Ganling is famous not only because it is the only mausoleum in China where two emperors were buried together, but also because one of the emperors is the famous Empress Wu Zetian in China history. More importantly, Ganling is recognized by archaeologists as a mausoleum that has not been visited by grave robbers. Some experts predict that there may be nearly 500 tons of precious cultural relics in the mausoleum.
However, the newly discovered tree rings make archaeologists feel a little ominous. "Any unusual signs, we should take into account its history in Ganling." Qin Jianming, a researcher at the Antiquities Protection and Restoration Center who first discovered these rings, said that what worried him was that in the history of Ganling, most of them were records of illegal excavations.
[Controversy]
It's not difficult to steal Ganling.
There are many incidents of "goodwill" to Ganling in history, and large-scale excavations abound. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, Huang Chao led 65,438+10,000 troops to dig Ganling upside down, and Wen Tao, the secretariat of Yaozhou in the Five Dynasties, also launched a military-civilian attack on Ganling. In the early years of the Republic of China, Sun Lianzhong led the army to dig Ganling for several months.
"Did they succeed? We have no way to verify this. " Zhang Jianlin, deputy director of Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology, said: "Only historical records show that the excavation of Wen Tao failed due to wind and rain. Whether this statement is true or not cannot be determined. "
Even so, there are still archaeologists who are convinced that Ganling is intact.
The first evidence is an extremely secret tomb. The tomb entrance is the only way for the outside world to enter the underground palace. After the underground palace was completed, the gate was closed and could not be opened again. In order to prevent illegal excavation, the builders of tombs usually hide the pyramid-shaped tombs so that outsiders can't know.
"Dry pyramid-shaped mound mouth was discovered by accident after the founding of the People's Republic of China. In the 1960 s, an archaeological team was organized to clean up the tomb and found that no one had ever entered the space from the tomb door to the underground entrance. " Qin Jianming said that at that time, archaeologists entered the tomb and cleaned it at the entrance of the tomb, and found that the stone carvings in the tomb were intact.
However, this point has also been refuted by many archaeologists. "You can take the lock as an example. Even the best locks can be pried open, and it is easier to rob the tomb. " Zhang Jianlin, who has been engaged in archaeological excavation of ancient tombs for a long time, said that after years of archaeological excavation, he was surprised by the skills of grave robbers. "I can conclude that the tomb of 10 is not empty, but the tomb of 100 is 99 empty."
He told reporters that sometimes when robbing a tomb, I feel that the tomb is complete 99% of the time. It was not until the last shovel that it was discovered that the tomb had been visited and emptied. "Grave robbers don't walk the door of the tomb. There may be a mechanism there, and it may be too ostentatious. They usually enter from places you can't imagine. "
Experts believe that another reason why Ganling was not stolen is that Ganling is a miracle in the history of China's tomb building, and it is too strong.
"Ganling is because the mountain is a mausoleum, and the whole mountain is the protective layer of the mausoleum. The location of the underground palace has not been determined yet. In other words, unless all the mountains are opened, it is basically impossible to explore the underground palace by luck. " Qin Jianming said.
However, experts who support the insecurity of Ganling also have the view that Ganling is not solid. Zhang Jianlin said that in his archaeological excavations, except for the tombs of the Han emperors, which were protected by sand layers and well preserved, other methods were unsafe. "Sand is flowing. If you dig a shovel, the sand will immediately flow down and fill it. Like this, because the mountain is a mausoleum, protection doesn't work. "
What almost all archaeologists know is that Ganling is really a bit too ostentatious. "Surrounded by plains, three mountains occupy a mausoleum, and two emperors bury a grave. Grave robbers will definitely take it. " Zhang Jianlin said.
[confused]
Could be a sign of a grave robbery.
"Who dug these circular trenches, what's the use? It is still unknown. " Qin Jianming said.
In fact, these rings were discovered as early as the first half of this year when archaeologists began their research work.
"Although there is no field excavation, through previous exploration in this area, I can confirm that there are no monuments underground in these rings." Zhang Jianlin said, and he also doubted the existence of these auras.
Yesterday, the reporter came to the area where the circular trench is located. After careful search, he found that the land was no different. According to local villagers, when there are crops, it can be clearly seen that the crops in the area where the circular trench is located are shorter than the surrounding areas, which will form crop circles.
