Teotihuacán obsidian must have been recognized as a valuable commodity for many centuries before the great city arose.

在特奥蒂瓦坎这座伟大的城市崛起前数百年，它的黑曜石就必然已经被认为是极有价值的商品了。

youdao

Many centuries before the people of Europe knew anything about paper.

在欧洲人尚不知晓纸为何物的几百年前。

youdao

The Maori were the first settlers of New Zealand - arriving many centuries before Europeans.

毛利人是新西兰最早的定居者，比欧洲人早了许多个世纪抵达。

youdao

They are the Navajo - whose ancestors walked that land at least a century, perhaps many centuries, before the first Europeans arrived.

VOA: standard.2010.03.22

The 21-year-old, playing in his sixth Test, spent 25 balls on 49 either side of lunch but duly recorded what England hope will be the first of many half centuries before he was the ninth wicket to fall.

BBC: Kiwis reeling after Anderson haul

Cramped European city centers -- many were laid out centuries before the automobile was invented -- also provide incentive for adopting technology that can help unsnarl traffic.

CNN: Behold the?all-seeing, self-parking, safety-enforcing, networked car