The warriors saving Warriors

As a terracotta head is carefully fitted onto a pre-assembled body by several pairs of hands, a pile of seemingly disordered pottery fragments is transformed into a majestic Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) Terracotta Warrior.

It is a daily scene at the on-site conservation and restoration laboratory of Pit 1 at the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in Xi'an, Shaanxi province. Today, such work is also on view to tens of thousands of visitors from China and abroad.

In 2024, marking the 50th anniversary of the archaeological excavation of the Qin Terracotta Warriors, the on-site conservation and restoration laboratory of Pit 1 and the on-site archaeological excavation and conservation platform of Pit 2 were completed and put into operation.

The developments have established a full-process conservation system covering everything from excavation to storage. The new model combines an on-site emergency conservation system, an archaeological platform, specialized equipment and digital technologies.

In Pit 1, the system links the archaeological excavation site directly with the restoration laboratory, allowing painted Terracotta Warriors to receive timely and comprehensive protection.

In Pit 2, an excavation cabin and an experimental cabin form an integrated archaeological excavation and conservation platform. The system allows precise control of environmental conditions at the excavation site, helping ensure that archaeological work proceeds under controlled and protective conditions.

Buried for more than 2,000 years, the Terracotta Warriors have suffered damage from fire, the collapse of soil layers and fluctuations in groundwater levels. Most of the original pigments on the figures have disappeared, leaving only scattered, mottled traces.

In the early years of excavation, rapid changes in humidity after the warriors were exposed to the air caused some of the surviving pigments to curl, warp and flake off. This made it even more difficult to preserve and display the figures' original colors.

Today, unearthed warriors can move directly from the excavation site to the laboratory, where conservation, restoration and research are carried out simultaneously.

Once unearthed, each painted Terracotta Warrior undergoes a series of procedures, including nitrogen-filled moisture preservation, ultrasonic testing and 3D imaging. Conservators then carry out systematic recording, cleaning and reinforcement.

Together, these procedures help reduce the risks cultural relics face during excavation, transportation, restoration and storage.

The increasingly sophisticated system marks a new stage in the archaeological conservation of the Qin Terracotta Warriors, bringing excavation and preservation into a more closely integrated process.

Since the discovery of the Terracotta Warriors in March 1974, generations of archaeologists and cultural heritage conservators have worked to protect this remarkable legacy of ancient Chinese civilization.

Their work has helped bring surviving traces of the underground army's original colors back into view while using modern science and technology to deepen understanding of the Qin Dynasty and its extraordinary craftsmanship.

The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, which includes the Terracotta Warriors pits, and is known as the "Eighth Wonder of the World", was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1987.