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00:00.
00:302,000 years ago, bands of nomadic warriors ruled the steppes of Central Asia.
00:55They were known as the Seung-nu.
00:57300 years before the birth of Christ, they began to build a vast empire.
01:04From victory to defeat, and defeat to victory, their history is forged in blood and fire.
01:11Probable ancestors of Genghis Khan and the Huns, these fearsome horsemen roamed the steppes
01:17for 500 years.
01:19Their principal enemy and the object of their desires was China, a country that was already
01:24protecting itself behind barricades.
01:28The strength of the Seung-nu, surprise and speed.
01:41To protect themselves against Seung-nu attacks, the Chinese built great lines of defense
01:462,500 miles long.
01:49The start of China's great wall sometimes kept out the Seung-nu, but when they managed
01:54to slip through, pillage, rape and terror reigned.
01:58To unearth traces of Seung-nu history, one must travel to Mongolia.
02:07First stop, Ulaanbaatar, the capital.
02:14It's February and 20 below when Frenchman Pierre-Henri Giscard begins a new phase of his search.
02:23For the past eight years, he's been looking for signs of the Seung-nu in Mongolia.
02:27Today, he has a meeting at the Institute of History.
02:35Ulaanbaatar is a young capital.
02:37It was founded in 1950 and is home to 700,000 people, a quarter of the country's population.
02:46Pierre-Henri Giscard has come to meet Ulaanbaatar, a Mongolian archaeologist.
02:56For several years, they've worked together on sites from the Seung-nu period.
03:04The two men have become close friends.
03:11Ulaanbaatar is eager to show his colleague the gem he's just dug out of the archives.
03:15It's a file that dates from 1957 and 1958.
03:21A Mongolian archaeologist by the name of Dorsaren conscientiously recorded the research he did
03:27on a Seung-nu necropolis, or ancient cemetery.
03:32Dorsaren, as seen in these photographs, seems like an explorer from another age.
03:38The discovery of an exceptional site, a Seung-nu burial ground, left its mark on his destiny.
03:44For two consecutive summers, he and a team of local workers explored an immense tomb.
03:50That dig would be his major accomplishment as an archaeologist.
03:58During the final year, the site collapsed one night and the unstable terrain and fragile
04:03walls swallowed up his efforts.
04:06Without sufficient funding, Dorsaren was forced to abandon the dig.
04:11He died a few years later, grief-stricken and full of regret over his unfinished discovery.
04:19Based on these notes, the tomb appears to be important, probably an imperial burial site.
04:26Located some 300 miles west of Ulaanbaatar, in a place called Golmud, the site is amazing,
04:33with hundreds of tombs, some of them enormous.
04:38The Seung-nu did not have a written language.
04:40Today, these archaeological remains are the only existing traces of their history.
04:47Sometimes a depression in the center is evident, probably signs of ancient grave robbers.
04:53The structure of the tombs is identical, a path lined with two rows of stones.
04:59The Greeks called it the dromos, the path of souls, which leads underground to the burial
05:03place.
05:04It opens on a square or rectangular enclosure.
05:19Four months later in June, the harsh Mongolian winter has given way to spring, and Pierre-Henri
05:25Giscard and Erdené-Battard have mounted a new expedition to pursue the treasure that
05:30had once eluded Dorsaren.
05:39It's a three-day journey to Golmud, but without precise coordinates, it may be difficult getting
05:44there.
05:52Unexpected obstacles sometimes appear on the trail.
05:56It's impossible to venture across this old wooden bridge.
06:01It will mean a 60-mile detour to cross the Orkhan, the sacred river of the Mongolians.
06:06The barren steppes, nearly a mile above sea level, seem to stretch to infinity.
06:30This towering plateau is at the center of a vast mountainous region.
06:45As one approaches the site, the landscape is softened by lush hills covered with larch
06:50trees.
06:51Pierre-Henri is eager to see the tomb explored by his Mongolian predecessor Dorsaren some 40
07:00years ago.
