"The tall building must have been completed before the emperor died, but was dismantled just before putting in a mound of earth. The mound of earth might have been put in after the emperor was buried. The final layer of the earth was packed in. The thickness is between 40 cm and 70 cm," he said.

Building for emperor's soul to go out

Based on the long-term archaeological research, scientists have launched the 863rd archeological expedition of the Emperor Qin's Mausoleum with integrated remote sensory and geophysical technology. One of the main tasks is to verify aspects of the internal structure of the tomb using geophysical and geochemical exploration techniques.

Can people see the "building"? Duan believed that the nine-stair building was fully buried under the earth. It cannot be seen by the naked eyes, unless with the help high technology. Duan said he believed the building may have been built for the departure of the emperor's soul.

Liu Qingzhu, research fellow with the Archeological Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), said, "It is perhaps no surprise for the emperor to build this kind of strange structure, as he often thought of something out of the ordinary."

Questioning voice

Application of remote sensory technology is still in its initial stage. It is necessary to exercise caution when making scientific conclusions.

For years, the archaeological research of the First Qin Emperor's Masoleum has been fraught with controversy and mystery. Experts on the study of Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor Chen Jingyuan have raised questions on the aforementioned perspective. Calling the structure discovered by current remote sensor technology, a "building," is not precise enough, according to Chen. "In addition to archaeological research with remote sensory technology, architectural analysis is also necessary. Only by using exact scientific theories of architecture can scientists interpret the data obtained from remote sensory technology into valuable historical facts. Some researchers should not have hastened to reveal their major discovery."

According to Chen, the Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute started to use remote sensory technology in studies of the tomb. However, because the application of remote sensory technology in China is still in its early stages; scientists need to be very cautious in drawing conclusions. He said that, in the absence of conclusive evidence, to speculate that the building was for the departure of emperor's soul, will not hold in academic research evaluation. Moreover, it might mislead future research.

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