Terracotta Army Facts

Chronicle of Terracotta Army

Chronicle/ Timeline of Terracotta Army
Time	Events
247 BC or 246 BC - 208 BC	Terracotta Army was constructed by the side of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum to protect him in his after life, taking nearly 40 years.
Around 206 BC	The Terracotta Warriors and Horses suffered natural flood disaster and man-made destructions by Xiangyu, the overlord of Western Chu (232 BC - 202 BC) and his army.
1974	In March, the Terracotta Army was first discovered by local villagers when digging a well. It is located to the east of Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum mound. That’s the Pit 1.
1975	In June, the fishpond site was discovered for the first time.
1975	In August, the State Council decided to construct a museum right above the original site of terracotta army to have the pottery warriors and horses on display and protected.
1976	In May, the Pit 2 was found to the east of Qin Shi Huang’s mausoleum mound.
	In June, the Pit 3 was found to the east side of the mausoleum mound as well.
	In October, the sites of Stable Pits and subordinate tombs were found.
1977 - 1978	To the west of the mausoleum mound, rare birds and animals pit was discovered between July of 1977 and March of 1978.
1979	The Terracotta Army Museum was opened to the public on October 1st. Only Pit 1 was discovered and exhibited at that time. ?
1979	The builder's graveyard was discovered in December of the year.
1980	In November, pottery kiln used to fire the terracotta warriors and horses was found to the west of the mausoleum mound.
1980	The archaeologists discovered and excavated the bronze chariots and horses in December.
1981	In November, the office site used to operating the mausoleum was found.
1982	The first overseas exhibition of Terracotta Army was hold in Paris, France in March. See Full List of Overseas Exhibitions
1981 - 1982	It was probed that there is a large amount of hydrargyrum contained inside the mound of Qinshihuang's mausoleum.
1987	On December 11th, the Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum, including Terracotta Army was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List.
1989	On September 27th, the Pit 3 was officially opened to visitors.
1994	The Pit 2 was officially opened to visitors on October 1st.
1996	Pit 4 was discovered, only to find nothing in it except backfilled soil.
	In April, the animal accessory pit was found to the north of the mausoleum mound.
	1996 is also the year finding Pit K9801 buried with stone armor and helmets, which has a rectangular layout structure.
	The excavation workers found another builder's graveyard of Qinshihuang's mausoleum in November.
1998	In order to protect and study the Terracotta Army more scientifically, a professional archaeological team was organized in November to conduct high-efficiency archaeological research.
1999	Pit K9901 buried with acrobatics figures and some bronze wares were observed.
1999	The Exhibition Hall of Historical Relics of Emperor Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum was completed and opened on October 1st.
2000	The archaeological workers found the well-preserved Pit K0006, buried with civil official figures.
2001	To the north of the mausoleum mound of the first emperor, the distinctive Pit K0007 was found in August, buried with bronze aquatic birds.
2009	The establishment of Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum was proclaimed, including Terracotta Army Museum and Qin Shi Huang's Mausoleum Site (Lishan Garden in history).
2010	The Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum was opened. It is one of China’s first national archaeological parks.
2011	Accessory Pit K0006 and Pit K9901 were opened to the visitors on 30th September.
2011 - today	The excavation work continues and more and more terracotta warriors and horses have been found. Also, the technologies to protect them developed a lot.