Archaeologists Discover Rare Clay Commander Among Thousands of Life-Size Terra-Cotta Soldiers in China

Among the famed terra-cotta warriors in the sprawling tomb of the ancient Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang, archaeologists have excavated a rare decorated statue. Judging by the figure’s features and location, they think it depicts a high-ranking military officer—only the tenth of its kind ever excavated.

Qin Shi Huang ruled between 221 and 210 B.C.E., and he was the first leader to unite China under one empire. At more than 20 square miles, his tomb in China’s Shaanxi Province contains an estimated 8,000 life-size clay statues of soldiers known as the “terra-cotta army.”

The terra-cotta warriors are “armed” with spears, swords and crossbows, and they were meant to protect the emperor in the afterlife. While most of the carved figures wear simple armor, the recently discovered figure’s armor is colorfully painted and carved with “detailed patterns, ribbons and floral knots,” according to the Chinese state-run news site the Global Times.

“These adornments on the high-ranking officers indicate how special they are,” Xiuzhen Janice Li, an archaeologist at the University of Oxford who worked at the Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum Site Museum, tells Live Science’s Pandora Dewan. “The style and color of the adornments featured the aesthetic taste and social status symbols [of the time].”

A colorful head of a terracotta warrior depicting a military officer was unearthed Wednesday in Xi'an City, northwest China's Shannxi Province, marking a rarity of the half-century unearthing of the tomb of Emperor Qinshihuang.https://t.co/asHICBPGEI pic.twitter.com/Fp2BSVfCwI

— CCTV+ (@CCTV_Plus) December 18, 2024

Roughly 2,000 clay warriors have been unearthed from Qin Shi Huang’s tomb since the site was discovered in 1974, but only ten of these have been statues of military leaders.

The recently discovered statue was found alongside the remains of two chariots, three statues of horses and two other clay figures. As excavation leader Zhu Sihong tells the Global Times, the decorated statue is the first senior military figure found in the pit since formal excavations began in 1994.

“Based on its location, we believe this figure was likely the highest-ranking military commander of this unit,” Zhu adds.

Excavations of this particular section began in 2015, and since then researchers have found buried formations of cavalry, crossbowmen and chariots. They say the tomb’s buried chariots are usually accompanied by four horses and three soldiers.

“The arrangement of the high-ranking officers in the military formation reflected the military strategy, such as [the] commanding system in the Qin dynasty,” Li tells Live Science.

According to the state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV), terra-cotta generals are often distinguished by headdresses, ribbon-decorated armor and the placement of their hands—clasped together in front of their abdomens.

While the statue was found broken into pieces, its layers of paint have been preserved by surrounding sediment. As one researcher tells CCTV, “Silt provides a relatively stable humidity and temperature, which is beneficial for preserving the colors.”

Researchers labeled the statue’s pieces in situ before transporting them to a laboratory for further analysis. While its discovery offers new information about the hierarchy of Qin Shi Huang’s army, much is still unknown about the terra-cotta warriors. As Li tells Live Science, “The major question is, ‘Who is the top general to control the whole terra-cotta army?’”

Sonja Anderson | READ MORE

Sonja Anderson is a writer and reporter based in New York City.