From the moment that I saw the Terra Cotta Warriors on "Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life," [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi5sbft0Qxo&feature=related] I was immediately interested in them. When we discussed them in class, I was excited to find out more about them.
On one website that I found, it described the find as the "most significant archaeological excavation of the 20th century," and I think that they are correct. The sheer size of this find makes it amazing. It is located in Lintong County, Shaanxi Province in China about 1.5 kilometers east of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum. The museum located where the Warriors were found is 16,300 square meters in size. With the help of some restoration, there are over 7000 individual pieces of art included in this find, including soldiers, chariots, horses and some weapons, and archaeologists are still uncovering more and more.
Just before he became the first Emperor of China, at the age of 13, Qin Shi Huang began the building of his mausoleum which wouldn't be finished until more than thirty years later. It is thought that he had this built for a couple of different reasons. Some believe that he had this army built to help him rule in the afterlife. It also probably can't be denied that he did it to show his sheer power at the time.
One of the most amazing things about this army is that each of the warriors faces are personalized. Many believe that the people who made them fashioned them after themselves and actual soliders.
Here's video that goes more in depth about the history and such. It's only about four minutes long so go ahead and take a look at it and hopefully it will interest you as much as it has me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxSi8ejqqss&feature=related
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