Deep-Sea Robot Reveals Treasures of $20 Billion San Jose Wreck
The legendary galleon is thought to be carrying 200 tons of gold, silver and precious stones. Now, there are new pictures of the deep-sea treasure. The contents of the historic San Jose galleon, which sank more than 300 years ago, still make the hearts of treasure hunters all over the world beat faster.
Columbia says the wreck is a ‘”national art treasure’
According to experts, at least 200 tons of gold, silver and gems are said to have been in the ship, which sank off the coast of the Colombian port city of Cartagena in 1708. Its value: is several billion US dollars.
When the shipwreck was discovered in 2015, then Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos presented it as “the most valuable treasure ever found in the history of mankind.”
Gold coins were only a part of the valuable treasures aboard the galleon
Gold, coins and canons
After the recent elaborate diving expedition at a depth of 950 meters (3,117 feet), the Colombian army has now published new pictures of the legendary ship and its treasures.
They show cast-iron cannons, porcelain dishes, pottery, glass bottles, but also apparently golden coins. They also display a part of the ship’s bow covered with seaweed and shells, as well as remains of the hull framework.
These are the most accurate images of the ship ever taken, according to acting Colombian President Ivan Duque.
What exactly might have been in these clay pots?
Other wrecks to be investigated
The teams have dived down in four missions with high-tech equipment, including a remote-controlled diving robot. In the process, they were able to determine that the wreck had remained unscathed by human intervention.
One day, the shipwreck is to be lifted out of the sea — an expensive undertaking
In addition to the spectacular images of the famous shipwreck, however, the descent into the depths has revealed something else. A few hundred meters away, the camera has come across two other wrecks: a galleon from the colonial period and a schooner from the post-colonial period.
Thirteen other sites, where other shipwrecks from the same eras are suspected, are still to be investigated.
Crockery was also found on the site
The San Jose: A national treasure
The treasures aboard the galleon San Jose were on their way from the Spanish colonies in Latin America to the court of the Spanish King Philip V in 1708, but they never arrived there: On the night of June 7, the ship and its treasures were sunk by the British fleet in the Caribbean Sea.
Only a few of the 600 or so crew members survived.
Colombia plans to salvage the wreck one day — at a cost equivalent to around €61 million ($65 million) — and then exhibit it in a museum in Cartagena. The country already calls the wreck and its riches a “national art treasure.”
17th-Century British Shipwreck Found in International Waters
The 340-year-old Gloucester warship was discovered after a cannon was spotted by divers on the seabed
The discovery of a shipwrecked warship that sank while carrying a future king has been hailed as the most important maritime find since the Mary Rose. The Gloucester ran aground off the coast of Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, in 1682, nearly killing the Duke of York, who became King James II of England.
The find, which was discovered by divers in 2007, has only just been revealed due to security reasons. Maritime expert Prof Claire Jowitt said it was of “international importance”.
The Gloucester’s exact whereabouts were a mystery until it was discovered 15 years ago half-buried in the seabed 28 miles (45km) out to sea, having sunk while navigating treacherous sandbank. The disaster, in which hundreds of passengers and crew died, threatened to change the course of history. However, the then Duke of York fled the sinking ship with moments to spare and went on to become the Catholic heir to the Protestant throne in an era marked by religious and political unrest.
Diarist and naval administrator Samuel Pepys witnessed the Gloucester’s sinking
Prof Jowitt, an authority on maritime cultural history and based at Norwich’s University of East Anglia (UEA), said: “Because of the circumstances of its sinking, this can be claimed as the single most significant historic maritime discovery since the raising of the Mary Rose in 1982.
“The discovery promises to fundamentally change understanding of 17th Century social, maritime and political history.
“It is an outstanding example of the underwater cultural heritage of national and international importance… the full story of the Gloucester’s last voyage and the impact of its aftermath needs re-telling.”
Prof Claire Jowitt said the find was the most important maritime discovery since the Mary Rose in 1982
Norfolk-based printer brothers Julian and Lincoln Barnwell, together with their late father, friend James Little and another unnamed friend, spent four years on diving expeditions to find the Gloucester’s watery grave. Lincoln said he was inspired by memories of the Mary Rose’s lifting, but the team was feeling defeated when he eventually spotted a large cannon on the seabed.
“It was awe-inspiring and really beautiful,” he said.
“It instantly felt like a privilege to be there, it was so exciting.
