Ears of Ancient Chinese Terra-Cotta Warriors Offer Clues to Their Creation

Technology yields new insight into how a Chinese emperor produced an army for eternity within his tomb.

China's first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, was a man haunted by death.

In 246 B.C. the adolescent ruler commissioned a massive tomb furnished with everything he'd need for the next life, including an entire army of life-size terra-cotta warriors, from mighty generals to humble infantrymen. Arranged in battle formation in pits near the emperor's tomb, the clay army stood watch for more than 2,000 years. Then, in 1974, local farmers rediscovered the site while digging a well.

Since then, archaeologists have puzzled over how ancient artisans produced the estimated 7,000 lifelike clay soldiers, right down to their stylish goatees and plaits of braided hair. Some have suggested that the statues were modeled after real, individual soldiers; others think they were assembled from standard clay ears, noses, and mouths, similar to the Mr. Potato Head toy.

Recently, in a project known as Imperial Logistics: The Making of the Terracotta Army, a team of archaeologists from University College London (UCL) in Britain and from Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum Site Museum in Lintong, China, have been using the latest imaging technology and other advanced methods to deduce the design process behind the warriors. The British-Chinese team took detailed measurements of the statues' facial features, focusing especially on the ears. Forensic research shows that ear shapes are so variable among humans that they can be used to identify individuals.

"If a thief presses an ear against a door or a windowpane, that can be as effective as a fingerprint," says team member and UCL archaeologistAndrew Bevan. If the terra-cotta warriors portrayed real people, each statue should have distinctively shaped ears.

But taking measurements of the clay ears was a risky proposition. The fragile warriors are packed so tightly in their burial pit that moving among them with calipers could have damaged them. So the team used new digital technology known as structure-from-motion to create precise, three-dimensional reconstructions of the warriors' ears.

For the initial sample, team members picked 30 terra-cotta warriors and photographed the left side of their heads from a safe distance and from slightly different vantage points. Then they digitally combined the photos to create 3-D models of each left ear and measured the complex surface geometries of each.

Statistical analysis revealed that no two ears in the small sample group were exactly the same. Indeed, the degree of variability resembled a human population. This preliminary finding lends credence to the idea that the ancient artists were aiming for realism.

"Based on this initial sample, the terra-cotta army looks like a series of portraits of real warriors," says UCL archaeologist Marcos Martinón-Torres.

The results also fit well with those of a 2003 study by John Komlos, a now retired German economic historian. Komlos measured 734 terra-cotta warriors and compared their heights to those of 150 Chinese men measured in the mid-19th century. The findings, reported in the journal Antiquity, were a close match, suggesting to Komlos "that the size of the terra-cotta figures could well represent the true physical stature of the Chinese infantry."

To further refine their research, the British-Chinese team is measuring a much larger sample of terra-cotta ears and analyzing other facial features so they can cross-reference the data.

Workshops vs. Assembly Lines

Today Qin Shi Huang's clay army stands nearly empty-handed, row upon row of unarmed men. But when Chinese archaeologists excavated around the figures, they found an array of actual weapons, from bronze swords and halberds to crossbow triggers and some 40,000 arrowheads, which frequently were bundled in groups of a hundred to fit in a quiver.

To glean clues about their production, archaeologist Xiuzhen Li, of both UCL and the mausoleum site museum, and other team members measured a large sample of the weapons, analyzed the chemical composition of their metal, and studied small inscriptions chiseled into their surfaces.

The results revealed something surprising. Initially, team members hypothesized that armorers manufactured the weapons using an assembly-line system similar to that developed by American car manufacturer Henry Ford. In this scenario, specialized workers would continuously produce one type of part—a bronze arrowhead, say, or a bamboo arrow shaft—and then send their products to an assembly line. There, workers would fit parts together to make one type of weapon.

But the chemical composition of the arrowheads pointed to a different picture. Each bundle exhibited a distinct chemical signature, slightly different from those in neighboring bundles. This strongly suggested that Qin Shi Huang's armorers worked in a "cellular production" system similar in some respects to that pioneered by Toyota to produce cars. Instead of monotonously making the same part for an assembly line, the imperial weapon makers were probably versatile artisans who worked in small, dispersed workshops making weapons from start to finish.

Each armorer was held accountable, however, for what he produced. Many of the small weapons bore chiseled symbols akin to makers' marks. Larger lances, halberds, and swords carried more detailed inscriptions that recorded the year they were made and the names of each person in the chain of command responsible for their manufacture.

This allowed imperial officials to track down anyone producing defective arms and mete out "stiff sanctions," says Bevan. The emperor ruled his vast realm with an iron hand, once condemning more than 460 scholars to be buried alive for possessing forbidden books.

Tombs of the Imperial Family

During explorations of Qin Shi Huang's vast necropolis, archaeologists have discovered other terra-cotta treasures, including life-size figures of acrobats, dancers, and other entertainers. But researchers have yet to explore the dark secrets of the emperor's own burial mound.

Nearly a century after Qin Shi Huang's death, the Chinese scholar Sima Qian described how workers filled the emperor's tomb with rare artwork—including representations of celestial bodies—that could disintegrate if the tomb were opened.

