0:00:05 > 0:00:08I'm Dan Snow and I've come to China to investigate
0:00:08 > 0:00:11the single largest burial site on Earth.
0:00:14 > 0:00:19Starting with its greatest treasure - the Terracotta Army.
0:00:22 > 0:00:25That is one of the most wonderful views in the world.
0:00:25 > 0:00:29Over 1,000 warriors guarding their ruler for eternity.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35With the possible exception of the Great Wall,
0:00:35 > 0:00:39there's nothing more Chinese than these warriors.
0:00:39 > 0:00:44And yet, a new theory suggests that this great icon of China
0:00:44 > 0:00:47may be guarding an explosive secret.
0:00:49 > 0:00:52New evidence suggests that the inspiration for all this
0:00:52 > 0:00:54could have come from the West.
0:00:57 > 0:01:01There's a possibility they really have some other culture stimulation.
0:01:01 > 0:01:03That is such an important idea.
0:01:03 > 0:01:06The person who made that had an understanding of anatomy
0:01:06 > 0:01:08that is extremely surprising.
0:01:08 > 0:01:12It's often thought China grew up isolated from the West
0:01:12 > 0:01:16until Italian explorer Marco Polo came here in the 13th century.
0:01:18 > 0:01:21But if we could prove that wrong by 1,000 years,
0:01:21 > 0:01:24it would rewrite the history books.
0:01:26 > 0:01:29To help in my search I'm joined by two expert investigators -
0:01:29 > 0:01:32Alice Roberts and Albert Lin.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35As our medical scientist,
0:01:35 > 0:01:39Alice will be examining any human remains buried here.
0:01:39 > 0:01:43This doesn't look like a typically East Asian skull.
0:01:43 > 0:01:47Albert will use the latest imaging technology to try and find
0:01:47 > 0:01:51the first roads joining East and West.
0:01:51 > 0:01:54If I'm right then what I'm standing on right here could be one of
0:01:54 > 0:01:58the roads built by the First Emperor.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01And I'll be interrogating the secrets of the Emperor's mausoleum
0:02:01 > 0:02:05looking for the traces of Western technology.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08- Look at that!- That's fantastic.
0:02:12 > 0:02:17Together we'll be exploring an extraordinary possibility
0:02:17 > 0:02:19that East and West were connected
0:02:19 > 0:02:23far earlier than anyone thought possible
0:02:23 > 0:02:27and that connection changed the face of China.
0:02:36 > 0:02:39This is the starting point for our investigation,
0:02:39 > 0:02:42one of the most hallowed sites in all of China.
0:02:43 > 0:02:47The burial grounds of the First Emperor.
0:02:49 > 0:02:53Oh, yeah. That, according to legend,
0:02:53 > 0:02:55is the First Emperor's tomb.
0:02:56 > 0:03:00Albert is setting out to survey the entire burial site
0:03:00 > 0:03:03by climbing the tomb.
0:03:08 > 0:03:14In over 2,000 years, no-one has been inside this sacred earth pyramid.
0:03:18 > 0:03:21It's pretty incredible.
0:03:21 > 0:03:26The Emperor's tomb is right beneath my feet.
0:03:26 > 0:03:29He was buried at 50 metres below the surface of this mound.
0:03:31 > 0:03:34And the Chinese government has decided to protect it further
0:03:34 > 0:03:37by denying access to the public.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44It's like being on top of Tutankhamun's tomb,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47but not being able to get inside,
0:03:47 > 0:03:50maybe for good reason,
0:03:50 > 0:03:53nobody really knows what's in there.
0:03:54 > 0:03:57Even from the top of the overgrown tomb
0:03:57 > 0:04:00there's only one way to see the surrounding site...
0:04:01 > 0:04:03OK.
0:04:16 > 0:04:18Wow! Look at that.
0:04:18 > 0:04:21Nobody's ever been allowed to fly here.
0:04:21 > 0:04:25This is unprecedented access.
0:04:25 > 0:04:28The nearby hills are studded with top secret military instillations
0:04:28 > 0:04:31and it's taken us months of negotiating with the Chinese Army
0:04:31 > 0:04:34to get permission to do this.
0:04:38 > 0:04:42But, once in the air, it's clear it was worth the effort.
0:04:44 > 0:04:47Look at that. It just keeps on going. It just expands.
0:04:47 > 0:04:50The exterior walls of the mound are over there.
0:04:50 > 0:04:55At 100 square kilometres, this is the biggest burial site on Earth.
0:04:56 > 0:05:00200 times bigger than Egypt's Valley of the Kings.
0:05:02 > 0:05:08Can you imagine building this for yourself for your afterlife?
0:05:08 > 0:05:12And that's just what's visible on the surface.
0:05:13 > 0:05:19Beneath these fields, archaeologists have uncovered a vast buried world
0:05:19 > 0:05:22of more than 600 pits and structures,
0:05:22 > 0:05:26each one a gold mine of archaeological riches.
0:05:29 > 0:05:32Almost every day there are new discoveries,
0:05:32 > 0:05:35and we have unprecedented access to them.
0:05:36 > 0:05:40Anyone could potentially link China to the outside world in
0:05:40 > 0:05:42the 3rd century BC.
0:05:44 > 0:05:48This was the era of classical Ancient Greece,
0:05:48 > 0:05:53a time it was always assumed when China existed in total isolation.
0:05:55 > 0:05:58That assumption started to crumble because of
0:05:58 > 0:06:02the first discovery they made here -
0:06:02 > 0:06:04the Terracotta Army.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08It's not these buildings over here.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11It's the building...
0:06:11 > 0:06:14It's that one, it's the one beyond.
0:06:16 > 0:06:20The Terracotta Army lies 1.5km away to the east.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26Today it's one of the biggest tourist attractions on Earth,
0:06:26 > 0:06:30but few people realise this extraordinary collection of figures
0:06:30 > 0:06:32contains one of the greatest
0:06:32 > 0:06:35unsolved mysteries in China's history.
0:06:38 > 0:06:43No-one has ever been able to explain their origins.
0:06:45 > 0:06:49The mystery began when all this was farmers' fields.
0:06:51 > 0:06:55And one of those fields yielded a life-sized terracotta head.
0:06:55 > 0:06:58It was 1974.
0:06:59 > 0:07:00Look at that.
0:07:00 > 0:07:02So what's happening here?
0:07:02 > 0:07:05This is right at the beginning of the excavation, I presume.
0:07:13 > 0:07:14So that's you?
0:07:14 > 0:07:16Yeah. Fantastic.
0:07:19 > 0:07:2042-year-old Yuan Zhongyi
0:07:20 > 0:07:24was the first archaeologist sent here from Beijing.
0:07:49 > 0:07:51What was the thing which most surprised you?
0:08:15 > 0:08:18Yuan's first week here turned into decades.
0:08:18 > 0:08:21And today I'm coming to meet the person
0:08:21 > 0:08:23who's continuing his pioneering work,
0:08:23 > 0:08:27his former assistant Janice Xiuzhen Li.
0:08:27 > 0:08:29- Hi, Janice.- Hi.- How are you?
0:08:29 > 0:08:31- I'm fine. How are you?- Very good.