“We were the only people in the world at that moment in time who knew where the wreck lay – that was special and I’ll never forget it.”
His brother Julian said they initially had no idea how historically significant the Gloucester was.
“We had read the Duke of York was on board but that was it,” he said.
“We were confident it was the Gloucester, but there are other wreck sites out there with cannons, so it still needed to be confirmed.
“There is still a huge amount of knowledge to be gained from the wreck, which will benefit Norfolk and the nation.”
The ship’s bell, made in 1681, was raised to the surface in 2012 and proved vital in successfully identifying the vessel
Glasses found in the original case and dating back at least 340 years were among the finds at the underwater site
Although the team discovered the 340-year-old shipwreck in 2007, it was not until the ship’s bell was recovered in 2012 that the Receiver of Wreck and Ministry of Defence decisively identified it. Since then the “at-risk” site – in international waters – has had to be protected, which is why the discovery is only now being made public and its exact location undisclosed.
A major exhibition is being planned to run from February to July 2023 at Norwich Castle Museum. An accompanying research project will also examine the circumstances of the tragedy and conspiracy theories.
While the Gloucester was not a slave-trading ship, many people from diverse cultural backgrounds lost their lives and historians will make sure their stories are told, the UEA said.
What was The Gloucester and what is left of it?
A wine bottle’s seal shows the coat of arms of the Legge family, who were ancestors of George Washington
Launched in 1654 with 54 guns and 280 crew, The Gloucester is the only surviving third-rate Cromwellian warship. It took part in multiple battles and became part of the Royal Navy fleet after 1660, when King Charles II was restored to the throne. The shipwreck is split down the keel, with remains of the hull submerged in sand, and it is not known how much of it is intact. There are no plans to raise any part of it.
As well as the ship’s bell, divers have found clothes, shoes, navigational equipment, personal possessions and unopened wine bottles. One of the wine bottles bears a glass seal with the coat of arms of the Legge family – ancestors of George Washington, the first US President. No human remains have been found so far – only animal bones.
Did the future King save dogs and priests over crew?
In a portrait from 1672, the Duke of York is depicted with the royal fleet. He was then Lord High Admiral to his older brother, King Charles II
The Gloucester had set sail from Portsmouth to Edinburgh to allow the Duke of York to conduct royal business at the Scottish Parliament. It struck a sandbank during a strong gale 28 miles (45km) off Great Yarmouth on the morning of 6 May 1682 and sank within an hour. The Duke of York and John Churchill, the future Duke of Marlborough, were rescued in the ship’s boat. While some of the estimated 330 people on board were rescued by boats from the fleet, it is believed between 130 and 250 sailors and passengers perished.
Witnesses claimed the future King saved Catholic priests and his dogs over courtiers and crew, and, given that a royal had to leave a ship first, caused countless deaths by delaying his escape. He accepted no responsibility for the tragedy – despite arguing over the ship’s course, as former Lord High Admiral – and blamed the pilot, who was later imprisoned. The diarist Samuel Pepys, who was travelling in the royal fleet, wrote that some survivors and victims were plucked “half dead” from the sea.
What would’ve happened if the Duke of York had died?
This man – the illegitimate son of King Charles II – may have become King on his father’s death, had the Duke of York perished at sea
The Duke of York went on to become King James II of England and Ireland (and King James VII of Scotland) in 1685, on his brother’s death. Had he drowned in 1682, King Charles II’s illegitimate son, James Scott, the Duke of Monmouth, might well have inherited the throne. The reign of King James II – a Catholic – was marked by political and religious turmoil and he was deposed in the Glorious Revolution of 1688. Some of those who took part had taken a dim view of the Duke over his actions on The Gloucester.
The revolution created a new type of state, contributed greatly to the modern world and might not have happened had he died at sea, the UEA said. Alternatively, civil war might have ensued between those who supported the Duke of Monmouth against the claims of the Duke of York’s legitimate daughter, Mary and her Dutch husband, William of Orange, it added.
Remains of Thousands of Iron Age Frogs Uncovered in England
An unprecedented trove of 8,000 bones presents archaeologists at a road dig with a prehistoric mystery
The skeletons are mainly of the common frog species, found in garden ponds across the country.
Archaeologists working near the site of an iron age home near Cambridge were perplexed when they uncovered a vast trove of frog skeletons. Quite why more than 8,000 bones had been piled up and preserved is a prehistoric mystery.
