Secrets of the Dead

China's Terracotta Warriors

The extraordinary story of China's 8,000 terracotta warriors begins two centuries before the birth of Christ. The First Emperor of China was preparing an extravagant tomb for his journey into the afterlife, and decreed that he be protected forever by a monumental army. But how was a terracotta army of this size made in less than two years using the technology of 2200 years ago? Led by archaeologist Agnes Hsu, the investigation shows that the Chinese may have used assembly lines to produce the 8,000-strong terracotta army. After the revelation of what the army really looked like when it was buried, archaeologists use biometric analysis to find out if these clay soldiers were individually modeled on living men.