Complete Crossbow Found With China’s Terracotta Army

XI’AN, CHINA—The most complete crossbow to date to have been found with the terracotta army at Emperor Qinshihuang’s Mausoleum has been unearthed in pit number one. The arch of the weapon survives, along with a bow string thought to have been made from animal tendon, and a trigger mechanism made of bronze. This example is also complete with the two poorly understood wooden sticks that are usually found with the terracotta army’s crossbows. “When we dusted off the sticks, we found three holes equidistant from each other and concluded that they were probably used to hang up ropes that fastened the crossbows when they were not in use,” Shen Maosheng, head of the archaeological team, told ECNS News. This crossbow will also help researchers create a more precise model to determine its shooting range more accurately.