The rare "General Terracotta" unearthed in Pit 2 of the Terra Cotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the archaeological excavation of the Terra Cotta Warriors. Today, the reporter learned from the Museum of the First Emperor's Mausoleum that archaeologists recently found a rare high-ranking military official figurine in Pit 2 of the Terra Cotta Warriors

In the experimental chamber of Pit 2 of the Terra Cotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty, the staff are carrying out in-depth cleaning and preliminary splicing work on this newly excavated high-ranking military official figurine. In November of this year, archaeologists discovered this broken military officer figurine during the archaeological excavation of Pit 2 and extracted it

Zhu Sihong, the person in charge of the archaeological project of Qin Terracotta Warriors No. 2 Pit, said that this high-level military officer figurine is the first high-level military officer figurine unearthed from Pit No. 2 since its official excavation in 1994. Based on its excavation location, we infer that it is likely to be the highest military commander of this unit

Experts say that this excavation is of great significance for studying the military organization and system of the Qin Dynasty. Senior military officials' figurines, also known as' general figurines', are usually adorned with tassels, armor, hands clasped together, and placed in front of the abdomen. The armor is surrounded by exquisite patterns and colorful ribbons and knots on the shoulders, front, and back of the chest. At present, only 10 high-ranking military officials have been found in the Terra Cotta Warriors of the Qin Dynasty

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the archaeological excavation of the Terra Cotta Warriors. Over the past half century, archaeologists have successively discovered pits 1, 2 and 3 of the Terra Cotta Warriors, with a total area of more than 20000 square meters. More than 2000 Terra Cotta Warriors have been excavated, as well as important cultural relics such as bronze chariots, horses, stone armour, and the terracotta figures of various operas, which have clarified the main remains of the the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and provided a scientific basis for the comprehensive protection and systematic display of the the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor