Master Archaeologist

Chapter 43 Really Die Young!

Let's open the coffin.

Although it sounds exciting, it is actually a laborious task.

The coffin board was made of solid wood, two meters long and seventy centimeters wide, but it was not light at all.

Even after years of erosion, the coffin had rotted away, but Chen Han and the six of them still took a lot of effort to lift the coffin board.

"Oh, it really is flooded."

As soon as the coffin board was lifted, the black liquid inside the coffin immediately appeared in front of everyone.

Lin Ya, who was expecting and excited, was immediately disappointed.

After opening the coffin, it was not as she expected, there was a sleeping thousand-year-old corpse.

There is no fine silk.

Some are just a layer of black water and rotting silk.

On this layer of "black water", there are still some red lumps floating, which are somewhat similar to clods or mud.

Some patterns can still be vaguely seen on these lumps.

Even some unweathered maggot shells can be seen on these lumps.

Just looking at the scene inside the coffin is quite disgusting.

However, the smell of rotting corpses and items as imagined is not there.

Through the masks, everyone could only smell a smell similar to mud.

Too much time has passed.

Even if the owner of the tomb lying in the coffin may have rotted, deteriorated, and emitted a stench.

But the time of 2000 is enough to digest all this.

What is left now is only a layer of "organic matter" similar to soil.

"Unfortunately, the preservation in the coffin is not very good." Kong Jianwen shook his head regretfully.

Although I didn't have much expectation for the M-105 tomb, but after seeing the situation inside the coffin, it is still a pity.

Generally, there are three "expectation points" for this kind of tomb in the Qin and Han Dynasties.

Precious silk products, Qin and Han bamboo slips, and complete thousand-year-old corpses were unearthed.

The most important of these are actually intact silk products and bamboo slips.

The bamboo slips are easy to say, any bamboo slips from the Qin and Han Dynasties are extremely important research materials, and their value to the study of ancient culture and history is self-evident.

And silk products are also very important.

From the fineness of silk products, we can see the level of handicraft development at that time.

In terms of culture, various items show the social etiquette of the Western Han Dynasty.

These are of great help to the study of thought, culture and art in the Western Han Dynasty.

The silk fabrics of the Han Dynasty are less preserved, so they are relatively more precious.

It's just a pity that at present, well-preserved silk products and complete ancient corpses are out of the question.

I can only see if there are any bamboo slips in the coffin.

After observing the situation inside the coffin, Chen Han guessed: "The stagnant water in the coffin should be formed by the penetration of groundwater into the coffin."

"Well, it's very common for water to accumulate in the coffin." Kong Jianwen affirmed.

"Go and extract some liquid from the coffin, and test it later."

As long as it is buried underground, it is difficult to avoid the intrusion of groundwater. In some tombs, due to changes in the underground water system, it is normal for the entire tomb to be filled with water.

In particular, Hubei is still a place with a well-developed water system, so it is even more difficult to keep the tomb dry.

And because the pressure outside the coffin is greater than that inside, the water that invades the coffin usually cannot come out after entering.

So when he saw water accumulated in the coffin, Kong Jianwen no longer expected to find intact silk.

If silk is soaked in water for a long time, it will definitely be hydrolyzed, and it is impossible to preserve it.

According to his instructions, Chen Han took a few tubes of coffin liquid from the coffin and sent them to a professional laboratory for testing. Then he began to prepare to extract the accumulated water in the coffin for the next step of cleaning up.

Naturally, there are equipment for pumping water in the workshop.

Put the pipe into the coffin and start the water pump.

The black gray stagnant water was slowly pumped up and poured into a water tank placed aside.

Of course, pumping water does not mean pumping out all the water in the coffin at once, but slowly pumping it out bit by bit.

While pumping the water, everyone also went to clean up the funerary objects in the coffin layer by layer.

The reason why it was not drained all at once is because the accumulated water has existed in the coffin for thousands of years, forming a stable environment.

If all the water is pumped away at once and the contents of the coffin are directly exposed to the air, no one can guarantee whether any funerary objects will be oxidized quickly.

When Huaxia archaeology first started, there was no systematic archaeological experience and scientificity, which caused some regrets of improper operation and loss of cultural relics.

The standards that everyone is practicing now are the perfect experience summed up by countless senior Chinese archaeologists with their own mistakes.

Although I can't say that it is 100% correct, it is definitely the most effective method at this stage.

The water pump maintained the minimum power, and Chen Han and the other six gathered around the coffin, carefully extracting the contents of the coffin.

The first thing to be extracted must be the red lumps floating on the stagnant water.

After Kong Jianwen approached and carefully identified it, he said calmly, "This should be a lump of silk that hasn't completely rotted."

"And, there are maggot shells on it."

"This shows that the owner of the tomb may have died in hot weather, and he died so suddenly that his family had no time to prepare for his funeral."

"So it should have been buried in a hurry after it had been parked for a while."

"During the burial, the owner of the tomb was already rotten, and the silk fabrics on his body were also rotten, so maggots would grow."

"From this point of view, it is very likely that the owner of the tomb died of a sudden illness, and it was an acute illness."

Kong Jianwen actually guessed the death of the owner of the tomb just by relying on these few small unidentified lumps, and was even accurate enough that he stayed for a while before he died before being buried.

This surprised Chen Han.

A mentor is a mentor, just showing off two brushes is enough for him to learn for a long time.

This is more than that, Kong Jianwen paced to the side of the coffin board, reached out and touched the faded paint stains on the coffin surface, and said with certainty:

"The coffin was painted with a single layer of paint, which also shows that the owner of the tomb had no time to prepare during his lifetime."

"So after preparing the coffin and outer coffin, they were buried with a hasty coat of paint."

People in the Western Han Dynasty paid great attention to their own afterlife.

Civilians don't have that condition, let's not talk about it for now.

Anyone with a little identity and status will prepare a mausoleum for themselves in advance.

After ascending the throne, the first thing the emperors did was to build their own mausoleums, basically how long they were emperors, and how long the mausoleums were built.

The same is true of the princes and kings below. After inheriting the throne, they began to repair the mausoleum.

Although the nobles did not have the conditions of the old Liu family, at least they all prepared the mausoleum more than ten years in advance.

Some nobles may start looking for geomantic treasures after they are 30 years old, and build their own tombs.

At the latest, at the age of 40, I feel that my physical function is declining. After I have passed the prime of life, I will also be anxious about repairing the tomb.

Otherwise, how could those princes, princes, or nobles live in splendid underground palaces and large tombs immediately after death?
Even if the owner of tomb No. M-105 is a minor nobleman with less than the rank of fifth doctor.

No matter how bad it is, you should prepare your own coffin in advance, right?

After Kong Jianwen carefully observed the coffin boards, he was sure that the inner and outer coffins were only painted with a single layer of paint, which was the most hasty approach for nobles.

Although he hadn't seen the bones yet, he was certain that the owner of the tomb died of an acute illness or a sudden accident.

"Sure enough, he died young." Chen Han winked at Lin Ya.

Although his and his mentor's speculations were in different directions, they both came to the same conclusion.

Before opening the coffin, he guessed that the owner of the tomb was a little nobleman who died young before he was 30 years old.

Sure enough, Chen Han guessed right!

(End of this chapter)