Posted on 11/15/2014 12:13:49 PM PST by BenLurkin
Since then, archaeologists have puzzled over how ancient artisans produced the estimated 7,000 lifelike clay soldiers, right down to their stylish goatees and plaits of braided hair. Some have suggested that the statues were modeled after real, individual soldiers; others think they were assembled from standard clay ears, noses, and mouths, similar to the Mr. Potato Head toy.
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta, National Geographic Creative
Recently, in a project known as Imperial Logistics: The Making of the Terracotta Army, a team of archaeologists from University College London (UCL) in Britain and from Emperor Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum Site Museum in Lintong, China, have been using the latest imaging technology and other advanced methods to deduce the design process behind the warriors. The British-Chinese team took detailed measurements of the statues' facial features, focusing especially on the ears. Forensic research shows that ear shapes are so variable among humans that they can be used to identify individuals.
"If a thief presses an ear against a door or a windowpane, that can be as effective as a fingerprint," says team member and UCL archaeologist Andrew Bevan. If the terra-cotta warriors portrayed real people, each statue should have distinctively shaped ears.
But taking measurements of the clay ears was a risky proposition. The fragile warriors are packed so tightly in their burial pit that moving among them with calipers could have damaged them. So the team used new digital technology known as structure-from-motion to create precise, three-dimensional reconstructions of the warriors' ears
(Excerpt) Read more at news.nationalgeographic.com ...
And their findings were; not a jug-eared warrior in the bunch.
You would think that by now, someone would have counted them exactly.
How would you know if one of them goes missing?
Cool. I’d like to see them but don’t want to go to China. Same with the pyramids.
many of them are lined up in rows, it’d be easy to see one missing
Very interesting article! Thanks for posting it BL!
I think there’s a People’s Liberation Army workshop somewhere that keeps making additional ones to be “found”
The reason for the unknown is that a lot of the terracotta warriors have been found in pieces and some of those have painstakingly been put back together - but not all of them. The reason for this has been the collapse of tombs due to earthquakes and the disintegration of the wood in the tombs holding up the earth that covered it. In China there are still tombs to which these warriors are said to be in but have not been researched. If you ever looked into this a little more closely, that would have clearly answered your statement.
I know of a company made up of two people in china that make terracotta warriors that they sell. These life size warriors actually go for thousands of dollars and are shipped to buyers around the world. The clay that makes up the terracotta warriors can only be found within China.
Anyone remember the movie, House of Wax, and the method by which the wax figures were made?
Then think of how cruel and merciless the Qin Emperor was reputed to be.
I bet there are thousands of real bodies inside those terra cotta shells.
Thanks wildbill. Good one for the weekly Digest ping.
” If you ever looked into this a little more closely, that would have clearly answered your statement.”
Sheesh.
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