"Oh, this tomb is buried deeply!"

"There are three kinds of grave fillings alone."

"A layer of five-flower soil, a layer of green plaster, a layer of green plaster."

Zhuang Yunpeng held the hoe and stuck it on his waist, standing at the bottom of the pit more than seven meters deep, panting and complaining.

In fact, the depth of seven or eight meters is the standard depth of the tomb pit of the nobles of the Han Dynasty.

Generally, 7-10 meters is the tomb pit layer of the Western Han Dynasty nobles, more than 10 meters deep is the depth of the tomb of the princes and kings, as for more than 20 meters, that is the location of the emperor's tomb.

A tomb that is so shallow like the previous tomb of M-105 is a bit abnormal.

However, this also proves once again that the owner of the tomb named Si Bo was indeed buried hastily, and everything was prepared in a hurry.

"Okay, this has been dug for more than seven meters, and it has reached the third layer of filling, so it should be almost possible to dig the burial chamber."

Chen Han, who was also digging hard to fill the soil on the side, wiped the fine sweat on his forehead, stared at the leaves turned out of the fill, and said in surprise: "These leaves and bamboo tubes buried in the fill are quite well preserved." ”

When the burial chamber is completed and the owner of the tomb is buried, people will sometimes fill in the pit with some leaves and grass roots from the ground.

So sometimes when archaeologists excavate tombs, they will also dig out some leaves and grass roots that have been buried in the soil for thousands of years.

But the vast majority, by the time it was dug up, had already decayed, and even became "dry specimens".

It's all a good situation.

It generally only takes a few months for the fallen leaves to be buried in the soil, and they will be quickly decomposed, and the degradation ability of nature is very strong.

However, the leaves and bamboos dug up from the fill are in very good condition.

Not to mention rotting and decomposing, even when dug up, the leaves are still green, and the poles are also green, almost like fresh leaves that have just fallen from the tree.

However, when the leaves are turned out of the fill, and when they see the light, they immediately dry and yellow, and then quickly turn black, like carbon blocks, and the whole process is very fast.

But such a scene not only did not make the accompanying senior researchers regret and pity, but even more excited!

This situation can occur, which means that the sealing situation of this tomb is very good, and the leaves and bamboos in these sealed soil have been in an oxygen-free state for a long time, so they can keep it underground for thousands of years without rotting!

So, on the bright side, if the sealing of the soil is so good, wouldn't the situation in the tomb be even better?

Wouldn't the burial goods preserved in the tomb be in better condition?!

With such a nervous and expectant mood, the excavation speed of the big guys has accelerated a lot.

Hard work pays off.

After digging down a layer of about ten centimeters of green plaster soil, finally, several pieces of hardwood appeared in the ground.

"Stop, stop!"

Kong Jianwen, who had been nervously observing the excavation, hurriedly stopped the workers' movements.

At this level, you can't do miracles any more.

More than a dozen professionals from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, including Chen Han, took brushes and small square shovels and began meticulous cleaning.

Chen Han gently brushed open the last layer of sealed soil attached to the top of the tomb, and immediately some yellowed and dried reeds appeared in front of his eyes.

"I've dug up the coffin cover! There is also a layer of reed mats on the cover, and the preservation is not bad! ”

The tombs of the Western Han Dynasty, in addition to the emperors and princes who dug the mountain and opened the tomb.

Most of the other nobles and even the common people still use the pit tombs that have been used since the Stone Age.

This burial method is usually to dig out a burial chamber vertically downward, and then put the coffin and burial goods into the burial chamber, and then cover the coffin with a thick cover plate to seal the top of the burial chamber, and then you can backfill the sealed soil.

It's easy, convenient and fast.

Therefore, when excavating, it is relatively simple, as long as you dig vertically downward, you can directly dig the cover plate directly above the tomb.

However, the tombs of the nobles in the Western Han Dynasty have been more exquisite, and this tomb No. 168 not only has a tomb pit, but also a tomb road for "construction workers" to walk up and down.

Now it is just the right place for archaeologists to settle down.

After the tomb is cleared, the excavation of this tomb enters the most important link.

Next, just lift the cover and you can see the situation in the tomb directly.

After determining the location of the coffin cover of the tomb, Kong Jianwen was also unequivocal, and immediately contacted a small crane that stayed at the construction site.

This thing is specially prepared for tomb opening.

A wheeled crane, after receiving the request, drove to the excavation site of Tomb 168.

While waiting for the crane to arrive, Chen Han and the others were not idle, and surveyed the entire coffin cover.

It's just that the results of the investigation are a bit unpleasant.

On top of the coffin, a total of six relatively thick wooden planks were covered, and the north and south were arranged horizontally on the coffin.

Between the six cover plates, the closed ones are not tight, and some of the joints are larger, and the tightness is very general.

The tightness is average, which means that the coffin is not completely isolated from oxygen.

Then, as the coffin rises and falls underground, it is very likely that the same situation will occur as in tomb M-105.

Groundwater seeps into the coffin!

Once the water enters the coffin, and the airtightness is not strict enough, the situation inside the coffin will not be as good as everyone expects.

But whether it's good or bad, you always don't know the situation until you open it.

When the crane arrived, several bundles of hemp rope were thrown to the bottom of the pit, and everyone began to tie hemp rope to the cover plate and hang it on the lifting hook.

One after another, the coffin cover was pulled up slowly and steadily by the crane.

The coffin is also gradually revealed in front of the archaeologists.

Sure enough, the worst speculation came up.

The coffin was filled with stagnant water, and even the stagnant water had submerged the inner coffin, and what could be seen by the naked eye was a pool of black water.

"Well, that's not a good situation." Professor Li sighed with some regret.

"Water means air, I'm afraid the harvest of this excavation will not be great."

Originally, everyone was looking forward to opening the outer coffin of the tomb, but what they saw made people's hearts sink.

In order to dig through the tomb, it took two months of hard work to clean up the earthwork nearly eight meters deep and five meters horizontally and vertically.

As a result, what I saw was an ocean of black water, and no one was in a good mood.

Seeing this, although Chen Han was also a little disappointed, he also cheered up and said: "Don't be in a hurry, everyone should not be in a hurry, there is water in the coffin, and there may not be water in the coffin." ”

Tomb M-105, which their team is responsible for, was flooded in the coffin and coffin, and a bronze sword that has been stainless for thousands of years was also found.

Anything can happen to something buried in the soil until it's actually dug up.

It's too early to tell.

Kong Jianwen also nodded, regrouped and said: "Xiao Chen is right, I haven't seen the coffin yet, what's the sadness!" ”

"Get ready, go to my colleagues in Jingzhou Institute to borrow a few pumps, and drain the water in the coffin first!"