0:08:31 > 0:08:34They believe the Emperor's Terracotta Army
0:08:34 > 0:08:37is an exact copy of the real thing.
0:08:37 > 0:08:40So these were going to be his army in the afterlife?
0:08:40 > 0:08:42Yeah, to protect him.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47What I really notice looking around is I think they all look different.
0:08:47 > 0:08:49I can't see any two that are the same.
0:08:49 > 0:08:51Some of them have got a bit of a belly on them,
0:08:51 > 0:08:53some of them are very, very tall.
0:08:53 > 0:08:55Were they all individually crafted?
0:08:55 > 0:08:58They're really quite individual.
0:08:59 > 0:09:03You see the moustache is different and also the eye shape.
0:09:03 > 0:09:06This stunning realism amplifies
0:09:06 > 0:09:09the great mystery surrounding these figures.
0:09:09 > 0:09:12Where do they come from?
0:09:12 > 0:09:15Because they're nothing like any figure made in China before them.
0:09:19 > 0:09:24Let me show you the figures made in China before the warriors.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28- OK.- So the figurines is really small.- OK.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30It's about ten inches.
0:09:30 > 0:09:33- Oh, so tiny.- Tiny. - Suddenly they start producing this.
0:09:33 > 0:09:37- Yeah, and this about two metres. - So something has changed.- Yes.
0:09:37 > 0:09:39These warriors are far more sophisticated,
0:09:39 > 0:09:40much bigger and much more realistic.
0:09:40 > 0:09:42Yeah, much more detailed.
0:09:42 > 0:09:44But were they all made in China?
0:09:44 > 0:09:46Yeah. Let me show you the stamps here.
0:09:46 > 0:09:48This is the name of the artisan.
0:09:48 > 0:09:51So this Terracotta Warrior is produced locally.
0:09:54 > 0:09:55The big question is -
0:09:55 > 0:09:59how did Chinese craftsmen achieve such an incredible transformation?
0:10:01 > 0:10:06Like going from a stickman to a Leonardo in a single step.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Something remarkable happened here 2,200 years ago.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17To understand quite how remarkable,
0:10:17 > 0:10:19I need to put it in a global context.
0:10:21 > 0:10:27The world at the time of the First Emperor, around 220 BC.
0:10:27 > 0:10:32Over here, right on the eastern edge of the Eurasian landmass
0:10:32 > 0:10:35you've got the Chinese world,
0:10:35 > 0:10:39a competing cluster of mini states over there.
0:10:39 > 0:10:43Over on the west of Eurasia you've got Roman Empire
0:10:43 > 0:10:48starting to expand over here and you've got Greece over there.
0:10:48 > 0:10:52Now what's going on artistically in East and West is very different in
0:10:52 > 0:10:53the 3rd century.
0:10:53 > 0:10:56This is classic Greek art,
0:10:56 > 0:11:00absolute high watermark of artistic expression. Beautiful.
0:11:00 > 0:11:05Metre and a half tall, intricately painted, human in its look.
0:11:05 > 0:11:09But over here in the Chinese world, as Janice has showed me,
0:11:09 > 0:11:10you've got that.
0:11:10 > 0:11:13Just ten centimetres tall, far more basic.
0:11:13 > 0:11:15Then something changes.
0:11:15 > 0:11:18In fact, everything changes, there's a revolution.
0:11:18 > 0:11:24Suddenly in 220 BC, just after that, you get the Terracotta Warriors.
0:11:24 > 0:11:27Light years ahead of what's gone before.
0:11:27 > 0:11:31It starts to look far less like it's predecessor
0:11:31 > 0:11:35and far more like what's going on in the Western world.
0:11:35 > 0:11:40Both life-size, both lifelike, attempts at realism,
0:11:40 > 0:11:44using paint and the sculpture to reflect the realities of
0:11:44 > 0:11:46the human body, the human form.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49And this couldn't be more important because it's always been assumed
0:11:49 > 0:11:52that China developed in isolation.
0:11:52 > 0:11:54But if that's not the case,
0:11:54 > 0:11:57if the First Emperor of China imported Western ideas
0:11:57 > 0:12:01and techniques to create his extraordinary necropolis...
0:12:02 > 0:12:06Well, that forces us to completely rewrite the history books.
0:12:15 > 0:12:18If you're going to rewrite the history books, you need evidence.
0:12:18 > 0:12:20You need a lot of evidence.
0:12:20 > 0:12:23And I think there is enough evidence just with the Terracotta Warriors.
0:12:23 > 0:12:27This is a theory that turns on its head centuries of thinking about
0:12:27 > 0:12:29the relationship between China and the West.
0:12:29 > 0:12:32It can't just be based on one statue.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35It just seems that there are so many
0:12:35 > 0:12:38mysteries associated with this place. It's phenomenal.
0:12:38 > 0:12:41It just feels as though there's an awful lot more to be discovered.
0:12:41 > 0:12:44There is a history, Chinese history, so maybe there's a lot to
0:12:44 > 0:12:48the stories that were written in this historical text.
0:12:48 > 0:12:52It's amazing to have those texts as well. I mean, how fantastic.
0:12:52 > 0:12:54OK. This is it. It's called the Shiji.
0:12:54 > 0:12:59We've got 20 pages of a text that was written over 100 years later
0:12:59 > 0:13:02by the first Chinese historian called Sima Qian.
0:13:02 > 0:13:05He talks about the First Emperor's tomb, but he doesn't even mention
0:13:05 > 0:13:07the Terracotta Warriors, they don't even get a mention.
0:13:07 > 0:13:09What is now one of the most important sites on Earth
0:13:09 > 0:13:11doesn't even get a mention in this.
0:13:11 > 0:13:14And, unfortunately, he doesn't mention foreigners
0:13:14 > 0:13:18- or people beyond Central Asia.- Wow. - So there are gaps in the history.
0:13:18 > 0:13:19There's big gaps in the history.
0:13:19 > 0:13:21So we're relying on you guys.
0:13:21 > 0:13:25Well, you know, the extent of this place is huge.
0:13:25 > 0:13:28So what we're looking at here is the main burial mound.
0:13:28 > 0:13:32And the Terracotta Warriors are pretty far off to the east side of
0:13:32 > 0:13:34the entire burial complex.
0:13:34 > 0:13:39And, you know, what I think is the interesting question is -
0:13:39 > 0:13:41is there a road network that extends from this?
0:13:41 > 0:13:42Do you think you could ever find
0:13:42 > 0:13:44connections with points further west?
0:13:44 > 0:13:47It's hard to say because it's going to go, obviously,
0:13:47 > 0:13:49the roads meander and turn over time,
0:13:49 > 0:13:50but I think what's exciting is if we
0:13:50 > 0:13:52can start to use different technologies
0:13:52 > 0:13:54and maybe we can start to see the traces
0:13:54 > 0:13:56of where these roads were going
0:13:56 > 0:13:59from this one very important place, obviously.
0:13:59 > 0:14:01I'm really interested to know if there's anything else here
0:14:01 > 0:14:05in terms of the archaeology, in terms of the material culture
0:14:05 > 0:14:09that could point to a Western influence or a Western connection.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13Or indeed any evidence of Westerners having been here.
