Terracotta Army: Who are they? Why were they built?

www.donotmisslist.com - Terracotta Army: Archaeological Site The Terracotta Army was discovered by Chinese Farmers near Xian China. The farmers were digging a well 1.5 kilometers from the King's tomb. The discovery made archaeologists dig deeply to further uncover what was beneath the soil. What lay under the was a 2200 year old site was 3 separate pits of over 6000 figurines of warriors, chariots and horses and weapons. The archaeologists have recovered and restored over 2000 of the warrior statues which were made out of baked clay. The army was a replica of Emperor Qin's Army. Emperor Qin was the first emperor of China. It is said that he buried the clay army in 210-209 BCE to help protect him in his afterlife. The Figures vary in height according to their roles, the tallest figures being the generals, every single soldier is different, based on a replica of the real soldier. Pit one, the largest of the three pits, and the one you see here, measures 230 meters long from East to West, and 60 meters wide from north to south. It takes up an area of 14,000 square meters. Only about 1/3 of the pit was excavated. The construction of the pits is underground. The pits are built out of earth and wood. Pit one has 11 corridors divided by 10 earth rammed partition walls, which are paved with pottery bricks on which the soldiers were placed. The structure was covered with wood, and held up by giant pillars, then covered with a fiber mat, on which fine soil was filled. The Army Array of Pit 1 is a battle formation of Charioteers and infantry men. At the eastern end of the pit there are 3 rows of vanguards. Around the outer edge there is one row of army men facing South, North and West to protect the army from all sides. The Terra Cotta Warriors were all constructed with local clay, then baked in a kiln. After firing, the figures were painted with detail. The warriors are all life size and made with state of the art ancient technology. The warriors were found holding bronze weapons, covered with Chromium Oxide, to protect against corrosion. The weapons found included crossbows, arrows, arrow heads, dagger axes, swords, spears, and knives. This site is only partially excavated, and there is still work being done in California to understand how chemically advanced the people were in those days. This site is a major Archaeological resource which helps understand how advanced science and pottery was 2200 years ago. I'm David with DoNotMissLists.com and this is definitely a site you should not miss when you're in China.