They were all recovered from a single 14-metre-long ditch, right next to the site of an iron age roundhouse at Bar Hill, where there was a settlement during the middle and late iron age (400BC-AD43).
The discovery was made by the Museum of London Archaeology (Mola) Headland Infrastructure, conducting excavations as part of the National Highways A14 Cambridge to Huntingdon road improvement scheme.
Although it is not unusual to find frog bones at ancient sites, archaeologists are baffled by the sheer quantity of those unearthed at Bar Hill.
Dr Vicki Ewens, Mola’s senior archaeozoologist – a specialist in ancient animal bone – told the Observer: “In my experience, mainly working on sites from London, we don’t get that many frogs. To have so many bones coming from one ditch is extraordinary.”
Zooarchaeologist Vicki Ewens analyses the frog bones found at Bar Hill.
Noting that these bones belong primarily to the common frog and common toad, species found in garden ponds across the country, she said: “We’ve also had possible evidence of pool frog, which is exciting… It’s not something that we usually find archaeologically.
“In my research, I’ve only found two Saxon sites with single bones on each. They’re a frog that was only found in East Anglia that died out in the 1990s, possibly due to habitat loss, but has recently been reintroduced.”
As this is prehistory, finding an explanation is difficult, although ancient civilisations – including the Egyptians, Mesopotamians, Greeks and Romans – all saw the frog as a symbol of fertility, among other associations.
It is unlikely that these amphibians had been eaten by the people living at the settlement. The archaeologists say that, while there is evidence of amphibian consumption in Britain dating to the stone age, these bones have no cuts or burn marks. If the frogs had been boiled, however, this may not have left traces.
Evidence of charred grain found near the site suggests that its inhabitants were processing crops that would attract pests such as beetles and aphids, which frogs are known to eat. So perhaps the frogs were drawn to the area by the promise of food, the archaeologists suggest.
Other potential explanations include “a prehistoric frog tragedy”. The archaeologists say that frogs are known to move in large numbers in spring in search of breeding waters and these could have fallen into the ditch and become trapped.
According to one hypothesis, the unusual death toll might also have been caused by winter hardship. While hibernating frogs sometimes hide in the mud, extreme cold can kill them and perhaps they fell victim to a particularly severe winter.
Alternatively, they may have suffered disease, just as in the 1980s, when UK frogs were devastated by a ranavirus.
It is unclear how deep the ditch was. The field team dug through about a metre of topsoil and subsoil to reach it. Only small quantities of domestic waste were found at the site, including sherds of iron-age pottery.
Aerial view of the archaeological site excavated at Bar Hill.
The amphibian bones were among a huge number of finds, from artefacts to human remains, during around 40 excavations that took place between 2016 and 2018 across an area spanning 234 hectares. Analyses are still ongoing, even though excavations have now concluded.
Ewens has spent the past two years studying the bones of animals, including cattle. Once all the studies come together, it is hoped they will shed new light on lives led thousands of years ago and discover the reason behind the death of so many amphibians.
65,000-year-old ‘Swiss Army knife’ reveals the key to early human survival
The presence of ancient multi-tools in southern Africa may suggest that communication between ancient humans spanned long distances, according to a study published in Scientific Reports on Thursday.
Map of the seven sites where ancient ‘Swiss Army knives were found in southern Africa that were analyzed in the study.
But ancient humans weren’t only talking to each other, the research found, they were also sharing knowledge that may have aided in the overall survival of the human race.
The Howiesons Poort blade is known as the “stone Swiss Army knife” of prehistory because it is an early example of a composite tool that had multiple purposes. While stone tools were not revolutionary for the time, the Howiesons Poort blades were so groundbreaking because they are ‘hafted‘ — meaning that the stone blades are affixed to handles — using glue and adhesives.
Ancient humans in southern Africa produced these early multi-tools in large numbers for hunting (fashioned into spears and arrows) and cutting wood, plants, bone, skin, feathers and flesh.
Stone tools from the Sibudu Cave site in South Africa, whose similarities with other tools in the region indicate that early humans were sharing knowledge with each other 65,000 years ago.
Researchers compared the Swiss Army knife-like tools from seven sites across southern Africa and found that they all had the same shape and used the same template.
Hafted tools were developed independently in other parts of the world across vastly different time periods — and they took on many shapes. But these southern African cultures chose to make their tools look the same, something researchers found “culturally meaningful.”
The team of international scientists analyzing these 65,000-year-old tools was led by University of Sydney archaeologist Amy Way. They concluded that the similarities among the tools across southern Africa indicate that early humans must have been sharing information with each other — they were social networking.