0:14:13 > 0:14:16The assumption, I think, is that this whole site was built
0:14:16 > 0:14:19- in ten years or so, is that right? - Very fast, yeah.
0:14:19 > 0:14:22And so it seems like the evolution of the material
0:14:22 > 0:14:26and the types of artistry that was created over time
0:14:26 > 0:14:29is pretty remarkable from the beginning to the end.
0:14:29 > 0:14:32How it could just spring into being with no tradition of it at all.
0:14:37 > 0:14:42So far our only evidence lies in the Terracotta Warriors themselves.
0:14:43 > 0:14:47If they were created with some kind of outside influence,
0:14:47 > 0:14:50can we find traces of it in the way they were made?
0:14:53 > 0:14:56To find out, Alice and I are going to take a pottery lesson.
0:14:59 > 0:15:01We found an instructor,
0:15:01 > 0:15:05Mr Han, who runs a factory producing replica warriors.
0:15:07 > 0:15:12He's also studied how the originals were made over 2,000 years ago.
0:15:12 > 0:15:14- What do we do with this? - Are we building it up?
0:15:21 > 0:15:23Apparently the bodies are not sculpted
0:15:23 > 0:15:26but made with the kind of coil pot technique
0:15:26 > 0:15:28most of us have tried at school.
0:15:32 > 0:15:35Looking at the ranks of the Terracotta Soldiers,
0:15:35 > 0:15:39it's clear their bodies are variations on standard shapes,
0:15:39 > 0:15:41with arms, legs and torsos
0:15:41 > 0:15:46made up of a series of clay cylinders joined together.
0:15:46 > 0:15:49Oh, we're building a house, are we? OK.
0:15:49 > 0:15:51And I suppose, really, when it comes down to it,
0:15:51 > 0:15:54and I know this is an unusual type of pot,
0:15:54 > 0:15:57but it really is just a big coil pot, isn't it?
0:15:58 > 0:16:02What gives each warrior its sense of real distinct character is
0:16:02 > 0:16:05the head and the face.
0:16:09 > 0:16:13And again, it's all about ease of production. The mould, we've got it.
0:16:13 > 0:16:17This makes more sense. Moulding makes sense to me.
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Right. One, two, three.
0:16:20 > 0:16:22Yes! This is art.
0:16:24 > 0:16:28In fact, making a head turns out to be even easier than the body.
0:16:28 > 0:16:30And it seems anyone with a bit of practice
0:16:30 > 0:16:34could produce heads pretty quickly using this moulding technique.
0:16:41 > 0:16:42Oh! Look at that.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45- Look at that.- That's fantastic.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48His nose needs a little bit of work there.
0:16:48 > 0:16:51There's something really magical about putting
0:16:51 > 0:16:53a lump of clay into a mould like that
0:16:53 > 0:16:56and then suddenly what you've got is a face looking back at you.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58Brilliant.
0:16:58 > 0:17:03The key to this is the original head from which the mould was made.
0:17:03 > 0:17:05Someone had to sculpt that head
0:17:05 > 0:17:08using techniques that were unheard of in China.
0:17:10 > 0:17:15This is our first clear sign of an outside influence.
0:17:20 > 0:17:23From the maker's marks on the original warriors,
0:17:23 > 0:17:26they've identified just five separate workshops making
0:17:26 > 0:17:28the entire Terracotta Army.
0:17:33 > 0:17:37So the mass production of thousand of warriors could have been based
0:17:37 > 0:17:40on a combination of skilled Chinese potters
0:17:40 > 0:17:44guided by a small team of outside instructors.
0:17:44 > 0:17:48Is it possible those instructors came from the West?
0:17:51 > 0:17:54A few miles from the Emperor's mausoleum
0:17:54 > 0:17:57lies his ancient capital city Xi'an.
0:18:03 > 0:18:06It's really only in the last 20 years
0:18:06 > 0:18:08that China has opened up to the Western world.
0:18:10 > 0:18:14I mean, it's not hard to imagine how extraordinary it would have been
0:18:14 > 0:18:18for Westerners to find themselves here in the 3rd century BC.
0:18:21 > 0:18:27In a totally alien culture on the other side of the world.
0:18:27 > 0:18:29If that is what happened,
0:18:29 > 0:18:33it took someone of extraordinary vision to make it happen.
0:18:36 > 0:18:40China's First Emperor - Qin Shi Huangdi.
0:18:43 > 0:18:45This was a revolutionary ruler
0:18:45 > 0:18:48who transcended all the boundaries of his age.
0:18:50 > 0:18:57In 221 BC, at the age of 40, he put an end to 250 years of war,
0:18:57 > 0:19:01conquering six neighbouring states
0:19:01 > 0:19:06and forging the civilisation we know today as China.
0:19:06 > 0:19:10This was the ancient foundation of the modern superpower.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14The Emperor dreamt that his nation would last forever
0:19:14 > 0:19:17and he wanted to stamp his mark on it.
0:19:21 > 0:19:24Yet if he recruited Westerners to help him create his mausoleum,
0:19:24 > 0:19:26bringing them here could have been one of
0:19:26 > 0:19:29the greatest challenges of his reign.
0:19:32 > 0:19:35There is no history of an established route
0:19:35 > 0:19:38in 3rd century BC connecting China with the West.
0:19:40 > 0:19:44The Silk Road is not mentioned by name for centuries.
0:19:46 > 0:19:50So did the Emperor open this world famous highway long before
0:19:50 > 0:19:52the history books acknowledge?
0:19:54 > 0:19:57Our only contemporary reference does suggest road building was one of
0:19:57 > 0:19:59the Emperor's major priorities.
0:20:02 > 0:20:06Now according to the Shiji, in 220 BC,
0:20:06 > 0:20:10after a tour of inspection over terrible bumpy roads,
0:20:10 > 0:20:14the First Emperor ordered the construction of a series of
0:20:14 > 0:20:17speedways radiating out from the capital.
0:20:17 > 0:20:20But is there any trace of that network?
0:20:24 > 0:20:27The mausoleum's archaeology team has invited Albert to see
0:20:27 > 0:20:30a new excavation very close to the Emperor's tomb.
0:20:36 > 0:20:40THEY SPEAK IN OWN LANGUAGE
0:20:43 > 0:20:45Lead archaeologist Zhang Weixing
0:20:45 > 0:20:48believes they've uncovered an ancient road.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53Peel this tarp back.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59At first sight it looks narrow for an imperial highway.
0:21:01 > 0:21:02So when I first came in here
0:21:02 > 0:21:06I thought that they were excavating the length of the road.
0:21:06 > 0:21:09I mean, it looks about the size of a road.
0:21:09 > 0:21:12But what we're seeing from the tracks is that actually
0:21:12 > 0:21:14the road is going this way.
0:21:15 > 0:21:18Oh, yeah. Yeah, you really get a sense of it here.
0:21:18 > 0:21:20MAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:21:21 > 0:21:24Zhang believes this is the cross section
0:21:24 > 0:21:25of a vast multi-lane highway
0:21:25 > 0:21:29built to bring men and materials to the Emperor's tomb.
