Holiday Ayo - The team of archaeologists admitted that they were very scared when they wanted to dismantle the ancient tomb of the Chinese emperor. They have their own reasons why they should be afraid.

At first, in 1974, farmers made one of the most important archaeological discoveries of all time in a modest field in Shaanxi province, China. While digging, they found broken human statues made of clay.

Archaeological excavations unearthed the palace of Qin Shi Huang, China's first emperor, which is famous for its hundreds of life-size clay warriors and war horses, including statues of dignitaries, and other animals.

Apparently, this soldier statue was made to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the ruler of the Qin dynasty that ruled from 221 to 210 BC.

As cited from IFL Science, although most of the ancient burials surrounding the mausoleum have been explored, the emperor's tomb itself has never been opened even though there are many mysteries surrounding it. No one had ever peered into this tomb in over 2,000 years, when the dreaded emperor lay buried within.

The main reason behind this fear is that archaeologists are worried about how excavations could damage the tombs and lose important historical information. Currently, only invasive archaeological techniques can be used to enter the tomb. The technique carries a high risk of causing irreparable damage.

One of the clearest examples of this can be seen in the excavations of the City of Troy in the 1870's by Heinrich Schliemann. Archaeologists are sure they don't want to be careless and make the same mistake again.

Scientists have floated the idea of using certain non-invasive techniques to look inside the tombs. One idea is to make use of muons, subatomic products of cosmic rays colliding with atoms in Earth's atmosphere, which can peer through X-ray-like structures. However, it seems like most of these proposals have been slow to roll out.

According to archaeologists, the emperor's palace was buried about 690 meters from the ground with an area of 250 meters. It is estimated, this is the largest palace complex ever found. The area of the emperor's complex is estimated at 56 square kilometers.

In a note written by the ancient Chinese historian Sima Qian some 100 years after Qin Shi Huang's death, he explained that the tomb was connected to a trap designed to kill any intruders.

“Exquisite palaces and towers for a hundred officials were built, and the tomb was filled with rare artifacts and extraordinary treasures. Craftsmen were ordered to make bows and arrows prepared to shoot anyone who entered the tomb. Mercury was used to simulate a hundred rivers, the Yangtze and the Yellow River, and the great sea, and set to flow mechanically," he explained.