Terracotta Army
The terracotta army is the burial of clay soldiers near the city of Xi'an, found in 1974 near the tomb of the Chinese emperor. The statues of at least 8099 soldiers were buried with Emperor Qin Shihuandi, who united China and connected all the links of the Great Wall. They may have had to guard the emperor in the other world, but in addition to the terracotta army, the remains of more than 70,000 thousand workers with families were found nearby.
Peasants accidentally stumbled upon the statues, trying to drill a well. The terracotta army stands in a battle building in parallel cryptings one and a half kilometers from the tomb of the emperor himself on Mount Lishan. During the research, pollen on the statues turned out to be clay for some sculptures from this mountain, the place of manufacture of the remaining sculptures could not be clarified. Near the mountain, horses were made that weigh more than two hundred kilograms, soldiers - 135 kg and it was easier to deliver them from other provinces without damaging during transportation.
The construction of the tomb began at 247 BC and ended only after 38 years. In 210, the emperor was buried in the tomb, and judging by the records of the Chinese historian Sim Qian, a large number of jewelry was buried with the emperor in order to look appropriate and not be bored in the afterlife, and also buried alive 48 concubines and more than 8000 statues of archers, foot soldiers and horses. A shotgun was looted after the emperor’s death, a fire caused a ceiling collapse, falling asleep in a huge terracotta army. But perhaps this story was invented in order to hide the treasures lurking in the tomb. After all, according to another legend, the tomb of the emperor should be 4 times larger than what has already been unearthed at the moment. Excavations are carried out rather slowly so as not to damage valuable archaeological finds.
The figure of each soldier was performed individually, they are all unique and impossible to find 2 similar soldiers. Terracotta army soldiers had different ranks, among the types of weapons there are: bows, swords, spears and even crossbows. In addition to clay soldiers, bronze chariots were found in 1980, in which 4 horses were harnessed. Chariots consisted of more than 3,000 parts, with elements of gold and silver in the classic Chinese style using tigers, phoenixes, dragons. It is believed that chariots should have carried the emperor in the afterlife.
Many call the terracotta army the eighth wonder of the world, and this is no coincidence. It was necessary to spend tremendous efforts to blind the statues with such detailed processing. Scientists still do not know how exactly the sculptures were burned, because they did not find huge stoves for roasting statues. The weapons of the soldiers are made of bronze with chromium treatment, due to which they shine like new ones two thousand years later. It is worth considering the chromation invented by current in the 1920s in Germany.
