Largest tomb of a known individual

The tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China lies hidden within a grave mound measuring a 355 by 345 m (1,164 ft 8.35 in by 1,131 ft 10.65 in), just under one quarter the size of the Forbidden City. The three-story tomb is a miniature version of the emperor’s palace in his capital of Xianyan. It is one of the three largest tombs in the world, and the only one that can be attributed with certainty to a historical person, making it the largest tomb to a known individual in the world. The tomb dates to 246BC and lies in the centre of a mortuary complex covering an area of 56.25 km² (21.72 miles²). Its layout has been surveyed using 3D volumetric scans but it has not been opened or excavated. High levels of mercury in surrounding soil suggest that contemporary accounts of a ‘security system’ within the tomb of lakes of mercury and booby-trapped crossbows could be true.