Don't! After careful study, archaeologists found that this is a strange tomb. It was the tomb of Anglo-Saxon King Redward more than 1000 years ago. All his wealth-ships, weapons, armor and gold and silver jewelry-was buried with him.
This amazing discovery caused an archaeological fever. In the past 40 years, archaeologists have excavated 23 Anglo-Saxon graves in Suteng Lake. They excavated many sacrificial objects, but found no bodies or bones. The digger was startled and puzzled. After analysis and research, they came to an unsatisfactory explanation:
In the past long years, various acids in the sand have been eroding the bodies and bones, and finally even the meat and bones have been "eaten" completely, leaving only the traces of the bodies. The pressed sand is somewhat faded, that is, the color is lighter than the surrounding sand.
After the archaeologists scraped off the loose soil covering these marks, a sand mold of human body appeared in front of them, with all kinds of heads, hands and feet. The archaeologist was dumbfounded and surprised. They call the miracle in front of them "the sandman".
How to study the sandman? It is estimated that there are about 300 "sand people" buried under the dunes of Suteng Lake. It is fascinating for archaeologists to study and record the thoughts of these "sand people", but it is also difficult.
The sandman can't be pulled out of the ground like a mummy or skeleton, so in the previous excavation, the researchers only took pictures of the sandman and drew the findings. The best record I made before was pouring liquid and rubber into the grave to cast the image of the dead.
Although this method is good, it has a fly in the ointment. Therefore, scientists began to experiment with a high-tech tool to record the size and shape of the "sandman" by computer. This tool is called 3D tracking system. Its heart component is a small electric box. The electric box is connected to a small computer. Pull out a wire from the electric box and connect it with a pencil probe. The scientist approached the sandman from the air with a probe. The second wire drawn from the electric box leads to the transmitter near the grave.
The transmitter sends a magnetic field to the sky where the sandman is. At the same time, scientists move the detector bit by bit on the surface of the sandman, use sonar on the detector to measure the changes of magnetic field intensity at each point, and use other instruments in the tracking system to measure the changes of other characteristics, thus determining the accurate position of the detector in space. A * * * needs to record about 3000 points, and the distance between points is about 1 cm. Draw these points on the X-Y-Z axis with a computer drawing program, and a three-dimensional image of the sandman will appear.
Paul Riley and Andrew Walter recorded a "sandman" with a three-dimensional tracking system. The image is realistic, just like being dug out of the ground.
Once it appears on the computer screen, the sandman can turn over and rotate, archaeologists can study the sandman from any angle, and they can also enlarge or shrink the sandman. They hope that the clues provided by the sandman will help them to confirm who the sandman is.
Some of the Anglo-Saxons buried by Su Tenghu died strangely. For example, a person has his hands tied and leans forward; The other man was kneeling without a head. Archaeologists believe that they may have been killed for crimes or victims of ancient religious superstitions. Most other "sand people" take a supine position and look very peaceful. There is a "sandman" who even put his hands together, as if praying. The appearance of this "sand man" may mean that Christianity has spread to Suteng Lake.
Christianity spread to Britain in the early 7th century, sweeping away old religions and customs. The British who believed in one religion or another turned to Christianity, and at the same time abolished the customs and habits of taking a boat as a coffin and burying the king with valuables of life. The burial of "sand people" reflects this change in religion or custom.
In order to further study the religion and culture of the ancient Anglo-Saxons, archaeologists and historians plan to excavate some "sand people" again.