Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Science

Who really made China's Terracotta Army? Fingerprints reveal new clues

The Terracotta Army near Xi'an, China, is a breathtaking sight: thousands of life-size terracotta figures created in the third century B.C. to guard the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang. They were discovered in 1974, and people have assumed they were built exclusively by men. But new research on this un...

Who really made China's Terracotta Army? Fingerprints reveal new clues
Image: Phys.org
The Terracotta Army near Xi'an, China, is a breathtaking sight: thousands of life-size terracotta figures created in the third century B.C. to guard the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang. They were discovered in 1974, and people have assumed they were built exclusively by men. But new research on this underground army and its chariots, horses and weapons suggests women and children lent a helping hand.

Originally published at Phys.org

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