New terracotta warriors found
CHINESE archaeologists have unearthed 110 new terracotta warriors that laid buried for centuries, an of cial said yesterday, part of the famed army built to guard the tomb of China's rst emperor.
The life-size gures were excavated near the Qin Emperor's mausoleum in China's northern Xi'an city over the course of three years, and archaeologists also uncovered 12 pottery horses, parts of chariots, weapons and tools.
“The... excavation on the 200-square-metre (2,152square-feet) site has found a total of 110 terracotta gurines,” Shen Maosheng from the Qin Shihuang Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum — which oversees the tomb — said.
“The most signi cant discovery this time around is that the relics that were found were well-preserved and colourfully painted,” Shen, deputy head of the museum’s archaeology department, said.
He added that archaeologists had pinpointed the location of another 11 warriors but had yet to unearth them.
The discovery is the latest in China’s cultural sector, after experts found that the Great Wall of China — which like the Terracotta Army is a Unesco World Heritage site — was much longer than previously thought.
Shen said experts had expected the colours on some of the warriors and wares uncovered at the site to have faded over the centuries, and were surprised to see how well preserved they still were.
The nds also included a shield that was reportedly used by soldiers in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), with red, green and white geometric patterns.
Qin Shihuang — the Qin emperor who had the army built — presided over the uni- cation of China in 221 BC and is seen as the rst emperor of the nation.
The ancient terracotta army was discovered in 1974 by a peasant digging a well. It represents one of the greatest archaeological nds of modern times, and was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1987.
The news comes after a ve-year archaeological survey found the Great Wall of China was more than double the previously estimated length.
The survey — released to the public last week — found the wall was 21,196 kilometres long, compared to an of cial 2009 gure of 8,851 kilometres.
Beijing authorities on Saturday also reiterated plans to open two new sections of the Great Wall to tourists and expand two other existing areas to help meet booming demand. — AFP