The Terracotta Warriors

As you all are aware by now, I'm an archaeology nut. I love it. Wanted to be an archaeologist as a kid, almost went back to school for it three years ago, and to this day can be found scouring the desert for artifacts on my vacations home. And per my previous post, I plan on visiting most of the major sites around the world in my lifetime. So naturally, the things that excite me most in this world are stories of new discoveries, or of those discoveries left to be found. I thought I'd blog today about one of my favorite archaeological sites; not necessarily for what has been found thus far, but for what is left to be found.

In 1974 near Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China, farmers uncovered one of the most incredible sites ever found: The Terracotta Warriors. I could write an untold number of blog entries on the find (and if you want to read about it in depth, please click here) but in brief the first Emperor of China, Shi Huang Di, commissioned for a tomb to be built for himself that was of a scope larger than anything ever undertaken. Over 700,000 workers built a tomb for Shi Huang Di that included palaces, towers, homes, over 100 rivers of flowing mercury (thought at the time to prolong life), possibly the largest collection of jewels and relics of all time within the tomb, and over 8,000 life size terracotta warriors (not one alike), horses, chariots, and strongmen guarding the entrance. These terracota warriors are one of China's most visited attractions each year.

These existing discoveries are an amazing thing to visit, but what has yet to be discovered would surely be larger: Shi Huang Di's tomb. To date, no entrance to this tomb has been found. Much of what we know about it's contents come from the writings of an ancient historian, Sima Qian. He describes the lavish burial with priceless treasures quite meticulously. The archaeologists on this site largely know where to find the tomb as there is an unnatural 76 meter tall and 350 square meter wide earthen mound behind the warriors. Further, through remote sensing technology, the Chinese have found evidence within the mound of a 30 meter high building buried above the main portion of the tomb. It appears to have four large stair-like walls. Although there is evidence of a fire that struck this site in antiquity (likely started by a General five years after the Emperors burial), the contents of the tomb are largely believed to be intact. It would surely be one of the largest caches of history and treasure ever uncovered. Along with Atlantis, it could be argued that this is the single largest undiscovered treasure troves known from history. Wouldn't you love to be the one that first discovers the entrance?