Rebecca Rice on the significance of the Terracotta Warriors

From Sunday Morning, 11:40 am on 2 December 2018

Dr Rebecca Rice explains the significance of The Terracotta Warriors: Guardians of Immortality exhibition that opens at Te Papa on 15 December. The Terracotta Warriors are 2,300 year old artworks of imperial icons that were part of the buried army that guarded the tomb of Qin Shihuang, China's First Emperor. They were discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging a well and they're now considered one of the greatest archaeological finds of the twentieth century - an eighth wonder of the world. Such is their significance and value that only 10 can be loaned to museums at any one time - Te Papa has secured eight warriors and two horses.