"I can't see it on the flat ground." Qin Jianming said that there are many possibilities for traces on aerial photos. For example, if a piece of land is dug manually, even if it is backfilled to its original state, the soil density and water content will change. When the sun shines on it, the reflection will be different and traces will be produced.
Qin Jianming is also quite helpless about this. "The trace on the photo is actually very humble. It can only be seen clearly after processing. " However, he said that even if it is not obvious, it is certain that the circular trench does exist, and its formation is absolutely man-made.
Doubt 1: The distribution of tree rings is a mystery.
The reporter learned that the annual rings found at present are all about 2 kilometers south of Ganling, just outside Ganling, and buried with the tomb.
"Among the discovered 10 tree rings, there is no special arrangement law, with different sizes and positions, which seems to have nothing to do with Ganling, and many tree rings are still incomplete due to river erosion." The position of the ring puzzled Qin Jianming for a long time.
However, after long-term observation and detection, Qin Jianming found that all the annual rings were distributed in strips. "Although the arrangement is not neat, it is basically in a belt-shaped area, arranged around Ganling."
Another arrangement feature is that the largest circle is centered on Li Jinxing's cemetery, which is the tomb buried with Ganling. But what makes Zhang Jianlin feel strange is that Li Jinxing's tomb was stolen a long time ago, and this ring around it may be the trace of theft.
"I'm sure that this ring was not excavated when building a cemetery, because apart from here, China has not found the second batch of rings in the cemetery, which has no practical significance for the tomb."
Doubt 2: Is it man-made?
After the ring was discovered, it also attracted the attention of geological experts. Many experts expressed their willingness to explore the geological distribution of the area where the ring is located.
"It is definitely good to be able to comprehensively detect multidisciplinary." Qin Jianming said that as far as the existing archaeological means are concerned, it is impossible to determine whether these tree rings are artificially formed.
"I think it is artificial and just a guess." In order to verify, Qin Jianming also organized a team to visit the villagers in the surrounding villages. He learned from some old people that trenches were dug here during the Republic of China. "I also think that these rings were the trenches at that time, because in the early detection, these trenches were basically 3 meters wide and the depth could not be determined, but basically one person was Gao Suo."
But then Qin Jianming denied the idea. How can trenches be round? What exactly is the moat to protect?
Another thing that needs the help of geologists is that the age of these rings cannot be determined. "If it is earlier than the formation of Ganling, then they have lost their relationship with the cemetery." Qin Jianming said.
The solution of this problem poses a difficult problem for archaeologists. "If you can't find any historical relics to prove it in the area where the ring is located, then the age of the ring can't be determined." Zhang Jianlin said.
Qin Jianming can basically confirm that these rings should have existed for a long time. "Many tree rings have been washed away by the river, and it takes a long time for the river to completely remove the traces in the soil, not a short time."
According to the reporter, traces of human activities in the Stone Age have been found in the area where the ring appeared.
[Experts] will take aerial photos of other tombs.
"The previous work was mainly to determine the number, location and size of the annual rings, and the research on the annual rings themselves was still lacking to some extent." Qin Jianming said.
The reporter learned that archaeologists will jointly explore geology and biology in the future, hoping to get more clues about the ring.
"In addition, the reason why these rings were not found before is because this time a brand-new investigation method was adopted. We doubt whether such rings will be found around other tombs in the country if this method is adopted. " Qin Jianming said. The discovery of these tree rings is mainly attributed to the newly adopted aerial photography archaeological technology. "If you only use the method of mining, you will never find these rings."
In addition, scholars will continue to study historical materials. "Although there are no obvious clues now, we prefer to believe that there will be clues."
Related links Ganling
Ganling was built in 684 AD, and it took 23 years for the project to be basically completed. Ganling, with mountains as its mausoleum, is located on Liangshan at an altitude of 1047.5 meters. There are three peaks in Liangshan, with the highest peak in the north, namely Ganling. According to historical records, the mausoleum originally had two inner and outer walls, four city gates, and many magnificent buildings such as Xiandian Quelou. Exploration shows that the total area of the inner city is 240 square meters. There are Zhuque Gate in the south, Xuanwu Gate in the north, Qinglong Gate in the east and Baihu Gate in the west.