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<< Our Photo Pages >> Terracotta Army - Artificial Mound in China

Submitted by davidmorgan on Monday, 11 August 2014  Page Views: 15968

Neolithic and Bronze AgeSite Name: Terracotta Army Alternative Name: Tomb of Qin Shi Huang, Qin Shihuang
Country: China Type: Artificial Mound
Nearest Town: Xi'an
Latitude: 34.385007N  Longitude: 109.274354E
Condition:
5Perfect
4Almost Perfect
3Reasonable but with some damage
2Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site
1Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks
0No data.
-1Completely destroyed
3 Ambience:
5Superb
4Good
3Ordinary
2Not Good
1Awful
0No data.
4 Access:
5Can be driven to, probably with disabled access
4Short walk on a footpath
3Requiring a bit more of a walk
2A long walk
1In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find
0No data.
5 Accuracy:
5co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates
4co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map
3co-ordinates scaled from a bad map
2co-ordinates of the nearest village
1co-ordinates of the nearest town
0no data
4

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Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army submitted by davidmorgan : One of the warriors. (Vote or comment on this photo)
The 3rd century BC tomb of the emperor Qin Shi Huang discovered in 1974. Qin Shihuang, China's first emperor, presided over the unification of China in 221BC and ruled until 210BC. The tomb is famous for its terracotta army.

Buried deep under a hill in central China, surrounded by an underground moat of poisonous mercury, lies an entombed emperor who's been undisturbed for more than two millennia.

The tomb holds the secrets of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who died on Sept. 10, 210 B.C., after conquering six warring states to create the first unified nation of China.

The answers to a number of historical mysteries may lie buried inside that tomb, but whether modern people will ever see inside this mausoleum depends not just on the Chinese government, but on science.

"The big hill, where the emperor is buried — nobody's been in there," said archaeologist Kristin Romey, curatorial consultant for the Terracotta Warrior exhibition at New York City’s Discovery Times Square. "Partly it's out of respect for the elders, but they also realize that nobody in the world right now has the technology to properly go in and excavate it."

A World Heritage Site

See below for more details

Note: 45 Tombs of ancient workers discovered near Qin Shihuang (Terracotta Army Tomb)
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Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army submitted by CoppellaiaMatta : Some dye survived through the centuries, what a sight the terracotta army must have been! (2 comments - Vote or comment on this photo)

Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army submitted by davidmorgan : One of the magnificent horses. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army submitted by davidmorgan : Even cavalry were buried here. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army submitted by davidmorgan : A line of terracotta warriors. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army submitted by davidmorgan : They are all individual characters. (Vote or comment on this photo)

Terracotta Army
Terracotta Army submitted by davidmorgan : The enormous space where Qin Shi Huang was buried with his terracotta army.

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TV: The Greatest Tomb On Earth: Secrets of Ancient China by Andy B on Monday, 17 October 2016
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From the depths of the greatest tomb on earth comes an epic new story that could rewrite history, revealing for the first time the true origin of one of the world's most powerful nations: China.

In this landmark film, historian Dan Snow, physical anthropologist Dr Alice Roberts and scientist and explorer Dr Albert Lin investigate a series of earth-shattering discoveries at the mighty tomb guarded by the Terracotta Warriors, a site two hundred times bigger than Egypt's Valley of the Kings and the final resting place of China's first emperor.

Mobilising the latest technology, delving into some of the oldest texts, enlisting world experts and employing forensic science, together the three reveal an explosive secret from the foundations of the Chinese empire.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b080396k/the-greatest-tomb-on-earth-secrets-of-ancient-china
[ Reply to This ]

45 Tombs of ancient workers discovered near Qin Shihuang (Terracotta Army Tomb) by bat400 on Monday, 11 August 2014
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Forty-five ancient tombs have been discovered about 5 kilometers from the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang and its Terracotta Warriors, experts said on Monday.

Archaeologists believe the tombs could belong to the designers and workers who built the mausoleum.

Qin Shihuang was the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC).

Sun Weigang, a research associate at the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology who led the excavation, said his team uncovered the tombs from July to September.

"The Terracotta Warriors and horses, as well as the other rare relics unearthed from the funerary pits next to the emperor's mausoleum, might have been made by the people interred in the 45 tombs," Sun said.

The tombs were distributed over an area of 1,200 meters from east to west by 300 meters from north to south.

Altogether, 50 tombs were found in the area, of which 45 held a person buried in a coffin with his legs twisted. Leg twisting was a burial custom typical of the Qin Dynasty, leading archaeologists to believe that the tombs belonged to that period.

The other five tombs were thought to date from later dynasties.

Sun said his team unearthed about 300 pottery objects in the tombs and found the Chinese character Li imprinted on some specimens, which could help identify the occupants of the tombs.

According to Shih Chi, the historical record written by Sima Qian during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), a township named Li was established in 231 BC near the place where the emperor's mausoleum would be built. More than 30,000 families moved into Li in 212 BC for the construction project.

