Atlantis Online
March 28, 2024, 03:22:03 pm
Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.

Login with username, password and session length
News: 'Europe's oldest city' found in Cadiz
http://mathaba.net/rss/?x=566660
 
  Home Help Arcade Gallery Links Staff List Calendar Login Register  

China Plans New Terracotta Warrior Excavation - UPDATES

Pages: [1]   Go Down
  Print  
Author Topic: China Plans New Terracotta Warrior Excavation - UPDATES  (Read 324 times)
0 Members and 59 Guests are viewing this topic.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« on: June 10, 2009, 08:59:55 pm »









                                      China plans new terracotta warrior excavation
 




         
Christopher Bodeen,
Associated Press Writer –
Wed Jun 10, 2009
BEIJING

– China plans to excavate more of the life-size terracotta warriors at the famed ancient tomb of the country's first emperor.

Archaeologists hope to uncover more of the elaborately carved officers to add to the 1,000-plus statues already excavated, the official China Daily newspaper said Wednesday. Special care will be taken to preserve the figures' painted details, which have faded almost entirely in those already taken from the earth and exposed to air.

The new dig is the third undertaken since the tomb was first uncovered in 1974 outside the western city of Xi'an and will focus on a 2,152-square foot (2000-square meter) patch within the tomb's main pit that holds the bulk of the warriors.

The tomb and its accompanying museum are among China's biggest tourist draws, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.

Exhibited where they were found and protected inside a massive shed, the fierce figures with enigmatic expressions are among the best-known images of China.

Reproductions in sizes ranging from midget to full size are sold in gift shops around the country and an exhibition of 20 figures and dozens of artifacts from the tomb broke ticket sale records when it traveled last year to London, California, Houston, and Washington, D.C.

Tomb museum director Cao Wei said maintaining the figures and ensuring their paint does not oxidize would be far more challenging than the relatively simple task of excavating them.

"The only difficulty lies in how to preserve them afterward," Cao said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, adding that would be the responsibility of the Shaanxi provincial antiquities bureau overseeing the excavation.

In all, the tomb's three pits are thought to hold 8,000 life-sized figures of archers, infantry soldiers, horse-drawn chariots, officers and acrobats, along with 130 chariots with 520 horses and 150 cavalry horses.

It is believed they were created to protect the immortality-obsessed emperor in the afterlife.

At between 6 feet and 6 feet 5 inches (183-195 centimeters) tall, the statues weigh about 400 pounds (180 kilograms) each and are intricately detailed. No two figures are alike, and craftsmen are believed to have modeled them after a real army.

The tomb was looted less than five years after Emperor Qin Shihuang's death by a rival army that set a fire that destroyed the wooden structures housing the warriors, damaging most of them. Since their discovery, the figures have suffered perils ranging from mold due to humidity to decay from exposure and coal dust produced by local industry.

A fourth pit at the tomb was apparently left empty by its builders, while Qin's actual burial chamber at the center of the complex has yet to be excavated.

Qin, who died in 210 B.C. at the age of 50, created China's first unitary state by conquering rival kingdoms. A figure of fear and awe in Chinese history, he built an extensive system of roads and canals along with an early incarnation of the Great Wall of China, while unifying measurements and establishing a single written language, currency and legal statutes.
« Last Edit: June 15, 2009, 07:44:54 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter

Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #1 on: June 10, 2009, 10:04:35 pm »











                                          Hunt begins for leader of Terracotta army



                          Chinese archaeologists have begun a new excavation at the site of


                         the Terracotta warriors in Xi'an to find the "leader" of the vast army.
 





By Malcolm Moore
in Shanghai
10 Jun 2009
Telegraph.co.uk

The first excavation of the site lasted six years betweeen 1978 and 1984, during which 1,087 clay soldiers were discovered.

The dig will uncover more of the enormous pit that surrounds the tomb of Qin Shihuang, China's first emperor.

The first excavation of the site lasted six years betweeen 1978 and 1984, during which 1,087 clay soldiers were discovered. A second excavation started in 1985 but was cut short after a year.

Altogether, archaeologists believe there may be as many as 8,000 life-size clay figures in the pits, as well as chariots and hundreds of horses. No two figures are alike, and craftsmen are believed to have modelled them after a real army.

Liu Zhancheng, the head of the archaeological team at the museum in Xi'an, said the new dig will search for someone who appears "in command" of the force.

"We're hoping to find a clay figure that represented a high-ranking army officer, for example," he told Chinese state media.

The dig will focus on a 2,153 sq ft patch inside the first of four pits around the emperor's tomb. Pit one has eleven corridors and contains the main body of the Terracotta army.

Mr Liu said the team, which will work on the site for a year, will also examine the colouring of the figures. The warriors exposed to the air in the 1970s have lost their delicately painted details.

Qin, who died in 210 BC at the age of 50, created China's first unified state by conquering rival kingdoms. He built an extensive system of roads and canals along with an early incarnation of the Great Wall of China. He introduced standard measurements, a single written language, currency and law.
« Last Edit: June 10, 2009, 10:11:11 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #2 on: June 15, 2009, 07:45:22 pm »



Archaeologists work at the excavation site.
 
Photo:
Xinhua









                                      Terracotta Warriors site gives up more secrets





 
June 15, 2009

Archaeologists in Xi'an looking for another regiment of Terracotta Warriors made significant discoveries within hours of starting their latest dig, it was announced Saturday.

They found a bronze arrowhead, two clay figures and two chariots on the first day of their historic search.

