The real reason why archaeologists hesitate to open the tomb of China’s first emperor

Fear of causing irreparable damage to 2,000-year-old nets, mercury and remains

Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor to unify the kingdoms in an Asian country. This mausoleum is located in one of the most famous funerary complexes in the world, but although archaeologist They have fully identified it They have not made preparations to open it yet. This is not because they are afraid of some possible curse. There are many reasons for this and they are (slightly) more mundane.

The emperor’s tomb is just one section of a funerary complex dating from the 3rd century BC. The most popular element of this complex is the army of terracotta statues discovered during the 1970s. It is believed that there are about 8,000 life-size statues of warriors guarding the cemetery, and new ones are still being found after 2,000 have been removed. The last one in 2022.

The mausoleum of the emperor who took China from the Warring States period to the imperial state is located in Shaanxi provincein central China, and is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

However, a hill resists the archaeologists’ equipment. The emperor’s tomb is still intact. Anthropologists and historians know its immense value yet they avoid considering it in depth. He has important reasons for this, some more mundane and others that may remind us of the Indiana Jones films.

For example, the first is a potential trap. This is probably the least relevant, because it is not likely. 2,200 year old trap Can continue to work. It is also unknown whether these traps actually existed or whether they were invented by officials or historians of the time to deter potential robbers. After all, royal tombs are a great target for them.

But there is one element that deters archaeologists because of the threat it poses to their health: mercury. Rivers of mercury. This possibility is also based on writings from the time, but there are scientific indications that this element is very present in the tomb.

solving a puzzle

A 2020 research published in the journal Nature Chinese researchers reported finding higher than expected levels of mercury in the cemetery’s surroundings.

The mercury may have been used not as a net but as a decorative element when drawing water from the rivers inside the tomb. An extreme version of using aluminum foil in a nativity scene. Interestingly, mercury was a metal associated with life, although it may have been the cause of death for the emperor, who had his tomb built before he died in 210 BC.

Kristin Romei, an archaeologist familiar with the archaeological site, summarizes the problem in the statements collected LiveScienceAnd this is “partly out of respect for the elders, but they realized that no one in the world right now had the technology to go out and dig properly.”

expert They fear that exploring the grave could damage it, After all, it is impossible to know whether the wall opening to enter the tomb might contain valuable inscriptions. Exposure to external elements (air or water) can also cause damage to the contents inside. The possibility of causing structural damage to the tomb has not been mentioned.

Past experiences call for caution. Perhaps the most paradigmatic case is that of the city of Troy, whose ruins were discovered on the Anatolian Peninsula, and whose archaeological exploration has wreaked havoc. There are similar examples in Egypt also. What is certainly the most famous tomb of the North African civilization was also discovered through invasive methods.

“When we entered King Tut’s tomb, think of all the information that was lost based on the excavation techniques of the 1930s. We could have learned a lot more, but the techniques at that time were not the same as we have now. Are close.” Romi concluded.

Decision on when this grave will be opened ultimately falls on the Chinese government And it seems that it is still waiting for the advent of technological advances that reduce heritage degradation during exploration.

For now we have to wait, although some technologies look promising. In Egypt, new techniques for “scanning” the interior of Pharaonic tombs are already being applied. Furthermore, new technologies such as the use of muons also look promising and the idea of ​​implementing them in Qin’s tomb is already on the minds of some people. For now, we will have to wait for this mystery to be unveiled. And rest assured that the secret of the curses does not lie in the river of metal.

Cover Image | Peter Griffin, CC0 1.0

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*An earlier version of this article was published in January 2023