07:06The sight of it is even more astonishing than he'd imagined.
07:10The tomb is indeed immense.
07:15Trees have grown at the heart of the site on the rubble from Dorsaren's ill-fated dig.
07:22It's an emotional moment for Pierre-Henri.
07:34Pierre-Henri and Erdené Batard christen the burial ground the Great Tomb or Tomb No. 1.
07:41It may belong to a Shan Yu, the Xiongnu title for their emperor.
07:46We hope to have complete success and so until next year to touch the funerary room and the
07:54emperor himself.
07:56The primary goal of the mission will be to reach the funerary chamber six stories underground.
08:03To do so will require heavy earth-moving equipment.
08:06The first task?
08:07To eliminate the rubble around the tomb.
08:10The ground must be leveled before the dig can proceed.
08:13Terracing the site will be the best way to safeguard against cave-ins.
08:18The work will be completed over two years during two summers.
08:22The mission hopes to locate a funerary chamber like this one.
08:26In 1925 it was discovered in northern Mongolia by Russian archaeologist Peter Koslov.
08:35Experts think that the Golmud funerary chamber should have an exterior shell and an
08:40interior room that holds the coffin and offerings befitting an emperor.
08:49Since 1925 only a few Xiongnu artifacts have been discovered in Mongolia.
08:54Notably a magnificent tapestry in felt and silk.
08:58Step art frequently depicts scenes of fighting animals.
09:02Using backhoe and bulldozer, the team clears the periphery of the great tomb to get as close
09:12as possible to the funerary chamber.
09:14With only eight weeks to complete the initial phase of the expedition, they have to move quickly.
09:20The men operate the equipment in eight-hour shifts from sunup to sundown.
09:25A crew of Mongolian archaeology students volunteers its time, working equally long hours, to ready
09:33two secondary sites for exploration under Pierre-Henri's direction.
09:38A big door from here to here.
09:42The size of some of the stones is daunting.
09:45Surely it must have taken several hundred men to place them there two millennia ago.
09:49The first estimate is that some 33,000 tons of sand and stone will be moved, six tons more
09:57weight than the Statue of Liberty.
10:08The team will stay in wooden cabins and yurts built expressly for the expedition.
10:14One of the rooms will serve as a laboratory.
10:30Here in this remote corner of Mongolia, the fare is basic.
10:34Meat with a little dairy.
10:36The menu at the campsite mirrors the local diet.
10:39Boiled mutton for breakfast, for lunch, and for dinner.
10:44But an indoor dining hall is a welcome amenity for the crew.
10:57The local government has granted the team special permission to remove trees surrounding the tomb.
11:04The crater is finally cleared.
11:14Now the Franco-Mongolian crew must dig a trench they know will soon lead them to the tomb's
11:19entrance.
11:21Century after century, sand has covered all traces of the Dromos, the path leading to the
11:26ancient burial site.
11:28The west wall of the Dromos is now completely revealed.
11:32It is nearly half the length of a football field.
11:35Its height gradually increases.
11:37Pierre-Henri admires the ancient workmanship.
11:39Yes, we have a well-assembled wall, which makes first two stones superposés of stone,
11:44and then three.
11:45And then, at the edge, we have five or six levels there, but we have not finished it.
11:52Pierre-Henri has been awaiting the arrival of Jean-Paul Desroches, director of this archeological
11:57mission.
12:02Desroches is also the head curator at the Guimet Museum of Asian Arts in Paris.
12:08Despite 30 hours of travel, he's not too tired for a progress report on the dig.
12:14French.
12:15French.
12:16He's encouraged by what he sees, a site grand enough to house an ancient Siung-nu emperor.
12:21During the 500 years of Siung-nu dynasties, twenty emperors are known to have ruled over
12:42this wild and distant land.
12:45But little we've read of their history comes from chronicles of their enemies, the Chinese.
