Tomb Raider Chronicles Looting Reaches Across the Centuries—And Modern China's Economic Strata

Tomb Raider Chronicles Looting reaches across the centuries—and modern China's economic strata

by LAUREN HILGERS

hat tree, right there. Do you before, had been broken into and loot- chase them, most are former farmers see that tree?" A portly offi- ed. It was what I had come to Henan and peasants. They operate in gangs Tcer from the Henan Public to see, evidence of Ghina's tomb raid- that teach new recruits how to find Security Bureau stood in the cracked ers, criminals who loot ancient graves and excavate tombs, grabbing only mud of an irrigation ditch and pointed to feed the antiquities market. the most desirable artifacts. What at a single, leafless tree in the middle According to some estimates, they take moves through the hands of a fleld of millet. "If you look to there are around 100,000 looters in of middlemen to collectors and auc- the right, just past the tree, the hole China. Experts guess that more than tion houses in China and around is there." I looked in the direction 400,000 ancient graves have been the world. What they leave behind he was pointing and told him what I robbed in the last 20 years alone. is a source of endless frustration to saw: more millet. The officer laughed. Tomb raiders work underground—^lit~ archaeologists: damaged, incomplete "Exactly! That's how they trick you!" erally and figuratively—and tend to sites that reveal only a fragmented He was referring to a pile of fresh hang out in the middle of nowhere, in picture of the past. dirt next to the tree, the only above- places that were once on the periph- Every archaeologist I met in my ground sign of an 1,800-yearold Wei ery of great cities and rich trade three years of writing about archaeol- Dynasty tomb that, only two nights routes. According to the officers who ogy in China was familiar with the www.archaeology.org 55 with distress, "I've lost my phone!" In China, cell phone contact lists are precious. "There were so many people in that phone," Liu lamented. Worried that his contacts were lost forever, he drove us out of the city in uncomfortable silence. Liu shook his head and muttered "Shenqi," or "angry," under his breath, but didn't say a word about our destination.

hina has a 4,000-year history of building tombs, which were Cthought to serve as bridges from this world to the next. Build- ing styles have ranged from large pits to pyramids to cross-shaped burial chambers. They were made of brick, packed earth, or stone, and were sometimes capped with ceramic roof tiles. They could vary in size from a few square yards to nearly a square mue. Early on, people filled tombs with bronze vessels and disks and cyl- inders made of jade, but by the East- ern Han Dynasty (A.D. 25-220), burial practices had expanded to include small replicas of daily life—little buildings, chariots, and ceramic ser vants. "The objects should resemble those used in real life but be smaller," an A.D. 1170 book on burial rituals explained. 'According to the law, those with rank five or six offices can Tomb raiders had bored a tunnel into a large tomb associated with Cao Cao, a Han have thirty objects; those with rank Dynasty general and warlord, before it was discovered and excavated by archaeoiogists. seven or eight offices, twenty objects; and those who have not reached work of looters. One told me the a small village there and has spent his court posts, fifteen objects." tomb he was excavating had been ufe amassing information about burial Tombs were no sooner built than raided multiple times—once a few practices, artifacts, and the capital people started thinking about looting hundred years ago, again in the 1970s, cities of various dynasties. When I them. Researchers in Xi'an believe and finally just months before. At told Liu, who asked that I not use his that even the grave of China's first an underwater site near Guangzhou, real name, that I wanted to get a bet- emperor, Qin Shihuangdi, reported local authorities were constantly ter understanding of China's looters, to contain a scale model of his entire chasing off free-diving thieves who he agreed to help. He had run into, kingdom (and which abuts the famed tried to sneak by in the middle of the and even interviewed, a few during terracotta army), was robbed soon night. Tomb raiders are, by nature, his career, he said, and would do his after his death in 210 B.C. Chinese hard to find. In general, archaeolo- best to take me to meet some. archaeologists estimate that, between gists don't like to talk about them I flew to Zhengzhou, Henan's ancient and modern looters, nine out because the scale of the problem largest city, to meet Liu on a snowy of 10 tombs have been plundered. makes it seem as if China is losing Sunday morning. We planned to drive If tombs are bridges between the control of its history to a small coxmtry town where tomb living and the dead, raiders are intrud- On a previous trip to Henan, I was raiders were known to be camping ing on some spiritually fraught terri- lucky enough to meet an expert in out. Liu pulled up in his car, rolled tory According to Chinese mythol- local tombs, Mr. Liu, who grew up in down the window, and shouted ogy the souls of the dead can linger,

