Cina Temukan Patung Serdadu dari Tanah Liat

Arkeolog Cina sudah menemukan lebih 110 serdadu tanah liat (terracotta) yang belum pernah terbongkar selama berabad-abad. Patung-patung serdadu ini ditemukan dekat mausoleum Kaisar Qin di kota Xi'an bagian utara. Patung-patung ini diduga adalah bagian dari tentara untuk 'menjaga' peristirahatan terakhir kaisar pertama Cina tersebut. Salah satu yang ditemukan adalah patung serdadu raksasa setinggi 2,5 meter dan perisai berlapis kulit sepanjang 60 cm dan lebar 40 cm, dua kali lebih besar dari perisai tembaga yang ditemukan pada 1980an. Setiap serdadu ini memiliki ekspresi wajah yang berbeda-beda. Sebagian patung ditemukan terbakar dan tak berbentuk lagi. Xiang Yu, pemimpin militer pada dinasti Qin dipercaya sebagai orang yang memerintahkan pembakaran mausoleum, kata Shen Maosheng, seorang arkeolog.

Members of an archaeology team work at the excavation site inside the No.1 pit of the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, on the outskirts of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, June 9, 2012. It is the first time that shields have been unearthed during an excavation. A large number of the terracotta warriors and horses bear traces of burn marks, which are suspected to have been caused by Xiang Yu, a military leader who rebelled against the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 207 BC), according to local media. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY) CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORIAL SALES IN CHINA

A member of an archaeology team unearths a terracotta warrior at the excavation site inside the No.1 pit of the Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, on the outskirts of Xi'an, Shaanxi province, June 9, 2012. It is the first time that shields have been unearthed during an excavation. A large number of the terracotta warriors and horses bear traces of burn marks, which are suspected to have been caused by Xiang Yu, a military leader who rebelled against the Qin Dynasty (221 BC - 207 BC), according to local media. REUTERS/Stringer (CHINA - Tags: SOCIETY) CHINA OUT. NO COMMERCIAL OR EDITORL SALES IN CHINA 

This picture taken on June 9, shows Chinese archaeologists at work in the extended excavation site at the Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum in Xian. Chinese archaeologists have unearthed 110 new terracotta warriors that laid buried for centuries, part of the famed army built to guard the tomb of China's first emperor