Wood Use in the Terracotta Army Pits and Mausoleum of China's First Emperor

作为著名的世界文化遗产，秦始皇陵建筑群在过去的几十年里获得了很多学术界的关注，尤其是令人惊叹的兵马俑，他们装备着功能齐全的青铜武器。然而，大量用于建造辅助坑的木材却很少引起人们的注意，也从未进行过系统的研究。许多这些遗迹，包括横梁、柱子和木地板，都以木炭的形式保存下来，因为它们在建造后不久就被烧毁了，因此，通过研究这些木炭样本，我们可以研究木材的种类、木材资源的使用、可能的来源地区、过去的植被和气候特征。拟议的研究旨在解决上述问题，并调查空间分布，以更好地了解建筑实践和劳工组织。本研究将采用文献综述、木材木炭分析（解剖学）和稳定碳同位素分析，并结合空间分析和统计分析的见解。这项研究不仅可以帮助我们验证以前对遗址的解释，还可以告诉我们秦朝资源开采的整体景观。此外，它还可能更广泛地影响人们对早期帝国考古学的看法。

As a renowned World Heritage Site, the First Qin Emperor's mausoleum complex has been gained much academic attention in the past decades, particularly the stunning terracotta warriors equipped with functional bronze weapons. However, the large quantity of wood remains for constructing ancillary pits attracted less attention, and have never been systematically studied yet. Many of these remains, including beams, pillars, and wooden floor, have been preserved in the form of charcoal because they were burned shortly after the construction, therefore, it allows us to research the wood species, wood resources use, possible source region, past vegetation, and climatic features by studying these charcoal samples. The proposed research seeks to address issues mentioned above and investigate the spatial distribution to better understand the building practice and labour organization. Literature review, wood charcoal analysis (anatomy) and stable carbon isotope analysis would be used to conduct this research, combining with insight from spatial and statistical analysis. This research can not only help us to verify previous interpretations about remains found in the complex, but also tell us about whole landscapes of resource extraction in the Qin empire. Moreover, it may also impact people's views about the archaeology of early empires more generally.