12:58The Sarach family has raised livestock in Golmud for several generations.
13:03Every June, they move with the animals to a nearby summer camp where water is plentiful.
13:08The Sarach is the head of a 30-member clan.
13:18Here on the steppe, they lead self-sufficient lives remarkably similar to their nomadic ancestors,
13:23the Siung-nu.
13:24Putting up the yurt takes a few hours.
13:34Because the doorway is narrow, the furniture must be arranged beforehand.
13:44As with all nomadic families, the women of the Sarach clan are responsible for the essential
13:50task of milking the animals, including mares and yaks.
13:55The circular crown on the roof is called a tunu.
13:58It's a sacred object of shamanistic origin that symbolizes family unity.
14:03To Mongolians, the yurt is not only a dwelling, but a spiritual symbol, evoking the very heart
14:13of the cosmos.
14:14Its spirits protect the family.
14:18The Sarach clan makes its own cheese and sells whatever they don't use.
14:24A month into the expedition, several thousand cubic feet of rock and sand have been cleared
14:46from the Siung-nu tomb.
14:48The wall of the Dromos is completely exposed.
14:51The archaeologists now know the precise dimensions of the ancient path of souls.
14:56Some five yards wide at the start.
14:58Twenty-seven yards wide at the tomb's entrance.
15:01The size of the Dromos reflects the importance of the dead.
15:05It's almost certainly an imperial gravesite.
15:08Very interesting.
15:09Qu'est-ce qu'il est beau ce mur.
15:11Et on ne le voyait même pas.
15:13On ne savait pas si on aurait ce tournant.
15:16On a ce tournant, on va trouver l'autre ici, et l'autre là-bas.
15:18C'est formidable.
15:19Ça, c'est tout à fait inattendu.
15:20C'est merveilleux.
15:21Très bon.
15:22Et on aura la dimension du monument.
15:25C'est une chance.
15:27C'est une chance.
15:28C'est une chance.
15:29C'est une chance.
15:34J'interesse.
15:35The nearest administrative centre is Hairan— population 2,500.
15:37An hour's' journey on horseback from Golmud.
15:40Erdené Batar, the Mongolian archaeologist, has scheduled a kind-of-town meeting with local authorities
15:54to explain the purpose of the archaeological dig to the villagers.
15:58On the steppe, rumors travel quickly, tradition is deeply rooted, and locals fear that archaeologists
16:25may be disturbing the souls of those whom they consider their ancestors.
16:33They want to know what may be found in the Xiongnu tombs, hidden treasure, as legend
16:38has it, or perhaps a caravan of 100 camels rumored to be buried with its cargo.
16:50Back at camp, under the UNESCO banner and the Mongolian and French flags, archaeologist
16:55Jean-Jacques Rizeau and Jean-Paul Desroches have begun to explore one of the two secondary
17:00tombs.
17:01We discovered a vase, beautiful.
17:08A tree of bronze.
17:10I don't think it's a ceramic.
17:11Ceramic?
17:12It's ceramic for you?
17:13You think so?
17:14The color is like a one, but it's a…
17:15It's not broken.
17:16Yes, it's a black ceramic, Xiongnu black ceramic.
17:18The men are delighted to discover what looks like an ancient vessel, a potentially
17:35important find.
17:36It's a curved line.
17:37It's ceramic.
17:38Very good.
17:39It's typical.
17:40Yes.
17:41A big one.
17:42This is a witness of imperial tomb of imperial necropole because ceramics is quite perfect.
17:54There are few examples in the world.
17:57I think it will be very hopeful for the future of our excavation here in this necropolis.
18:04Yes.
18:05Today night we will drink.
18:06Of course.
18:07Okay?
18:08I'm here.
18:09Sure.
18:10We'll drink a drink tonight.
18:11It's rare here, but it's necessary.
18:15The shape of the tomb is now completely defined.
18:18It's 40 yards long, 33 yards wide, and measures 4,900 square feet.
