So, Mr. Mayor… what did you do on your vacation in China?
By David F. Rooney Mayor Mark McKee is a man with some interesting hidden depths. Believe it or not he’d probably be very happy unearthing the past at an archaeology dig. That’s a facet of his personality I was unaware of until he returned from a vacation China 10 or so days ago. When I asked him what was the high point of his trip he immediately said: “The Terra Cotta Army” and proceeded to tell me about this world-famous archaeological sits. The more than 8,000 ceramic soldiers, horses, chariots, generals and court officials were carefully entombed in three football-file sized pits near the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. Mark’s love of the ancient world isn’t confined to China. He happily combed through monumental remains in Greece during a trip to Europe years ago. Here are a few of the photos Mark took on his trip: The famed Terracotta Army was one of the major draws for Mark McKee when he booked a family vacation to China many months ago. And it’s not hard to see why in this photo of just one of three separate, roofed enclosures protecting a grand total of 8,000 ceramic soldiers who were buried with Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China, in 209 BCE. Mark McKee photo The Great Wall was also on his list of must-see sights. Mark McKee photo But what really stuck in Mark’s imagination were the highly detailed statues of the Terracotta Army. The terracotta figures are life-sized. They vary in height, uniform, and hairstyle in accordance with rank. Most originally held real weapons such as spears, swords, or crossbows. Originally, the figures were also painted with bright pigments, variously coloured pink, red, green, blue, black, brown, white and lilac. The coloured lacquer finish, individual facial features, and weapons used in producing these figures increased the figures’ realism. Most of the original weapons were looted shortly after the creation of the army, or have rotted away, while the colour coating flaked off or greatly faded. Mark McKee photo The Terracotta Army was discovered in 1974 to the east of Xi’an in Shaanxi province by farmers digging a water well. For centuries, occasional reports mentioned pieces of terracotta figures and other fragments such as roofing tiles, bricks and chunks of masonry. This discovery prompted Chinese archaeologists to investigate, revealing the largest pottery figurine group ever found in China. Mark McKee photo You can clearly see traces of the original pain on these figures. Mark McKee photo There were even life-sized terracotta horses hitched to chariots. As you can see, these figures are as individual as the soldiers they silently accompanied into the afterlife as the emperor’s military retinue. As remarkable as these thousands of figures are, they will probably be dwarfed by what’s inside the emperor’s tomb, which has not yet been opened. Mark McKee photo Replicas of the soldiers and their officers are for sale in China and Mark purchased a ceramic archer as a souvenir of his visit. Mark McKee photo I gott say, Mark, I don’t envy many people but I do envy you your opportunity to see this magnificent sit.