According to archaeologists, the number of pottery objects imprinted with the Li moniker that were unearthed in past years show that the township was large and important, with its major purpose being the building and protecting of Emperor Qin Shihuang's final resting place.

"From the character Li, we can preliminarily judge that the 45 tombs were low-ranked. But important tombs belonged to the township of Li," Sun said.

The Terracotta Warriors and horses of the Qin Dynasty, which have been considered among the archaeological wonders of the world and have attracted millions of visitors from both home and abroad annually, were found in 1974 in pits next to the mausoleum. Later, a museum was built to cover the pits; it opened to the public in October 1979.

Qin Shihuang (259-210 BC), is often placed at the top of the list of China's greatest statesmen, strategists, reformers and military strategists, mainly for his unification of China. He was the founder and first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, the first feudal dynasty in the country's history.

Thanks to coldrum for the link: http://europe.chinadaily.com.cn/culture/2014-05/06/content_17486209.htm.
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China unearths ruined palace near terracotta army by Andy B on Monday, 03 December 2012
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Archaeologists have found the remains of an ancient imperial palace near the tomb of emperor Qin Shi Huang, home of the famous terracotta army, China's state media reported on Sunday.

The palace is the largest complex discovered so far in the emperor's sprawling 22 square-mile (56 square-km) second-century BC mausoleum, which lies on the outskirts of Xi'an, an ancient capital city in central China,

More in the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/03/china-ruined-palace-terracotta-army
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5 'guesses' about Emperor Qin Shihuang's tomb by Andy B on Monday, 03 December 2012
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Qin Shihuang holds a central place in Chinese history for being the first emperor who united the country. He is also well known for his part in the construction of the spectacular Great Wall and his splendid terracotta army.

To ensure his rule in the afterlife, this emperor commanded more than 700,000 conscripts from all parts of the country to build him a grand mausoleum as luxurious as any of the palaces he had in mortal life. Legend says that numerous treasures were placed in the tomb.

As time passed, no one knew exactly what was put in the grand palace. Recently, Guo Zhikun, a specialist in the history of the Qin (221 BC-206 BC) and Han (206 BC-220 AD) dynasties, gave a press conference in Xi'an, the capital city of west China's Shaanxi Province. He disclosed his academic research results focusing on the Mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shihuang, making bold guesses about the mysterious tomb complex that fascinates the whole world.

Guess 1: How tall was the tomb mound?
Guess 2: How many gates does the underground palace have?
Guess 3: How many treasures lie buried?
Guess 4: Do the automatic-shooting crossbows still function?
Guess 5: Is the corpse of Emperor Qin Shihuang well preserved?

Read more at
http://www.china.org.cn/english/culture/229549.htm
[ Reply to This ]

Re: Terracotta Army by Anonymous on Friday, 09 November 2012
Interesting findings and reading about the Terracotta Army of China. In the legends about King Vikramaditya of India there is an interesting story of the Terracotta Army of his enemy Shalivahana coming tolife to defeat the invincible Vikramaditya. It is possible that the information about the Chinese Terracotta Army and about the statues buried with the Pharoahs in the Egyptian Pyramids could have prompted this account of the mud soldiers coming alive and defeating the mighty Vikramaditya's army in the early centuries of the CE.--Prof. George Menachery kunjethy@gmail.com kunjethy@yahoo.com
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The Secret Tomb of China's 1st Emperor: Will We Ever See Inside? by davidmorgan on Wednesday, 07 November 2012
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Buried deep under a hill in central China, surrounded by an underground moat of poisonous mercury, lies an entombed emperor who's been undisturbed for more than two millennia.

The tomb holds the secrets of China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who died on Sept. 10, 210 B.C., after conquering six warring states to create the first unified nation of China.

The answers to a number of historical mysteries may lie buried inside that tomb, but whether modern people will ever see inside this mausoleum depends not just on the Chinese government, but on science.

"The big hill, where the emperor is buried — nobody's been in there," said archaeologist Kristin Romey, curatorial consultant for the Terracotta Warrior exhibition at New York City’s Discovery Times Square. "Partly it's out of respect for the elders, but they also realize that nobody in the world right now has the technology to properly go in and excavate it."

The Terracotta Warrior exhibition, featuring artifacts from the Qin dynasty and nine life-size statues from the extended burial complex built for Qin Shi Huang, is on display through Aug. 26. [Photos: Terracotta Warriors Protect Secret Tomb]

The warring states

Qin Shi Huang (pronounced "chin shuh hwang") was born in 259 B.C., first son to the king of Qin, one of six independent kingdoms inside modern China. These kingdoms had been warring for more than 200 years, but through a combination of military strength, strategy and natural disasters, Qin Shi Huang conquered them all, proclaiming himself not just a king, but also an emperor — the first of China.

Scholars still debate the details of how this occurred, and what unique tactics allowed the Qin emperor to achieve what no one had managed before.