18:26The composition of the soil soon reveals something new.
18:29We can see very dark black ashes, and these ashes are probably a witness of a very large
18:40fire, and this fire destroys completely the superstructure, probably in wood.
18:47It's sure not ritual fire.
18:51It's all fire produced by enemies, or natural fire.
18:57It can be also.
19:03According to the evidence collected by the archaeologists, the dromos, or path of souls,
19:08was partially covered by a timber roof and led to a shrine at the center of the tomb.
19:13Enemies of the Xiongnu may have set the tombs on fire to destroy the symbols of their power.
19:30A farewell party marks the end of the first year of the Franco-Mongolian archaeological mission
19:36in Golmud.
19:38Traditional chants have long played an important role in the life of the Mongolians.
19:44Now that work has come to a close, it's time to look ahead to next year and new adventures here on the step.
19:53Winter finally comes to a close.
19:56By June, the ground is thawed, and the second Golmud expedition can resume.
20:01This time, the team is thinking big.
20:22They've managed to bring in some of the most powerful earth-moving equipment in the country
20:26to excavate the great tomb.
20:29They think it's the burial site of a Shanyu, one of the Xiongnu's 20 emperors.
20:36The archaeologists have marked the perimeter.
20:41The crew is now complete.
20:43Denis Rolland, a public works engineer from France, has also joined the team.
20:48This one in the frontier and had a village.
20:57The army of the armorers have to be able to use through the opening.
21:04It's not an archeological dig site, but it's not an archeological dig site.
21:09The army of the city should be able to open the opening.
21:13After a few days, at one and a half tons of earth per bucket,
21:19the terracing of the site is coming along nicely.
21:23The archaeologists have estimated that the roof of the funerary chamber lies 50 feet underground.
21:30As the excavator continues to clear away the earth within the marked-off perimeter,
21:35the team proceeds with the archaeological work, layer by layer.
21:40A week into the dig, the archaeologists are puzzled that none of the artifacts they've been looking for
21:46have yet surfaced where they should be, when suddenly, the first one emerges.
22:02The first surprise, 25 feet underground, the archaeologists find a series of objects in bronze.
22:10They're at least six feet above where the funerary chamber should lie.
22:14Is this a rifle?
22:16Is this a rifle?
22:18Is this a rifle?
22:20Is this a rifle?
22:22Is this a rifle?
22:24Is this a rifle?
22:25Is this a rifle?
22:26Is this a rifle?
22:27Is this a rifle?
22:28Is this a rifle?
22:29Is this a rifle?
22:30Is this a rifle?
22:31Yes.
22:32Is this a rifle?
22:33The first piece is important because of its size, according to George Vasquez, the expedition's restoration expert.
22:40It's a good omen that more treasures may lie in the funerary chamber still buried below.
22:47In a small secondary tomb, the discovery of bronze scales from a suit of armor tells Urdine Bataar that the deceased was a soldier.
22:56With an ingenious overlapping pattern, they look much like fish scales.
23:01The Xiongnu armor was undoubtedly inspired by the breastplates of their enemy, the Chinese army.
23:07Foot soldiers, archers, horsemen, the phantom army 8,000 strong stands eternal guard over the legendary Chinese emperor, Jinxihuangdi.
23:17It is said that some 700,000 people helped build his massive tomb.
23:26Jinxihuangdi, visionary tyrant and the Xiongnu's worst enemy.
23:33Frozen in time, each soldier's face is unique.
23:40Thanks to his living army, it would take China's first emperor only ten years to annex six great states.
23:58Eventually, these unified states would give rise to the China that now bears his name.
24:03The price of unification, two million dead out of a total population of 30 million at the time.
24:18Swept along by visions of grandeur and his dream of immortality, he built 700 palaces, reproductions of the royal quarters of kingdoms he vanquished.
24:28The Xiongnu were also driven to possess this wealth.
24:33Stunned by the surprise attacks of the mounted warriors, the Chinese were left empty handed and the thieves vanished into the steppe with their loot.
