Behnazzz  +  196234 Mon, 13 Feb 06 08:58 AM Archaeologists were doing routine excavation work last year when they discovered what seemed to be a man-made shaft. Earlier this month, they came across a hidden chamber inside and on Friday, some of the stones blocking the entrance were removed, revealing a site hidden from the human eye for something like three thousand years.   Hi What are the meaning of the words in bold,please?   There are five wooden coffins inside the small chamber, with rather beautiful faces painted in reds and yellows, their bodies in black and yellow stripes to mimic bandages. At least one of the coffins is slightly ajar, revealing a mummified corpse inside. What is the meaning of the whole sentence in bold? Thanks Behnazzz Joined on Wed, Aug 3 2005 Full Member 225

	pieanne  +  196242 Mon, 13 Feb 06 09:16 AM  Behnazzz wrote: Archaeologists were doing routine excavation work last year when they discovered what seemed to be a man-made shaft. Earlier this month, they came across a hidden chamber inside and on Friday, some of the stones blocking the entrance were removed, revealing a site hidden from the human eye for something like three thousand years. a man-made shaft:  a pole or rod which forms the handle of a tool or weapon (courtesy of Cambridge), made by man. A shaft can also be a long and narrow passage, so it could mean either... a hidden chamber: a hidden room Hi What are the meaning of the words in bold,please?   There are five wooden coffins inside the small chamber, with rather beautiful faces painted in reds and yellows, their bodies in black and yellow stripes to mimic bandages. At least one of the coffins is slightly ajar, revealing a mummified corpse inside. What is the meaning of the whole sentence in bold? The coffins have a human shape; the colours used for the faces are different shades of reds and yellows, and the artist painted black and yellow stripes on the bodies to imitate bandages (mummies) Thanks pieanne Joined on Thu, Jan 20 2005 South of France ...But I'm Belgian! Veteran Member 7,517 I'm glad to help, but I'm not a native! And please excuse my typos...

	pieanne  +  196629 Tue, 14 Feb 06 10:08 AM They must be long and straight sticks (of wood), presumably used as spears/weapons. pieanne

	nona the brit  +  196671 Tue, 14 Feb 06 12:20 PM "excavation work last year when they discovered what seemed to be a man-made shaft. Earlier this month, they came across a hidden chamber inside and on Friday, some of the stones blocking the entrance were removed," I think they mean shaft in the other sense, that of a long vertical tunnel (i.e. mine shaft/well shaft). They were excavating and found a long tunnel - then they discovered a hidden chamber (room) along it and on Friday, they removed the stones blocking the room entrance. nona the brit Joined on Wed, Sep 22 2004 England Veteran Member 11,713 The name says it all.