Tags
Akhal-Teke, Central Asia, China, Qin Shi Huang, Qin Shihuang, Shaanxi, Silk Road, Terracotta Army
(China Daily)
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A woman cleans soil from horse skeletons in a sacrificial pit inside the mausoleum in this file photo. Xinhua |
XI’AN – The bones of 80 horses unearthed from the mausoleum of a Chinese emperor who lived more than 2,000 years ago have rekindled an ancient legend about blood-sweating “heavenly horses” from Central Asia.
The skeletons were found in two sacrificial pits within the mausoleum of Emperor Wudi of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – AD24) in Xingping city, Northwest China’s Shaanxi province, said Yang Wuzhan, a researcher with the provincial archaeological institute.
Yang and his team began excavating the two pits in September 2009, but had published few of their findings until Monday.
Each of the two pits was a huge cavern containing 20 caves – each “guarded” by two stallions and a terracotta warrior, Yang said.
He said archaeologists have conducted laboratory work on the skeletons and confirmed all were adult male horses. “Scientists will soon carry out DNA tests hoping to determine the genus of the horses.”
The finding was likely to rekindle a centuries-old Chinese legend about the mysterious blood-sweating horse from Central Asia, Yang said.
“The legend goes that Emperor Wudi offered a hefty reward for anyone who could find him a mysterious ‘blood-sweating’ purebred horse that was said to have roamed Central Asia, but was rarely seen in China,” he said.
Today, the horse is identified as the Akhal-Teke, one of the world’s oldest and most unique breeds.
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