TIL that the enormous mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor of China was discovered in 1976, but it has never been excavated because, basically, they want to be sure they don't screw it up. (I am trying to imagine Americans practicing such self-restraint, and nope.)
![Wikipedia text: Opinions on possible excavation [edit]
Beginning in 1976, various scholars proposed to explore the underground palace, citing the following main reasons:
The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor is in a seismic zone, so underground cultural relics need to be unearthed for protection;
to develop tourism; and
⚫ to prevent grave robbery.[32]
However, opponents of such excavations hold that China's current technology is not able to deal with the large scale of the underground palace yet. For example, in the case of the Terracotta Army, the archaeologists were initially unable to preserve the coat of paint on the surface of terracotta figures, which resulted in the rapid shedding of their painted decoration when exposed to air. [33] [34] The State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH) indicated that research and evaluations should be conducted first so as to develop a protection plan for the underground palace, and rejected a proposal by archaeologists to excavate another tomb close by thought to belong to the Emperor's grandson over fears of possible damage to the main mausoleum itself.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:kpimhzfu64fjnoam5uqmymr2/bafkreibpi7hd3b4jwc5whwijrro2ifhzj26zznunfkjiggwnqnwc7l62xm)