“The really exciting thing about this find is that it gives us evidence that there was a long-distance social connection between people, just before the big migration out of Africa, which involved all of our ancestors,” Way said via The Guardian.
Early humans had been migrating out of Africa in smaller numbers before the large exodus approximately 60,000 years ago.
“Why was this exodus so successful where the earlier excursions were not? The main theory is that social networks were stronger then,” Way added.
“This analysis shows for the first time that these social connections were in place in southern Africa just before the big exodus.”
But just how far did this knowledge-sharing reach? Way says Howiesons Poort blades have been found 1,200 kilometres apart in southern Africa.
“One hundred kilometres takes five days to walk, so it’s probably a whole network of groups that are mostly in contact with the neighbouring group,” she said.
Social networking may have been the reason why homo sapiens were so successful at migrating across the world where other early human species failed, according to Paloma de la Peña, a senior research associate at the University of Cambridge and a lead author in the study.
“The main theory as to why modern humans replaced all the other humans living outside Africa around 60-70,000 years ago is that our ancestors were much better at social networking than the other species, such as Neanderthals, who were possibly smarter and stronger as individuals, but not great at sharing information,” de la Peña said.
Perhaps this research suggests that what makes us people is not intelligence alone, but our capacity to help our fellow humans.
Remains of Possible Early Muslims Identified in Syria
A new study combining archaeological, historical and bioarchaeological data provides new insights into the early Islamic period in modern-day Syria. The research team was planning to focus on a much older time period but came across what they believe to be the remains of early Muslims in the Syrian countryside.
Excavation at the Neolithic site of Tell Qarassa in modern-day Syria.
The Middle East is well known as a region with a rich and fascinating history embracing a wide range of ethnicities, cultures and religious practices.
While a great part of this diverse and dynamic history is known through historical records, the impressive material culture and archaeological sites in the region until recently important bioarcheological data was more difficult to retrieve due to the poor preservation of organic materials in harsh environments.
New technologies that are more capable of analysing degraded material, however, have changed this and stories from prehistoric to historic times have emerged, enriching our knowledge of this region at the crossroads between three continents.
Now, a multinational and interdisciplinary team is presenting new bioarchaeological insights into the early Islamic period in modern-day Syria.
Before the Syrian civil war
During 2009 and 2010, excavations at the Neolithic site of Tell Qarassa in modern-day Syria encountered a number of burials.
These excavations were coordinated by a Spanish-French team integrating Syrian students in all archaeological campaigns, thereby contributing to their training in archaeology.
The research was conducted with permission from and in constant coordination with the General Directorate of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM) of the Syrian Arab Republic. Shortly after these excavations, the Syrian civil war began, which continues to this day.
“With the goal of studying the first farming groups in the region, we subjected the remains of 14 humans to ancient DNA analysis,” says archaeogeneticist Cristina Valdiosera of the University of Burgos, Spain, who coordinated the study.
Human remains in graves dated to the Umayyad era in the late 7th and early 8th centuries (the second caliphate).
“Only two individuals from the upper layers of the site contained sufficient amounts of endogenous DNA and these came from graves that we assumed belonged to a later prehistoric period. After radiocarbon dating, it became clear we had something unexpected and special.”
Umayyad Era
The graves dated to the Umayyad era in the late 7th and early 8th centuries (the second caliphate). In light of these surprisingly recent dates, a reassessment of the burial style showed that it would be consistent with early Muslim burial practices.
It would have been impossible to pinpoint this cultural identity without the radiocarbon dates as there were no previously known Muslim settlements or burial sites in the area and the archaeological site itself was only known as a prehistoric site.
“The genomic results were also surprising as the two individuals seemed genetically different from most ancient or modern-day Levantines. The most similar – though not identical – modern-day groups were Bedouins and Saudis, suggesting a possible connection to the Arabian Peninsula,” says evolutionary biologist Megha Srigyan, who conducted the data analysis during her Master’s studies at Uppsala University, Sweden.
“Most of our evidence is indirect but the different types of data, taken together, point to this man and woman belonging to transient groups far from home, suggesting the presence of early Muslims in the Syrian countryside,” says population geneticist Torsten Günther at Uppsala University, who co-coordinated the study.
The analysis of one man and one woman provided evidence of new cultural/religious practices arriving in the Levant.
