The Terracotta Army was discovered by some farmers in March 1974. The farmers were digging a well when they stumbled on one of the Terracotta Warrior heads. The finding led to the discover of one large pit and two smaller pits of clay soldiers. A forth empty pit was also discovered. The Terracotta soldiers were created for the Emperor Qin Shihuang.

    The largest pit is over 200 yards long with around 6,000 soldiers in battle formation. In the front of the formation was the archers followed by eleven long columns of foot soldiers. The right, left and rear flanks of the formation all faced outward toward the enemies which may be trying to attack from the sides or back of the formation. Each of the soldiers have a distinct face believed to be sculptured after real soldiers in the army.

    The second pit had about 900 warriors and over 500 horses. This force would have been a Calvary back up for the force in pit one. The horses are divided into about two-thirds chariot horses and about one-third cavalry horses. Pit three has only 70 Terracotta Warriors and is assumed to be the leaders of the army.

    It is believed that the Emperor had these Terracotta Soldiers crafted to protect his tomb. The tomb had armed crossbows set to trigger off at any intruder. The people who buried the Emperor were sealed in the grave by a stone door which came down after they entered. By sealing the workers in the tomb, it kept the location of the tomb secret.

 

 

Source: O'connro, Jane (2002). The Emperor's Silent Army: Terracotta Warriors of Ancient China. Viking New York, New York.