Moreover, the emperor is said to have planned a gruesome death for anyone who dared to disturb his slumber. According to Sima Qian's history, the imperial tomb served as a giant booby trap, rigged with crossbows and washed by rivers of toxic mercury.

For the foreseeable future anyway, Qin Shi Huang will continue to rest in peace.
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Pringle, Heather. 2015. “Ears of Ancient Chinese Terra-Cotta Warriors Offer Clues to Their Creation”. National Geographic News. Posted: November 14, 2014. Available online: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/11/141114-terra-cotta-warriors-qin-shi-huang-tomb-china-archaeology/

Terracotta Army's vibrant make-up was made of ox glue

The 8000 strong warriors of the Terracotta Army in Xi'an, China, are a formidable enough sight today – but imagine if you could see the whites of their eyes and the blood in their cheeks. When the army was buried 2000 years ago the life-size figurines were painted in a variety of bright hues, including green, blue, pink, red, black, white and lilac. Only traces of that colour remain now, after looting, fire, centuries of water damage and exposure to the open air – all of which took their toll on the paint.

Now we know how these vibrant pigments adhered to the brown clay – animal glue made from ox parts. A team from Northwest University and the Museum of Emperor Qin Shihuang's Terracotta Army, Xi'an, made the match by comparing the protein molecules in the original paint with artificially aged model samples daubed with different types of binding media.

Now that the paint's components are better understood, researchers can develop ways to conserve what paint is left, particularly on the thousands of soldiers that still remain to be unearthed.
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References:

Williams, Anna. 2014. “Terracotta Army's vibrant make-up was made of ox glue”. New Scientist. Posted: August 6, 2014. Available online: http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn26007-terracotta-armys-vibrant-makeup-was-made-of-ox-glue.html#.U_z9-ijGprU

Secrets of Chinese Terra-Cotta Warrior Weapons Revealed

One of the most astounding archaeological discoveries of the 20th century is arguably the life-size terra-cotta army buried alongside China's first emperor. Now, scientists have figured out how the bronze triggers for the crossbows of the 8,000 terra-cotta warriors were manufactured.

Teams of craftspeople worked in small groups to produce the bronze pieces in batches for the tomb of ancient Emperor Qin Shi Huang, according to a new study detailed in the March issue of the journal Antiquity.

Historical documents suggest that soon after Emperor Qin Shi Huang ascended to the throne in 246 B.C., he began work on his tomb near Xi'an, China. When the tomb was first unearthed in the 1970s,it revealed thousands of lifelike terra-cotta statues of artisans, musicians, officials, horses and soldiers. The epic effort conscripted 700,000 laborers, many of whom were convicts or people who were in debt to the empire, said study co-author Xiuzhen Janice Li, an archaeologist who was at the University College London at the time of the new work and is now at the Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum Site Museum in China.

The massive undertaking had an important goal: ensuring the emperor's military power and resources in the afterlife.

As part of the huge project, craftspeople sculpted about 8,000 colorful warriors — likely using real human beings as inspiration — and those warriors wore stone armor and "wielded" lances, swords and crossbows.

But it wasn't clear exactly how these ancient weapons were made. The crossbows were made of wood or bamboo that rotted long ago, and only the tips and triggers for the bows remained, Li told Live Science.

Small workshops

To learn more about how the massive trove was built, Li and her colleagues visually inspected and measured about 216 of the five-part crossbow triggers from the mausoleum.

The lack of wear on the metal pieces suggests the weapons were never used in actual battle, but were instead built solely for the tomb, the researchers said.

In addition, the team analyzed the spots where triggers were found in the tomb, as well as the variation in the size and shape of the pieces.

The pieces were mostly uniform, suggesting the interlocking trigger parts were made in the same or nearly-identical molds and produced in small batches. Each batch of the trigger pieces was likely then assembled in small cells, or workshops, perhaps headed by an overseer.  That model contrasts with the "assembly line" hypothesis that some archaeologists thought might have been used.

Mirror of society

The organization into small workshops was similar to the structure the emperor imposed on the rest of society in ancient China, said study co-author Marcos Martinón-Torres, an archaeologist at the University College London.

"He abolished any privileges inherited by blood, and the population was divided in small groups that were collectively responsible for their adherence to imperial laws," Martinón-Torres wrote in an email to Live Science. "For example, if someone in one of these groups committed a crime, all of them were held responsible, unless they reported the culprit and allowed them to be punished."

The manufacturing technique used in the workshop also may have been used by weapon makers for the Emperor of Qin's real armies, though that's just speculation, Martinón-Torres said.

"The cellular workshop model we postulate for the weapons manufacture in the mausoleum would have also offered useful flexibility for armies on the move," he said.
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References:

Ghose, Tia. 2014. “Secrets of Chinese Terra-Cotta Warrior Weapons Revealed”. Live Science. Posted: March 11, 2014. Available online: http://www.livescience.com/44024-terracotta-warrior-weapons-construction.html

China unearths ruined palace near terracotta army

Excavations near Xi'an reveal vast ancient palace complex a quarter of the size of Beijing's Forbidden City

Archaeologists have found the remains of an ancient imperial palace near the tomb of emperor Qin Shi Huang, home of the famous terracotta army, China's state media reported on Sunday.

