Among the most popular toursitic attractions in the vicinity of Xi'an is the Terracotta Army discovered by farmers in 1974 at the foot of Li Mountain (骊山), , south of Wei River (渭河).
It was designed as a mausoleum in tribute of Qin Shi Huangdi (259-210 BC), First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty - and generally thought of as the unificator of what is now referred to as "China".
Containing thousands of life-sized statues of soldiers, horses and charriots, the archaeological site is especially rich.
Forsaken for over 2000 years, this mausoleum was meant to protect the Emperor in the afterlife. Intended to serve as substitutes to human sacrifices.
Due to the Emperor's early death, the tomb was sealed ahead of schedule. According to historical records, all the craftsmen who participated in the mausoleum project were buried alive in the burial pits around the tomb in order to keep the secrets of the Terracotta Army from being discovered.
We scanned the first pit, a gigantic ensemble bigger than a football field. The algorhithm of our favorite photogrammetry processing software refused to render this item as a 3D object, thus acknowledging via complex calculations the sacred status of this World Heritage site.
