Artists build terracotta army Qin Shihuang used to eat dog meat

The famous terracotta army in the tomb of Emperor Qin Shihuang was created by workers and artisans specializing in dog meat.

In the study published today in Scientific Reports, archaeologists at the Institute of Evolutionary Anthropology Max Planck, Germany, examine bones found in the graves of workers and artisans near the tomb of Qin Shihuang, The first emperor of the Qin Dynasty in China. After analyzing the carbon isotope in bone, they found that most workers and artisans existed based on the diet mainly consisting of animal meat.

Terracotta army in the tomb of Qin Shihuang.(Photo: SCMP).

The South China Morning Post reported that the team led by Dr. Ma Ying compared the composition of elements in artisan remains with animal bones at the same time. Dogs have the largest match rate, then pigs and sheep. Cattle and chickens seem to be less consumed.

According to historical records, Cheng Ma and Han Shu, the consumption of dog meat was popular under the Qin and Han dynasties, because many people earned their living selling dog meat.

The researchers also examined the bones of prisoners in a mass grave and found that their diet contained less meat than artisans. Prisoners from southern China have a rice-based diet, forced to take the hardest part in the process of building royal tombs.

Emperor Qin Shihuang (259 - 210 BC) brought troops to conquer all countries under the Warring States period and to unify China. His mausoleum in Xianyang, Shaanxi is under the protection of terracotta army consisting of more than 8,000 real-sized soldiers. Dubbed the 8th wonder of the world, terracotta warriors are the product of talented craftsmen and no warrior has the same face.