24. 7. 2012 They created a replica of the shoes of the Terracotta Army

Nine years ago, scientists from Zlín sewed the new shoes of the Tomas Bata University in Zlín. They have completed a long-term research on the terracotta army. They created a replica of the shoes of Chinese warriors and found interesting things.

The shoes were made by a scientific team led by Petr Hlaváček. He said that about eight thousand soldiers are made very realistically and they have two types of shoes on their feet.

"One was apparently made of felt, the other of leather. The interesting thing is that the same types of footwear are on the feet of both soldiers and officers. Most likely, the army of the first Chinese emperor is the first Asian army to wear shoes regularly," Hlaváček stated at the time.
The Terracotta Army is one of the largest and richest mausoleums in the world. The uniquely constructed tomb is located near the Chinese city of Xi'an in Shanxi province in a place called Lishan. The total area of the site covers an incredible 56 square kilometres.

Investigations have confirmed that the tomb includes an army of more than eight thousand terracotta warriors buried underground dating back to around 220 BC. The statues are made of baked clay.

The actual production of the shoes in Zlín was preceded by research in which a team of scientists mapped the footwear on the ancient soldiers' statues. They are interested in all archaeological finds that relate to shoes. "And this is, of course, a case of exceptional or worldwide importance," Petr Hlaváček noted.
The team worked on this project for several years. They tested all the shoes thoroughly. According to Hlaváček, the felt shoes are indeed very comfortable."

We were really surprised that all the soldiers wore the same shoes regardless of their rank. This was not common in other armies in history," the head of the scientific team further stressed.
The researchers also found that the design flaws consisted of uncomfortable slipping off when walking, which is why the shoemakers of the time had to retrofit their shoes with laces. "On the other hand, the type of footwear used was very comfortable for differently wide feet," Hlaváček concluded.

Sources: www.ceskatelevize.cz, www.denik.cz, www.rozhlas.cz