A 1,700-year old brick tomb in China's Jiangsu province. Credit AP.
An article at The Guardian reports that modern and destructive methods are being used by tomb raiders to access and open ancient burial sites in China -
The thieves use dynamite and even bulldozers to break into the deepest chambers – and night vision goggles and oxygen canisters to search them. The artefacts they take are often sold on within days to international dealers...
Tomb theft is a global problem that has gone on for centuries. But the sheer scope of China's heritage – with thousands of sites, many of them in remote locations – poses a particular challenge...
Their team found more than 900 tombs in one part of Shanxi they researched and almost every one had been raided...
In a particularly alarming case last year, raiders simply bulldozed their way through 10 newly discovered tombs in eastern Jiangxi province.
The Global Times newspaper reported that pieces of coffins and pottery and iron items were scattered across the ravaged site, which was thought to date back 2,000 years. Archaeologists said further excavation was impossible because the destruction was so bad.
About 25 years ago I had the distinct privilege to visit the Ming tombs near Beijing. I had never thought about how the tombs themselves might have been constructed - apparently by excavating the area, building a brick structure, and then burying it again. Very interesting.
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