Was China's Terracotta army modelled on real soldiers?

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Was China's Terracotta army modelled on real soldiers?

Posted by sciencetech-blog on Wednesday, November 19, 2014 Label:

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They may have stood guard over China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang for more than 2,000 years, but the famous terracotta warriors are still revealing their secrets.

Since they were discovered by local farmers in 1974, experts have questioned whether the life-size models of soldiers were modelled on real warriors, or whether they came off a production line, with random individual details such as hairstyles, added to mark them apart.

Now, experts have produced 3D computer models of the statues, focusing on their ears, which they say are unique like fingerprints, suggesting that the soldiers were modelled on specific humans.

Experts have produced 3D models of 30 terracotta warriors (stock image), focusing on their ears, which they say are unique like fingerprints, suggesting that the soldiers were modelled on specific humans

A team of archaeologists from University College London (UCL) worked with experts from Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum Site Museum in Lintong, China, to reveal the ancient design process behind the soldiers, National Geographic reported.

They measured the statues' facial features focusing on the ears, because they come in so many different shapes that they can be used to identify individuals.

Experts measured the statues' ears, because they come in so many different shapes that they can be used to identify individuals

The experts reasoned, that if the warriors depict real people, each statue should have different shaped ears.

Because the statues are packed so closely together in the burial pit, they scanned the ears and made 3D reconstructions to examine them without risking damaging the ancient originals.

Working from a sample of 30 models, they discovered that no two ears were precisely the same and the amount of variation resembled a real human population.

'Based on this initial sample, the terracotta army looks like a series of portraits of real warriors,' said UCL archaeologist Marcos Martinón-Torres.

The team will now study a much larger sample of the warriors and other facial features to see if they really do seem to represent individuals.

The study seems to reinforce the findings of retired German historian John Komlos, who found that the differing heights of the warriors were a close match to Chinese men measured in the 19th century.

'That the size of the terracotta figures could well represent the true physical stature of the Chinese infantry,' he said at the time.

HOW WERE THE SOLDIERS MADE?

It is thought that the terracotta army figures were made in workshops by government workers and local craftsmen.

The heads, arms, legs and torsos were crafted separately and then assembled on site.

Some experts think that eight face moulds were used and then clay was added to create individual features, but there is much debate about whether the figures are modelled on individuals or were simply made to look a little different from each other.

Each workshop inscribed their names on the models, as a sort of assembly line quality control measure.

They are placed in the pits in realistic military formation to reflect their rank and duty - shown by different uniforms and types of weaponry, such as real metal spears, swords and crossbows.

The figures were originally painted in bright colours and lacquered.

Because the statues are packed so closely together in the burial pit (pictured), the scinetists scanned their ears and made 3D reconstructions to examine them without risking damaging the ancient originals

THE TERRACOTTA ARMY

China's first emperor was buried over two thousand years ago in the most opulent tomb complex ever found in the vast country.

Qin Shi Huang's colossal burial site in Xi'an, is thought to comprise some 8,000 life size human soldiers arranged in groups, plus other figures.

The ancient site contains a collection of underground caverns containing everything the emperor would need for the afterlife, including reproductions of his armies, concubines, administrators and servants.

The first of the life-size terracotta statues was unearthed in 1974 by farmers digging wells near Xi'an and a further 2,000 have been unearthed since.

But the emperor's burial mound has been left untouched because of fears a delicate artwork showing ancient beliefs of the afterlife, could be damaged using current archaeological methods.

The site contained a poisonous mercury moat to keep out looters, and experts think further booby-traps await investigators inside the emperor's chamber.

While a lot of Qin Shi Huang's vast necropolis has been uncovered, the emperor's burial mound remains untouched.

In 2012, the Chinese government said that no archaeologists will excavate the tomb until better technology is available.

This is because experts think it is filled with a unique piece of art showing celestial bodies that could disintegrate if it is opened.

The clues to the contents come from a work by the Chinese scholar Sima Qian.

Archaeologists hope that with advancing technologies, such as robotic cameras, entry could soon be considered and the ancient secret revealed.

Kristin Romey, curatorial consultant for the Terracotta Warrior exhibition at New York City's Discovery Times Square, said: 'I wouldn't be surprised if you had some sort of robotic visual survey going in there at some point.'

Other possible hurdles to excavation include the possibility of a moat of hazardous mercury that is thought to surround Qin's central burial spot, and other possible booby-traps like rigged crossbows. The emperor is said to have planned a gruesome death for anyone who dared to disturb his slumber.

China's first emperor was buried over two thousand years ago in the most opulent tomb complex ever found in the vast country. Qin Shi Huang's colossal burial site in Xi'an (marked on the map), is thought to comprise some 8,000 life size human soldiers arranged in groups, plus other figures.