China unearths more terra cotta warriors

The famous terra cotta warriors of China have grown in numbers, with excavators saying that they have recently unearthed more than 100 clay figures at the site near the city Xi’an in the Shaanxi province.

Since the discovery of the site in 1974, archaeologists have unearthed more than 8,000 of the warrior figures, many of which are life-size. The site was near the mausoleum of China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, and dates from the 3rd century B.C. The area has been named a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

China’sXinhua news organization reported that the new figures were unearthed in a period from 2009 through May of this year. The new trove features warriors that have retained some of the brightly colored paint that was used to embellish the figures.

Experts told the news agency that the recently excavated objects are better preserved than the figures from previous digs.

The site near Xi’an is a popular attraction for tourists and historians. A handful of artifacts from the site has toured internationally, including popular stops at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, in 2008 and 2011.

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