Photo of rows of ancient warrior statues

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An Ancient Army

Fifty years ago, archaeologists uncovered an army of clay soldiers in China. What secrets do the statues hold about the past?

As You Read, Think About: Why was the discovery of the terra-cotta army so important?

Yang Zhifa’s shovel hit something hard. It was March 1974. The farmer was digging a well in an orchard in central China. He looked down to find that he had struck a piece of clay that looked like a man’s head. Yang didn’t know it yet, but he had just made one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time.

He had found a statue of a life-sized soldier made of a type of baked clay called terra-cotta. It turned out to be the first of many. Over the next few decades, archaeologists would uncover an entire army of terra-cotta warriors in the area. 

Experts were amazed at how detailed the statues were. No two warriors looked exactly alike. The army, which was built more than 2,200 years ago, was buried in several enormous pits. The soldiers were neatly lined up, as if preparing for a battle. 

“They’re an incredible record of what an army would have looked like,” says historian Jessica Rawson. She’s a professor at the University of Oxford in England. Rawson saw the statues up close in 1975 and has visited the site several times since.

Fifty years after the discovery, researchers are still uncovering new clues about China’s ancient clay army.

A Fierce Leader

Jim McMahon/Mapman®

The statues were found near the tomb of the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huangdi (chin shuh hwong-dee). He came to power after his father died in 246 B.C. Qin was just 13 years old at the time.

People came to fear Qin, who was a ruthless leader. He led a massive army that conquered six rival kingdoms within 25 years. For the first time, much of the present-day nation of China was united under one ruler. 

Qin was obsessed with his legacy and believed he would continue to rule in the afterlife. So he ordered the construction of a huge underground palace where he would be buried when he died. It took about 700,000 workers more than 30 years to build. The burial site covers about 22 square miles—an area about the size of the island of Manhattan in New York City.

“It is one of the biggest and most important [tombs] in the world,” says Rawson. 

Qin ordered workers to build a clay version of his legendary army. These warriors were meant to guard the tomb and protect the emperor from his enemies in the afterlife. Each soldier stands about 6 feet tall and weighs about 600 pounds. Some sit in bronze chariots led by clay horses. 

Pieces of the Past

Qin’s terra-cotta army remained hidden underground for centuries. Since the first clay soldier was found in 1974, archaeologists have excavated, or dug up, more than 2,000 others. Many were found in pieces, and fragments of different statues ended up together in piles. Experts took on the painstaking job of putting each one back together without a guide for what the figures originally looked like.

But the work is far from over. The most recent discovery, in 2022, included 20 statues. Archaeologists think there are about 8,000 warrior statues in all. That means experts could be uncovering the secrets of the terra-cotta army for years to come.

1. Why does the article say that archaeologists could be uncovering the secrets of the terra-cotta army for years to come?

2. What details about the terra-cotta army help archaeologists understand what Qin’s real army probably looked like?

3. What makes archaeologists’ work on the terra-cotta army painstaking?

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