们为期三周的霍尔蒂察岛周边水域考古探险已经进行了三周。霍尔蒂察岛是一个长12.5公里、宽2.5公里的岩石岛屿，位于乌克兰东南部扎波罗热市的下游。
High above the island, a Shahed drone(沙赫德无人机) whined on its way. A Ukrainian interceptor(拦截器), and small-arms fire from the ground, tried, unsuccessfully, to bring it down(击落). The archaeologists ignored it. This is life as normal, 28 miles (45km) from the combat zone(战区) in Russia’s war on Ukraine.
岛屿上空，一架沙赫德无人机嗡嗡飞过。乌克兰拦截器和地面轻武器试图将其击落，但未能成功。考古学家们对此置之不理。这就是距离俄乌战争战区28英里（45公里）处的正常生活。
Olena Dzneladze, senior research fellow(高级研究员) at Ukraine’s national Institute of Archaeology, showed off their remarkable finds: a bronze-age deer antler(鹿角), its tip shaped into a tool to press patterns into pottery or leather; a shard(碎片) of ceramic most likely made by the Scythians(斯基泰人), an ancient nomadic people of the steppe; a chunk of a Byzantine amphora(双耳瓶); an 18th-century anchor.
乌克兰国家考古研究所高级研究员奥莱娜·兹涅拉泽展示了他们的惊人发现：一件青铜时代的鹿角，其尖端被制成工具，用于在陶器或皮革上压印图案；一块很可能由斯基泰人——古代草原游牧民族——制作的陶瓷碎片；一块拜占庭双耳瓶的残片；以及一个18世纪的锚。