Terracotta Army

Thousands of life-size clay soldiers, each with a unique face, buried to guard China's first emperor.

Experts estimate that three pits hold more than 8,000 soldiers, about 130 chariots with 520 horses, and 150 cavalry horses, and most of them are still under the ground. The figures are famous for their realism: each soldier seems to have his own face, hairstyle and uniform. The site became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987 and is one of China's most popular places to visit.

How it was discovered

In March 1974, during a long drought, farmer Yang Zhifa, his brothers and a neighbour were digging a well when their spades hit a clay head and a bronze arrowhead. A local museum curator, Zhao Kangmin, rushed to the site by bicycle, collected the broken pieces and glued two figures back together. Archaeologists soon realised that a whole buried army lay beneath the fields. People had found odd clay fragments there for centuries without knowing what they were. A museum was later built over the pits, with a roof covering the largest one.

How the soldiers were made

Government workers and local craftsmen made the figures in workshops. They shaped heads, arms, legs and bodies separately and then joined them together, adding details by hand. The soldiers are about 1.75 to 2 metres tall, and officers are taller. They were once painted in bright colours such as red, green, blue and purple, but most of the paint flaked off within minutes of being uncovered in the dry air. Most soldiers once held real weapons, and more than 40,000 bronze swords, spears, arrowheads and other weapons have been found.

What's inside the pits

Pit 1 is the largest and holds the main army, with thousands of foot soldiers lined up in battle formation facing east. Pit 2 holds foot soldiers, cavalry and war chariots, and Pit 3 looks like a command post with high-ranking officers. A fourth pit was found empty, perhaps never finished. Other pits nearby hold clay acrobats, strongmen, musicians and officials. The emperor's own tomb mound has never been opened, partly to protect what is inside. High levels of mercury in its soil match an old story that its chamber held rivers of mercury.

On the globe

The model shows rows of life-size clay soldiers standing in their pit near Xi'an, ready to guard China's first emperor. Zoom in to see the soldiers lined up in neat ranks.