Terra cotta warriors and animals at Qinshihuang's mausoleum. (File photo)
(ECNS) -- The burial site of ancient China's first emperor holds an underground animal kingdom, including buried remains and sculptures, experts at Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum said.
In their latest exploration, archaeologists have discovered dozens of burial pits beyond the 400 some that have already been registered, according to Zhou Tie, the museum's chief engineer.
Besides a vast amount of terracotta objects, the team also found some stone-made armor pieces and shields inside the pits.
Zhou said these items might not have been used in real fights judging from their weight and brittleness.
Experts also discovered thousands of animal remains and related sculptures in the mausoleum - perhaps the largest number of such objects found among similar sites, according to Wu Lina, a senior expert at the museum.
Initial studies show horses count for the most among buried animals, with archaeologists having found the remains of real horses and sculptures in bronze and terracotta.
Wu said they also unearthed remains and sculptures of deer, swans, cranes, geese, chicken, sheep and shellfish.
The expert said the animal burials suggest ancient Chinese of 2,000 years ago were capable of training and using animals for purposes other than food.
Previous studies indicate that people in the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) had been able to use animals in at least 12 ways. Horses were used for transportation and seen as valuable resources, while shellfish were for decoration, and some birds kept for entertaining purposes.
