National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Sec. i]   WORK RESUMED AT AND AROUND THE LOU-LAN SITE   217

Chinese paper fragments were found in the refuse, xi, near the western end of the main wall of L.A. II, and a square wooden tablet with Kharosthi script was picked up near the adjoining structure L.A. III. Here I may also mention that fresh examination of the debris on the slopes of the terrace bearing the remains of the dwelling L.A. I led to the recovery of a complete Chinese record on wood, as well as of a few more fragments of papers bearing Chinese writing and pasted together to form the backing for some painted decoration. Similar pieces of pasteboard made up of Chinese letters had been found on my first examination of that ruin.l4

As on my previous visit, the eroded ground in the vicinity of the ruined station yielded a plentiful harvest of small ` finds ' of the ` Tati ' type. They were picked up by the men sent out to search for more ruins and by others who looked about when not occupied with digging. In general character these finds agree closely with the corresponding collection made in 1906, and the briefest reference to the more interesting among the objects will suffice here. The large fragments L.A. or, 0125 (Pl. XXVII) afford useful indications as to the shape and decoration of the common pottery in use during the occupation of the station ; in type it appears to have agreed closely with that prevailing at the Niya Site during the same period. The pottery framework, L.A. 02 (Pl. XXVII), forming a lattice, is peculiar ; like the open-work wooden panels found in 1906 at L.B. II, iv, it may have served to close an opening in the wall left for the admittance of light and air.l» The fragment of green-glazed frit, L.A. 09, represents a ceramic product not otherwise met with at the site and likely to have been imported. Among objects in glass the vertically ribbed beads of rich blue translucent ware, L.A. 023, 0110 (Pl. XXIV), and the foot of a vessel in moulded glass, L.A. 037 (Pl. XXI), deserve mention. The paste seal, L.A. 0137 (Pl. XXIV), recalls, by its design of an animal, similar intaglios in stone from Yôtkan and other Khotan sites.'6

Of the very numerous relics in bronze the complete mirror, L.A. 0107 (Pl. XXIV), and the pieces of two others, L.A. 05, 0124 (P1. XXIV), are the most interesting. Their decorative designs, fully described in the List below, and the Chinese characters on the last named leave no doubt of their having been imported from the East. The bronze finger-rings, L.A. 016, 090, 138 (Pl. XXIII, XXIV), and the ornamented bronze stud-head, L.A. 0136 (Pl. XXIII), may also be mentioned. Among remains in iron, also numerous, the sickle, L.A. 024 (Pl. XXI), and the well-preserved snaffle, L.A. 034 (Pl. XXI), are of special interest. The portion of a wooden saddle-tree, L.A. 04 (Pl. XVI), found on eroded ground close to the Stùpa L.A. x within the station, and in fair preservation, had probably been carried there from the remains of one of the neighbouring structures. The very numerous stone blades, L.A. 018, 069-70, 099-104, &c., suggest that the occupation of the site may go back to an early period of the stone age, while the well-worked jade celts, L.A. 0145-6, undoubtedly neolithic, may have remained in use down to times not far removed from those of the historical settlement.

It is scarcely surprising that after the diligent search made during my previous stay the number Coin finds.

of coins now collected from eroded ground at the site and around it was not so large as before. Yet, as the list in Appendix B shows, their total amounts to 56. With the exception of three bearing

the legend Hato-cla`üan, all the rest are pieces of the Wu-chu type. The majority of them, thirty-

two in all, retain the inscription Wu-chu, though many are clipped ; the rest are small uninscribed pieces of the ` goose-eye ' kind. The proportion between these varieties approximately corresponds

to that noted among the coins recovered before at the ruins L.A. III—vI. It thus confirms the conclusion drawn in Serindia that the circulation of those much-clipped pieces as a quasi-subsidiary currency goes back farther than has been assumed by some Chinese numismatists 17

14 Cf. Serindia, i. p. 372.   16 See the reproductions in the three top rows of Serindia,

is See ibid., i, PP. 398, 442, 444 (PI. XXXIV).   iv. PI. V.   17 Cf. Serindia, i. p. 385 ; iii. P. 1344.

P

Ceramic frs. found on eroded ground.

Miscellaneous relics.