Difference between revisions of "Terra Cotta Army"
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| − | In 1970's China one of the greatest discoveries of all time came about. In 1976, in the province of Shaanxi (China) farmers were digging in the ground for water wells. Unfortunately not finding much success with water, farmers stumbled on somethings little more solid then water. In fact the farmers found small bits of terra cotta buried in the ground, the farmers continued to dig and to their astonishment the small bits of terra cotta turned out to be human size ancient Chinese soldiers. The initial discovery of one soldier turned out to be hundreds then thousands. Eventually the farmers passed this discovery over in the hands of professional Archeologists. | + | In 1970's China one of the greatest discoveries of all time came about. In 1976, in the province of Shaanxi (China) farmers were digging in the ground for water wells. Unfortunately not finding much success with water, farmers stumbled on somethings little more solid then water. |
| + | |||
| + | In fact the farmers found small bits of terra cotta buried in the ground, the farmers continued to dig and to their astonishment the small bits of terra cotta turned out to be human size ancient Chinese soldiers. The initial discovery of one soldier turned out to be hundreds then thousands. Eventually the farmers passed this discovery over in the hands of professional Archeologists. | ||
[[File:Army_dig.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Some of the statues were discovered in the grounds by Midwest.]] | [[File:Army_dig.jpg|300px|thumb|left|Some of the statues were discovered in the grounds by Midwest.]] | ||
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== Who were the Terra Cotta Warriors == | == Who were the Terra Cotta Warriors == | ||
| − | During the Qin Dynasty in China from 259 BC to 210 BC the First Emperor of China named Qin Shi Huangdi ruled the greater part of China. Qin Shi Huangdi became emperor at a young age, and as soon as he was in power he commanded the construction of his tomb. Unfortunately the construction of his tomb was one of the biggest most demanding constructions of all time and require an outrageous amount of man power to construct. Unfortunately many lives were taken in the construction of his tomb. He believed that when we died he was crossing over to the after life, and therefore needed to be prepared with all the required needs to continue his journey. Aside from all his lavished goods he needed an army to protect him, and because he couldn't actually take the lives of his soldiers to the grave because if he indeed did to that, he would have no one finish constructing his tomb. Instead what the emperor did was he created an army of clay, every soldier was constructed in exactness, complete with clothes, armor, hair, real life weapons and even facial expression, and to add to that every soldier had a different face. | + | During the Qin Dynasty in China from 259 BC to 210 BC the First Emperor of China named Qin Shi Huangdi ruled the greater part of China. Qin Shi Huangdi became emperor at a young age, and as soon as he was in power he commanded the construction of his tomb. Unfortunately the construction of his tomb was one of the biggest most demanding constructions of all time and require an outrageous amount of man power to construct. |
| + | |||
| + | Unfortunately many lives were taken in the construction of his tomb. He believed that when we died he was crossing over to the after life, and therefore needed to be prepared with all the required needs to continue his journey. Aside from all his lavished goods he needed an army to protect him, and because he couldn't actually take the lives of his soldiers to the grave because if he indeed did to that, he would have no one finish constructing his tomb. | ||
| + | |||
| + | Instead what the emperor did was he created an army of clay, every soldier was constructed in exactness, complete with clothes, armor, hair, real life weapons and even facial expression, and to add to that every soldier had a different face. | ||
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== What was discovered == | == What was discovered == | ||
| − | What archeologist considered to perhaps be an average discovery, turned out to be a very large scale discovery. More and more soldiers were being dug out, it didn't seem to end. What is interesting is that not only soldiers were being uncovered, in fact horses and chariots were also found. In addition these soldiers were not just found in a random order, on the contrary they were found in a precise order. The soldiers were found according to military rank and file. In addition to the soldiers many weapons were found along side each soldier and the weapons were kept in excellent condition rust free due to the chromium oxide technique that they used with their metals. | + | What archeologist considered to perhaps be an average discovery, turned out to be a very large scale discovery. More and more soldiers were being dug out, it didn't seem to end. What is interesting is that not only soldiers were being uncovered, in fact horses and chariots were also found. |
| + | |||
