EXCAVATIONS AND FINDS AT THE NORTH KURGAN. I03
or plane separating the different kinds of earth and coinciding with the plane that would represent the downward continuation of the wall of Komorof's trench. It was thus found that Komorof's trench continued in depth and extended much deeper into the middle of the hill than the level at the time of our arrival gave us reason to expect. This central and deepest part of the trench had been filled in by General Komorof, thus bringing into these depths earth from different ages of the kurgan, together with modern iron articles. This discovery compelled us to abandon all excavation in the trench bottom, confining ourselves to the shafts sunk from the galleries. In spite of this precaution there appeared from time to time pieces of pottery such as we had been accustomed to find only in the upper layers of the kurgan. Thus, in the shaft between — I foot and —14 feet 8 inches, we came upon three fragments of gray ware, among them being a lip-piece, a hollow foot, and between — 24 feet 7 inches and — 29 feet, as represented by the workmen, another piece of gray ware. Farther on, in the east gallery shaft, as represented by the workmen, there occurred between —6 feet and — 8 feet some fragments of red and gray monochrome ware; but these were in all cases accompanied by the ordinary painted ware of the middle layers, which occurred throughout in the lowest culture-strata of the kurgan. Only in the shaft of the west gallery, between —14 feet 8 inches and — 24 feet 7 inches, did we find the fine painted ware of group m, such as was found in the north digging between —13 feet and —19 feet. It must, therefore, have only a relatively small and transitory importance in connection with the culture of the lower layers. The mixing of these old finds with the red and gray monochrome ware, in these deeper layers of the east and west gallery shafts, can, as stated, be of only secondary origin; for in the terraces mixed layers were, as a rule, observed no deeper than + 25 feet, at which level the strata of the older culture began. We must, therefore, explain the occurrence of younger pottery in the gallery shafts as being due to the contact of the earth raised from the shafts with the débris of which the bottom of Komorof's trench was composed.
There is still an important find to be mentioned. At the level of — 8 feet, in the shaft of the east gallery, there occurred two skeletons, one with bead ornaments (plate 4o, fig. 7) as burial gifts, and the other, according to Warner, with two flint knives and two spin-whorls (cf. Warner's special report). They are a sure proof that the inhabitants of the lower strata practised burials within their dwellings, and they thus supplement the data afforded by the skeleton graves of north digging II.
OTHER FINDS-CHARACTER OF CULTURE-RELATIVE CHRONOLOGY.
The pottery enables us to distinguish older and younger epochs in the history of the development of the kurgan, and its forms and decoration permit us to form an opinion as to the artistic powers of the inhabitants of the settlements; but it does not enlighten us concerning the quality of the civilizations nor the culture character of the finds. Our information on these points is obtained from the whole culture equipment, and from all the special finds of metal, clay, and
IIIFカラー高解像度
