The 1974 discovery of 7,000 unique statues buried in China is one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.

The Mysterious Terra-Cotta Soldiers

• A 2,000-year-old underground army of life-size soldiers and horses made of a clay called terra-cotta
• Discovered in March 1974 by a group of peasants digging a well near Xi'an, China
• Archaeologists have located some 600 pits, unearthing 1,900 of an estimated 7,000 warriors. Three major pits are easily accessible, enclosed inside the four-acre Museum of the Terracotta Army
• Each soldier statue has its own personality with unique details - topknots or caps, tunics or armored vests, goatees or close-cropped beards
• In addition to the clay soldiers, there are musicians, troupes of acrobats, and government officials. There are also statues of water birds crafted from bronze
• Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi ordered the soldiers and other statues to be created so that his realm would be remembered, like we would take a photograph today
• Hard-working artisans made the statues in an assembly line, like we make cars. They built the bodies first, then customized them with heads, mustaches, ears, hats, shoes, etc.
• The archaeological site ranks with the Great Wall and Beijing's Forbidden City as one of China’s premier tourist attractions

Read more on Smithsonian Magazine's website.

A traveling museum exhibition, "Terra Cotta Warriors" is on display at the National Geographic Society Museum in Washington, D.C. through March 31, 2010.

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