国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

HUMAN AND ANIMAL FIGURES, CULTURE III, SOUTH KURGAN.   171

(f) IMAGES OF TERRA-COTTA, CULTURE III.

Besides numerous ornamental and useful objects of bronze, stone, clay, and bone, the middle strata of the South Kurgan have yielded numerous figures in terra-cotta—representations of men and animals—in burnt and unburnt clay. The greater part of the finds comes from terrace B, from the deeper layers of the terrace, among the skeleton graves; from the level of the clay chest; and from the layers of débris of the remains of buildings found there. In the upper digging only three such finds were made between +25 feet 5 inches and +40 feet—two clay idols and an animal figure (S.K. 57, 175, and 83).

Human figures.—Unfortunately, no perfectly preserved human figures were found, though the fragments certainly show a praiseworthy attempt to express the modeling of the human form. All the specimens in hand are in the round;

and they are clearly naked, female forms. S.K.

414(x0.5)   412(X0.5)   412(xo.75)

285 (plate 46, fig. 9) represents a small min- ('

iature-like figure, without indication of sex, but certainly a shortened human form. Only the trunk is represented; the stump-shaped arms, of which the left one is broken off, being raised and extended. Of the face only the nose is represented by a projection and the eyes by small depressions. In all the other figures the female breasts, and in most of them also the navel, are clearly expressed through

plastic forms. The position of the ears is bored in the frag

ment (S.K. 174; plate 46, fig. 14). A modeled neck ornament ' I

is shown on the torso (S.K. 286; plate 46, fig. 13). S.K. 313 (plate 46, fig. I 1) shows the head of a larger figure, in which the face is indicated only by a strong projection of the

nose, while in S.K. 57 the head is shrunken to a stump (plate 46, fig. 15). S.K. 252 (plate 46, fig. 12) was roughly kneaded of unburnt clay and was found in the clay chest of terrace B. S.K. 339 (plate 46, figs. ma and lob) shows the greatest progress in the modeling

of forms and in the accentuation of detail. It is represented in front and rear. Particularly striking is the strong development of the hips, while the legs run

together in a point. The private parts are brought out in a particularly realistic manner by punch-marks, and the type of the whole figure differs from the other examples in the pendant position of the arm.

Animal figures.—Figures of animals are much more numerous, even though preserved only in fragments, in the above-mentioned layers of terrace B. Unfortu-

nately, however, the condition in which they reach us is so bad that their identification with different animals is only rarely certain. In isolated cases we can recognize horned animals, probably oxen, as in S.K. 327 (plate 47, figs. Ia and Ib). In other cases, other animals may also be meant (S.K. 344; plate 47, fig. 3, and

416(X0 5)   415(X0.5)