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

string, and pointed at the other end, i. e. made to fit into a socketed arrow-head, as for instance specimens like Pl. 12 : 9 and 12. They are 65.5 and 63.5 cm. long, and thicker than those mentioned above. Both may have been feathered but the traces are too obliterated to be definite. It is of importance in connection with the above discussion that these real arrow-shafts are undecorated. Cf. also the arrow 6. B: II below.

Arrow-heads.

On a limited space on the eastern side of the hill four stone arrow-heads were found. Two of them are of green silex, one of brown chert, and the fourth of slate. The three first ones, Pl. 12 : 4-6, are willowleaf-shaped with rather blunt points, and of no high workmanship. One is a little polished. According to their type they might be labelled as neolithic but they are less well-finished than the other arrow-heads found in the Lop desert (Pl. 4: 12-13 and Stein 1921, Pl. XXX and 1928, P1. XXII) and ours are therefore, most likely, degenerated survivals from a true stone age.

The specimen of slate, Pl. 12 : 3, is polished all over, and does not represent any known type of arrow-head from Inner Asia.

From the same part of the hill the bone point Pl. 12 : 9 was brought to light. It is of regular shape with marked barbs and decorated with six incisions organically following the cleft base.

Pi. 12 : 12 is another point made of a tubular bone with seven incised lines round the base. There is a parallel to this bone point from a Scythic tomb at middle Dnepr (Minns, Fig. 82 : 1). The type is of course very plain, and cannot claim too much consideration.

It is noteworthy that no metal points were found, the fragments No. 5: 24-25 being very uncertain. The scarcity of metal on this site is obvious. Only a few insignificant bronze fragments and a child's armlet were found. The rareness of metal is partly explained by the circumstance that ORDEK'S followers on their two treasure-hunting tours were looking especially for "valuable" objects, i. e. such of metal, and they might of course have brought away some to their employer, the Amban at Charkhliq, whose antiquarian interest started the searches of this site after it had been discovered by ÖRDEK. ÖRDEK did not remember anything particular that they had found, which indicates that at least no large objects were discovered and brought away. Cf. the end of this chapter pp. 89 f.

On the other hand no great wealth of metal objects is to be expected among this people with their primitive civilization.

Baskets and other containers.

The small melon-shaped baskets Pl. 12: 13, Pl. 13: 1-3, and Pl. 14: I, 2, 4, 5 seem to have formed an important part of the grave furniture. Three of them were found

82