1. is too old, a lot of historical materials are lost, and the location is difficult to verify. About two or three thousand years ago in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties. With frequent wars and historical changes, many historical materials about the information recorded in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties have not been preserved and disappeared into the torrent of history. This has also brought great obstacles to future generations to verify where the tombs of Shang and Zhou Dynasties are.
The reason why these precious historical materials were lost was that, for some reason, these historical materials were ordered to be taken away or destroyed by the defeated rulers when the Western Zhou Dynasty changed dynasties.
Therefore, the research on the Western Zhou Dynasty and the previous generation by later scholars appeared a fault phenomenon, and there was no way to start whether it was political culture or historical related fields, and little was known. This is one of the reasons why Oracle Bone Inscriptions in Yin Ruins is so precious. In addition, bronzes and bamboo slips unearthed in the later period are one of the few precious historical materials that can be used to study the history of Shang and Zhou Dynasties.
2. The funeral system in Shang and Zhou Dynasties was so low-key that no one found it. Different from the huge land sealing system in Han Dynasty and the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, Shang and Zhou Dynasties advocated no trees and no seals, that is, no traces were left after burial. One of the purposes of not setting up seals and any marks that can indicate the location of the mausoleum should be not to be disturbed and discovered.
Therefore, later archaeologists can only estimate the approximate location of tombs according to the characteristics of tombs moving with the capital in that era. Such a low-key burial method has indeed caused great trouble to the excavation of future generations.
On the other hand, even if there are obvious traces of buildings or mounds, it is difficult to leave anything after two or three thousand years. Unless it is as majestic and indestructible as the mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, even if it is found, it will not be easily destroyed.
3. The powerful tomb raiding team caused heavy losses to Shang and Zhou tombs. From ancient times to the present, the phenomenon of grave robbery has never stopped. A captain who touched gold in ancient Cao Cao and Wen Tao in the Five Dynasties were good at robbing tombs. Coupled with some professional folk thieves, grave robbery is rampant.
Because grave robbers know very well that in the larger tombs of Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the funerary objects are also priceless. Coins and jewels can be used to enrich the national treasury and increase wealth, and bronzes can be used to build weapons and enhance national strength, so some emperors will have a special liking for tombs in Shang and Zhou Dynasties, not to mention those folk grave robbers with dreams of making money. It is for these reasons that tombs in Shang and Zhou Dynasties were looted by grave robbers and no longer existed.
In the absence of historical evidence, even if it is found to be similar to a tomb, it cannot be determined. In addition to the Shang and Zhou dynasties, historical materials may also be lost due to human factors and wars. Secondly, in troubled times, cultural relics are also difficult to be preserved. In the early 1920s, the tombs of suspected princes in Zhou Dynasty were madly excavated by western powers and grave robbers from all directions, and a large number of precious cultural relics were lost to more than a dozen countries, which was a heavy loss to the archaeological cause of Shang and Zhou Dynasties in China.
For various reasons, it is impossible for future generations to find more accurate written materials to identify some tombs that have been discovered and have obvious burial characteristics. Another point, regarding tomb archaeology, we follow the principle that when an ancient tomb has not been found or destroyed, it will not be actively searched and excavated.