April 15, 2022.

God is not kind to us, and the rain is pouring down.

There was a heavy rain during the construction of the tomb of Marquis Haihun in Nanchang.

Although a greenhouse has been built above the tomb of Marquis Hai, it can well shield the sun from the sun and the intrusion of rain.

However, the entrance to the tomb of the Hou Tomb was somewhat unable to withstand the heavy impact of rain.

As we all know, the entrance to the tomb is dug diagonally downward, just like the entrance to an underground garage.

Ancient people dug tomb passages, unlike modern people who build underground garages, and they also knew how to raise the entrance to the tomb passage and take waterproofing measures.

In other words, when the tomb passages were dug in ancient times, waterproofing measures were taken, but as the tomb passages were backfilled and buried, they naturally disappeared.

When archaeologists re-excavated the tomb passage, they were unable to take any waterproofing measures.

Fortunately, with the rainy season approaching, the archaeological base has also made preparations in advance. At the entrance of the tomb passage, a "dam" was built with bags of sand and gravel to raise the entrance of the tomb passage.

However, I didn’t expect that the rainy season would come so violently this time.

It has been raining heavily for four or five days in a row. Even if the Haihunhou Cemetery is very high, the water spreading outside has the intention of pouring into the tomb passage.

Not to mention, after the rain wets the soil, it continuously seeps into the tomb chamber.

After all, the Haihunhou Tomb is a tomb deep in the underground soil.

It rained continuously for days and it was difficult to prevent the soil from becoming saturated with mud.

At this time, the archaeologists were walking in the tomb chamber, and their feet were already in a mud pit. It was difficult to walk one step at a time, as if the soles of their feet were being sucked.

But even so, no archaeologists were idle and they were still carrying out ancient work in an intense and orderly manner.

With the arrival of the rainy season, there will only be more and more heavy rains in Jiangxi in the next few months.

While the current situation is pretty good, the archaeological excavation can only be accelerated, not slowed down!

However, Chen Han and the others escaped this wave of rainy season excavations.

They are still in the archaeological base at the moment, cleaning and extracting Liu He's main coffin.

As a high-ranking Han nobleman comparable to an emperor, the situation in Liu He's coffin was very complicated, and cleaning it was time-consuming.

After discovering the glazed mat under Liu He's remains, not long after, everyone found traces of another glazed mat at Liu He's feet.

However, unlike the glazed mat on Liu He's upper body, the glazed mat under Liu He's feet has completely rotted into the soil. Only a few fragments remain, and the original appearance of the glazed mat can be vaguely recognized.

This situation puzzled Chen Han and others)

Also in the inner coffin, the colored glaze under Liu He's body was preserved quite neatly, and the original shape and texture were preserved.

But why was the glass mat under his feet so decayed?

The same material, the same placement, why is there such a big difference between the two?

"There is a possibility."

After thinking for a long time, Chen Han put forward his own guess: "Liu He's coffin has collapsed, and it is getting more serious from north to south.

"The more severe the collapse, the stronger the airtightness, so the glass mat in a confined space will not be easily destroyed."

After the coffin collapses, the more severe the collapse, the more the coffin lid and the space inside the coffin will be squeezed together, and there will be less space for circulation in the middle.

In this way, a space with a lower oxygen concentration can be passively created naturally.

In places where the collapse is not serious, there is still a hollow area in the coffin where oxygen can still move. Therefore, if exposed to oxygen for a long time, the cultural relics in this part will be more susceptible to decay.

It's a bit like a vacuum area and a non-empty area.

Based on the position of the coffin, it can be concluded that the upper body of the tomb owner has collapsed more seriously.

But the further you go down, the less serious the collapse will be.

This is why He's teeth were crushed, because his upper body was always covered by the coffin lid.

For Liu He himself, it was an unfortunate thing.

But in terms of archeology, this is

A lucky thing.

At least half of the glazed mat under Liu He was preserved due to the collapse of the coffin.

This speculation made by Chen Han attracted many people to agree with it, and it was recorded in writing, which will be compiled into the excavation report later.

The situation inside is now very clear)

Almost all of the seven jade pieces on Liu He's body were extracted, revealing the condition under Liu He's body.

However, a very important piece of jade was not extracted.

That was the jade jade placed under Liu He's crotch.

The location where this jade was placed was just under Liu He's crotch, where his genitals were.

After extracting this jade, the archaeological team members are looking forward to making great discoveries.

Because, in the Han Dynasty, there was a theory of nine orifices.

That is, two ears, two eyes, two noses, mouth, vagina, and genitals.

When emperors were buried, their nine orifices were blocked with jade.

To put it simply, use jade to plug the nine.

The one that plugs the mouth is called jade han, the one that plugs the genitals is called jade mask, and the one that plugs the vagina is naturally called anal plug.

Will there be a jade cover and anal plug under this piece of jade that is located under the crotch?

All archaeologists hope.

Not everyone has bad taste.

But it is not clear what level of talent can definitely use this kind of jade orifice breaking behavior.

Rumor has it that the Jade Jiucai belongs to the imperial jade burial chamber, and it seems that only the emperor and kings can use it.

But there is no conclusive record in the history books.

The complete jade nine-aperture system in the early Western Han Dynasty still only consisted of covering the eyes with jade pieces, holding jade in the hands, and holding jade in the mouth.

According to historical data and archaeological evidence, it was not until the middle of the Western Han Dynasty that the nine jade orifices were completely perfected.

That is, the jade cicada in the deceased's mouth, nostrils, ears, penis, and vagina were all filled with eight-sided prismatic jade plugs, and each hand held a jade pig.

According to archaeological evidence, princes usually used jade clothes, jade nine-hole plugs, jade pigs, as well as jade-inlaid pillows and coffins to form a complete set of jade burial utensils in the Han Dynasty.

but!

It's just the case of princes and kings.

At present, a few tombs of princes and kings of the Han Dynasty have been excavated and are relatively well preserved.

Although many of the funerary objects in the tomb were stolen, the inner coffin was well preserved, allowing modern archaeologists to explore the complete jade burial utensils of the princes and kings of the Han Dynasty.

Yes, will the princes below the princes, and even the nobles in Guan Nei also use the entire set of Jade Nine Orifices?

This is still a blank in the field of Chinese and Western Han archeology.

Because there are not enough examples unearthed, there is no way to prove it.

At this time, the appearance of Haihun Hou Liu He was very important.

Whether Liu He used the entire set of Jade Nine-Aperture Stoppers is of great significance in proving whether the princes of the Western Han Dynasty could also use the Jade Nine-Aperture Stoppers.

If Liu He was useful, then there is a high probability that in the Western Han Dynasty, the jade nine-hole plug was a jade burial tool that could be used by at least high-ranking nobles.
Chapter completed!