China's terracotta warriors at risk.

• Position: Museums Today - Brief article

The preservation of immovable historic relics displayed in large open spaces, like China's world-renowned Museum of Qin Terracotta Warriors and Horses, requires air curtains and other modifications to re-create the primitive environment from which archaeologists excavated the relics.

That is the conclusion of a study of environmental control measures for archaeology museums in the People's Republic of China. The study appears in Environmental Science & Technology.

The Qin museum covers an area in excess of 17,500 square yards, almost three football fields. More than 5,000,000 people visit every year to see over 1,500 life-size terracotta figures of warriors and horses uncovered in the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, who was born in 259 B.C...