Archaeology
Royal tomb raised from mausoleum complex of China’s first emperor
![](https://conspirazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/tomb1-vVHcCU.webp)
Archaeologists have raised a royal tomb at the Terracotta Warrior mausoleum complex of Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
Qin Shi Huang’s reign brought about the unification of China and an end to the Warring States period in 221 BC.
He constructed a series of walls to connect fortifications along the empire’s northern frontier (the precursor to the Great Wall of China) and abolished the feudal system of loose alliances and federations.
Qin Shi Huang was buried in the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, a large complex located in present-day Lintong District in the city of Xi’an.
Image Credit : Alamy (Under Copyright)
Excavations around the complex have previously discovered around 7,000 (estimates suggest up to 8,000) statues of terracotta warriors, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, and musicians, and around 100 wooden battle chariots placed to serve the emperor in his afterlife.
In 2011, archaeologists unearthed a deep pit at the Terracotta Warrior mausoleum complex containing a 16-tonne coffin.
In accordance with the Chinese government’s hands-off policy, the coffin and its contents were initially left in situ. However, due to heavy rains throughout 2024, the decision was made to excavate the burial site and relocate the tomb to a controlled environment.
Excavations have also uncovered a lavish funerary collection of weaponry, armour, jade, gold and silver camel figurines, cooking utensils, and over 6,000 bronze coins.
According to experts, the tomb is likely the burial of Prince Gao, one of 50 children of Qin Shi Huang, however, it may also be the burial of a high-ranking official or general in the Emperor’s service.
Jiang Wenxiao, the excavation leader, said: “The tomb was so precisely built. So deep, so large in scale. Most ancient tombs have been robbed so we didn’t have much hope for the coffin chamber. But it turned out it hadn’t been robbed. We were amazed.”
The finds will be the focus of the Mysteries of the Terracotta Warriors which debuts on Netflix on June 12th 2024.
Header Image Credit : Netflix
Sources : Netflix
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeology
Ornate grave goods found in Murom burial ground
Archaeologists from the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences have been excavating a burial ground associated with the Finnic Muromians.
The Finnic Muromians were groups of settlers that lived within the vicinity of the Volga and Oka rivers. They spoke Muromian, an Uralic language that became extinct following their assimilation by the Slavs.
The burial ground, which dates from the early 10th century AD, was discovered on the eastern bank of the Oka river, located in the Nizhny Novgorod Region of Russia.
A total of seventeen burial pits have been identified, nine of which have been severely damaged through looting.
The surviving 8 burials contain the remains of four children, two women, and two men.
The men were accompanied with an ornate collection of grave goods, including arrowheads, knives, bronze bracelets, iron plates, a bronze buckle, and a whetstone.
At the bottom of one of the pits is a heavily corroded axe, along with a flint that has traces of iron-coated embossed leather and textile threads.
The burials containing women were also accompanied with high status funerary goods, such as a necklace of red-brown prismatic and dark blue berry-shaped beads of Byzantine origin, signet ring-shaped pendants, plate bracelets, a bronze spiral, and a silver ring.
Traces of wood within the pit fillings suggest that they originally contained a wooden structure, similar to a log house made of thin beams and covered with birch bark.
According to the Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences: “The culmination of the discoveries at the site were two clay vessels, testifying to direct and close contacts between the right-bank Muromians and the Old Russian population.”
Header Image Credit : Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Sources : Institute of Archaeology of the Russian Academy of Sciences
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
Archaeology
Ghastly finds at gallows execution site
![](https://conspirazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/gast2-S78Iej.jpeg)
Archaeologists from the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt are currently excavating the site of a former gallows in Quedlinburg, Germany.
Gallows are usually wooden structures made of two vertical posts, a horizontal crossbeam, and a hanging noose. They have been used for executing criminals by hanging, a prevalent form of capital punishment in Europe since the Middle Ages.
Archaeologists are currently excavating a gallows site on Galgenberg, or ‘Gallows Hill,’ which was used for public executions by the courts in Quedlinburg from 1662 to 1809.
Excavations have revealed complete and partial burials in the area, along with bone pits containing multiple bundled burials, likely the result of mass executions carried out in a short period.
Image Credit : LDA
According to the State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt, “these discoveries provide unique insights into penal practices from the Middle Ages and early modern times.”
A burial unrelated to the gallows has also been unearthed, featuring a wooden coffin containing the skeletal remains of an individual buried with a rosary chain.
Archaeologists propose that the burial’s characteristics suggest that the individual was likely a suicide victim, denied burial in consecrated ground so was placed in the cemetery near the gallows.
Also discovered is a so-called ‘revenant grave’, where the skeletal remains of a man was found placed on his back with several large stones placed across his chest.
According to the researchers, the stones were likely placed to prevent the individual from rising as a revenant, which are described as animated corpses in the verbal traditions and lore of many European ethnic groups.
In medieval times, those inflicted with the revenant condition were generally suicide victims, witches, corpses possessed by a malevolent spirit, or the victim of a vampiric attack.
Header Image Credit : LDA
Sources : State Office for Monument Preservation and Archaeology of Saxony-Anhalt
This content was originally published on www.heritagedaily.com – © 2023 – HeritageDaily
-
Ghosts2 years ago
Zozo: The Ouija Board Demon
-
Space2 years ago
Scientists claim to have found the answer what existed before the Universe
-
Ghosts2 years ago
Old Coot of Mount Greylock
-
General3 years ago
UC San Francisco engaging in horrifying experiments, organ harvesting of live babies in the name of “science”
-
Archaeology2 years ago
New discoveries at Ekʼ Balam during conservation works