China's terracotta tomb site hides mystery building

For Lara Croft fans or people interested in treasure hunting, one cannot be missing the elementally huge mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor to unify China. The hidden site of Emperor was accidentally discovered by peasants in Xi'an, 1974, when they were digging a well.

The tomb of Qin is as sacred to the Chinese as of the rumored tomb of Ghengis Khan to the Mongolians. It signify a national pride in identity unique to each race and country. Qin was responsible in uniting China and building the world wonder Great of China (not Great Fire Wall) to curb attacks from raiding barbarians at the border.

Since then, the tomb helped in rewriting the history of China, making research richer in content and not hypo-theoretical texts found in chapters written by Sima Qian during Han Dynasty. In the burial site, a grand army of human size terracotta warriors and horses were left to guard the King's tomb from disturbance. Recent discovery by researchers and archaeologists deemed that there was a 30 metres tall building buried in the mausoleum. Some researchers deemed the building as a portal in which the emperor ascend to heaven from. It took them 5 years to come out with this hypo-thesis.

Five years is not a long time. We must take note that the tomb was 2000 years ago underground, with it sealed up from the outside world. When air rush into tomb, it good cause rapid disintegration to the site. Improper disturbance to it might cause great damage and loss of it forever. Relics and cultural heritage is prone to damages, and improper and rush actions could to lead to deterioration of site which is irreversible. Personally, I would rather a slower time to scan and figure out the remains than to know the content of the tomb in a short period, losing valuable resources in the way. There had been already too many loss of historical information by past mistakes made in China. Even the controversial evaluation to build a hydro-dam at the three gorges pushed thousands of cultural sites to be not reachable to researchers. If there is proper fund and professional help in ensuring the best possible research technique, then 5 years is nothing.

Until now, China is facing lack of funds in excavation and archaeological works. Most archaeological works were carried out as emergency through sudden discovery of sites as site rescue. Only certain international known sites were given more attention. Site were usually reburied to enable further research in the future when more funds and technical skills is accessible to China.

And for Lara Croft's lovers, no, this post is not about treasure hunting. Its about protecting things we have and what we value. Hoho. Too bad.

source: Shanghai Daily

THE tomb of China's first emperor, guarded for more than 2,000 years by 8,000 terracotta warriors and horses, has yielded up another archaeological secret, Reuters reported.

After five years of research, archaeologists have confirmed that a 30-metre-high building is buried in the vast mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang near the former capital, Xi'an, in the northwestern province of Shaanxi, Xinhua news agency said today.

Duan Qingbo, a researcher with Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology, said the building might have been constructed for the soul of the emperor to depart.

Archaeologists have been using remote sensing technology since 2002 to study the internal structure of the unexcavated mausoleum.

They concluded that the building, buried above the main tomb, had four surrounding stair-like walls with nine steps each, Xinhua said....