Why are scientists afraid to open Qin Shi Huang's tomb?

China Fears of damage to the structure and deadly traps inside kept the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang closed for more than 2,000 years.

The Terracotta Army was buried near the tomb of Qin Shi Huang to protect him in the afterlife. Photo: Flickr — The Terracotta Army was buried near the tomb of Qin Shi Huang to protect him in the afterlife. Photo: *Flickr*

In 1974, farmers stumbled upon one of the most important archaeological finds of all time in a field in China’s Shaanxi Province. While digging, they found fragments of human figures made of clay. And this was just the tip of the iceberg.

Subsequent excavations revealed that the field lay over several pits containing thousands of life-size terracotta soldiers and horses, as well as figures of acrobats, officials, and animals. The terracotta army’s mission was likely to be to guard the nearby tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, who ruled from 221 to 210 BC.

While experts have explored much of the surrounding cemetery, Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum has never been opened. It’s likely that no one has looked inside the mausoleum in the more than 2,000 years since the famous emperor was buried there.

One of the main reasons is that archaeologists are concerned that excavations could damage the tomb and cause the loss of important historical information. Currently, if they want to enter the tomb, they can only use invasive archaeological techniques, which are likely to cause irreparable damage.

One of the clearest examples is archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann's excavation of the city of Troy in the 1870s. In his haste and simple-mindedness, his actions destroyed almost every trace of the very city he wanted to explore.

Archaeologists certainly don’t want to lose patience and make the same mistake. They’ve proposed non-invasive techniques to peer into the tomb’s interior. One idea is to use muons—subatomic particles formed when cosmic rays collide with atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere—that can penetrate structures like an advanced form of X-rays. But most of these proposals seem to be lagging behind.

Opening the tomb could also lead to immediate and deadly danger. In a document written about 100 years after Qin Shi Huang’s death, the ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian said that the tomb was riddled with traps that would kill any intruder.

"Palaces and viewing towers for hundreds of officials were built, and the tombs were filled with rare artifacts and wonderful treasures. Craftsmen were ordered to make crossbows and arrows to shoot anyone who entered the tomb. Mercury was used to simulate rivers, the Yangtze River, the Yellow River, the Great Sea, and was set to flow mechanically," he wrote.

Even if the weapons were ineffective after 2,000 years, the document suggests that a flood of toxic liquid mercury could have washed away the tomb robbers. In fact, scientific studies have also tested the mercury levels around the tomb and found them to be significantly higher than what should be found in a normal area.

"Volatile mercury could have escaped through fissures (cracks that appear inside a structure over time) and our investigation supports ancient records of the tomb - a structure that is believed to have never been opened or looted," concluded a team of experts from the Electro-Optical Research Center of South China Normal University and the Museum of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang in a study published in the journal Nature in 2020.

For now, the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum remains sealed and unexplored, but it is by no means forgotten. In the future, perhaps scientific advances will help uncover the mysteries that have lain untouched here for more than 2,000 years.

Thu Thao (According to IFL Science )

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