full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Adrienne Mayor: Did the Amazons really exist?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


The eiaslert stories of the Scythians, and Amazons, may have been exaggerated rumors. But as the Greeks beagn to tadre around the Black Sea and further east, their portrayals became more realistic. Early depictions of Amazons showed them with Greek weapons and amorr. But in later representations, they wielded bows and battle-axes, rode horses, and wore pointed caps and pnrtateed trousers characteristic of spetpe nomads.

Until recently, no one was sure how strong the links were between Scythians and the anzmoas of Greek myth. But recent acogeaahlcoirl discoveries have provided amlpe evidence. More than 1,000 ancient Scythian kurgans, or burial mounds, have been excavated, containing slentkoes and weapons. Archaeologists had previously asumesd that weapons could only belong to male warriors. But modern DNA analysis so far has revealed that about 300 skeletons buried with weapons belong to females ranging in age from 10 to 45, and more are being found every year. The women's skeletons show battle injuries: ribs slashed by swords, skulls bashed by battle-axes, and aowrrs embedded in bones.

Open Cloze


The ________ stories of the Scythians, and Amazons, may have been exaggerated rumors. But as the Greeks _____ to _____ around the Black Sea and further east, their portrayals became more realistic. Early depictions of Amazons showed them with Greek weapons and _____. But in later representations, they wielded bows and battle-axes, rode horses, and wore pointed caps and _________ trousers characteristic of ______ nomads.

Until recently, no one was sure how strong the links were between Scythians and the _______ of Greek myth. But recent ______________ discoveries have provided _____ evidence. More than 1,000 ancient Scythian kurgans, or burial mounds, have been excavated, containing _________ and weapons. Archaeologists had previously _______ that weapons could only belong to male warriors. But modern DNA analysis so far has revealed that about 300 skeletons buried with weapons belong to females ranging in age from 10 to 45, and more are being found every year. The women's skeletons show battle injuries: ribs slashed by swords, skulls bashed by battle-axes, and ______ embedded in bones.

Solution


  1. assumed
  2. earliest
  3. began
  4. steppe
  5. trade
  6. arrows
  7. ample
  8. skeletons
  9. armor
  10. patterned
  11. archaeological
  12. amazons

Original Text


The earliest stories of the Scythians, and Amazons, may have been exaggerated rumors. But as the Greeks began to trade around the Black Sea and further east, their portrayals became more realistic. Early depictions of Amazons showed them with Greek weapons and armor. But in later representations, they wielded bows and battle-axes, rode horses, and wore pointed caps and patterned trousers characteristic of steppe nomads.

Until recently, no one was sure how strong the links were between Scythians and the Amazons of Greek myth. But recent archaeological discoveries have provided ample evidence. More than 1,000 ancient Scythian kurgans, or burial mounds, have been excavated, containing skeletons and weapons. Archaeologists had previously assumed that weapons could only belong to male warriors. But modern DNA analysis so far has revealed that about 300 skeletons buried with weapons belong to females ranging in age from 10 to 45, and more are being found every year. The women's skeletons show battle injuries: ribs slashed by swords, skulls bashed by battle-axes, and arrows embedded in bones.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
black sea 2


Important Words


  1. age
  2. amazons
  3. ample
  4. analysis
  5. ancient
  6. archaeological
  7. archaeologists
  8. armor
  9. arrows
  10. assumed
  11. bashed
  12. battle
  13. began
  14. belong
  15. black
  16. bones
  17. bows
  18. burial
  19. buried
  20. caps
  21. characteristic
  22. depictions
  23. discoveries
  24. dna
  25. earliest
  26. early
  27. east
  28. embedded
  29. evidence
  30. exaggerated
  31. excavated
  32. females
  33. greek
  34. greeks
  35. horses
  36. kurgans
  37. links
  38. male
  39. modern
  40. mounds
  41. myth
  42. nomads
  43. patterned
  44. pointed
  45. portrayals
  46. previously
  47. ranging
  48. realistic
  49. representations
  50. revealed
  51. ribs
  52. rode
  53. rumors
  54. scythian
  55. scythians
  56. sea
  57. show
  58. showed
  59. skeletons
  60. skulls
  61. slashed
  62. steppe
  63. stories
  64. strong
  65. swords
  66. trade
  67. trousers
  68. warriors
  69. weapons
  70. wielded
  71. wore
  72. year