An archaeologist works on an excavation site of terracotta warriors in Xi’an April 30, 2015.[Photo/Xinhua] 
 
 XI'AN - China launched a second excavation project on Thursday on a burial pit in the ancient capital of Xi'an, where an army of terracotta warriors guards the mausoleum of China's first emperor. 
 
 Archaeologists plan to excavate about 200 square meters of Pit No.2, located near the tomb of Emperor Qinshihuang, founder of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), according to Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum. 
 
 Archaeologist Yuan Zhongyi estimated that the burial pit has 1,400 clay figures and horses and 89 chariots waiting to be unearthed. 
 
 Yuan described Pit No.2 as "the essence of the terracotta warriors," for its mix of terracotta chariots, cavalry and archers. 
 
 "You can find all the kneeling archers, soldiers and cavalry in the No.2 pit," Yuan said. "Their colorful paint is also relatively well preserved." 
 
 The No.2 pit was famed for the unearthing of several colorful warriors, including a rare specimen with a green face, indicating that the army was once painted various colors that faded throughout the ages. 
 
 Located in Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi Province, the 56-square-km Mausoleum of Qinshihuang is the world's largest underground mausoleum. An army of more than 7,000 life-sized terracotta warriors and horses was discovered at the site in 1974. 
 
 First excavation began on Pit No.2 in 1994 and was halted in 2008 due to a lack of personnel and advanced protective technologies. ||||| FILE - In this July 30, 2013 file photo, visitors walk past a display of the unearthed Terra Cotta Warriors cast by sunlight at the excavation site inside the No.1 pit of the Museum of Qin Terracotta... (Associated Press) 
 
 BEIJING (AP) — China is expanding the ranks of the famed Terra Cotta Warrior army with new excavations expected to yield hundreds more of the ancient life-size figures. 
 
 The museum overseeing the vast mausoleum of China's first emperor says it began work March 30 on the tomb's No. 2 pit that is smaller in scale but believed to be richer in archaeological value than the already excavated No. 1 pit. 
 
 Along with 1,400 warrior and horse statues, the pit is believed to contain 89 war chariots and 116 mounted soldiers, offering invaluable insights into the military culture of the Qin dynasty, the museum said in a statement on its website. 
 
 "The No. 2 pit contains the true essence of the Terra Cotta army," the museum's former curator was quoted as saying. 
 
 Discovered in 1974, the army is one of China's biggest tourist draws, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. In recent years, the warriors have joined the giant panda as a tool of Chinese "soft power," with several batches being exhibited overseas to enthusiastic crowds. 
 
 The army was built to guard the tomb of the first Qin emperor, Qin Shi Huang, who died in 210 A.D. after conquering much of what is now modern China. 
 
 In all, the tomb's three pits are thought to hold more than 8,000 figures of archers, infantry soldiers, mounted cavalry, horse-drawn chariots, officers, acrobats, musicians and others. 
 
 The pits is adjacent to the emperor's sprawling mausoleum that lies under a 76-meter (250-foot) mound and remains un-excavated as experts debate the pros and cons of doing so. 
 
 Ancient accounts tell of a huge complex of chambers, including underground rivers filled with flowing mercury, along with the remains of craftsmen and imperial concubines sealed alive in the tomb with the dead emperor. 
 
 The Terra Cotta statues weigh about 180 kilograms (400 pounds) each and range in height up to 183-195 centimeters (6 feet to 6 feet 5 inches) depending on rank. Generals are the tallest. 
 
 Originally brightly painted, they are intricately detailed with armor, top knots, weapons and boots. No two figures are alike, and craftsmen are believed to have modeled them after a real army. 
 
 A ruthless figure of fear and awe in Chinese history, Qin built an extensive system of roads and canals along with an early incarnation of the Great Wall of China while unifying measurements and establishing a single written language, currency and legal statutes. ||||| Archaeologist Who Uncovered China's 8,000-Man Terra Cotta Army Dies At 82 
 
 Enlarge this image toggle caption Ludovic Marin /AFP/Getty Images Ludovic Marin /AFP/Getty Images 
 
 A Chinese archaeologist who identified a long-lost clay army consisting of 8,000 soldiers died Wednesday, according to China's state media. 
 
