“Further evidence may lie underneath the rock. More multidisciplinary studies are needed to understand what the hill of Montesiepi hides. Meanwhile we are all anxious to see what results this excavation will bring” said Maurizio Cali president of the “Project Galgano” association.
“亚瑟王神剑”之谜即将揭开
意大利研究人员宣布，一项考古挖掘也许很快就能揭开埋藏在托斯卡纳一所哥特式修道院中的一把剑的秘密。
托斯卡纳“亚瑟王神剑”就是着名的“石中之剑”，传说它是被中世纪的骑士加尔加诺·吉多蒂在1180年插入石中的，他从此便抛弃战争和世俗欲望，成为隐士。根据加尔加诺的传说，人们在锡耶纳城附近的蒙特斯培建造了纪念性的哥特式修道院，这把剑仍然保存在修道院中的一个小礼拜堂中。这把剑只有剑柄和几厘米的剑身露在岩石的外面，露出的部分形成一个十字架形。
帕维亚大学的一名从事此项研究的科学家路易吉·加拉斯凯利说：“很多年来，人们一直认为这把剑是仿制品。但在2001年我们对其金属进行的年代研究表明，它确实源于中世纪。它的金属成分并没有现代的合金，而且样式也与12世纪的剑一致。”
据说，加尔加诺·吉多蒂1148年生于锡耶纳附近的丘西迪诺，他的形象充满了神秘感和传奇色彩。人们还从未发现可证明他的历史真实性的任何证据，在他那个年代存留下来的文件中也没有任何记载。
加尔加诺·吉多蒂相传是一个傲慢贪婪的骑士，在看到天使长米迦勒的幻象后，他独居于山洞中，成了一名隐士。
据传说，加尔加诺的母亲以让他与从前的美丽的未婚妻见面为诱饵，将其骗出。在去往她住处的路上，经过丘西迪诺附近的蒙特斯培山时，加尔加诺被他的马颠了下来。在那里，天使的幻象再次让他抛弃俗世物欲。加尔加诺反驳说，这就像用剑劈开石头那么难。为了证明他的话，他挥剑向一块岩石砍去。然而这把剑并没有被砍坏，而是像陷入黄油一样陷进了岩石。加尔加诺再一次遁隐，同他的剑一起与世隔绝，一直到1181年死去。
“加尔加诺考古项目”联合组的负责人毛里齐奥·卡利说：“进一步的证据也许就藏在岩石下面。我们需要更多的多学科综合研究，以了解蒙特斯培山中隐藏的秘密。同时我们都急切地渴望看到这次考古挖掘将会带来的结果。”
Peacefulness in Chinkuashi
Chiufen， an old goldmining town northeast of Taipei， is crammed with tourists on weekends. But Chinkuashi， an older mining town just two kilometers away， remains still and silent. It has no charming art galleries or giftshops. There are no warm teashops to welcome couples looking for a romantic place to chat. Perched on a cliff above the bluegreen sea and surrounded by mountains， it looks and feels like a remote outpost. In Chinkuashi， more ghosts than people walk the streets.
It wasn，t always this way. In 1889， Patu Station， a small village near Chinkuashi， was a lively place. Hundreds of workers came that humid summer to build a railway bridge across the Keelung River； among them a Cantonese man who had panned for gold in California. While working in the shadow of the iron bridge， he tried his luck by dipping a pan into the river sand. When he saw bits of gold in his pan， he laughed out loud and danced around in the shallow water.
The gold， washed down the mountain by the river and left in the riverbed near Patu， kept on coming. So， when the Japanese began their occupation of Taiwan in 1895， they expanded mining operations here. They built the Prince Hotel in Chinkuashi， a grand mansion boasting the most luxurious rooms the island had ever seen. Miners who had struck it rich stayed here， flaunting their new wealth. Jewelry shops and restaurants featuring Chinese and Japanese cuisine crowded the streets. These truly were Chinkuashi，s golden days.
But there was a dark side to this world of gold and luxurious living. During World War Two， the local Chinese， forced to work the mines like slaves， were joined by foreign prisoners of war. The Japanese made the men work long hours under extremely difficult conditions. While the workers suffered from exhaustion， starvation and lung disease brought on by work in the mines， their Japanese masters enjoyed the view from the Prince Hotel.
品味金瓜石的静懿