Chinese archaeologists restored gilded armor over a thousand years old
Chinese scientists have completed the reconstruction of a rare set of gold-plated bronze armor dating back to the Tang Dynasty. The artifact, about 1200 years old, was found in a burial site within the Xuewei archaeological complex in Qinghai Province, writes The Independent.
The Tang Dynasty, which ruled China from 618 to 907 AD, left a rich cultural heritage. Military equipment of that era is known to historians from frescoes, funerary figurines, and literary sources, but material evidence of the existence of "golden armor" had not survived until recently — they were only mentioned in poetry.
The situation changed in 2018 when the first fragments were found in a tomb. Restorers faced a complex task: to preserve and reassemble badly damaged and incomplete elements. To do this, a comprehensive strategy was applied, including layer-by-layer cleaning and precise cataloging of each plate. "We chose a strategy of 'disassembling the whole into parts and assembling the parts into a whole'," explained restorer Guo Zhengchen.
Modern digital technologies played a key role in the project: 3D scanning, microscopy, virtual and augmented reality allowed for the precise restoration of the armor.
In addition to the main set, other items from the burial were restored, including gilded lacquered horse armor and a large bronze cauldron. Scientists note that such research clearly demonstrates the importance of digital methods for preserving and interpreting world historical heritage in the modern era.
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