56 ARCHAEOLOGY • July/August 2013 particularly if the deceased suffered is valuable and trampling the rest. brazen as they once were. In a famous an injustice. In such cases, the spirits "Details that a looter doesn't care case from 1997, reports estimated are trapped on earth, in dark, dank about and destroys would otherwise that more than 1,000 people were places, like tombs, and can enter the have helped us better understand a looting the ancient tombs built dur bodies of living people. "We grow up site." Evidence of construction tech- ing the Tuyuhun Kingdom (A.D. 417- with these stories about bad things niques, the placement of objects in a 688) in China's Qinghai Province. that happen in tombs," said Nanpai tomb, and their potential significance One archaeologist reported that as Sanshu, author of a popular book can be lost. Despite this, Liu and his he excavated one side of a burial site, series. The Tomb Raider Chronicles. friend were surprisingly sympathetic looters worked on the other. Looters "They fascinate us." to the raiders. "People here grow mil- today are just as determined, but per The main character of the series let and corn and sometimes green haps not quite so bold or foolish. is a reluctant looter, but he has no beans," Liu said. "There's really no Just before my arrival in Henan, choice—it runs in the fanuly. "Tomb way to make much money" a story had broken about a tomb- raiding used to be a family business," Back in the car, Liu announced raiding ring in Hubei, another prov- Liu said. "If your father is teaching that he was accustomed to taking ince rich in both tombs and looters. you how to find a tomb and how best a nap at this time of day He was Local farmers had reported finding to dig, he is going to teach you the exhausted after worrying about his holes surrounded by cigarette butts safest way to do it. There were fewer phone all night. Near a toUgate, Liu and litter. Investigators arrived and disputes." Today, Liu continued, the relationships have changed. Tomb raiders are friends or acquaintances, or strangers brought together by larger criminal networks. And according to Liu, this can cause conflicts. He's seen more than one operation fail when a disgruntled raider ratted out his compatriots. "Maybe someone thinks they aren't getting paid enough," Liu said. "Maybe they think things aren't fair"

iu had arranged for us to stop for lunch at an archaeological Lsite on the way to the village. An archaeologist friend of his was Looters use metal rods to look for buried tombs, leaving teiltale holes like these. If a working on the remains of a Shang rod punched into the ground encounters resistance, it couid mean a tomb is below. Dynasty port that once sat on the Yellow River. At the excavation, a pulled halfway off the road, recHned were able to arrest a group of what team of 20 local farmers had cleared his seat, and started snoring quietly. some Chinese media outlets charac- a pit about 15 feet deep and 30 feet Though it is a centuries-old prac- terized as "suspicious people from square. They continued to attack the tice, the methods of tomb raiding have Shandong." The arrested looters cold ground with shovels and brushes changed dramatically over the past claimed that the artifacts they took as we walked through the site. Some 30 years, as the market for Chinese had already been sold to a man called of the women stood in the mud wear artifacts has exploded. Raiders have "Little Fatty" for 4 million yuan— ing heeled dress shoes and others been caught with walkie-talkies, oxy- around $643,000. gripped shovels with gloveless hands. gen tanks, lights, and chainsaws. Since Investigation into the mysteri- Their pay, according to the archaeolo- the 1990s, China's security forces have ous Little Fatty led to a man named gist, was low but adequate for rural stepped up their efforts, instituting Zhang Moumou. Though Zhang China. The urge to raid a site is easy harsh punishments for looting, workr had no apparent profession, he kept to understand, Liu pointed out. A suc- ing with the United States and Europe two apartments, and large sums of cessful tomb raider can make a year's to stop smuggling, and, last year, creat- money frequently passed through his salary in one night. ing a national information center. accounts. In his two homes, investi- "It's a fact of our work," said the Some archaeologists say these gators recovered 198 stolen artifacts archaeologist. Tomb raiders ruin exca- efforts are having an effect, if a lim- from aU over the country "The arti- vation sites by taking what they think ited one. Tomb raiders today aren't as facts they recovered come anywhere www.archaeology.org 57 A millet field in Henan (above) reveals evidence of a recent tomb break-in. Looters dug down 18 feet and punched through a tile roof (right) to gain access to the tomb below.

