In 1974, the first finds appeared from a huge number of ceramic, terracotta army located near one of the earthen pyramids (the mausoleum of the first emperor Qin Shi Huang Di) in Xi'an province in China.
Photos taken after the first large-scale excavations against the background of the pyramid.
Official information: how the first finds were made. Historians say that all this ceramic army should, according to the ideas of the emperor, protect him in the afterlife. An interesting thing is religion: at a young age you think about the afterlife and prepare for it on such a scale. They tell us something similar about the Egyptian pharaohs.
Today, many of the excavation sites are covered with huge hangar roofs and are museums. Almost all sources about the terracotta army give just such photographs of already restored sculptures. By them it is already difficult to judge something, for example, in what form and in what condition the original sculptures were. But there is still interesting photographic material …
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Estimate the depth at which the sculptures are. And think about the technology for burying sculptures. According to the whole logic of the process: first, you need to dig a large area and depth of the foundation pit, lay tiles, expose sculptures and fill it all back with high quality. Probably after the funeral of the emperor, it was necessary to fall asleep quickly.
It is known that so far about 8100 terracotta warriors and horse sculptures have been excavated. And all warriors have an individual appearance, i.e. made unique. The average weight of soldiers is 135-140 kg. Horses - under 200 kg. Chinese scientists analyzed and found that the horses were made somewhere nearby, from the clay of a local mountain. But the place where the soldiers were made - they could not find out. Or they do not disclose information.
It turns out that all the sculptures are hollow. And not all are found in a well-preserved form. The heads are made separately. Do you know how hollow sculptures are made? This is not a clay jug to be made on a potter's wheel.
Horse sculptures are also hollow. But they are filled with the same soil in which they are buried. Was it done before filling everything up or did the soil get inside after? If after, then it should be like sand or dust, or liquid. Someone will understand what I am hinting at. Yes, catastrophic events are confirmed by the fact that many sculptures were buried very carelessly:
The sculptures were knocked down, crushed, smashed. It can be assumed that this was done by the tomb robbers in remote times. But could they not plow these hectares of land with a terracotta army? Moreover, at a depth of ten or more meters! I believe that the explanation is: the sculptures are hollow, and those that fell - they were crushed by the masses of soil.
Traces of paint are found on some soldiers. At least some of the sculptures were brightly colored.
But this is not all the most interesting that Chinese archaeologists find at the earthen pyramids of Xi'an, of which there are about 300 pieces. In addition to terracotta warriors and horses, there are also “herds” of ceramic animals and sculptures (very reminiscent of modern mannequins). This is done at the graves of other emperors, at other pyramids. But more on that in the next article.
Author: sibved