Archaeologists are too scared to look inside the tomb of China's first Emperor

[Judi Lynn]

Ella Scott

Published 10:54, 09 February 2024 GMT
| Last updated 11:24, 09 February 2024 GMT

Archaeological experts aren’t too keen on prying open the tomb of China’s first-ever Emperor, Qin Shi Huang.

The discovery of the first unifier of China’s burial spot remains one of the most major archaeological findings in modern history.

Previous expeditions into the huge complex have been successful, with hundreds of figures being found in various compartments.

These Chinese statues are known as the terracotta warriors that form part of the world-renowned Terracotta Army.

This sculpture collection was buried alongside Qin Shi Huang to protect him in the afterlife and are thought to depict soldiers as well as non-military people such as officials, strongmen, and musicians.

These figures were placed in the tomb of the Emperor to protect him during his journey to the afterlife and presumably to keep him entertained, too.

While much of the tomb has already been explored by experts, a single complex remains unopened - the tomb of Qin Shi Huang himself.

The burial spot, where the Qin dynasty founder was set to rest back in 210 BC, is in the centre of the mausoleum.

However, archaeologists still aren’t 100 percent sure about opening up this part of the tomb and have repeatedly delayed expeditions to the sarcophagus.

Interestingly though, this concern isn’t born out of fear of curses - although there are concerns it could be filled with booby traps.

More:
https://www.unilad.com/news/world-news/china-terracotta-army-emperor-qin-shi-huang-tomb-167118-20240209

(I have read there are sources which claim there is also an open pool of mercury inside!)

[bucolic_frolic]

1. mercury would be enough to ward off fungi and bugs to help preserve the site

[Goonch]

2. Terracotta warriors are seen at the Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Emperor Qin Shihuang in Xian

[Judi Lynn]

7. Wonderful images! Thank you for posting.

[Bucky]

3. every sentence is its own paragraph. How annoying.

a thought:

I know journalists routinely use shorter paragraphs to make for faster reading. The little indents make the writing flow visually faster. But that doesn't work when you make every dang paragraph just one sentence long. The guiding principle is that it's supposed to bunch up the narrative into smaller & more quickly digestible bites of data.

But you lose that benefit when you overwork the enter key like this. It's like eating an entire plate of spaghetti one noodle at a time. You lose the experience of savoring a full meal instead.

[SarahD]

4. We live in bullet points now.

Barely literate nation.

[Deep State Witch]

5. Send in drones

From what I understand, there are high levels of mercury in that tomb. They should probably send in a drone or three. I don't think that the high levels of mercury would do much to them.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Now that makes sense! I hope someone mentions it to them. Thanks for posting!