More than ten years ago, a golden coffin was unearthed in Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, China. Although we all know that ancient people paid great attention to their post-mortem affairs, the appearance of such a completely golden coffin is extremely rare. However, after the coffin was dug up, the experts at the scene did not rush to open it immediately. They first investigated the data related to the true secret of the coffin.
The appearance of ancient artifacts and tombs in modern times in China seems to have become a familiar topic in the archaeological community. The most common catalyst is probably due to the restoration activities of the construction works in this country. It is known that more than ten years ago, the famous Long Tuyen Pagoda in Son Tay was undergoing a major restoration. During the construction and repair process, the construction workers here accidentally discovered a mysterious ancient tomb.
After receiving the news, Son Tay archaeological experts quickly went to the scene to rescue the ancient tomb. When they started the exploration, what they especially noticed was that this ancient tomb was very different from ordinary tombs. There were up to 5 layers of coffins, classified by materials: stone, wood, bronze, silver, gold. Among them, the appearance of the golden coffin attracted great attention from everyone.
According to the experts’ ᴀssessment, this coffin was made entirely of real gold, and its upper part was also carved with many exquisite patterns. After consulting relevant historical documents, the experts all believed that this golden coffin must have some connection with religious culture. Although the ancients attached great importance to funerals, a coffin made entirely of gold was still extremely rare. After all, in ancient society, the person who could buy a pure gold coffin must have been a wealthy person or someone with a superior family background. The experts also predicted that many valuable historical and cultural relics would definitely be found in this tomb.
In this situation, many experts hoped to uncover the mystery of the tomb’s owner by opening the golden coffin. However, when the experts brought the golden coffin back to the laboratory and tested the coffin’s opening, they discovered that in order to open the golden coffin, they had to first remove the special red silk ribbon tied on the golden coffin. After inspection, it was discovered that the golden coffin was around the Tang Dynasty. The Tang Dynasty had a history of thousands of years, which meant that if the red silk ribbon on the golden coffin was loosened, oxidation would inevitably occur. Thus, the red silk on the golden coffin would also lose its original precious historical value.
In fact, in the process of archaeology, oxidation is a very common phenomenon. After all, the cultural relics excavated from ancient tombs have a history of hundreds of thousands of years, and due to the long-term deep underground environment, it is difficult for them to immediately adapt to the light and air conditions on the ground. In many previous archaeological excavations, some cultural relics were seriously damaged due to oxidation. For the development of Chinese historical research, these oxidized cultural relics also make experts very regretful.
Gradually, with the development of the times, experts have also realized the importance of protecting cultural relics. Nowadays, if it is not really necessary, experts will not open ancient tombs and excavate the cultural relics inside. This shows that with the continuous development of the new era, the importance people attach to protecting cultural relics is also constantly increasing.
Faced with this situation, experts were forced to give up their desire to open the golden coffin. Over the past 10 years, they have also hoped to uncover the mystery inside the golden coffin with the help of special techniques. Although experts have not yet found a reasonable way to open the golden coffin, everyone understands the underlying cause of this problem.
Previously, after a preliminary analysis of this golden coffin, they could all see that its value was very high, so if the conditions were not ripe enough to excavate it, it would be an act of destroying history.
From some previous archaeological activities, we can see that if cultural relics are not well preserved after excavation, they will also lose their original value due to many different reasons. However, archaeologists still hope that with the continuous development of science and technology, they will be able to find the secret inside the coffin one day. Until then, the question of what is inside the coffin remains unanswered.
