Terracotta Warriors - Introduction
On March 29th of 1974 in Xi'an China three farmers, who were drilling holes in search of an area to dig a water well, found several pieces of terracotta statues. Instead of finding a location for their new well they had made one of the most amazing archaeological discoveries of all time. What they had accidentally found was a huge collection of life-size ancient Chinese Terracotta Warriors (Terracotta Army) and other statues and artifacts that had been buried along with the Qin Dynasty Emperor Qin Shi Huang some two thousand years earlier. Soon after the farmers found these fragments a team of Chinese archaeologist began excavating the area eventually unearthing thousands of life-size terracotta statues and numerous other artifacts. The list of interesting kid-friendly facts below supplies information about this incredible discovery including why these statues were made and exactly where they were found.Click here for a great selection of Amazon.com books about the Terracotta Warriors.
Interesting Terracotta Warriors Facts
- The Terracotta Warriors (sometimes spelled "Terra Cotta") were a part of the huge tomb for Emperor Qin Shi Huang of the Qin Dynasty. They were buried along with him in 210 BC in order to protect him in the afterlife.
- The location of this archaeological site is in the Lintong District of Xi'an, which is the capital city of the Shaanxi province of China. It is very close to Emperor Qin Shi Huang's tomb mound. Xian, China served as the capital city of ancient China for several dynasties including the Qin. It served as the capital for a period of over 1,000 years.
- Before 1974 pieces of ancient Terracotta sculptures had been found by local people near the site but their significance and the fact that they were clues to an amazing archaeological site were not realized until 1974.
- Since the discovery of the first pit containing statues several other nearby pits have been unearthed. The site has four main pits each around 21 feet deep. Over 8,000 life size statues of soldiers have been unearthed at these locations.
- The archaeological site is approximately 20-square-miles (51.8 square kilometers).
- Besides the Terracotta Soldiers hundreds of other types of statues and artifacts have been discovered at the site. These include statues of horses, chariots, government officials and even entertainers. Also; numerous bronze weapons have been found.
- Very few of the statues remained intact over the centuries that they were buried; archeologists have been piecing them back together and restoring them.
- The soldiers are life-size statues with an average height of 5 feet 11 inches (1.8 meters).
- An amazing facts is that all the soldiers are unique; they are sculpted to appear different ages, with different facial features, various hair styles, different clothing, and even different expressions; for example some look calm whereas others look aggressive.
- The statues were originally painted. After being buried for centuries most of the paint has been worn off.
- The Terracotta Soldiers were made with standard molds for the various body parts. After the pieces were assembled unique features, such as mustaches and facial expressions, were added to each one.
- All of the statues are works of art with an incredible attention to detail.