from the Spring and Autvimn Warring tomb raiders were—or at least where his feet against the other, and inched States period [771-221 B.c.] to the Jin they had just been. Someone had down. From there, the raiders had to Dynasty [A.D. 1115-12341," Bao Dong- raided a tomb two nights prior to our contort themselves in order to enter bo, the director of the Hubei Pro- arrival and, fearing an investigation, the narrow space of the tomb itself vincial Archaeological Institute, told all the looters had skipped town. "Once you're in, you can't stand up," me. "When the police found those "Well," said Liu, "if we can't show you Yuan said. "\bu have to crawl like a artifacts, they looked as they would tomb raiders, at least we can show cat." Yuan knew this because he had have when first unearthed. The raiders you the scene of the crime." lowered his partner down with a rope have done no repair or cleaning." Little A local farmer had discovered the the day before. "We do this with all Fatty was one of countless middlemen, hole the previous day and called the of the raided tombs we discover," he a stopping point for artifacts passing security bureau. The two officers who said, to look for signs that a tomb is between the hands of looters and the had investigated agreed to accompany unusual or in danger of repeat looting. display cases of wealthy collectors. us to the site with the head of their Yuan said he has been in more tombs "Their method of operation is office and two other officers. From a than he can count. This tomb was actually very complicated," said Bao. ditch, one of the officers, whom I'M call about 160 square feet and still mostly "Someone contributes money, some- Yuan, pointed across a field."D o you filled with mud. Most of the tombs one else contributes labor, someone see that tree?" he asked. As we walked in Henan have filled Hke this over the gives instructions, someone else does toward it, Yuan explained that he was years, either from cave-ins or from the digging. %u know, no matter part of a patrol that drove around the seepage through the tiles or bricks. where you are, you can find people countryside at night, looking for suspi- It was relatively modest inside. Yuan who want to make quick money" cious people in the fields. "We don't said, with no visible artifacts. The often catch them this way," he admits looters had left behind only foot- wenty minutes into Liu's ted. "Most of the time, a farmer wül call prints and pits. nap, the sound of running in and we will jump in the van and drive Tomb raiders are difficult to catch, Twater and chirping birds over—that's how we catch them." in part because of their efficiency filled the car. His eyes snapped open. Next to the tree, we came upon Teams survey large areas in advance by "My phone! My phone is in here the hole in the ground, about two and punching the ground with metal rods. somewhere. Help me find it!" Liu a half feet in diameter and surround- "If there is just earth under you, the frantically jumped out of the car and ed by footprints. We knelt and peered rod will go down easily," Yuan said. "If peered beneath his seat. "My phone! in. About 18 feet down, I could make there is a tomb, you will hit something My mood has improved! Now we're out the broken roof tues that marked hard." Raiders then mark the sites and really ready to go!" the top of the Wei Dynasty tomb, return later. In teams of eight to 10, Liu was energized. He turned on and then only darkness. Yuan put they start as soon as it gets dark and the radio and drove, humming, to a his hands out, miming how a tomb work until two or three in the morn- small town in northern Henan where raider had gone into a tuck, with his ing. In that time, they must dig a hole everyone seemed to know who the back against one wall of the hole and to the roof of the tomb wide enough

