By Hannah FurnessWestern explorers settled in China more than 1500 years before Marco Polo, new research has shown, after archaeologists concluded that the Terracotta Warriors could have been made with the help of the Greeks. An extensive study of sites in Xinjiang Province, China, has revealed European-specific mitochondrial DNA, suggesting Westerners travelled, settled and died there before and during the time of the First Emperor - 1500 years earlier than currently accepted. Dr Li Xiuzhen, senior archaeologist at the tomb's museum, said: "We now have evidence that close contact existed between the First Emperor's China and the West before the formal opening of the Silk Road. Related Content Milk prices just 'catching their breath' New Zealand pushes to break United Nations deadlock on Syria China developing portable nuclear reactors for use in the South China SeaThis evidence, experts believe, lies in the style of the Terracotta Warriors, as there was "no tradition of building life-sized human statues" found in China before then. The skull of a young man, thought to be Prince Fu Su, the emperor's eldest son, was found with a crossbow bolt embedded in it.

Source: New Zealand Herald October 13, 2016 16:20 UTC