Archaeologists have employed digital scanning in the ongoing excavation of a burial pit in the ancient capital of Xi'an, where an army of Terracotta Warriors guards the mausoleum of China's first emperor.

China launched a second excavation project on Thursday on Pit No 2, located near the tomb of Emperor Qinshihuang, founder of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). The pit saw the unusual discovery of colorful statues during the first excavation between 1994 and 2008.

Zhu Sihong, who leads the excavation team, said advanced technologies will play a greater role in the second excavation.