When he died, Qin Shi Huang was buried in the most opulent tomb complex ever constructed in China, a sprawling, city-size collection of underground caverns containing everything the emperor would need for the afterlife. The ancient Chinese, along with many cultures including ancient Egyptians, believed that items and even people buried with a person could be taken with him to the afterlife.

But instead of burying his armies, concubines, administrators and servants with him, the Qin emperor came up with an alternative: clay reproductions.

Shocking discovery

In 1974, a group of farmers digging wells near Xi'an, China stumbled upon one of the most shocking archaeological discoveries of all time. The life-size terracotta solider they dug out of the ground turned out to be just one of an army of thousands, each utterly unique, with individual clothing, hair and facial features.

For almost four decades, archaeologists have been excavating the site. So far, they've uncovered about 2,000 clay soldiers, but experts estimate there are more than 8,000 in total.

"They're going to be digging there for centuries," Romey predicted.

Still, scientists have yet to touch the central tomb, which holds a palace containing the body of Qin Shi Huang.

"It's really smart what the Chinese government is doing," Romey told LiveScience. "When we went into [Egyptian King] Tut's tomb, think about all the information we lost just based on the excavation techniques of the 1930s. There's so much additional that we could have learned, but the techniques back then weren’t what we have now."

"Even though we may think we have great archaeological excavation techniques right now," she said, "who knows, a century down the road if we open this tomb, what they're going to say?"

To open the tomb?

The decision whether to explore the tomb anytime soon, or ever, is up to the government of China. That decision will likely be influenced by the pace of technological progress.

"In archaeological conservation, every year you have major new developments," Romey said. "When we began exca

Read the rest of this post...
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New pits of Chinese terracotta figures opened by davidmorgan on Wednesday, 05 October 2011
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Two new pits of civil servant and acrobat terracotta figures at the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shihuang (259 BC-210 BC) have opened to the public this month.

The acrobat pit, coded K9901 and discovered in 1999, lies in the southeast of the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang.

The 11 unearthed terracotta figures, unarmoured with their torsos unclad, differ a lot from terracotta warriors. They might represent wrestlers, acrobats or dancers in the court of the Qin Dynasty, according to archaeologists.

A bronze tripod was also found. It is the largest and heaviest in the mausoleum of Qin Shihuang.

Read more: http://www.3news.co.nz/New-pits-of-Chinese-terracotta-figures-opened/tabid/1160/articleID/228079/Default.aspx#ixzz1Ztm5uJRN

Submitted by coldrum.
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Re: Terracotta Army by holger_rix on Saturday, 18 September 2010
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In 2007, german art student Pablo Wendel was caught by the chinese Police
whilst posing as a Terracotta Warrior.

"With a self-made costume, I posed as one of the soldiers of the well-known historical terracotta army in Xian. I positioned myself, whilst disguised as a common infantry soldier, for some time unnoticed on a plinth I had brought with me"

Picture
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Re: Terracotta Army by holger_rix on Saturday, 18 September 2010
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End of 2007 the 'Völkerkunde' Museum here in Hamburg announced the exhibition of some Terracotta Army originals.
They had to close the exhibition and give back the fee because
it came out that the 'originals' are only 'authentic'.. which means they were only copies.
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Terracotta army emerges in its true colors by davidmorgan on Saturday, 18 September 2010
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From coldrum:

When excavation work to find more terracotta relics restarted for the third time last year in Xi'an, archaeologists admitted they did not expect to make any groundbreaking discoveries.

Researchers suggested that the No 1 pit, the largest of the three that surround the tomb of China's first emperor Qin Shihuang (259-210 BC), was in a worse condition than the other two and not likely to offer rich pickings.

However, the experts were more than happy to be proven wrong.

"It was a pleasant surprise," said Xu Weihong, who is leading the excavation of the 200-square-meter-site, at the Museum of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses of Qin Shihuang in Shaanxi province. "We found some painted in pink, red, white and lilac."

The colors better highlight the expression on the figures' faces and could prove invaluable to the study of ancient China.

And thanks to new technology developed in cooperation with a German institute, technicians on the scene were able to preserve the relics in their original painted colors - something that was unthinkable during the previous two digs.

The first, which lasted from 1978 until 1984, resulted in the discovery of 1,087 clay relics. However, after being exposed to air, they all quickly lost their color and turned an oxidized gray. (A second dig started in 1985 but halted a year later due to technical reasons.)

"When the excavation started, mold caused by moisture began to spread in the pits," said Wu Yongqi, director of the terracotta museum, which was officially opened on Oct 1, 1979. "When we wiped the mold off the surface dried out."
As the relics were cleaned on-site, experts found that the exposed paint would curl and fall off due to water loss.

Enter experts from Germany's Bavarian Administration of Cultural Heritage and Rome-Germanic Central Museum Mainz, who in 1989 joined forces with Shaanxi to research and develop new techniques to better protect the province's bounty of relics.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2010-09/09/content_11278335.htm
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