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.
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