China's Pyramids: Artificial Mountains, Royal Tombs, and a Name That Leaves Questions

From above, the plain north of Xi'an looks like farmland broken by square hills with straight slopes and flat tops. A traveller could take them for natural mounds. Satellite images and drone surveys show groups of them placed beside old roads and large burial grounds. They are often called the "Chinese pyramids".

Chinese archaeologists identify many of the largest mounds as royal tombs of the Western Han dynasty, roughly 206 BC to AD 24. The mausoleum of Emperor Wen of Han in Xi'an was confirmed after years of study and digging that began in 2017. More than 110 burial pits surround the central tomb, holding clay figures, bronze objects, and officials' seals. The layout shows an entire court rebuilt underground for a dead emperor.