0:21:29 > 0:21:31Towards the mausoleum?
0:21:32 > 0:21:36OK, so this was part of the, I guess,
0:21:36 > 0:21:38the construction process, you know.
0:21:38 > 0:21:40Wow! Look at that.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42When you look at the size of that mound,
0:21:42 > 0:21:46it must have been a lot of material that was moved
0:21:46 > 0:21:48to build basically a mountain.
0:21:48 > 0:21:55These are the tracks of carts that have pressed down in the earth
0:21:55 > 0:21:58since Qing dynasty, over 2,000 years ago.
0:22:00 > 0:22:03The huge width of this highway shows the Chinese were masters of
0:22:03 > 0:22:07road engineering on a vast scale,
0:22:07 > 0:22:11capable of building the national network described in the Shiji.
0:22:13 > 0:22:16Perhaps reaching beyond China itself.
0:22:19 > 0:22:22We need to find that hidden network...
0:22:24 > 0:22:28..which means Albert will need the latest aerial sensing technology.
0:22:33 > 0:22:36My own investigation, meanwhile, is gathering pace.
0:22:38 > 0:22:40The Terracotta Army gave us
0:22:40 > 0:22:44the first traces of possible Western input.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47But I've just come across a paper written by a German academic
0:22:47 > 0:22:52describing a set of terracotta figures whose body show
0:22:52 > 0:22:56unmistakable signs of a Western hand.
0:22:58 > 0:23:01No-one knows what these figures are meant to be,
0:23:01 > 0:23:04the Chinese call them the Acrobats.
0:23:10 > 0:23:15They were discovered in a small pit very close to the Emperor's tomb
0:23:15 > 0:23:18where I've arranged to meet Dr Lukas Nickel.
0:23:22 > 0:23:23Ah, Lukas, hi.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25Dan, nice seeing you.
0:23:25 > 0:23:27It's very good to be here. I've read your paper.
0:23:27 > 0:23:28Have a look at this one.
0:23:30 > 0:23:33Here we have a figure with a semi-naked body.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36Just this little piece of cloth around his hip
0:23:36 > 0:23:39and what we see is a building of a body.
0:23:39 > 0:23:44If we look at the arms, we have musculature, we have an idea,
0:23:44 > 0:23:47an understanding of the build.
0:23:47 > 0:23:49- Also big muscles over the kneecap. - If you remember,
0:23:49 > 0:23:52the Terracotta Warriors are basically standing that way.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55It looks like a torso with arms and legs just stuck in,
0:23:55 > 0:24:00but there's no attempt to build a proper working human body.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05There are believed to be more than 50 of these acrobats
0:24:05 > 0:24:09and the conservation team is still trying to piece them together
0:24:09 > 0:24:11from thousands of fragments.
0:24:12 > 0:24:16Unlike the Terracotta Warriors, they're not made to a template.
0:24:18 > 0:24:23Each one appears to be individually sculpted by an experienced artist.
0:24:28 > 0:24:32This is now a totally different quality of sculpture.
0:24:32 > 0:24:36They want to show an anatomically correct movement
0:24:36 > 0:24:39in a quite acceptable, believable way he puts one foot in front,
0:24:39 > 0:24:44the other one behind, and you see that the whole body,
0:24:44 > 0:24:45relax the knees,
0:24:45 > 0:24:48the hip and the upper part of the body are moving along.
0:24:48 > 0:24:51Your first impression, that is classically Greek.
0:24:51 > 0:24:53Yes, absolutely, no question about that.
0:24:53 > 0:24:56It's something we only find in Greece.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58Only the Greeks would do that.
0:24:58 > 0:25:02The people who made this had an understand of how Greeks
0:25:02 > 0:25:05would make sculptures. That is extremely surprising.
0:25:05 > 0:25:09To show the human body in this kind of convincing, lifelike stance,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11that is extremely complicated.
0:25:11 > 0:25:13That is something we know in Greece
0:25:13 > 0:25:16that had taken centuries to learn this.
0:25:16 > 0:25:19Suddenly at the end of the 3rd century BC in China we get that,
0:25:19 > 0:25:22and that is very close to a Greek idea.
0:25:22 > 0:25:26So you're seriously suggesting that that statue might have been sculpted
0:25:26 > 0:25:29by a Greek sculptor who came all the way out here
0:25:29 > 0:25:31and made it for the Emperor?
0:25:31 > 0:25:32Well, I imagine a Greek sculptor
0:25:32 > 0:25:35may have come here to train the locals.
0:25:37 > 0:25:40It's just... I mean, that's amazing.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46This feels like a huge breakthrough.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Possible evidence of Western instructors
0:25:50 > 0:25:54working in China 2,200 years ago,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58perhaps the same people who helped to create the Terracotta Army.
0:26:01 > 0:26:04But how did the Emperor know where to find them?
0:26:06 > 0:26:09How did they get here?
0:26:18 > 0:26:20At the end of the 4th century BC,
0:26:20 > 0:26:25Alexander the Great bursts out of Greece here, out of Macedon,
0:26:25 > 0:26:28and conquers a huge empire in Asia.
0:26:32 > 0:26:35So Alexander the Great's empire reaches it's high watermark
0:26:35 > 0:26:39around about the time of his death, 323 BC.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42Then in...
0:26:42 > 0:26:47Well, from 220 BC onwards another young, charismatic leader,
0:26:47 > 0:26:48Qin Shi Huangdi,
0:26:48 > 0:26:54creates the beginnings of modern China, unifying China.
0:26:54 > 0:26:59Now...did this first emperor of China take advantage of the narrow
0:26:59 > 0:27:03gap that now existed between the Greek world and his Chinese world
0:27:03 > 0:27:08to import ideas, techniques, materials, maybe even people?
0:27:10 > 0:27:14Suddenly China doesn't seem so isolated.
0:27:17 > 0:27:20Albert is already planning his search for the road
0:27:20 > 0:27:21that might have bridged that gap.
0:27:21 > 0:27:24That's about a mile, right? So a mile from here to here.
0:27:24 > 0:27:26While Alice is looking for the human evidence of foreigners
0:27:26 > 0:27:28who might have come here.
0:27:32 > 0:27:36So far they've found more than 600 separate pits
0:27:36 > 0:27:39in this vast mausoleum complex.
0:27:41 > 0:27:45And one of things they've discovered is that the Emperor didn't just take
0:27:45 > 0:27:47terracotta figures to the next world.
0:27:57 > 0:28:00Real people were sacrificed to go with him.
0:28:05 > 0:28:08This skull is from one of 99 shallow graves
0:28:08 > 0:28:10just north of the Emperor's tomb.
0:28:11 > 0:28:15Suggesting their occupants were very close to the Emperor himself.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21The first revelation is that this skull, like all the others...
0:28:22 > 0:28:24..belonged to a young woman.
0:28:29 > 0:28:32And Alice has found a passage in the Shiji
0:28:32 > 0:28:34that could explain their mass burial.
0:28:35 > 0:28:38"Of the women in the harem of the former ruler
0:28:38 > 0:28:43"it would be unfitting to have those who bore no sons sent elsewhere.
