Preserving the Ancient Terra Cotta Warriors
Its finally Wednesday and I feel totally worn out. Maybe its because I slept too late on Monday and Tuesday night. Or maybe its because I got lazy over the weekend. Anyway I just hope the week will end soon, without me ending up in a horizontal position, snoring at my workplace...
Well, another thing that's getting worn out are the terra cotta warriors of ancient China. For those who have forgotten the history of ancient China, here's a short refresher. The terra cotta warriors were built by the first emperor of China, Emperor Chin Shih Huang, over 2000 years ago. Essentially, they were built for his tomb as guards and army for his afterlife. It is estimated that a total of 7000 individual terra cotta warriors were built, and every single warrior is modelled after a real person, making it distinct. Till now, about 1000 of these warriors have been unearthed, and put on display.
However, the problem is that these ancient statues weren't made for the 21st century air and are deteriorating fast. The exact cause of the deterioration is still unknown, though scientists speculate it could be air pollution produced by China's rapidly developing industries. Another possible cause is the breath of the millions of visitors that have seen the terra cotta warriors in the museum or even a combination of multiple factors.
The problem is that the unique clay used to make the statues has not been studied properly, and its properties are not very well understood, so scientists have no way of telling what chemicals it reacts to. So for now, the scientists are monitoring the statues in the museum in an effort to find the cause. Until then, they have advised the chinese government not to excavate any more of the terra cotta warriors. However, scientists are optimistic that a solution can be found, but it might take a while.
I've personally seen the terra cotta warriors once, long ago, in my primary school days. Although my memory is a little hazy, I do remember being awed by the sheer number and the detail put into making them. You could easily identify the footmen, the archers, the spearmen, and so on. There were even horses, carriages and other items. In short it is a marvel, something I doubt we could reproduce even in modern times, at least without considerable effort. So I certainly hope we can preserve these beautiful statues for generations to come.
Click here for the full article.
Well, another thing that's getting worn out are the terra cotta warriors of ancient China. For those who have forgotten the history of ancient China, here's a short refresher. The terra cotta warriors were built by the first emperor of China, Emperor Chin Shih Huang, over 2000 years ago. Essentially, they were built for his tomb as guards and army for his afterlife. It is estimated that a total of 7000 individual terra cotta warriors were built, and every single warrior is modelled after a real person, making it distinct. Till now, about 1000 of these warriors have been unearthed, and put on display.
However, the problem is that these ancient statues weren't made for the 21st century air and are deteriorating fast. The exact cause of the deterioration is still unknown, though scientists speculate it could be air pollution produced by China's rapidly developing industries. Another possible cause is the breath of the millions of visitors that have seen the terra cotta warriors in the museum or even a combination of multiple factors.
The problem is that the unique clay used to make the statues has not been studied properly, and its properties are not very well understood, so scientists have no way of telling what chemicals it reacts to. So for now, the scientists are monitoring the statues in the museum in an effort to find the cause. Until then, they have advised the chinese government not to excavate any more of the terra cotta warriors. However, scientists are optimistic that a solution can be found, but it might take a while.
I've personally seen the terra cotta warriors once, long ago, in my primary school days. Although my memory is a little hazy, I do remember being awed by the sheer number and the detail put into making them. You could easily identify the footmen, the archers, the spearmen, and so on. There were even horses, carriages and other items. In short it is a marvel, something I doubt we could reproduce even in modern times, at least without considerable effort. So I certainly hope we can preserve these beautiful statues for generations to come.
One of the world's greatest archeological treasures is in serious trouble because of air pollution and scientists from Nevada are coming to the rescue.
The terra cotta warriors were built on orders from the first emperor of China but were buried for more than 2,000 years. Scientists from Nevada's Desert Research Institute have been asked to join an international team looking for ways to keep the warriors from wasting away.
The ruthless conqueror who became the first emperor of china wasn't a guy who thought small. Emperor Chin not only started the Great Wall of China, but also used hundreds of thousands of people to work on his tomb, including the meticulous creation of the terra cotta warriors -- more than 7,000 larger-than-life clay figures meant to protect the emperor from his enemies in the afterlife.
Click here for the full article.
posted by CS at 8:21 AM
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