Terracotta Army Unearthed: Farmers Discover 2,000-Year-Old Soldiers
Yang Zhifa was digging a well during a drought when his shovel hit something hard. Not rock—pottery. He'd just uncovered 8,000 life-sized clay soldiers that had been standing guard underground for 2,200 years. Each warrior in Emperor Qin Shi Huang's terracotta army had unique facial features, hairstyles, even different shoe treads. The farmers initially thought they'd found old temple relics and kept digging for water. Three massive pits later, archaeologists realized this wasn't a tomb decoration—it was an entire military force meant to protect China's first emperor in the afterlife. Yang never got his well, but he spent the rest of his life signing books at the museum built over his farm.
March 29, 1974
52 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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