China finds secret tomb chamber near the famous terracotta warriors:
Historical records describing the tomb of Qin Shihuang, China’s first emperor, do not mention the room which is 30 metres (98 feet) deep.The unopened chamber was found at the site near the old imperial capital of Xian using remote sensing technology.
One expert says it may have been built for the soul of the emperor.
More than 2,000 years old, the chamber is buried inside a pyramidal earth mound 51m (170 feet) high on top of Qin’s tomb.
It is situated near the life-size terracotta warriors and has four stair-like walls, says Duan Qingbo, a researcher with the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology.
The Chinese authorities have not given permission to excavate the site.
It is believed that they wish to perfect archaeological techniques before probing any further, and archaeologists have had to use the sensing technology at the site since 2002.
Terra cotta, by the way, is simply Latin for baked earth.
Here’s a fun story about the terracotta army:
On September 16, 2006, a German art student, Pablo Wendel, infiltrated a Terracotta Army exhibit in a Xi’an museum and disguised himself as one of the soldiers. According to museum officials, his disguise was good enough to make it difficult for security to discern him among the statues; he was able to hide with the Terracotta Army for several minutes before being found. However, because Wendel had no malicious intentions against the historic exhibits — he merely wanted to live out his fantasy of being one of the warriors — and he had damaged none of the statues, he was let off with only an official rebuke and no serious legal consequences.