2,200 years ago, a craftsman was sculpting ears for samurai figurines. The wet mud was still soft. He reached out and pressed it down, pressing the final arc of his ear wheel firmly. This action took only one or two seconds.
Fingerprints were left on the muddy surface. Following the clay figurines into the kiln, out of the furnace, and down to the pit, they lay there for over two thousand years.
Now, these marks were being measured one by one. The team conducting this analysis was led by Li Xiaoxi, an archaeologist at the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Museum in China. They systematically studied the ancient fingerprints remaining on the Terracotta Warriors, publishing their findings in the international academic journal Cultural Heritage Journal.
