But Zhao didn't think they necessarily deserved credit. Nearly 600 sites within some 22-miles have been identified, amounting to the largest tomb in Chinese history, according to UNESCO.įarmers have since sued the government for recognition of the discovery. Rebellious forces may have raided the pits where clay soldiers stood sentry, setting fires, striking down warriors and stealing their real weapons. Based on the damage of the clay, they believe that the dynasty collapsed suddenly, Smithsonian reported. In more recent times, the terra cotta forces have allowed archaeologists to learn more about the Qin Empire. More than 700,000 people built his soldiers and burial site, archaeologists estimate. The emperor who united China in the third century B.C., Qin Shi Huang, had commissioned the army to protect his tomb. He was 'nervous that he might be swept up again by the madness of the Cultural Revolution, whose teenage Red Guards had forced him to criticize himself for being involved with old things and therefore encouraging the revival of feudalism.' Eventually more archaeologists would uncover standing and kneeling archers, infantrymen, armored officers and chariots with horses.Īt the time, Zhao grew nervous about the warrior he was restoring, according to historian John Man who wrote The Terra Cotta Army. Each warrior was life-sized, with a different face and expression, and details that were realistic down to the fingernails. He began to reconstruct a figure, piece by piece. The archaeologist found heads, torsos and limbs. 'Because we were so excited, we rode on our bicycles so fast it felt as if we were flying,' Zhao reportedly stated. The farmers contacted Chinese authorities, who sent out government archaeologists, reported National Geographic. They had no idea what they had found - an army that had been interred for more than 2,000 years to guard China's first emperor. Farmers some 20 miles from China's central city of Xi'an were digging a well and struck into the pieces. Zhao Kangmin first laid eyes on fragments of terra cotta warriors in 1974. A Chinese archaeologist who identified a long-lost clay army consisting of 8,000 soldiers died Wednesday, according to China's state media.

Terracotta army forge empires