Archaeologists examine a relic. [Photo by Guo Jing/China Daily]

One of the retrieved gold articles following that robbery indicated that the tomb under attack belonged to a top official, possibly an emperor.

As Wang says: "If local villagers had not reported the matter in time and archaeologists had not worked hard, the cultural relics would have been scattered and relevant academic research would have been hampered due to a lack of information."

Shi Xiaofeng contributed to this story.