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Further geochemical profiling of the Terracotta Army Warriors
13 November 2020
A new geochemical study of the Terracotta Army by Patrick Quinn (UCL Institute of Archaeology) with Chinese and German colleagues has been published recently in the journal Archaeometry.
Patrick and colleagues analysed non-destructively reconstructed statues in Pit 1 of Emperor Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum in China using portable X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (pXRF) in order to geochemically profile the clay paste that they were made from.
Their sample included examples of different types of statues, such as Armoured Warriors, Armoured Middle-Ranking Officers, Armoured Charioteers, Horse Breeders and Terracotta Horses. A number of the Armoured Warriors feature stamps or inscriptions that are thought to refer to the workshops that produced them, as well serving as a means of quality control and administration.
Different parts of the multi-component statues were analysed. The multivariate data was explored statistically to reveal geochemical patterning both within and between statues. This patterning was interpreted in terms of the production sequence, logistics and supply-chain management involved in the construction of this enormous funerary assemblage. Of particular interest is a compositional distinction between the figures marked with the names ‘Gong’ and ‘Xianyang’. These seem to represent the products of two workshops involved in the supply of ceramic objects for this ambitious, large-scale building project by the Qin Empire during the 3rd Century BC.
The research forms part of an on-going collaboration between the UCL Institute of Archaeology and Emperor Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum Site Museum, China. Funding was generously provided by the British Academy-funded Research Project Imperial Logistics: the Making of the Terracotta Army. The results of the study have recently been published in the journal Archaeometry. The study builds on a previous microscopic investigation of the paste recipes used to make the Terracotta Warriors and other ceramics, which was published in Antiquity in 2018.
Journal articles
- Quinn, P. S., Ying, Y., Xia, Y., Li, X., Ma, S., Zhang, S. and Wilke, D. 2020. Geochemical Evidence for the Manufacture, Logistics and Supply-Chain Management of Emperor Qin Shihuang’s Terracotta Army, China. Archaeometry. (https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.12613)
- Quinn, P. S., Zhang, S., Yin, X. and Li, X. 2017. Building the Terracotta Army: Ceramic Craft Technology and Organisation of Production at Qin Shihuang’s Mausoleum Complex, China. Antiquity, 91: 966-979.