24:45For centuries, the all-powerful Chinese emperor remained the Xiongnu's sworn enemy.
24:51New discoveries at the Golmud site confirm that the first artefacts were indeed part of a chariot.
25:06What remain are a number of smaller pieces of bronze and cast iron.
25:10The nomads were skilled in the art of metallurgy.
25:13For the archaeologists, this is proof that some of them became sedentary.
25:16For the archaeologists, this is proof that some of them became sedentary.
25:19For the archaeologists, this is proof that some of them became sedentary.
25:26So, is it a plage or not a plage?
25:29No, I think it's a plage.
25:31Look, there's a piece of steel under this big stone.
25:35You see, it's not at all in place.
25:38The objects are in all directions.
25:39You see, it's pretty so awesome.
25:42From here on, the crew lives in suspense.
25:45Will they learn for sure whether the tomb has been pillaged?
25:49Daily discoveries pose new dilemmas leading to theories that sometimes confirm and sometimes contradict each other.
25:55The members of the crew work in shifts to supervise the terracing of the burial site as the excavator moves closer to the tomb.
26:11Suddenly, a new artefact appears.
26:17The neck of a bronze vessel.
26:22The object is visibly deteriorated.
26:26Was it shattered during a funeral rite?
26:29Or was it accidentally broken by pillagers some time later?
26:40Oh, look at the coups!
26:42What a violence!
26:46Look at me, it's a sign of violence.
26:52It's always the same embouts.
26:54The embouts of the engenze.
26:55Yes, it's really the same.
26:57The form of the car.
26:59We could have a car because we have decorations of absolutely the same style.
27:04That would be the first car in history.
27:08It's really extraordinary.
27:09The Golmud chariot might be the replica of this Chinese ceremonial chariot from the beginning of our era.
27:18For the nomads, it represented in fact the emperor's real throne.
27:22Some 200 yards from the great tomb, a smaller tomb is also being dug.
27:32Precious objects come to light.
27:35Pieces that reveal the important rank of the deceased in the Xiongnu hierarchy.
27:39Ornamental decorations in gold, known as quadrifoliates.
27:42Like the parts of the chariot discovered earlier, this floral motif also reflects Chinese influence.
27:53It's a little strange to use floral in a nomadic civilization.
27:59Tradition is animal decoration.
28:01This is sedentary tradition.
28:06Laboratory analysis will eventually reveal that this gold came from Mongolian rivers.
28:12That this tomb contained only ten floral artifacts in gold clearly proved that it was pillaged.
28:22If it's not, there would have been many more, several dozen at least.
28:29Quadrifoliates covered the walls of the funerary chamber.
28:33Gold-encrusted surfaces colored cinnabar red, the symbol of blood and life.
28:42Early in the morning of July 13th, a strange atmosphere hangs over the steppe.
28:53On motorcycle, on horseback, and on foot, entire families converge on the berg of Hairan, an hour from the Golmud site.
29:03No clan or family would dare miss the annual Nadam festival, a Mongolian national holiday that runs two full days.
29:15No one works during Nadam, so the archeological crew takes a break from the dig to share this festive occasion with the locals.
29:25The monks come to give their blessing.
29:28Two events highlight the Nadam festival.
29:33The first is a long horse race organized for the children.
29:37More than a sporting event, the race is a kind of initiation rite for the passage into adolescence.
29:52Ninety-nine stallions break into a gallop over a 14-mile course.
29:59It's truly a test of endurance for the young boys.
30:02Like their distant relatives, some of the children ride bareback without saddles or stirrups.
30:07The second highlight of the Nadam is a Mongolian wrestling tournament, a precursor of Japanese summa wrestling.
30:25Before the fight, the wrestlers perform a ritualistic dance, the dance of the eagle.
30:31The loser is the first who falls to the ground.
30:51On the sidelines, the families await their favourites in the horse race.