0:28:43 > 0:28:47"All were accordingly ordered to accompany the dead man
0:28:47 > 0:28:50"which resulted in the death of many women."
0:28:50 > 0:28:52If this skull belonged to one of those women,
0:28:52 > 0:28:56she was sacrificed for failing to give the Emperor a son.
0:28:59 > 0:29:03Alice is going to see if she can find out more about this girl's life
0:29:03 > 0:29:07as well as her untimely death from lead archaeologist Mr Zhu.
0:29:09 > 0:29:12So you think these bones could possibly be
0:29:12 > 0:29:15the female consorts of the Emperor, the concubines?
0:29:51 > 0:29:54They also have poignant evidence of how she lived.
0:30:10 > 0:30:14These pearls are absolutely beautiful.
0:30:14 > 0:30:18But we are looking at the jewellery that was worn by a woman
0:30:18 > 0:30:22who lived in the 3rd century BC, a woman who during life
0:30:22 > 0:30:26enjoyed a special position at court and high status.
0:30:26 > 0:30:32But she was killed, potentially brutally killed,
0:30:32 > 0:30:36and her only crime was to have been a concubine of
0:30:36 > 0:30:39the First Emperor of China.
0:30:47 > 0:30:51This tragic story may yet have another twist.
0:30:54 > 0:30:57Before China was unified, local rulers used concubines
0:30:57 > 0:31:01to forge alliances with neighbouring states through marriage.
0:31:04 > 0:31:08It's quite possible the first Emperor took that idea beyond
0:31:08 > 0:31:12China's borders for the first time and brought in foreign concubines.
0:31:17 > 0:31:20The mausoleum is beginning a DNA study to try and trace
0:31:20 > 0:31:23the girl's origins.
0:31:23 > 0:31:27The problem is, unlocking those secrets could take many months.
0:31:29 > 0:31:32Alice's search for Westerners in China continues.
0:31:47 > 0:31:49Albert is ready to start his aerial search for
0:31:49 > 0:31:51the Emperor's road network.
0:31:53 > 0:31:59What we want to do is create a systematic path. So this is...
0:31:59 > 0:32:01They're staying close to the tomb
0:32:01 > 0:32:04where they already know that there was road construction.
0:32:04 > 0:32:06It's open field. Shall we try it?
0:32:12 > 0:32:16Albert has borrowed a prototype super sensitive infrared camera.
0:32:17 > 0:32:21This is the first time it's ever been used in aerial archaeology.
0:32:23 > 0:32:25There we are, at the very edge.
0:32:25 > 0:32:28And we're looking for a change in the temperature.
0:32:28 > 0:32:30The blue area is where it's a little bit colder.
0:32:30 > 0:32:32The red area is where it's a little bit warmer.
0:32:32 > 0:32:35And we're talking very subtle amounts here.
0:32:35 > 0:32:38The camera's able to pick up the faintest traces left deep in
0:32:38 > 0:32:41the earth by centuries of human disturbance.
0:32:44 > 0:32:47Albert adds this to satellite imagery
0:32:47 > 0:32:51creating a comprehensive deep time picture of the site.
0:32:51 > 0:32:58THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE
0:32:58 > 0:33:02And right away there is something that Zhang hasn't seen before.
0:33:03 > 0:33:07MAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:33:09 > 0:33:13MAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:33:13 > 0:33:17A diagonal line on the landscape. It just doesn't seem to belong.
0:33:22 > 0:33:27MAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE
0:33:27 > 0:33:32So you're saying that if this is man-made, then it's a game changer?
0:33:34 > 0:33:37Really exciting.
0:33:37 > 0:33:40THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE
0:33:42 > 0:33:45Could this be the first sign of the road network?
0:33:47 > 0:33:50The only way to know is to get out into the field
0:33:50 > 0:33:52and do a ground survey
0:33:52 > 0:33:55to make sure that what Albert's seen from above
0:33:55 > 0:33:59is nothing obviously modern like a sewer pipe or gas line.
0:34:10 > 0:34:11All right.
0:34:13 > 0:34:14Let's go take a look.
0:34:17 > 0:34:19This is really cool.
0:34:22 > 0:34:25It's clearly not a pipeline.
0:34:25 > 0:34:32In fact, it doesn't seem to have any obvious use, at least not any more.
0:34:48 > 0:34:52OK. Where we're standing right now is right here.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57And what I didn't know until just this moment was what this was.
0:34:57 > 0:35:02But now I'm standing here and what it is is this massive trench
0:35:02 > 0:35:07over six feet below the surface of the rest of these farms
0:35:07 > 0:35:10with no real explanation for its existence.
0:35:10 > 0:35:12There's no reason to have this huge trench here,
0:35:12 > 0:35:14there's no river here, there's nothing else.
0:35:14 > 0:35:18But, and if I'm right, then what I'm standing on right here could be
0:35:18 > 0:35:22one of the roads of the network of roads built by the First Emperor.
0:35:25 > 0:35:28It's a breakthrough, but in the wrong direction.
0:35:28 > 0:35:33The new line goes north-east towards the interior of China.
0:35:33 > 0:35:36We need something heading north-west.
0:35:41 > 0:35:44So it's back to the aerial data.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55There's this faint signature of some kind of an anomaly
0:35:55 > 0:35:58that's running north-west.
0:35:58 > 0:36:00You see that right there?
0:36:02 > 0:36:06It looks like it's meeting right at the same point and it looks like
0:36:06 > 0:36:10it's the exact same feature that we just ground trooped.
0:36:10 > 0:36:14What looks like to be another road here.
0:36:14 > 0:36:17And they're literally radiating out.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21Our big question is - where would the western road be going to?
0:36:21 > 0:36:23And how far?
0:36:26 > 0:36:30The rest of that ancient road is buried under the modern landscape,
0:36:30 > 0:36:34but there is a natural line it could have followed 2,000 years ago
0:36:34 > 0:36:36along the Wei River valley.
0:36:36 > 0:36:41And there is a possible destination described in the Shiji.
0:36:43 > 0:36:48The most western extent of the empire at the time
0:36:48 > 0:36:52was this town called Lintao.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56The Shiji describes it as, "A garrison town."
0:36:56 > 0:37:00It was part of this story of the Great Wall.
0:37:01 > 0:37:05The First Emperor created the first Great Wall of China.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09Over 5,000km long,
0:37:09 > 0:37:14the wall's starting point and base of construction was at Lintao.
0:37:16 > 0:37:19It must have been a huge project.
0:37:19 > 0:37:22There's builders there, there's soldiers there,
0:37:22 > 0:37:26communication was key and the roads that this person built,
0:37:26 > 0:37:29the First Emperor, they were the key to that communication.
0:37:31 > 0:37:32OK.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36Albert, how's it going?
0:37:36 > 0:37:38- 'Hey, Dan.' - What have you found?
0:37:38 > 0:37:41I'm actually seeing around the First Emperor's tomb site
0:37:41 > 0:37:43a road going west.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45Really?! Really?!
0:37:45 > 0:37:49Farthest it would go that we would know of so far
0:37:49 > 0:37:51would be this town of Lintao.
0:37:51 > 0:37:54'The most western extent of the entire empire.'
