Wednesday, June 08, 2016

Xian Trip 2016 - Day 2 - Terracotta Army/Warrior Museum - Pit 2 and Pit 3

Pit No.2 is the most spectacular of the three pits. Compared to Pit No.1, the combat formations in Pit No.2 are more complex, and the units of armed forces are more complete. According to preliminary calculations, there are over 80 war chariots, about 1,300 terra cotta warriors and horses, and thousands of bronze weapons. It is a revelation to first discover the terra cotta general, the kneeling archer and the warrior with saddle horse in the pit. There are two sloping entrances on the northern side, and four on both ends of the eastern and western sides. Read more from travelchinaguide.

Experts have pointed out that Pit 3 is the command center or headquarters for all the groups in the other two pits. The unearthed artifacts include 68 terracotta warriors, four horses and one chariot all arranged in a layout that is quite unique.

Many of the Qin Terracotta Warriors unearthed in the Pit 3 do not have heads. It is believed that these warriors did have heads when they were originally produced. Archaeologists specul ated that at some point vandals broke into this pit and deliberately destroyed the warriors. During the archaeological excavation, a villager revealed that he dig out half of a warrior's head in the southern wall of what is now the Qin Terracotta Warriors Museum. He returned the head and archaeologists searched across the various body pieces for a match. Finally, they matched it to a warrior body discovered in the Pit 3. This is one example of how many of the heads have been lost outside of the pit.

Although Pit 3 is smaller than both Pit 1 and Pit 2, archaeologists spent all of 1977 finishing the excavation of this pit. Because its contents were not burned like those in the other pits, the terracotta warriors unearthed in this pit are more splendid than those found in the other two.

Read more from travelchinaguide.

Video of Pit 2

Video of Pit 3

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