"The most important discoveries are two four-horse chariots that are standing in tandem very closely together," Xinhua quoted Cao Wei as saying. Cao is the deputy curator of the Qin Shihuang Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum.

Other significant discoveries are two, painted but faded clay figures. The finds appear to answer the widely held belief that another sizable number of warriors exist beneath the tomb of Qin Shihuang, first emperor in Chinese history, and for whom the entire site was created some 2,000 years ago.



Archaeologists work at the excavation site. Photo: Xinhua

A focus of the dig is try and find a clay figure representing the command officer. "We are hoping to find this high-ranking officer," said Liu Zhangcheng, head of the archaeological team under the terracotta museum.

The Warriors were originally painted when they were buried and the archeologists from China and Germany at the site are at pains to recover the figures with their coloring intact.

"We will strive to protect the colors on the clay figures, and we believe we are technically able to do this," said archeologist Yuan Zongyi, who has taken part in two previous evacuations.

The dig is expected to last between five to 10 years with about 150 clay figures, two chariots and eight horses to be unearthed.

The Terracotta Warriors and Horses, as they are officially known, were discovered by farmers digging a well in Shaanxi Province in 1974.



Source: The Global Times
« Last Edit: June 15, 2009, 07:49:04 pm by Bianca » Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #3 on: July 17, 2009, 12:15:21 pm »











                                   China finds new terracotta warriors: state media






(AFP)
July 17, 2009
BEIJING

— Archaeologists in China's northern Xi'an city have excavated another 100 terracotta warriors, including a much-prized army officer, near the tomb of the nation's first emperor, state media said
on Friday.

A new excavation at the famed site began over a month ago in a bid to unravel the mysteries surrounding the ancient terracotta army near Xi'an, capital of Shaanxi province.

"Our most exciting discovery so far is the army officer," Xinhua news agency quoted chief archaeologist Xu Weihong as saying.

So far, the majority of discovered figures are archers, infantrymen and charioteers that the Qin Emperor, who had the site built, hoped would follow him into the afterlife.

Less than 10 armoured generals have been unearthed with the army, part of a burial site for Qin Shi Huang, who presided over the unification of China in 221 BC and is seen as the first emperor of the nation.

Xu said the army officer was found lying on its stomach behind four chariots, and was largely intact compared with other newly-discovered warriors, according to Xinhua.

"The original colours have faded after more than 2,000 years of decay, but a corner of the officer's robe suggested it was in colours other than the grey-ish clay," he said.

The latest excavation is the third in the site's largest pit -- one of three open to the public -- since 1974 when the army of terracotta warriors and horses was discovered by a peasant digging a well.

Up to 5,000 more life-size figures are believed to still be buried in the pit and awaiting excavation.

The Terracotta Army is one of the greatest archaeological finds of modern times, and was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1987.



Copyright © 2009 AFP
Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Bianca
Superhero Member
******
Posts: 41646



« Reply #4 on: August 13, 2009, 06:15:42 am »











                                     Terracotta army 'may have belonged to empress'







(AFP)
Aug.13, 2009
BEIJING
— China's famed ancient terracotta army which surrounds the tomb of the nation's first emperor actually belonged to a female ancestor, a historian told a state-owned newspaper Wednesday.

The army of life-sized figures discovered near the northern city of Xi'an is usually thought to be guarding the burial site of Qin Shihuang, who presided over the unification of China in 221 BC and declared himself the first emperor.

But historian Chen Jingyuan told the Global Times he believes the emperor's ancestor Empress Xuan, who died 55 years before Qin's birth, was the real mastermind behind the army.

Chen presents his evidence in his new book "The Truth of Terracotta Warriors," which details discrepancies such as the army's distance from Qin's tomb and the hairstyles and clothes of the warriors which he says indicate they belonged to the empress.

"The hairstyle, the ancient Chinese characters found on some unearthed warriors and other evidence indicate the owner of the warriors was Empress Xuan," he told the paper.

The clothes of the warriors were also painted in many colours, in contrast to the sombre black-clad soldiers of the emperor.

"Empress Xuan, the so-called 'Empress Dowager Cixi of ancient times,' was one of the most powerful women in China's history.

"During her reign, the Qin State was thriving and flourishing. This prosperity meant that this powerful woman had enough money to conduct such a huge project," Chin told the daily.

But other historians and archaeologists disagree with his findings.

Liu Zhancheng, head of the terracotta warriors archaeological team, said there was strong evidence that the first emperor was their rightful owner.

"First, the pit of the warriors is within the territory of Emperor Qin's mausoleum," Liu told the paper.

Also their weapons were inscribed with the name of his prime minister and the warriors shared characteristics with other verified parts of the emperor's mausoleum, he said.

In addition, "in the Qin Dynasty, black was a superior colour. The Qin people wore black during grand occasions, such as sacrificial ceremonies, but there was no need for people to wear black all the time."

The army was discovered in 1974 by a peasant digging a well and up to 5,000 more life-size figures are believed to still be buried and awaiting excavation.

The army is one of the greatest archaeological finds of modern times, and was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1987.



Copyright © 2009 AFP
Report Spam   Logged

Your mind understands what you have been taught; your heart what is true.
Pages: [1]   Go Up
  Print  
 
Jump to:  

Powered by EzPortal
Bookmark this site! | Upgrade This Forum
SMF For Free - Create your own Forum
Powered by SMF | SMF © 2016, Simple Machines
Privacy Policy