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Initial_Cellist9240 t1_j8yso98 wrote

Reply to comment by sovietmcdavid in Discovery of 4,500-year-old palace in Iraq may hold key to ancient civilisation | Archaeology by JesseBricks

Ireland too! It’s really interesting how we have to strike a balance between continuing research, and preventing disturbance for future generations that may have access to better information tools and techniques

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weaponizeddonut t1_j8zi47x wrote

Hope I'll be still alive when they excavated Qin Shi Huang's tomb

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Jindabyne1 t1_j8zqtd4 wrote

Was he Irish?

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Real_Jackraps t1_j90jeu5 wrote

No, he was very contentious.

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surle t1_j90ynmb wrote

The two aren't mutually exclusive though

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Real_Jackraps t1_j90zm52 wrote

I don't know if or who ruined Scotland, but whoever they are, they're a contentious bunch!

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Jindabyne1 t1_j911czm wrote

That was the Chinese iirc

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Real_Jackraps t1_j9133r1 wrote

No, they thought it was the dolphins but it was actually secret mission by the chickens and cows.

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FreshMull t1_j94wj7z wrote

chicken and cow use dolphin and whale as a scapegoat!? This is outrage!

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Pilgrim_of_Reddit t1_j8zjtp7 wrote

> Hope I’ll be still alive when they excavated Qin Shi Huang’s tomb

That was excavated last week. You still alive?

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dusmeyedin t1_j8zzppj wrote

No, they left the imperial resting place untouched because they don't know how to preserve it if it's exposed to the elements.

They've partially opened up some of the buried statues, but they immediately started to lose their coloring as the paint fades on exposure.

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Pilgrim_of_Reddit t1_j90ij88 wrote

You are correct. But the whole thing is a tomb, buried statues and all.

Amazing photograph of when statues were first uncovered.

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dusmeyedin t1_j9185un wrote

The terminology might be a bit confusing. The Qin mausoleum is a fairly large complex that mimics the layout of the old capital city Xianyang. There are many structures in this complex, including the resting place of the emperor himself, and the outer armies statues and other ceremonial structures.

Archeologists distinguish between the emperor's tomb, which is the resting place of his body, vs the rest of the complex, which is generally called the mausoleum or the necropolis.

They have excavated parts of the necropolis and seen the damage this caused, and so they have not excavated the emperor's actual tomb. There's a whole half of the necropolis which they are unwilling to touch because they don't know what their archeological process will do to it - contemporary reports said that Qin had a relief terrain map of the whole empire set up with liquid mercury filling in for the rivers and lakes. Modern excavation techniques are still not up to the task of preserving this.

The commenter you responded to might have been using that distinction: they hope to see some day when our science is advanced enough to examine Qin's personal resting place, amidst all its riches and ceremonial finery, without destroying it.

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libginger73 t1_j92itju wrote

And there was a moat of mercury buried as well. So that's probably a bit dangerous.

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Putnum t1_j92mekm wrote

Hope I'll be still alive to say I'm from a future generation

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maaku7 t1_j907s7l wrote

They never will. I guarantee you it has been grave robbed and they’ll keep it undug to prevent knowledge of that fact.

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an_actual_lawyer t1_j8zn6nu wrote

Can ground penetrating radar help or is the resolution just not good enough.

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Hakairoku t1_j90xd4k wrote

Same reason why cops shouldn't be messing with crime scenes

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