In China, the Zhejiang province is home to huge, magnificent underground Longyu caves, which are considered the ninth wonder of the ancient world. The age of these grottoes, as some researchers believe, is about 2000 years. The caves represent one of the largest archaeological sites that reliably keep the secrets of our ancestors, and cause bewilderment to all experts and specialists who examine them. Scientists from all over the world do not have the slightest idea how they were built, by whom or for what.
Mysterious caves of China
In 1992, a local resident first discovered the first submerged grotto. After pumping out the water, a man-made structure inside the cave appeared. A villager reported the find to the authorities. Since then, 36 grottoes have been discovered with a total area of about 30,000 square meters. Each grotto, carved in hard rock, stretches up to 30 meters underground and consists of stone halls, pools, walkways with steps and bridges. Huge columns serve as supports for the ceilings. Inside, the walls and pillars are evenly covered with parallel carved lines. In one of the caves, open for tourism, there is a stone carving with images of a horse, fish and bird. The underground caves of Longueu are surrounded by mysteries that remain unexplained despite more than twenty years of research.
How were the grottoes built?
Even a rough estimate of the volume of construction work in the five largest grottoes is impressive. The amount of rock removed from the grottoes was almost 1,000,000 cubic meters. If the work was carried out by hand, then 1000 people had to do it, working day and night for six years. The simple hard labor of the digger does not take into account the precision of the sculptors with which the construction work was done, so the loads were even greater. How they were built, what tools were used, is still unknown. Nothing similar to possible tools has been found throughout the excavation area. In addition, scientists wonder how the builders achieved such symmetry, precision and similarity between the various grottoes.
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No signs of construction
Despite the huge scale of construction and the efforts spent on creating the grottoes, there are no traces of construction, no information, no records of such works. Although almost a million cubic meters of rock were removed from the grottoes, no objects were identified to which such an amount of stone could go. The origin of the grottoes is nowhere recorded, which is very unusual, given the enormous scale of the project.
Why are the walls of the cave carved?
Each grotto is covered from top to bottom with carvings of parallel lines applied to any surface. Achieving the effect of such a uniform picture throughout the entire length of the caves required hard work and a huge number of hours of work. The question is why such a laborious work was needed. Is it just for decoration? The lines and patterns match those found on pottery dated between 500 and 800 BC. e.
The walls of caves in China are carved with the same pattern - lines
Photo of a modern salt mine: the pattern in Chinese caves is very similar to the same
Lack of fish
For a long time the grottoes were under water. Many settlements in southern China have very deep bodies of water, which the locals call "bottomless ponds." A large number of fish are found in these ponds. When the Longueu grottoes were pumped out, it was clear that these were not "bottomless ponds", but artificial structures. When the first grotto was pumped dry, not a single fish or any other sign of underwater life was visible.
How did the caves survive so well?
Architects are most interested in how the caves managed to maintain their structural integrity for over 2,000 years. Archaeological excavators were surprised by the lack of signs of destruction, crumbling rubble or other damage, despite the fact that some walls are only about half a meter thick. Floods, disasters and wars have occurred in the area for centuries, but inside the caves, the shapes, patterns and markings are as precise and clear as if they were built yesterday.
How did the builders work in the dark?
The caves, located at great depths, were in pitch darkness. However, even the darkest areas are decorated with a huge number of carved lines on the walls, columns and ceiling. How could ancient people work in the dark? Jia Gang, a professor at Tongji University who specializes in construction, concluded, “There must have been lamps or torches because the cave entrance is very small and sunlight could enter the cave at a certain angle for a certain period of time. In deeper caves, the light becomes dimmer, and in the lowest parts, which are usually tens of meters from the entrance, it would hardly be possible to see anything without lighting. However, the work was carried out at least two thousand years ago, and nothing has been found that could be used for lighting.
Were the grottoes connected?
All 36 grottoes are located on an area of one square kilometer. Considering how dense they are, it is possible that the grottoes could have been linked underground. For what purpose could there be so many separate caves so densely isolated from each other? In many places, the walls between the caves are very thin, only 50 centimeters, but still, there are no connections, and never have been. So it looks like the grottoes were deliberately isolated from each other. Moreover, many caves are almost identical to each other.
Who built them?
None of the experts give a convincing answer who built the grottoes. Some researchers argue that ordinary village people could not have been the authors of such grandiose buildings. Only the emperor or leaders of his level had the opportunity to carry out such a huge project. But if the grottoes were built by order of the emperor, then why are there no references or memories of these works anywhere?
How did they achieve this accuracy?
The Longueu grottoes are striking in their scale and splendor, delicate design, complexity of construction and high precision, which testifies to the high skill of the work. The models, drawings and styles of each of the caves are very similar. Each grotto is a large hall. Perfectly straight and vertical walls, absolutely right angles. The hollowed-out marks are uniform and precise. According to an expert from the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in the deepest parts of the grotto, the builders could not see what was going on in the neighboring grotto. The walls had to be strictly parallel, otherwise it was possible to punch a hole in the adjacent grotto. Apparently, there were calculations of the size and distance between the caves.
Using the latest technology and special instruments, scientists measured the walls and were surprised at the accuracy of the design. The walls between the caves are of the same thickness in different areas. How could such precision be achieved? What methods could the ancient builders use for this?
What were the grottoes used for?
After careful research, scientists tried to put forward hypotheses about the purpose for which these grottoes were built. Until today, there is not a single convincing version of why they were built and what they could be used for. Some archaeologists believe that the caves were the tombs of the ancient Chinese emperors, but this version has no confirmation. During archaeological excavations, scientists did not find any burial items or remains.
If the grottoes were used as the emperor's palace, they would have halls for various purposes: for meeting guests, bedrooms. But no traces of habitation were found either.
Another hypothesis was that the grottoes were used for mining. Then there would have to be the necessary equipment, devices for rock extraction and transportation. There are also no traces of extraction and evidence of where so much rock was used. And why create intricate and time-consuming decorations on interior surfaces if caves are only for rock mining?
There is also an assumption that the grottoes were a place for the deployment of the troops of the Chinese emperor. But these caves could not be built in a short period of time, it took many years. Military preparations require speed and, in addition, there are no signs of human habitation in the caves.
Despite decades of research, no answers have emerged to explain the mysteries of Longueu Caves. Unexplained mysteries surround this miracle and once again prove that our ancient ancestors possessed solid knowledge.