0:37:54 > 0:37:57That is very interesting information. Congratulations.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04If there was a road going from here as far as Lintao,
0:38:04 > 0:38:09can we find any historic reference connecting Lintao to the West?
0:38:14 > 0:38:18What's great is there is actually another source that we've got.
0:38:18 > 0:38:21And it's not often talked about, but it was just shown to me
0:38:21 > 0:38:23the other day and it's absolutely fascinating.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26It says, "In the 26th year of the Emperor," which is about 220 BC,
0:38:26 > 0:38:32in Lintao, it said, "Daren appeared," that's tall men.
0:38:32 > 0:38:34I love that description.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36Tall men. They didn't have a word for statue.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40But, this is the best bit, "All dressed in foreign robes."
0:38:40 > 0:38:43How interesting. Statues.
0:38:43 > 0:38:46That is what would become known as the Silk Route through that.
0:38:46 > 0:38:49Lintao is perfectly placed. That makes a lot of sense.
0:38:49 > 0:38:53And there's more written about these Lintao statues.
0:38:54 > 0:38:57Apparently the Emperor had giant copies made in bronze
0:38:57 > 0:38:59to adorn his palace in Xi'an.
0:38:59 > 0:39:01It says,
0:39:01 > 0:39:04"Weapons from all over the empire were confiscated and melted down
0:39:04 > 0:39:08"to be used in casting bells, bell stands and 12 men made of metal."
0:39:08 > 0:39:12He's melting down all of those weapons and creating these statues
0:39:12 > 0:39:15as a symbol of his power over that empire.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18It's straight out the playbook of the great conquerors of
0:39:18 > 0:39:19the Mediterranean -
0:39:19 > 0:39:21the Alexanders, the Ramesses,
0:39:21 > 0:39:24erecting massive statues to reinforce their own might,
0:39:24 > 0:39:27dominance, legitimacy.
0:39:27 > 0:39:32Sadly there are no traces left of the Emperor's original bronze statues.
0:39:34 > 0:39:39But the story suggests he wanted the kudos of exotic foreign culture.
0:39:39 > 0:39:43And we may have discovered the origins of the sculptures
0:39:43 > 0:39:45who brought that culture to China
0:39:45 > 0:39:48thanks to a new discovery made by Dr Lukas Nickel.
0:39:52 > 0:39:57- Ever seen something comparable? - That looks very familiar.
0:39:57 > 0:39:59- What about this one? - That is very similar to the stuff
0:39:59 > 0:40:02- we're seeing here at the Terracotta Army.- Absolutely.
0:40:02 > 0:40:06This idea of realism and this idea to try to make
0:40:06 > 0:40:11a believable figure, that is totally comparable to what we see in China.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14That is a sculpture made in Afghanistan,
0:40:14 > 0:40:18where the Greeks established a lot of cities at this time.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22What we have here, that's a local ruler who apparently employed
0:40:22 > 0:40:26Greek craftsmen to make sculptures for his palace.
0:40:26 > 0:40:29These Greek craftsmen had the idea, well, why not even moving
0:40:29 > 0:40:35further east to the Chinese, of which we know that they're extremely rich.
0:40:35 > 0:40:38And that's going on in what is now Afghanistan?
0:40:38 > 0:40:41I mean, that's not very, very far from here, really.
0:40:41 > 0:40:46It's about the same distance to Athens as it is to the Chinese capital of Xi'an.
0:40:47 > 0:40:52Albert believes he's found the start of the Emperor's Road network...
0:40:52 > 0:40:56and his hunch that that network could go much further west
0:40:56 > 0:40:59seems to be correct.
0:40:59 > 0:41:01Albert, how are you doing?
0:41:01 > 0:41:04Have you seen some good stuff as well?
0:41:04 > 0:41:05- Oh, yeah.- Hm. Some fun stuff.
0:41:05 > 0:41:10Lukas just showed me some extraordinary images of art
0:41:10 > 0:41:15from Afghanistan on the borders of modern day China,
0:41:15 > 0:41:20- and on what would become known as the Silk Road.- Looks quite familiar.
0:41:20 > 0:41:24Looks quite familiar? I mean, we're not talking about people coming from Athens,
0:41:24 > 0:41:26we're talking from Afghanistan, Tajikistan here.
0:41:26 > 0:41:29Basically, what we're saying is very similar art styles,
0:41:29 > 0:41:31very similar timeframe
0:41:31 > 0:41:34and a bunch of connection points between these two.
0:41:34 > 0:41:36Bang! East and West.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39INDISTINCT
0:41:39 > 0:41:44We know the Emperor has Western-style statues created for his capital.
0:41:44 > 0:41:48We think there were itinerant Greek sculptors moving east
0:41:48 > 0:41:50to a city in what is now Afghanistan.
0:41:50 > 0:41:56And it seems there was probably a road linking Xi'an at least as far as Lintao.
0:41:56 > 0:42:00So a picture is emerging of a cultural highway
0:42:00 > 0:42:04between West and East, a prototype Silk Road.
0:42:08 > 0:42:11But the picture is not yet complete.
0:42:12 > 0:42:14- Hello? - HORN BLARES
0:42:14 > 0:42:16Oh, hi, Alice. How are you doing?
0:42:16 > 0:42:20We've got archaeology, we've got a culture of art techniques of art -
0:42:20 > 0:42:24what we don't have is any people. You're the people person.
0:42:24 > 0:42:26It would be nice to see some evidence.
0:42:26 > 0:42:29I'm headed now to the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology.
0:42:29 > 0:42:34I'm hoping I'm going to see some of the mausoleum workers' bones.
0:42:34 > 0:42:39I've talked to the archaeologists and they've hinted that there
0:42:39 > 0:42:41might be some kind of Western connection there,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44so I'm really intrigued to have a look at this.
0:42:44 > 0:42:50The remains Alice is going to see were found several kilometres east of the Terracotta Army.
0:42:50 > 0:42:55They're believed to be tomb workers because they were buried in a mass grave at the same period,
0:42:55 > 0:42:58close to the remains of a pottery kiln.
0:43:03 > 0:43:08There's one skull in particular that I'm really intrigued to have a look at,
0:43:08 > 0:43:12because it might offer some kind of connection to people outside of China.
0:43:15 > 0:43:21The Shaanxi Institute is the central depositary for all human remains found in the Emperor's mausoleum.
0:43:23 > 0:43:26Because of their sacred and sensitive nature,
0:43:26 > 0:43:31those remains are closely guarded and access rarely granted.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37According to the Shiji, the Emperor brought 700,000 men
0:43:37 > 0:43:42from all across China and possibly beyond to build his mausoleum -
0:43:42 > 0:43:47more than 20 times the number who built Egypt's Great Pyramid at Giza.
0:43:50 > 0:43:56And Professor Sun has evidence that the human cost was correspondingly high.
0:43:59 > 0:44:03- Gosh. So do you think this would have gone round the neck?- Yeah.
0:44:03 > 0:44:06Of these individuals. So they're hardly willing workers.
0:44:06 > 0:44:11- Would you consider them to be slaves?- Criminal.
0:44:11 > 0:44:13- Criminals?- Yeah.