The palace is the largest complex discovered so far in the emperor's sprawling 22 square-mile (56 square-km) second-century BC mausoleum, which lies on the outskirts of Xi'an, an ancient capital city in central China, an associate researcher at the Shaanxi provincial institute of archaeology told China's official news wire Xinhua.

It is an estimated 690 metres long and 250 metres wide – about a quarter of the size of the Forbidden City in Beijing – and includes 18 courtyard-style houses with one main building at the centre, according to the researcher, Sun Weigang.

Sun called the palace a clear predecessor to the Forbidden City, which was occupied by emperors during the later Ming and Qing dynasties. Both were built on north-south axes in keeping with traditional Chinese cosmology.

Despite wars soon after Qin Shi Huang's death – and more than 2,000 years of exposure – the foundations are well preserved. Archaeologists have found walls, gates, stone roads, pottery sherds and some brickwork, according to Xinhua.

They have been excavating the foundations since 2010. Qin's tomb is guarded by an estimated 6,000 life-sized terracotta warriors, including remarkably well-preserved cavalrymen, chariots and horses, each one unique. They were first discovered in 1974 by workers digging a well. About 2,000 have been excavated; 110 of them were unearthed this summer.

The United Nations educational, scientific and cultural organisation (Unesco) declared the army a world heritage site in 1987.

Qin began designing the palace for his afterlife shortly after he became king of the Qin state, aged 13. The complex took 700,000 workers about 40 years to build and was completed two years after his death.

According to writings by the Han dynasty scholar Sima Qian, Qin Shi Huang's tomb is 120 metres high, sealed off by a vermilion stone wall, surrounded by rivers of mercury and protected by booby traps. It has not been excavated for fear of damaging the potentially priceless artefacts inside.

Chinese historians portray Qin as a great unifier, who conquered six states and established an expansive feudal kingdom with a united currency and writing system. He is also known as a ruthless leader who burned books, buried opponents alive and castrated prisoners of war.
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References:

Kalman, Jonathan. 2012. “China unearths ruined palace near terracotta army”. The Guardian. Posted: December 3, 2012. Available online: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/dec/03/china-ruined-palace-terracotta-army

China Unearths Over 100 New Terracotta Warriors

The life-size figures were excavated near the tomb of China's first emperor.

Chinese archaeologists have unearthed 110 new terracotta warriors that laid buried for centuries, an official said Monday, part of the famed army built to guard the tomb of China's first emperor.

The life-size figures were excavated near the Qin Emperor's mausoleum in China's northern Xi'an city over the course of three years, and archaeologists also uncovered 12 pottery horses, parts of chariots, weapons and tools.

"The... excavation on the 200-square-metre (2,152-square-feet) site has found a total of 110 terracotta figurines," Shen Maosheng from the Qin Shihuang Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum -- which oversees the tomb -- told AFP.

"The most significant discovery this time around is that the relics that were found were well-preserved and colourfully painted," Shen, deputy head of the museum's archaeology department, said.

He added that archaeologists had pinpointed the location of another 11 warriors but had yet to unearth them.

The discovery is the latest in China's cultural sector, after experts found that the Great Wall of China -- which like the Terracotta Army is a UNESCO World Heritage site -- was much longer than previously thought.

Shen said experts had expected the colours on some of the warriors and wares uncovered at the site to have faded over the centuries, and were surprised to see how well preserved they still were.

The finds also included a shield that was reportedly used by soldiers in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), with red, green and white geometric patterns.

Qin Shihuang -- the Qin emperor who had the army built -- presided over the unification of China in 221 BC and is seen as the first emperor of the nation.

The ancient terracotta army was discovered in 1974 by a peasant digging a well. It represents one of the greatest archaeological finds of modern times, and was listed as a World Heritage Site in 1987.

The news comes after a five-year archaeological survey found the Great Wall of China was more than double the previously estimated length.

The survey -- released to the public last week -- found the wall was 21,196 kilometres (13,170 miles) long, compared to an official 2009 figure of 8,851 kilometres.

Beijing authorities on Saturday also reiterated plans to open two new sections of the Great Wall to tourists and expand two other existing areas to help meet booming demand.
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References:

Discovery News. 2012. "China Unearths Over 100 New Terracotta Warriors". Discovery News. Posted: June 11, 2012. Available online: http://news.discovery.com/history/terracotta-warriors-china-120611.html

Terracotta army grows

An archaeologist unearths the feet of a terracotta warrior yesterday at the excavation site inside the No.1 pit of the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, on the outskirts of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Archaeologists have unearthed about 120 more clay figures in their latest round of excavations at the terracotta army site that surrounds the tomb of the nation's first emperor.
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References:

Shanghai Daily. 2010. "Terracotta army grows". Shanghai Daily. Posted: June 22, 2010. Available online: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2010/201006/20100622/article_440657.htm