58 ARCHAEOLOGY • July/August 2013 for a man to enter, and then Earth Antiques Town. He was break through. There is tucked in a sparsely decorated more digging inside, along room with a few antique vases with identifying valuable in a smudged case and an artifacts and hoisting them abundance of cigarette smoke. back to the surface with "I tell people not to collect ropes. "Vuan pointed to foot- antiques," he said. "It is a big prints leading away from responsibility" Zhang himself the hole and out of the field. started collecting in the early 'And then," he said, "they 1980s because he wanted to get out of town." connect with Ghina's history— Yuan shrugged his "feel the weight of it" in his shoulders at the prospect hands. As an appraiser, Zhang of holding back the tide of has come across many of what tomb raiders. "There are he called "recently unearthed" too many tombs that have antiquities. These either come been robbed like this to from raided tombs or are sto- keep track of," he said. "We len from construction sites, he do the best we can." The explained. In Ghina, virtually likelihood that he would nothing that has been newly catch those responsible for excavated is legally bought or the hole was sUm. He shook sold. "%u can easily tell what my hand and climbed back has come out of the ground in the van with the rest of recently" he said, from the soil the local security bureau. that lingers on objects even In a few nights he would be after cleaning. The collectors back out again, patrolling. who have brought him these Liu decided to stay behind antiquities for appraisal are in Henan for another day nearly always aware of what to spend time with friends. they've purchased. On our drive to the train sta- A few days later, I went tion, he was just as fatalistic At Panjiayuan, a popular tourist market in Beijing, some vendors to Panjiayuan, an antiques as Yuan. 'All tomb raiders offer antiquities for saie. Whiie most are probably reproductions, market in Beijing that is a well- throughout history have such markets—alongside galleries and acution houses—might be established part of the tourist an outlet for the sale of illegally excavated antiquities. been motivated by money" circuit. Ninety-five percent of he said. 'And there have the goods at Panjiayuan, Zhang always been tomb raiders." tion houses, such as Sotheby's and had warned me, are fakes—reproduc- Ghristie's, Ghinese antiquities regu- tions aimed at duping tourists. The omb raiding is an unenviable larly blaze past sales expectations to ground of the outdoor market is cov- job. Those who do it face be among the most sought-after rel- ered in blankets and newspaper where Tasphyxiation from centuries- ics. In 2011, a sale of Ghinese ceram- vendors display Mao paraphernalia, old air and the grim possibility of ics and artwork at Ghristie's in New fake Tang Dynasty figurines, and the being buried alive if there is a col- %rk took in $38 million. occasional coüection of unimpressive lapse. They also brave spiritual risk While international auction hous- but authentic-looking pottery sherds from ghosts, possession, and even es work under regulations intended to and metal bowls. I stopped to look at zombies. If tomb raiding is a crime prevent looted antiquities from com- a dirty iron pot and asked the vendor that reaches across Ghinese history ing to market, the growth of Ghina's where he gets his wares. Every month, and superstition, it is also a trade that domestic market has contributed he said, he drives five hours to another reaches from the lowest to the high- to the demand that has fiieled the market in Shandong. I picked up the est rungs of the national and global surge in tomb raiding. In 2012, the pot. "Where did this one come from?" economies. "If there were no market country's art and antiquities market I asked. He laughed. "Where do you for antiques," said Liu, "there would was the largest in the world. In Bei- think?" he said. "From the groxmd!" • be no tomb raiding." jing, I visited an antiques appraiser The past decade has seen a boom named Zhang Jinfa, whose office is Lauren Hilgers is a freelance writer in the market. At international auc- in a complex called the Ends of the living in Brooklyn.

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