0:44:13 > 0:44:16- Criminals who were then conscripted to come and work on the tomb.- Yeah.
0:44:16 > 0:44:21And presumably executed? I mean, these are young men.
0:44:21 > 0:44:25We presume this was not a natural death that they suffered.
0:44:29 > 0:44:32Among the mass victims of the Emperor's brutal forced labour,
0:44:32 > 0:44:37there is one individual, according to Professor Sun,
0:44:37 > 0:44:40whose features don't look Chinese.
0:44:40 > 0:44:43HE SPEAKS IN HIS OWN LANGUAGE
0:44:43 > 0:44:46It is quite intriguing to look at him.
0:44:46 > 0:44:51This doesn't really look like a typically East Asian skull.
0:44:53 > 0:44:57I'm looking for features which might be typical
0:44:57 > 0:44:59of an East Asian skull, and they're not there.
0:44:59 > 0:45:04Instead, this skull has got quite prominent nasal bones,
0:45:04 > 0:45:06and its cheekbones are different as well.
0:45:06 > 0:45:11They're not the flattened cheekbones that I would expect to see.
0:45:11 > 0:45:13I think it would be fantastic if we could do
0:45:13 > 0:45:16a bit of further analysis on this skull.
0:45:17 > 0:45:22There's a tantalising possibility we could be looking at an outsider,
0:45:22 > 0:45:25perhaps from beyond China's western border.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28A simple DNA test would confirm it,
0:45:28 > 0:45:31but they won't let Alice take a sample.
0:45:31 > 0:45:35Precise cranial measurements are the only other option.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39What would be great is if we could reconstruct the face
0:45:39 > 0:45:43of this young man, so that we can see what he would have looked like in life.
0:45:47 > 0:45:51Reconstructing the face involves weeks of digital recreation,
0:45:51 > 0:45:55building muscle groups onto a computer model of the skull.
0:45:59 > 0:46:03But the real scientific data lies in the skull itself.
0:46:06 > 0:46:09Alice is using a global database of skull types,
0:46:09 > 0:46:13which may help pin down the origins of our tomb worker.
0:46:17 > 0:46:20Albert logs on to witness the long-awaited reveal,
0:46:20 > 0:46:25and Alice and I get ready to greet our worker face-to-face.
0:46:27 > 0:46:28Here we go.
0:46:31 > 0:46:34- Here it is!- The moment of truth.
0:46:34 > 0:46:37I can't wait to see what this reconstruction looks like.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43- There we go.- Interesting!
0:46:43 > 0:46:45- Oh, wow!- Oh!
0:46:45 > 0:46:48- OK.- Polystyrene sticking to him.
0:46:49 > 0:46:51Wow!
0:46:51 > 0:46:54Well, he does look incredibly realistic.
0:46:54 > 0:46:56What do you think, Albert?
0:46:56 > 0:46:59Camera's coming in for extreme close-up.
0:46:59 > 0:47:03The thing that sends little tingles up my spine is that this may be
0:47:03 > 0:47:09the closest we get to actually being in that moment in that time.
0:47:09 > 0:47:12You know, this is one of the guys who built that entire tomb!
0:47:12 > 0:47:16It's quite incredible, isn't it, to look at this reconstruction,
0:47:16 > 0:47:18having seen the skull in China,
0:47:18 > 0:47:23this is our best guess at what this man looked like in life.
0:47:23 > 0:47:26My analysis of the skull was quite interesting.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29I took lots of measurements of the skull when we were
0:47:29 > 0:47:34out in China and came out as very definitely not Western.
0:47:34 > 0:47:38- He's not from the West.- Um, um, um, um...- Doesn't help us, does it?
0:47:38 > 0:47:42It's not the smoking gun. Tantalising.
0:47:42 > 0:47:49It would have been very nice to find a ginger bloke in the Tomb of the First Emperor.
0:47:49 > 0:47:55But we'd have been incredibly lucky, I suppose, to find the one skeleton
0:47:55 > 0:47:58amongst the tens of thousands that must be lying around there.
0:48:00 > 0:48:05The data puts our man outside mainland China, but in a vast area -
0:48:05 > 0:48:10from Afghanistan to the Pacific Islands.
0:48:10 > 0:48:13Plausible evidence that there may have been outsiders working
0:48:13 > 0:48:17on the tomb, and it supports the controversial theory
0:48:17 > 0:48:22that the First Emperor could have imported foreigners and foreign ideas.
0:48:28 > 0:48:33There are always new discoveries coming out of this vast mausoleum site...
0:48:37 > 0:48:41..and one of them has thrown us a new line of inquiry.
0:48:43 > 0:48:47Not in terracotta, but in bronze.
0:48:47 > 0:48:50And not of human figures, but animals.
0:48:52 > 0:48:5746 bronze water birds were found in a pit north of the Emperor's Tomb,
0:48:57 > 0:49:01all beautifully arranged as though feeding at an ornamental pond.
0:49:08 > 0:49:13It's a type of bronze sculpture that appeared in China almost overnight.
0:49:14 > 0:49:18Nothing like it had been seen here before the First Emperor.
0:49:28 > 0:49:30It's such a beautiful piece of sculpture.
0:49:31 > 0:49:34And it's not just a beautiful object.
0:49:34 > 0:49:39It might be the techniques for making it came from the West.
0:49:39 > 0:49:42The technique is called direct lost-wax,
0:49:42 > 0:49:48and its origins can be traced back to the Mediterranean 5,000 years ago.
0:49:54 > 0:49:56Before I can talk to the researcher
0:49:56 > 0:49:58who has the key piece of evidence,
0:49:58 > 0:50:01I'm told I need to see the basic process
0:50:01 > 0:50:03to understand quite how complex it is.
0:50:07 > 0:50:08As the name suggests,
0:50:08 > 0:50:13they start with a design carved out of wax, then go through
0:50:13 > 0:50:18a series of processes to replace that wax with bronze.
0:50:18 > 0:50:22So this is a sort of mould that gets created around the wax,
0:50:22 > 0:50:27and it's this mould that will give the shape to the bronze. So clever!
0:50:28 > 0:50:32Lost-wax took centuries to perfect in the West,
0:50:32 > 0:50:35and watching it today, I can understand why!
0:50:38 > 0:50:40So this is the big moment. It's all about to be put together.
0:50:40 > 0:50:42This is their action now.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48Wow! Molten bronze.
0:50:48 > 0:50:53It's fascinating to watch, but how good are the results?
0:50:56 > 0:50:59Ooh! Look at that!
0:50:59 > 0:51:04The bronze has taken the form of that wax absolutely perfectly.
0:51:05 > 0:51:08So, they're going to cut these off,
0:51:08 > 0:51:12stick a head on it and you've got a wonderful bird fit for an emperor.
0:51:14 > 0:51:16Ah! Hot!
0:51:16 > 0:51:22It's clear this process is too complex to stumble on by accident,
0:51:22 > 0:51:26but did someone bring a version of it to China 2,000 years ago?
0:51:29 > 0:51:31According to Dr Shao Anding,
0:51:31 > 0:51:36there is telltale evidence of the direct lost-wax technique.
