Thursday, March 26, 2015

Crossbow Out of the Ground

The crossbow from the burial pit of the terra cotta army I wrote about last week, out of the ground and cleaned up.

4 comments:

G, Verloren said...

The second string running below the shaft line is interesting, I assume to act as a flex-brake to prevent the bow from "wobbling" after fire.

Would love some closer pictures though, as I can't make out enough about the trigger assembly to tell how it's fashioned. It looks fairly simplistic, which is one of several factors that suggest this is a (comparatively) low draw-weight bow.

Kpgoog said...

No way is that the same bow. It is maybe a reproduction? This shows a picture of the item up close. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/images/attachement/jpg/site1/20140228/eca86bd9dddf147a66300b.jpg

Kpgoog said...

Yup. "Featured image: Bronze crossbow similar to one recently excavated from the terra cotta army pit at Xi’an, Shaanxi province. This weapon was from a war chariot excavated from the Tomb of The First Emperor, Lintong, Shaanxi Province Qin Dynasty, circa 210 B.C. Representational image only. Credit: Oberlin College of Arts & Sciences"

Read more: http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/excellently-preserved-crossbow-2200-years-ago-terracotta-020269#ixzz3VWS5Ygzj
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John said...

Good catch.