Terracotta army battles new enemy

The army has been called the Eighth Wonder

China's famed terracotta army is being eaten away by more than 40 kinds of mould after surviving 2,200 years underground.

Reports say the mould has attacked around 1,400 of the 8,000 statues of warriors and horses discovered in an underground tomb in the city of Xian.

The terrracotta army has had some famous visitors

The Chinese authorities have now signed a three year deal with a Belgian-based pharmaceutical company to save the precious artefacts.

The life-sized army, sometimes called the Eighth Wonder of the World, is one of the greatest archaeological finds of the 20th century.

The models of warriors and horses in battle formation were discovered in 1974 by peasants digging a well.

But archaeologists believe the figures uncovered so far may be just part of a larger army still buried underground near the tomb of Qin Shihuang (259-210 BC), who is known as China's first emperor.

Tourists

Reports have blamed the mould problem on raised temperatures and humidity in the building which houses the soldiers.

One reason for the large variety is thought to be the thousands of tourists who visit the site every week, carrying with them all kinds of fungal spores from far and near.

Chinese experts are now identifying the affected statues and collecting mould samples.

They are working with scientists at Janssen Pharmaceutical NV which has been asked to produce 500kg of anti-fungal chemicals to fight the mould.

Ruthless

Qin, who created the first unified Chinese empire around 220 BC, is regarded as one of the country's most ruthless rulers.

The terracotta army was buried around his tomb to protect him in the afterlife.

Labourers who worked on the tomb and childless concubines were interred with him to safeguard its secrets.

But his dynasty collapsed shortly after his death.