Terracotta Warriors Pit 3

Terracotta Warrior Pit 3 is the earliest visualize materials of military command discovered in China even the world archaeology history. The lay out, arrangement of terracotta warriors, equipped weapons and unearthed relics in Pit 3 have certain characteristics which offer the materials for  the research of ancient headquarters, divination, ceremony,  appointment system and ceremonial clothing’s apparel and equipment.

Pit 3 was discovered in June, 1976. It is located to the north of the west end of Pit 1, and facing Pi in east and west direction. It is about 25 m from Pit 1 and 120 m away from Pit 2. The pit is more then 300 square meters. Along with complete of the construction of exhibition hall, in Dec., 1988, the pit 3 was excavated again. Before Sep. 20, 1989, the Pit 3 had almost reinstated its appearance.

 

The preservation situation of Terracotta Warrior Pit 3 is not as good as Pit 1, though there are also terracotta warriors in Pit 1 beat to a mummy by people, some pottery shards moved and some weapons were stolen. But most of the heads of terracotta warriors are still in the pit and there are a few of warriors without heads in Pit 1. For Pit 3, most of terracotta warriors do not have heads and the terracotta horses’ heads are also broken, which could tell that some people found there and it suffered serious damage.

 

A head for a warrior could jus affect the viewing value of it, but for Pit 3, it means a lot. As the visualize materials of ancient military commend, it preserved and was the only one in the world. The architecture layout, the characters of chariots and horse, the arrangement of warriors and the equipment of weapons are all our treasure materials for research.

Terracotta Warrior Pit 3 has great significant for researching ancient military history. In the wars before Spring and Autumn Period, generals or leaders should charge forward in front of soldiers. During the Spring and Autumn Period, as the scale of wars grew larger and larger, commander’s position moved to the middle of the army. In Qin Dynasty, the headquarters became an independent part, which is a great improvement of the development of military tactics. Headquarters became a independent department for making battle plan and also commander did not need to be in danger any more. It is a important symbol of the mature of the development of ancient military tactics.