The Terracotta Army is believed to be part of the mausoleum complex of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China. The discovery of the Terracotta Army in March 1974 is considered one of the most shocking archaeological discoveries of the 20th century.
To date, archaeologists have found more than 8,000 terracotta statues in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang. Although made from clay and fired in a low-temperature kiln, the faces, sizes, and paint colors of the thousands of terracotta statues are all different. They all look incredibly lifelike, like a real army.
In addition, archaeologists also found many chariots, weapons, etc. in the mausoleum complex. These objects all reflect the strong military capabilities of the Qin Dynasty at that time.
The terracotta statue has a strange pose.
However, among the thousands of terracotta statues found, experts discovered a strange statue with bent knees, two open feet, two hands on the ground. This special statue was displayed by the museum in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province (China) to celebrate the Natural and Cultural Heritage Day - June 11, 2022.
In fact, experts have found many terracotta warriors in standing or sitting positions. But the statue with the strange supine position above is "unique".
According to experts, the supine terracotta statue was buried in a deep pit in the southeast area of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, with an area of about 700 square meters. The reason this statue is different from other terracotta warriors is because of its extremely unique and strange posture.
Since most of the terracotta statues in the burial pits were more or less damaged, experts spent more than 20 years repairing them. The strange terracotta statue is about 154 cm long and weighs about 102 kg. Because this is the only statue lying on its back, the restoration process attracted the attention of experts.
One day, an archaeologist suddenly discovered a fingerprint on the belly of the statue. At first, the expert thought it was an accidental fingerprint. However, after careful observation and comparison, it turned out that it was the fingerprint of an artisan more than 2,000 years ago.
Fingerprints are one of the ways that experts can confirm a person's identity. However, with fingerprints from over 2,000 years ago, can experts figure out the identity of this person?
Experts say that through the fingerprints on the terracotta statue lying on its back, although the exact age of this craftsman cannot be confirmed, this person lived more than 2,000 years ago. Furthermore, based on the fingerprint characteristics, it can be seen that the craftsman who made the special statue above was a teenager.
When conducting further research into historical records, experts discovered that at the time of the construction of the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum, due to a lack of manpower to make terracotta statues, many teenagers were selected to do this work. This is also a feature that shows that the construction of this giant mausoleum consumed a lot of manpower over many years.
Fingerprints are small but they are like keys that help researchers open many doors to learn about the tomb of Qin Shi Huang.
In addition to fingerprints, archaeologists also found traces of lacquer on the statue’s arm. These features help experts better understand the methods and manufacturing process of ancient artisans working for Emperor Qin Shi Huang.
The museum in Xi'an concluded that the terracotta statue in a supine position above may depict an acrobat performing in a palace circus.
The Terracotta Army was found in the mausoleum complex of Qin Shi Huang.
As evidence, recently, experts have also discovered some statues of circus performers and 15 statues of musicians in the excavation area. This shows that although Qin Shi Huang brought many things such as the terracotta army, war horses, archers... to the afterlife, this famous emperor also needed moments of entertainment. That is also the reason why there are statues of circus performers in this giant mausoleum complex.
(Source: Vietnamese Women)
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