Terracotta horses in the Qinshihuang Mausoleum in Lintong, Shanxi Province.(Photo: China Daily)

    It is believed that the earthen mound, including the structures on it, could only have been constructed after the completion of the underground palace.

    As Duan puts it, some structures made of tiles and wood may exist in the stairs leading to the platform. But owing to the lack of appropriate technology, it has been impossible to excavate the huge earthen mound that covers the platform.

    "We guess that the platform was completed before the emperor's death. After he died and was buried at the site, the platform was pulled down and covered with compressed earth," says Duan. "The high platform under the earthen mound is unprecedented as far as burial archaeological studies relating to ancient China are concerned. We have conducted various field explorations and surveys, which have finally confirmed our discovery."

    In the period before Emperor Qinshihuang, the Chinese built low platforms directly above royal graves without the presence of any earthen mound. Three-step platforms had not been built till the Warring States period (475-221 BC). The style of the grave is also special. Other royal tombs sometimes had an earthen mound. However, cenotaphs were not built directly above the coffin chambers.

    Due to this unique character, archaeologists suspect that the Qin Dynasty's empire located on the eastern fringes of the Silk Route was influenced by and drew lessons from other cultures in the west of China.

    During a stint as a visiting scholar in the United States, Duan found clues assisting him in his investigation. Duan says the Mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang has quite a few similarities with the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Halicarnassus (present-day Bodrum) was an ancient Greek city in the Aegean Sea, and is now part of southwestern Turkey.

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