 Zhao Kangmin first laid eyes on fragments of terra cotta warriors in 1974. Farmers some 20 miles from China's central city of Xi'an were digging a well and struck into the pieces. 
 
 They had no idea what they had found — an army that had been interred for more than 2,000 years to guard China's first emperor. 
 
 The farmers contacted Chinese authorities, who sent out government archaeologists, reported National Geographic. 
 
 "Because we were so excited, we rode on our bicycles so fast it felt as if we were flying," Zhao reportedly stated. 
 
 The archaeologist found heads, torsos and limbs. He began to reconstruct a figure, piece by piece. Each warrior was life-sized, with a different face and expression, and details that were realistic down to the fingernails. Eventually more archaeologists would uncover standing and kneeling archers, infantrymen, armored officers and chariots with horses. 
 
 At the time, Zhao grew nervous about the warrior he was restoring, according to historian John Man who wrote The Terra Cotta Army. He was "nervous that he might be swept up again by the madness of the Cultural Revolution, whose teenage Red Guards had forced him to criticize himself for being involved with old things and therefore encouraging the revival of feudalism." 
 
 The emperor who united China in the third century B.C., Qin Shi Huang, had commissioned the army to protect his tomb. More than 700,000 people built his soldiers and burial site, archaeologists estimate. 
 
 In more recent times, the terra cotta forces have allowed archaeologists to learn more about the Qin Empire. Based on the damage of the clay, they believe that the dynasty collapsed suddenly, Smithsonian reported. Rebellious forces may have raided the pits where clay soldiers stood sentry, setting fires, striking down warriors and stealing their real weapons. 
 
 Nearly 600 sites within some 22-miles have been identified, amounting to the largest tomb in Chinese history, according to UNESCO. 
 
 Farmers have since sued the government for recognition of the discovery. But Zhao didn't think they necessarily deserved credit. 
 
 "The farmers saw the terracotta fragments, but they didn't know they were cultural relics, and they even broke them," he told China Daily in 2009. "It was me who stopped the damage, collected the fragments and reconstructed the first terracotta warrior." 
 
 The publication reported that even after he retired from his role as curator at a museum in Xi'an, Zhao would go the museum every day and sit beside four terra cotta soldiers and a horse that he had reconstructed in the '70s. 
 
 In that display room, he would write autographs that read, "Zhao Kangmin, the first discoverer, restorer, appreciator, name-giver and excavator of the terracotta warriors." 
 
 He died at age 82.
– A new excavation of something branded the "No. 2 pit" is a potentially much more remarkable undertaking than it sounds: It could swell the ranks of China's famed terracotta army. Work began March 30 on the pit, which sits adjacent to the tomb mound of Qin Shi Huang, an emperor who conquered much of modern China before his death in 210 BC. That pit has seen previous excavations, between 1994 and 2008, reports the Xinhua News Agency, and gave up statues whose coloring led archaeologists to conclude the clay warriors were originally painted. What they expect a 2,150-square-foot section of the pit to give up now: as many as 1,400 warrior and horse statues, 89 war chariots, and 116 mounted soldiers, the AP reports by way of the Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum. Those warriors would add to the 7,000 that were found at the site—the world's biggest underground mausoleum—since 1974. The No. 2 pit is thought to be a more archaeologically interesting site than the already excavated No. 1, with archaeologist Yuan Zhongyi describing the No. 2 as holding "the true essence of the terracotta army," noting the "colorful paint is also relatively well preserved." National Geographic's file on the terracotta warriors reports there are four pits that have seen some excavation, including one that was found to be empty, "a testament to the original unfinished construction." Qin's tomb mound hasn't been touched, and it's unclear whether China will ever decide to disturb a space that ancient texts describe as one filled with treasures. Last year saw one mystery of the terracotta army solved.