Pictures: New Terra-Cotta Warriors Found

Brushes With Greatness
Photograph by Ruan Banhui, Imaginechina/AP
With the greatest of care, archaeologists in early June clean the head of a terra-cotta warrior in the funerary complex of China's first emperor—one of more than a hundred life-size figures uncovered during the latest phase of the excavation, which began in 2009.
Archaeologists have also recently found terra-cotta horses, chariots, weaponry, and drums as well as the clay army's first known shield—proof of the equipment real-life soldiers would have carried.
Excavations have been carried out here since the site, near the city of Xi'an, was discovered in 1974. The artifacts belonged to a vast man-made army meant to guard the tomb of Qin Shi Huang Di, the third-century-B.C. leader whose dynasty, Qin (pronounced CHIN), likely gave the country its modern name.
When the emperor was buried more than 2,000 years ago, the warriors were brightly painted. Archaeologists are surprised that so much of the color has survived on the figures they've just uncovered.
(See National Geographic magazine pictures: "Terra-Cotta Warriors in Color.")
—A.R. Williams
Updated June 27, 2012
Coats of Many Colors
Illustration by Pure Rendering GmbH, National Geographic
This general—digitally recreated for National Geographic magazine (watch video)—displays the kind of bold colors that originally covered all the army's figures, officers as well as rank-and-file soldiers. "Nothing like this had existed before, nor for centuries afterwards," said Albert E. Dien, professor emeritus of Chinese at Stanford University.
The general is one of the few figures unearthed with enough traces of paint for experts to determine almost all of its original colors.
Sculpted in clay, each figure was baked until it turned into hard, gray terra-cotta. Artists then brushed on two layers of lacquer, and added egg-based paints as a topcoat.
When archaeologists first began to uncover the army, though, the lacquer dried and flaked off, taking the surviving patches of paint with it.
(Related National Geographic magazine pictures: "Treasures of Ancient China.")
Updated June 27, 2012
Pit Crew
Photograph by Ruan Banhui, Imaginechina/AP
Pictured on June 9, archaeologists continue to uncover the funerary complex found in 1974 by farmers digging an irrigation well. The site has been open to the public as a museum since 1979. From an elevated gallery visitors can watch as the remains of terra-cotta warriors, horses, and chariots emerge from the earth.
Four pits—the largest of which is 3.5 acres (1.4 hectares)—have been found to date, three containing terra-cotta figures.
Qin Shi Huang Di began to prepare this complex when he inherited the throne of his home state at the age of 13 in 246 B.C. Construction would take more than 30 years and require an estimated 700,000 laborers.
(See readers' pictures of China's terra-cotta warriors from National Geographic's My Shot photo community.)
Updated June 27, 2012
Unprecedented Armor
Photograph by Li Yibo, Xinhua/Corbis
Still bearing traces of a painted border, a newly uncovered shield is the first ever found among the terra-cotta army. According to archaeologists at the site, the shield was originally made of wood, which has decayed over the centuries. It now survives only as a silhouette bearing traces of a painted border. Approximately 28 by 20 inches (70 by 50 centimeters), the artifact was discovered beside a chariot.
In real life such equipment, made of lacquered leather, would have served to protect a warrior from all manner of weapons—spears, swords, daggers, lances, battle-axes, and arrows.
(Related: "Japanese Royal Tomb Opened to Scholars for the First Time.")
Updated June 27, 2012
War Paint
Photograph by Li Yibo, Xinhua/Corbis
The border of the newfound shield, painted in several colors, was likely covered with intricate geometric patterns. Such adornments provide clues to what the emperor believed about death and the afterlife.
They "were surely more than decorative," said early-China expert Jeffrey Reigel, of the University of Sydney. "They served a function—probably that of helping to protect the bearer from enemies, real or spiritual."
(Pictures: 3,000 Ancient Buddhas Unearthed in China.)
Updated June 27, 2012
Long-Lasting Color
Photograph by Zhang Yuan, Color China Photo/AP
Color was one of the biggest surprises that emerged from the ground recently, according to news reports—with many figures still bearing paint that has remained bright through the centuries. Skin was usually painted pink, as here, or buff.
The terra-cotta armor (top left) replicates lacquered leather plates, trimmed with red cords and connected with thongs that protruded as knobs at the surface.
Though the figures found in earlier years have lost almost all their paint, Chinese and German scientists have developed chemicals to preserve the colors of the artifacts now coming out of the ground.
(Also see "'Lost' Great Wall of China Segment Found?")
Updated June 27, 2012
Marching as to War
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta, National Geographic
Representing the emperor's main army, soldiers line up in battle formation in the main pit (file picture). More than a thousand have been found since excavation began in 1974, with perhaps another 5,000 yet to be unearthed. All on display today have been restored from fragments.
In 206 B.C., four years after Qin Shi Huang Di's death, a rebel army looted and burned his cemetery. Supported by wooden beams, the roof of this pit came crashing down on the warriors and smashed them all.
(Pictures: Lifelike "Wet Mummy" Found During Roadbuilding.)
Updated June 27, 2012
Rainbow Coalition
Illustration by Pure Rendering GmbH, National Geographic
Showing the massive army deployed in the main pit, this digital recreation—created for National Geographic magazine—is based on the evidence found so far, including the figures' poses, fragments of paint, and the bronze blades of weapons.
These terra-cotta troops represent Qin Shi Huang Di's main army, which he sent out from his home state to conquer his warring neighbors and create a unified empire.
By including the terra-cotta warriors in his cemetery, the emperor hoped to allow his spirit to "take up his proper position in the other world, which in many ways was seen as a perfect image of this one," said Stanford's Dien.
(See National Geographicpictures of Chinese caves harboring thousands of ancient buddhas.)
Updated June 27, 2012
Shattered Defenses
Photograph by Li Yibo, Xinhua/Corbis
Pictured June 9, a warrior's terra-cotta armor, recently uncovered in the main pit, retains much of its color. After stabilizing the paint, conservators will painstakingly reconstruct the figure, piece by piece. (Learn more about the latest techniques used to preserve the terra-cotta army.)
Updated June 27, 2012
Making History
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta, National Geographic
Crouching by a jumble of fresh finds, an excavation assistant brushes away the last of the mud before restoration begins (file picture).
The current phase of excavation is expected to continue for two or three more years. As they improve their techniques of recovery and preservation, archaeologists are preparing to tackle the tomb of the emperor, which lies beneath a 154-foot-tall (47-meter-tall) mound nearby.
Texts from the era describe the tomb as a deep pit lined with bronze that was filled with fine vessels and other wonderful things. Rivers of mercury were said to run through the tomb, and its painted ceiling represented the heavens above.
Chances are the tomb was plundered long ago, but it may yet offer a wealth of clues about one of the towering figures in Chinese history.
Updated June 27, 2012
More Terra-Cotta Warrior Pictures
O. Louis Mazzatenta
Updated June 27, 2012