“It is extraordinary that by studying just two individuals, we were able to uncover a small but remarkable piece of the colossal puzzle that makes up the history of the Levant,” says Cristina Valdiosera.
“In this particular case, there was no way we could have reached a conclusion without combining the archaeological, historical and bioarchaeological data, as each of these provided essential clues, highlighting the importance of a multidisciplinary approach,” Torsten Günther concludes.
The human remains recovered in Qarassa, as well as the rest of the archaeological material, was deposited at the Archaeological Museum of Sweida (Syria) and, from that moment, they have been under the responsibility of the Syrian DGAM, as per their regulations.
Archaeologists uncover coffins that have been shut for 2,500 years; it’s Saqqara again
In 2020, archaeologists in Egypt unsealed a mummy coffin sealed 2,500 years ago in front of a live audience in Egypt. The mummy was wrapped in an ornate burial cloth, which had been decorated to resemble a deceased priest’s face.
Egypt uncovers 2,500-year-old coffins
Greg Lewis, New Zealand’s ambassador to Egypt, also shared a video of unsealing the mummy coffin on Twitter.
According to a press release by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, initially, three burial wells at different depths between 10 and 12 metres, with 13 coffins, were discovered in Saqqara.
Earlier in 2020, Archaeologists found 59 sealed wooden sarcophagi in the necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo near Memphis.
Saqqara is home to several pyramids, including the famous Giza Pyramids. It was designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the 1970s.
Recently, another team of archaeologists in Saqqara uncovered a new trove of coffins that are believed to have been left untouched for 2,500 years.
The incredible dig at a cemetery in Saqqara uncovered mummies as well as statues of the gods Anubis, Amun, Min, Osiris, Isis, Nefertum, Bastet and Hathor – along with a headless statue of the architect Imhotep, who built the Saqqara pyramid. The coffins have been shut for 2,500 years
The team found hundreds of statues of ancient Egyptian gods — Anubis, Amun, Min, Osiris, Isis, Nefertum, Bastet, and Hathor. Besides the statues, the diggers also unearthed 250 ancient sarcophagi.
Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement that 250 coffins, 150 bronze statues, and other objects dating back to about 500 BC were found in Saqqara.
“The mission of the Supreme Council of Antiquities succeeded in discovering the first and largest cache of 150 bronze statues from the late period in the cemetery of the sacred animals in Saqqara, as well as burial wells containing 250 closed coloured wooden coffins containing mummies, which will be displayed in the Grand Egyptian Museum,” Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in an online statement.
Photos of the incredible finds have been shared on Facebook by the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Reports said the coffins were found in remarkably good condition in burial shafts. They contained mummies, amulets and smaller wooden boxes.
They will not be taken to the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is currently under construction near the Great Pyramids of Giza.
“We also found a statue of Imhotep … and we hope we can find his tomb soon,” Head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa El-Waziri, told ABC News.
Imhotep was an Egyptian chancellor to the Pharaoh Djoser, possible architect of Djoser’s step pyramid, and high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis. Very little is known of Imhotep as a historical figure.
Europe’s ‘largest ever’ land dinosaur was found on the Isle of Wight
Remains of Europe’s largest-ever land-based predator dinosaurs have been discovered on the Isle of Wight, scientists say.
The dinosaur was a two-legged, crocodile-faced predator and measured more than 10m long
Palaeontologists at the University of Southampton identified the remains, which measured more than 32ft (10m) long and lived 125 million years ago.
The prehistoric bones belonged to a two-legged, crocodile-faced, predatory spinosaurid dinosaur.
PhD student Chris Barker, who led the research, said it was a “huge animal”.
The remains, which include pelvic and tail vertebrae, were discovered on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight.
The carnivore has been dubbed the “white rock spinosaurid”, after the geological layer in which the remains were found.
Bone fragments, including pelvic and tail vertebrae, have been discovered
The remains of the predator were found on the south-west coast of the Isle of Wight
“This was a huge animal, exceeding 10m in length and probably several tonnes in weight,” Mr Barker said.
“Judging from some of the dimensions, it appears to represent one of the largest predatory dinosaurs ever found in Europe – maybe even the biggest yet known.”
It would have lived at the beginning of a period of rising sea levels and would have stalked lagoonal waters and sandflats in search of food.
Co-author of the research, Darren Naish, said: “Because it’s only known from fragments at the moment, we haven’t given it a formal scientific name. We hope that additional remains will turn up in time.”