31:09The glory of the victor will be shared by the whole clan.
31:21The young riders have honoured their ancestors well.
31:33Now they too will proudly bear the title, Horsemen of the Steps.
31:51In Golmud, the emergence of new artefacts from the great tomb again confirms the influence
32:01of Chinese culture on the Xiongnu.
32:03Have you seen the mask on the basin behind?
32:08There is a glouton mask, Taotier.
32:11It's great.
32:14I don't know if there are other images of the Xiongnu.
32:21The glutton is a familiar figure to the Chinese.
32:24Called Taotier, the glutton is an imaginary beast found on the ringed handles of the bronze
32:29vessels and on religious ornaments.
32:32They are not professional to do that.
32:38The eyes on an end, the three levels, the pupil in a shape, it's weird.
32:45Another discovery is reassuring to the archaeologists and seems to confirm an important burial rite.
32:54It's a Chinese mirror.
32:55It's an extraordinary mirror.
32:56It's an extraordinary mirror.
33:01Enorme.
33:02Enorme.
33:03Enorme.
33:04Enorme.
33:05Enorme.
33:06Enorme.
33:07Enorme.
33:08Enorme.
33:09Enorme.
33:17It's more…25 cm.
33:23The broken mirror may have been a gift from another emperor.
33:42Having reflected the face of the deceased, it was shattered at his death.
33:46This way, the spirit of the dead man would not return to haunt the living.
33:51In tact, imperial mirrors look like this one from China, 50 A.D.
34:01Pierre-Henri and Erdené Batard agree that the mirror they found undoubtedly belongs to an emperor.
34:07When I finish it, I am going to...
34:11You are sure we will have success?
34:13Yes. I believe.
34:15Me also. Me also. I am sure.
34:19Up to now, very few human bones have surfaced at the Golmud site.
34:24Some 20 days into the dig, anthropologist Jean-Louis M. discovers the first human skull in a small tomb.
34:31Even if the skull is incomplete, these remains provide the anthropologist with precious information on this individual.
34:51This is typically a mongoloid skull.
34:55Typical mongoloid?
34:56Yes, no problem.
34:58The flat face here.
35:00And I have this part, which is called the nasion, which is conservated.
35:04The teeth are in good condition.
35:07Good condition.
35:08Yeah.
35:09Except one carry.
35:10The carry.
35:11Yeah.
35:12Yeah.
35:13But the rest is quite all right.
35:17A tibia taken from the same tomb will furnish additional details about the deceased.
35:27It is young because the third molar, which appears between 18 and 25, is not used.
35:34But we see that the muscles, the muscles of the leg were very strong.
35:39We see with the crest here, you see.
35:41It's a small individual, but he was a warrior, a soldier, with his bronze.
35:49Bronze army, yeah.
35:514.73 m.
35:58Another dramatic turn of events for the mission.
36:01With the discovery of a stag antler, the theory of pillaging is reinforced.
36:07Excellent instrument of creusement,
36:10without using it as a foot to force the tree.
36:17Oh, he's very fragile.
36:20Okay.
36:25That's better.
36:28That's better.
36:31The pillage is now confirmed.
36:38Today, the archeologists can reconstruct the path taken by the grave robbers.
36:43They dug a tunnel, detouring around layers of stone, obstacles put there by the Xiongnu.
36:49In the total isolation of far away steppe,
36:53pillaging is practically a tradition.
36:56The pillager knew that important treasure was buried with the dead.
37:01So, they take them out by any means possible.
37:06That these master thieves were in death victims of looting is an irony not lost on the team.
37:12It's like if we had a second leg.
37:14You see?
37:15I feel it like that.
37:17A thousand years later, we...
37:20Still, the men are shaken.
37:25What can we do?
37:26Nothing?
37:28That's it.
37:29It's a little sad, but...
37:30There's still hope for today.
37:31Jean-Jacques.
37:32Yes, as you are here.
37:33Tomorrow.
