Terracotta Army

i went to see them. and now i want to go to mexico.

the terracotta army is one of the biggest archeology discovery and the most recent one. in 1974 a farmer accidentally found a terracotta head while digging in the ground. after that, thousands of terracotta men were discovered around the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, the same emperor who unified china and directed the erection of the Great Wall.

the tomb complex is located under a hill/mountain, symbol of power and strength. as all the megalomaniac emperors, he was obsessed with death and tried a series of herbal potions to fight mortality. the role of this army, composed by warriors, horses and acrobats, was to help him rule the empire in his afterlife.

what is truly sensational is that each of them is different, or at least non-identical, implying great creativity and an enormous amount of work. as for the pyramids, many slaves passed away while working on them. unfortunately only a handful of terracotta soldiers was on dispaly at the british museum, but i was utterly fascinated by their beauty and intrigued by the secrets the untouched emperor's tomb hides. archaeologists fear to damage it, so they have been making hypothesis on its perimeter and interiors. they hope that technological progress will help them uncover the content in an unobtrusive way, but it will not probably be in this lifetime...

why mexico? well, after the coliseum, the pyramids and the soldiers, i'd like to carry on my new 7 wonders tour by visiting the complex of Chichén Itzá.


other 80 treasures around the world are listed here. please note how often italy comes up in this selection!