Restoring history: China’s Terracotta army’s new lease of life

A group of African journalists and editors visiting the Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum site museum in Lintong District, Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China have been introduced to the advanced technology being used to restore the world-famous Terracotta army.

During the visit, they learnt how an intelligent fragment-matching system developed by a scientific research team is helping experts piece together damaged terracotta figures that have been buried underground for more than 2 000 years.

Restoring a single Terracotta warrior could take months or even years, as specialists painstakingly examined and matched hundreds of broken fragments. However, the new technology generates multiple sets of virtual splicing solutions, enabling restorers to identify matching pieces more efficiently before physically putting them together.

The innovation is particularly significant because many of the figures suffered extensive damage over the centuries from earthquakes, water seepage and landslides. By the time they were unearthed, most had broken into dozens of pieces, making their restoration a demanding and time-consuming process.

The Terracotta army was accidentally discovered in 1974 when when local farmers digging a well came across broken terracotta figurines. The discovery revealed thousands of life-sized clay soldiers, horses and chariots buried to accompany Emperor Qinshihuang in the afterlife.

The Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum was established to preserve and showcase this extraordinary archaeological treasure.

The site is among China’s first batch of World Cultural Heritage sites, while the Terracotta army is widely hailed as the Eighth Wonder of the World.

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