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The Terracotta Army: 8,000 clay soldiers found by farmers digging a well

When farmers digging a well in 1974 hit a life-size clay head, they thought they'd found a god.

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The real story

In March 1974, villagers near Xi'an in China were digging a well during a drought when they struck pottery fragments and a life-size head. Locals called it a 'pottery god' and some worried that digging would wake evil spirits. A local museum curator recognised what it was: part of an army of around 8,000 clay soldiers, plus chariots and horses, buried about 2,200 years ago to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a unified China.

The figures were built from moulded parts, then finished by hand so faces, hair and expressions differ. They were also brightly painted over a lacquer base, which curls within seconds in Xi'an's dry air and can flake off in minutes; archaeologists now slow excavation to save it. The emperor's own burial mound has still not been opened.

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The facts we checked

  • The Terracotta Army was buried near Xi'an, China, about 2,200 years ago, to guard the tomb of the first emperor, Qin Shi Huang
  • Farmers digging a well found the first pieces in March 1974; villagers first took the clay head for a 'pottery god'
  • There are estimated to be about 8,000 soldiers, each with an individual face; they were painted over a lacquer layer that curls and flakes within minutes of exposure to dry air

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We checked every number and date on screen before the video was made.

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