37:34In his expedition journal, Jean-Paul Desroches would describe his disappointment.
37:59Rough day for the whole crew.
38:02With the discovery of the stag antler, we now have the sad proof that the tomb was pillaged.
38:08Nevertheless, we still entertain the theory that everything could not have been carried off,
38:15and that the funerary chamber may still reveal some surprises.
38:21At the bottom of the pit, the space has become too narrow to work safely.
38:38The excavator must be used one last time to clear away sand and stones piled precariously close to the funerary chamber.
38:49The machine heads down a narrow terrace.
38:58A moment of anguish.
39:00How will the driver maneuver?
39:05Suddenly, his machine starts to slip.
39:08At any moment, it could crush the funerary chamber.
39:17Using whatever they can, the team tries to stabilize the equipment despite the incredible danger.
39:42If they don't take the risk, two years of work will be for naught.
39:55There's nothing that's won't be like it.
39:56There's nothing that's going on.
39:57There's nothing that's going on.
39:58There's nothing...
39:59There's nothing...
40:00...as long as it's not going on.
40:01There's nothing...
40:02...of the tank.
40:03It's time for a day.
40:33It's time for a decision. Jean-Paul Desroches tells the operator to turn off the engine and stop his work.
40:40This is approximately convenient. We stop here and we make the excavation and after he can move.
40:51The conditions of the dig have become surreal with a 22-ton sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.
41:07The archaeologists have now reached the funerary chamber. The beams are in good shape in larchwood, perfectly laid out.
41:19Despite the thefts, there are new pieces emerging. Jade jewelry in the form of a claw or an animal's tooth.
41:29The archaeologists have finally reached the floor of the funerary chamber.
41:44Jade jewelry in the form of a claw or an animal's tooth.
41:50The archaeologists have finally reached the floor of the funerary chamber.
41:55The remains of the coffin are visible on the ground.
42:12Although the tomb appeared to have no further secrets to reveal,
42:16the men discover more golden quadrifoliates of spectacular size.
42:22These remnants of the past suggest what might have been discovered if the great tomb hadn't been pillaged.
42:50Jean-Paul Desroches speculates about who may have been responsible.
42:54There are two theories.
42:56The Xiongnu, who helped bury the emperor, knew how to enter the funeral chamber.
43:02It is possible that they did it.
43:05We think so because we never found a skeleton.
43:10So the cadaver was still intact when they removed it.
43:15Another theory is that those who came after the Xiongnu burn the superstructure and pillaged the tomb.
43:25So they destroyed the symbol of the previous dynasty.
43:29It's the final day of the dig at the great tomb of Golmud.
43:39It was here 2,000 years ago that the Xiongnu buried their emperor 55 feet underground.
43:44It's the final day of the dig at the great tomb of Golmud.
43:52It was here 2,000 years ago that the Xiongnu buried their emperor 55 feet underground.
43:59In the camp's laboratory, Georges Vasquez, the team's restoration expert, is handling last-minute preparations for the transport of the artifacts to Paris.
44:28It's a coup of money.
44:35After their restoration, most of the objects will be exhibited at the National Museum of Ulaanbaatar.
44:42Others will go to the collections of the Guimet Museum of Asian Arts in Paris.
44:48In all, the Franco-Mongolian archaeological mission has collected 250 pieces.
44:54We discover remains of a monumental superstructure, a chariot, the chamber with its decoration, treasure that survive a pillage.
45:06It is clear that we have discovered one of the last emperor of the Xiongnu.
45:13Over the next few years, the Franco-Mongolian team will try to unravel more secrets in Golmud, this faraway city of the dead, as their quest continues.
45:33Materials from the site have already been dated.
45:40The data reveal that the great tomb was built somewhere between 30 and 50 A.D.
45:47which means that here in Golmud lies the emperor Hooduershi, who led the Xiongnu for nearly 30 years as the 20th and last emperor of the steppes.
45:56.
46:13.
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