The dinosaur has been dubbed the “white rock spinosaurid”, after the geological layer in which the remains were found
Most of the fossils were found by Isle of Wight dinosaur hunter Nick Chase, who died just before the Covid pandemic.
Jeremy Lockwood, another co-author of the study and a PhD student at the University of Portsmouth and Natural History Museum, said: “I was searching for remains of this dinosaur with Nick and found a lump of the pelvis with tunnels bored into it – each about the size of my index finger.
“We think they were caused by bone-eating larvae of a type of scavenging beetle. It’s an interesting thought that this giant killer wound up becoming a meal for a host of insects.”
China’s mysterious 8,000-year-old structure ‘guarded by the military could hold key secrets
More than 100km outside the ancient city of Xi’an, among the overgrown forests, rise scores of pyramid-shaped mounds that have been shrouded in mystery for thousands of years. The West learnt about them when Fred Meyer Schroder, an American trader, first reported the enigma in 1912.
At the time, he was travelling through the Shaanxi Province with a guide, where he recorded a thorough description in his diary, noting he had seen one giant pyramid approximately 1,000 feet tall and nearly twice that size in length, surrounded by a number of smaller pyramids.
Fast-forward three decades and US Airforce pilot James Gaussman would be left mesmerised by a “pure white” structure spotted while flying over Asia, said to be twice the size of the Great Pyramid of Egypt.
He said: “The remarkable thing was the capstone, a huge piece of jewel-like material that could have been crystal.
“There was no way we could have landed, although we wanted to. We were struck by the immensity of the thing.”
Two years later, Colonel Maurice Sheahan, the Far Eastern director for Trans World Airline, reported the same experience.
China has a mysterious structure that could be key to understanding the country’s history.
China has a number of pyramid structures
In the early Nineties, German investigator Hartwig Hausdorf searched for the massive pyramid, but he was unsuccessful in finding it.
Instead, he found “the Chinese military meticulously patrolling the area,” according to reports.
Today, Google Earth will show anyone with the right coordinates evidence of not just one, but around 40 known pyramids, but not all are easily distinguishable to the human eye.
They are covered with trees and grass, and many date back 8,000 years. This region, in essence, is China’s version of both Egypt’s Giza and the Valley of the Kings in one, particularly because there is a huge amount of royalty rumoured to be beneath the surface that no one has disturbed.
Two farmers discovered the famous terracotta army of China’s First Emperor
As early as the 17th century, a Roman Jesuit wrote about the pyramids, and in 1785, the French orientalist and sinologist Joseph de Guignes wrote ‘An Essay in Which We Prove The Chinese Are an Egyptian Colony’.
Western archaeologists have, to this day, rarely been permitted to investigate the sites and some have claimed photos show shrubs have been deliberately planted to keep the secret under wraps.
But experts theorise there are almost certainly lost emperors and artefacts below the mounds that would dwarf Howard Carter’s 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun. In 1974, the world got a peek at a truly extraordinary history of China when two farmers were digging just outside Xi’an and discovered the famous terracotta army of China’s First Emperor – Qin Shi Huang.
There were legends that he had been buried inside a veritable mini-city with palaces, carriages, treasures, and anything else he’d need in the afterlife – and through luck, or fate, these farmers hit the jackpot. The site is so massive, that researchers are “going to be digging there for centuries,” archaeologist Kristin Romey told Live Science in 2012.
The mounds are shrouded in secrecy
Some can be seen on Google Earth
But the Emperor himself has never been found.
The authorities have opened up sites like the Han Yang Ling Mausoleum to tourists, but no one is allowed to excavate them.
Xi Jinping’s government say the technology does not exist yet to disturb the pyramids without damaging their contents, citing King Tut’s discovery for reference.
Dr Romey previously remarked: “It’s really smart what they’re doing.
“Think about all the information we lost just based on the excavation techniques of the 1930s.
“There’s so much additional [information] that we could have learned, but the techniques back then weren’t what we have now.
“Even though we may think we have great archaeological excavation techniques [at present], who knows, a century down the road if we open this tomb [they could be even better].”
Chinese strong “veneration of tradition” culture could mean they simply wish to leave their royalty at peace, which means there will be no choice but to watch them recede back into the Earth with their secrets – until someone decides otherwise.
But, due to the area being shrouded in secrecy, there are also doubts from some experts about whether the White Pyramid even exists.
Experts have squabbled over both the location and the feasibility of such a monumental structure.
