Study suggests that Chinese terra cotta soldiers carried real weapons
The terra cotta army that was buried near Xi’an in Western China is holding real weapons that were individually constructed and intricately placed.
Over 7000 terra cotta soldiers were buried in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang in 210 BC.
The bronze weaponry that the clay army is wielding consists of tens of thousands of swords, spears, lances, axes and crossbows.
University College London archaeologist Marcos Martinon-Torres, the lead author of a new study regarding the ancient man made marvel said: “Our initial assumption was that all of these items were mass-produced in large production chains. However, our data strongly suggest that production was arranged in much smaller units, several working in parallel, each of them sufficiently autonomous and versatile to produce finished items.”
By analyzing the metal composition of arrowheads, and mapping their location at the site, researchers discovered batches with unique chemical combinations that corresponded to one of many workshops operating simultaneously.
The archaeological discovery of the terra cotta army was made in 1974.
Along with the thousands of warriors, were also hundreds of terra cotta horses.
Each of the statues has a unique appearance, expression, and hairstyle.
