On the morning of December 14, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held an online meeting in Beijing, at which it was announced that the Bailuyuan Jiangcun Tomb in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, was the tomb of the Han Emperor, and at the same time, it also brought many surprises to archaeologists.
According to media reports, as the excavation work progressed, more rare and mysterious cultural relics were unearthed, including a delicate bronze gear, which made the experts marvel and the degree of refinement was comparable to modern craftsmanship.
As can be seen from the video, although this bronze gear has a history of more than 2,000 years, its shape is very well preserved, and the production is also very fine, making it difficult to believe that this is an object from more than 2,000 years ago.
In this regard, archaeologists said that this bronze gear reflects that the handicraft industry and smelting industry of the Han Dynasty already have a high level, which is very similar to modern craftsmanship and is particularly exquisitely polished. Unfortunately, it is not yet clear what its specific purpose will be.
In addition to the bronze gears, among the thousands of pottery figurines excavated at the site, archaeologists also found several very special clay figurines - criminal figurines, which is the first time that the hanling funeral pit has found criminal figurines, and it is also the first archaeological excavation of criminal figurines in China.
Unlike the ordinary funerary figurines, they have iron ring-shaped torture devices on their necks, wrists and ankles, and even found to be tortured by kūn, which symbolize the various kinds of conscription during the construction of the mausoleum.
According to the ancient view that death is like life, the appearance of torture figurines means that they will continue to serve the tomb owner in the underground world.