Skip Navigation

June 2011, Cover Stories, Videos

Featured Video: China's Terracotta Warriors

Mon, May 16, 2011

The great archaeological discovery of ancient China's terracotta warriors has proven to be far greater than the sum of its parts.

Watch the full episode. See more Secrets of the Dead.

Featured Video: China's Terracotta Warriors

Over 2,000 years ago China's first great emperor amassed a great army of skilled craftsmen to produce no less than 8,000 life-sized terracotta warrior figures to accompany him in the afterlife for protection. The discovery and subsequent unearthing of the remains systematically buried near his great pyramidal tomb, a tomb complex that exceeded even the largest of ancient Egypt's pyramids in size, constitutes one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. More astonishing still, however, is the story of how the warriors were made. Each warrior represented a distinctly different individual in size, shape, and facial character. An investigative journey taken by scientists and other experts is uncovering secrets of organization, manufacture and craft that far exceed what anyone had ever expected. This PBS video tells the story as it has developed to the present.

    

Please login to post your comments.