| + | In addition these soldiers were not just found in a random order, on the contrary they were found in a precise order. The soldiers were found according to military rank and file. In addition to the soldiers many weapons were found along side each soldier and the weapons were kept in excellent condition rust free due to the chromium oxide technique that they used with their metals. | ||
[[File:weapons.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Terra Cotta Warriors by Imelda.]] | [[File:weapons.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Terra Cotta Warriors by Imelda.]] | ||
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| − | swords, spears, battle-axe, scimitars, shields, crossbows, arrowheads | + | swords, spears, battle-axe, scimitars, shields, crossbows, arrowheads. |
| − | == Pits == | + | == The Terra Cotta Army Pits == |
As archaeologists continued excavating the soldiers they understood that the soldiers were located in pits. The current number of pits that are excavated at this time are four main pits. The pits are 7 meters deep and 62 meters wide. Each pit contained different items. | As archaeologists continued excavating the soldiers they understood that the soldiers were located in pits. The current number of pits that are excavated at this time are four main pits. The pits are 7 meters deep and 62 meters wide. Each pit contained different items. | ||
Revision as of 05:07, 5 March 2012
The Terra Cotta Army (兵马俑) is the greatest Archeological discovery of the 20th century. It is located near Xi'an, the ancient Chinese capital, also the capital of Qin Dynasty.[1]
The characters stand for:
- 兵-Soldier
- 马-Horse
- 俑-Wooden Figure
How the discovery was made
In 1970's China one of the greatest discoveries of all time came about. In 1976, in the province of Shaanxi (China) farmers were digging in the ground for water wells. Unfortunately not finding much success with water, farmers stumbled on somethings little more solid then water.
In fact the farmers found small bits of terra cotta buried in the ground, the farmers continued to dig and to their astonishment the small bits of terra cotta turned out to be human size ancient Chinese soldiers. The initial discovery of one soldier turned out to be hundreds then thousands. Eventually the farmers passed this discovery over in the hands of professional Archeologists.
Who were the Terra Cotta Warriors
During the Qin Dynasty in China from 259 BC to 210 BC the First Emperor of China named Qin Shi Huangdi ruled the greater part of China. Qin Shi Huangdi became emperor at a young age, and as soon as he was in power he commanded the construction of his tomb. Unfortunately the construction of his tomb was one of the biggest most demanding constructions of all time and require an outrageous amount of man power to construct.
Unfortunately many lives were taken in the construction of his tomb. He believed that when we died he was crossing over to the after life, and therefore needed to be prepared with all the required needs to continue his journey. Aside from all his lavished goods he needed an army to protect him, and because he couldn't actually take the lives of his soldiers to the grave because if he indeed did to that, he would have no one finish constructing his tomb.
Instead what the emperor did was he created an army of clay, every soldier was constructed in exactness, complete with clothes, armor, hair, real life weapons and even facial expression, and to add to that every soldier had a different face.
What was discovered
What archeologist considered to perhaps be an average discovery, turned out to be a very large scale discovery. More and more soldiers were being dug out, it didn't seem to end. What is interesting is that not only soldiers were being uncovered, in fact horses and chariots were also found.
In addition these soldiers were not just found in a random order, on the contrary they were found in a precise order. The soldiers were found according to military rank and file. In addition to the soldiers many weapons were found along side each soldier and the weapons were kept in excellent condition rust free due to the chromium oxide technique that they used with their metals.
Here is list of some of that weapons that were found:
swords, spears, battle-axe, scimitars, shields, crossbows, arrowheads.
The Terra Cotta Army Pits
As archaeologists continued excavating the soldiers they understood that the soldiers were located in pits. The current number of pits that are excavated at this time are four main pits. The pits are 7 meters deep and 62 meters wide. Each pit contained different items.
Pit number 1
There are more then 6000 thousand soldiers that lie there, many are and were found broken to pieces. Many soldiers await repair. Unfortunately the man power and the time to put back together a Terra Cotta Warrior is very time consuming, it is like putting together a massive puzzle.
Pit 1 is located 1.5 Km away from the emperors burial ground. It is on the East side of the tomb which is a location that would block an attack. According to scholars and archaeologists if there is an army on the East side of the tomb, it is most likely that there is also a tomb on the West side and possibly all around the tomb. However this is just a theory and many argue that because that amount of construction was too much work to complete, the emperor was not likely able to complete that much construction in addition to his palace.
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References
[1] ...
Presentations
Watch this article as a powerpoint presentation.