Unearthed in 1974, the warriors are funerary art, intended to protect the Emperor Qin Shi Huang (approx 260-210 BCE) in the afterlife. Generals, archers, horses and 8,000 soldiers. There are many more sites which are not yet excavated - and they will remain so, at least for a while. The Chinese, very thoughtfully, have reserved much excavation for future generations down the road, when there will obviously be better and more high-tech methods of excavation and preservation.