That is really interesting. They found mercury in the tomb of a Chinese emperor too. I don’t remember his name. I think they have yet to get inside that one.
I wish they had given some figure for “large quantities” in this article. Also what kind of vessel was it contained in? Or was it not contained?
Emperor Qin Shi Huang. The emperor of the terracotta army. He believed mercury could make him immortal while, predictably, the steady diet of it just drove him insane and eventually killed him. Stories of his tomb chamber (in a mountain size earthen pyramid which has never been opened) tell of a giant relief map of his kingdom complete with flowing mercury rivers. But again, the pyramid itself has not been excavated and explored. Very interesting if there's a parallel in Mexico, but the ancients and even crypto alchemists like Sir Isaac Newton were fascinated by mercury.