0:51:38 > 0:51:41It's hidden inside this swan's graceful, delicate neck.
0:51:43 > 0:51:47A reinforced structural core of clay.
0:51:49 > 0:51:52- This is evidence, a core like that, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:51:52 > 0:51:56So if you want to create these very natural shapes, you need like
0:51:56 > 0:51:59- a reinforcing rod running through it to give it that shape.- Yeah.
0:51:59 > 0:52:04- If you don't have this core rod... - Just snap off.
0:52:04 > 0:52:09- Yeah, yeah.- Shao only discovered the core rod when he X-rayed the swan.
0:52:09 > 0:52:16- Oh! There you go. Is that the rod? - Yes, yes.- That's very clear.- Yes.
0:52:16 > 0:52:19That's the reinforcing rod on an X-ray.
0:52:19 > 0:52:23It hadn't been seen in Chinese bronze before.
0:52:23 > 0:52:26We see similar in Egypt bronze sculpture.
0:52:26 > 0:52:29- In Egypt?- Yes.
0:52:29 > 0:52:32- Wow.- I can show you. - No! Look at that!
0:52:32 > 0:52:35- Yes.- That's uncanny. It's got the reinforcing rod there.
0:52:35 > 0:52:39Yes, yes, yeah. It's the same techniques.
0:52:39 > 0:52:44So you're saying this technique was normal in the Mediterranean
0:52:44 > 0:52:46and never been seen before in China?
0:52:46 > 0:52:49Yeah. We haven't seen it.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53These techniques are perfect,
0:52:53 > 0:52:58so it's influenced or borrowed from the West.
0:52:58 > 0:52:59Wow.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01That's pretty good evidence!
0:53:07 > 0:53:13We now have strong evidence of Western metal workers in China in the third century BC.
0:53:18 > 0:53:21Added to the evidence of Greek trained sculptors,
0:53:21 > 0:53:25it suggests there was a community of workers brought here by the Emperor.
0:53:27 > 0:53:31But unlike terracotta, when it came to bronze,
0:53:31 > 0:53:35the Chinese took imported technology to a whole new level.
0:53:37 > 0:53:44In the heart of the mausoleum is a gallery showcasing the genius of the Emperor's bronze workers.
0:53:49 > 0:53:52Objects like these.
0:53:52 > 0:53:58Two half-size replicas of Imperial carriages made entirely of bronze.
0:54:01 > 0:54:03I don't think I've ever seen anything
0:54:03 > 0:54:06so beautiful of this antiquity.
0:54:06 > 0:54:10Over 2,000 years this remained underground.
0:54:10 > 0:54:15So lifelike, you can feel the energy in those horses.
0:54:15 > 0:54:20I love the fact that it's just waiting, key in the ignition,
0:54:20 > 0:54:24ready for the Emperor to rise in the afterlife, take his position
0:54:24 > 0:54:28and be taken off to visit his new underground kingdom.
0:54:37 > 0:54:40We're getting a clearer and clearer picture of how the Emperor
0:54:40 > 0:54:44used Western techniques to enhance his newly unified empire.
0:54:47 > 0:54:53And creating the physical infrastructure to connect to communities far beyond his borders.
0:54:57 > 0:55:00But we haven't yet found evidence of Western people.
0:55:05 > 0:55:12However, Alice has heard about a new study of human remains from around the time of the First Emperor,
0:55:12 > 0:55:16and she's meeting its author, geneticist Josh Xu Zhi.
0:55:16 > 0:55:20- Hello, Alice.- Hello, Josh!- Nice to meet you.- Really nice to meet you.
0:55:20 > 0:55:22- Have a seat.- Thank you.
0:55:24 > 0:55:29They had a European specific mitochondria DNA.
0:55:29 > 0:55:32- A U...- Oh, yeah.
0:55:32 > 0:55:36Most of them are U.
0:55:36 > 0:55:41So, U on my map here is something which is much more common,
0:55:41 > 0:55:44much more frequent in Europe, definitely European looking,
0:55:44 > 0:55:47so this is really intriguing.
0:55:47 > 0:55:49This must be evidence at some point, then,
0:55:49 > 0:55:55of people with European mitochondrial DNA coming into Asia.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58It looks like some Western, erm,
0:55:58 > 0:56:03Europeans travelled there and they settled down and they died there.
0:56:03 > 0:56:07It does make you wonder if this is evidence of people moving
0:56:07 > 0:56:10- along a kind of proto Silk Route. - Yes.
0:56:12 > 0:56:15This DNA evidence was found here en route to China,
0:56:15 > 0:56:18and within its current border.
0:56:21 > 0:56:23It's news Alice needs to share.
0:56:26 > 0:56:30So I just met with Josh, who was the first author
0:56:30 > 0:56:34on this fantastic paper from Xinjiang Province.
0:56:34 > 0:56:37- Right, where the Silk Road is, basically.- Yes. OK.
0:56:37 > 0:56:42Right over in the West of China, and there they found a real mixture.
0:56:42 > 0:56:48European mitochondria DNA lineages mixed up with East Asian lineages.
0:56:48 > 0:56:53This goes back to the time of the whole great conquests.
0:56:53 > 0:56:57Yeah, yeah, yeah, and a real mixture of people.
0:56:57 > 0:57:01I would think that there has been an inspiration across the two worlds
0:57:01 > 0:57:03that you haven't fully accounted for.
0:57:13 > 0:57:19We began our journey with a simple question - what could explain the Terracotta Army?
0:57:22 > 0:57:28There was one explanation that was Earth-shattering in its implications.
0:57:28 > 0:57:33A direct link with the Western world centuries before it was thought possible.
0:57:37 > 0:57:40This is the Western end of that connection -
0:57:40 > 0:57:44the British Museum's collection of classical Greek sculpture.
0:57:49 > 0:57:53Is it possible that people that learned the skills
0:57:53 > 0:57:58that created these masterpieces helped to forge the legacy
0:57:58 > 0:58:02of the First Emperor of China? The experts certainly think so.
0:58:02 > 0:58:06It's a possibility. They really have some other culture stimulation.
0:58:06 > 0:58:10This understanding of sculpture was absolutely extraordinary.
0:58:10 > 0:58:14I believe Greek sculpture makers moved all the way
0:58:14 > 0:58:17to the Chinese capital and sold their trades to the First Emperor.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19And not just in terracotta.
0:58:19 > 0:58:25I'd say it is influenced or borrowed directly from the West.
0:58:25 > 0:58:31With evidence of an ancient road network that could have brought Westerners to China,
0:58:31 > 0:58:35and DNA evidence of Europeans living on China's doorstep.
0:58:35 > 0:58:38There's lots of evidence to show they really have
0:58:38 > 0:58:41communications between the East and the West.
0:58:41 > 0:58:45I think this story rewrites the history of the birth of China,
0:58:45 > 0:58:48today one of the most powerful nations on Earth.
0:58:48 > 0:58:51And it totally revolutionises our understanding of relations
0:58:51 > 0:58:54between East and West 2,000 years ago.
0:58:54 > 0:58:59But perhaps most importantly of all, it provides vital context
0:58:59 > 0:59:03that deepens and enriches our relationships in the present day.