Created in the Qin Dynasty (221 – 207 BCE), China’s terracotta warriors were discovered by chance when workers were digging a well in 1974 in China’s Shaanxi province. They are now regarded as one of the greatest archaeological finds of the twentieth century.

What was the purpose of these life-size clay sculptures and what does their discovery reveal about the Qin dynasty?

This is an Auslan interpreted program.

Speaker

Professor Tonia Eckfeld is Principal Fellow at The University of Melbourne, Distinguished Research Fellow at Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, and a consultant for documentary films on Chinese archaeology and cultural heritage. Tonia is a collaborative researcher with the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Henan Provincial Administration of Cultural Heritage, Zhengzhou University and other institutions in China and worldwide. Tonia is author of the landmark book, Imperial Tombs in Tang China, 618–907, The Politics of Paradise (2005).