In a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Archaeological Sciences, a team of Chinese researchers has concluded that the terracotta army discovered at the tomb of Qin Shihuangdi in 1974 may have been manufactured in two separate locations. Lead researcher Hu Yaqin, from the Botany Institute at CASS, analyzed pollen taken from crushed pieces of the terracotta and found two separate pollen groups in the terracotta samples. From ABC (Australia): “Based on the pollen differences, the researchers conclude that the horses were produced near the mausoleum, while the warriors were made at an as-yet unknown site away from the region. The horses are large (about 2 metres long) and heavy (nearly 200 kilograms) compared with the warriors, which weigh around 150 kilograms. The horses also are more delicate, given their relatively fragile legs. The scientists therefore theorise that whoever planned the terracotta army’s construction determined it would be easier to build the horses closer to the destination site to minimise transport. Michael Nylan is a professor of history at at Berkeley who specialises in early Chinese history. Nylan says that because scientific access to the terracotta figures is difficult, it would be hard at present to verify the