Master Archaeologist

Chapter 280 Isn't it a golden seal? !

Because of the layers of burial objects, the burial objects in the coffin must not be moved casually.

The previous jade seal was also because it was on the top, and most of it was exposed. Only a little bit was buried in the mud, so Kong Jianwen pulled it out.

Other cultural relics, including those exposed jade, were left untouched.

Before the official extraction, X-rays must be used to scan, first to find out the overlapping of cultural relics in the coffin, and then formulate a corresponding extraction plan, in order to minimize damage.

Not just X-ray scanning, but also [-]D photography, conventional photography, original large-scale drawing, high-tech and old methods all came in handy.

In fact, in the first three days after the opening of the coffin, the cultural relics in the coffin did not move.

Instead, it is constantly being irradiated by various modern instruments, and covered with a layer of plastic cloth for manual drawing.

After several days of investigation, the parameters obtained are not satisfactory.

The stacking of burial objects in the coffin is far more complicated than imagined.

Even extracting the superposition of coffins in such a complicated situation, there is no precedent to be found anywhere!
Putting on a white coat, according to Kong Jianwen's instructions, Chen Han put the overturned coffin lid next to the inner coffin.

This is for mutual reference when extracting.

Because the coffin cover has been covered in the coffin for too long, there are already traces and outlines embedded in the first layer of utensils in the coffin on the cover.

It's like a copied picture of the utensils in the coffin.

It can be used as a "reference map" when extracting cultural relics!
After having this comparison object, the archaeologists finally began to extract the cultural relics from the inner coffin.

First of all, those jade biscuits exposed on the top layer.

These jade biscuits are the least affected by the overlapping pressure.

Because they are on the top floor, only they have the share of other cultural relics, and no other cultural relics have their share.

And because the jade bi is a very flat and round jade, even if there are many other cultural relics stacked underneath, without grooves and corners, it will not be easy to hook up or nest with other cultural relics.

Relatively easy to extract.

But after extracting these jade discs, the extraction in the coffin came to an end for the time being.

Because apart from these jade biscuits, other cultural relics have a serious overlapping relationship with each other.

In contrast, on the coffin cover, the cultural relics embedded in the coffin cover due to extrusion have no effect of overlapping.

So, the next step was to extract the embedded artefacts on the coffin lid.

The first thing to be extracted was a pile of scattered gold leaf, the big ones were about the size of broad beans, and the small ones were no bigger than a grain of rice.

These gold foils may be related to the burial gold-plated cultural relics of the owner of the tomb.

In the Western Han Dynasty, inlaying gold and silver on some lacquered wood and bronze ware were relatively common decorative behaviors.

Among them, a large number of gold leaf is used to inlay on the utensils.

The gold leaf on the coffin cover is likely to be the gold leaf on some funerary utensils.

In addition to the gold leaf, there is more mud attached to the coffin lid.

There is also a lot of these silts in the coffin.

Chen Han suspects that the silt may be left over from the decay of the silk fabric in the original coffin.

It exudes an indescribable strange smell, which is not very good anyway.

Besides these silts, there was one cultural relic that attracted most of the attention.

That is a bronze box hidden deep inside the coffin lid.

This box should have been placed in the head box originally.

Just because the coffin collapsed, the collapsed coffin cover pressed against the bronze box, and over time, the bronze box was buried deep in the coffin cover.

As the archaeologists opened the coffin, the bronze box also left the coffin together with the coffin cover.

Bronze box inside head box.

It’s hard not to think of this key word, is it the Haihunhou seal or Changyi king’s seal of the owner of the tomb?
After all, the things that are usually placed solemnly in the head box are most likely to be the most important items of the tomb owner.

In the Nanyue king's tomb, the seal of the Nanyue Emperor Wu was found in the head box!
Even this bronze box, even if it was made of bronze, was severely damaged after being pressed by the coffin lid for thousands of years.

Moreover, it is inserted deep into the coffin cover, and it is not easy to remove.

Chen Han thought he couldn't do this kind of work.

In fact, among all the archaeologists present, only Kong Jianwen and Professor Li are confident that they can extract it intact.

Even Director Wen of the Jiangxi Institute is not at this level.

Kong Jianwen, who has been engaged in archaeological work for more than 30 years, personally went into battle and began to carefully peel off the bronze box.

While peeling it off, he still did not forget to teach the students: "Our tombs in different periods in China, the remains of the coffin inside, and his burial conditions may be different from each other."

"It can be said that there is no fixed format, and there is no fixed routine."

"Therefore, when extracting cultural relics, the state of excavation is also in various forms, and it is not possible to follow the script. It is impossible to find an excavation plan that can be completely copied from books."

"In the face of these complex and changeable excavation situations, what we can do as archaeologists is to use our own experience to find ways to overcome them in a targeted manner."

"Like this cultural relic, it is an extremely complicated situation to extract neither the bronze box nor the coffin."

"We can only use bamboo strips to insert bit by bit into the gap between the bronze box and the coffin, move it gently in millimeters, and borrow friction to create a gap between the cultural relics and the coffin."

"Speaking of it, it's actually similar to a doctor's surgery. It's about separating the flesh and bones without damaging the bones or muscle tissue."

"This is a job that requires patience and temper!"

Kong Jianwen spoke very seriously, and Chen Han and the others listened very seriously.

But Chen Han never expected that what Kong Jianwen called "temper temper" would take so long!
It took four full days to grind down the bronze box.

It is really in millimeters, and it is ground down bit by bit with bamboo strips!

It was the first time for Chen Han to clearly feel that archaeology really needs patience and is time-consuming.

Anyway, the box is finally out.

A box made of bronze is obviously not simple.

More than 2000 years ago, what did Liu He use it for?

Will the gold seal be in this box?

The body of the box is made of metal, the lid is made of wood, and the lid is affixed with gold leaf. What will be contained in it?
After sending it to the rear laboratory, Kong Jianwen couldn't wait, so he took the tweezers and prepared to open the blind box.

Chen Han and others all surrounded him, watching his movements nervously and expectantly.

Opening the blind box or something is the most exciting!
The movement was also light and slow, and the lid was finally lifted after peeling off the wood fragments bit by bit.

The broken pieces of jade caught everyone's eyes.

"It's not a gold seal?!"

(End of this chapter)