hand, have sides that rarely slope less than 30°, and sometimes, where bits of old wall still remain, are almost perpendicular. On horseback they can be ascended only at the places where the ancient gateways appear to have been located, one gate in each mound. Most of the mounds do not seem to be old village sites, like those of Anau, built up aimlessly and slowly, through many centuries by the accumulations of generation after generation. On the contrary, many appear to have been constructed in exactly the opposite manner, by the rapid building of thick adobe walls of sun-dried bricks. The space within the walls was filled with mud and refuse until a broad elevated platform was produced. On this the builders dwelt; and there we find to-day bits of the pottery, bricks, glazed ware, glass, and stone, which formed the necessities or the luxuries of their daily life.
CLASSIFICATION OF THE KURGANS.
Throughout the kurgans there is such a degree of unity of form and structure that it seems legitimate to assume that all are the work of one people, or, at least, of people of one stock. There are, however, such marked differences, and such clear evidences of development, that it seems advisable to divide them, tentatively at least, into three groups. The basis of classification is, first and most roughly, outward appearance and amount of weathering and erosion; second, ground plan and orientation; and third, and far the most important, contents, such as pottery, bricks, glass, glazed ware, and stone. The first two criteria are, it is true, very untrustworthy, but they become of importance when it is found that they agree with one another and with the third criterion.
A classification based merely on a hasty reconnaissance of the surface of the kurgans is, of necessity, highly tentative, but the principle of division is a true one. Even if many mounds should later be transferred from one class to another, or if the classes themselves should be modified, the present tentative grouping will at least be an aid to description, and will give some suggestion of the very interesting development that appears to have taken place during the centuries which must have intervened between the building of the first kurgan and the last.
The accompanying table contains a classified list of 28 kurgans, with the most essential data as to their size, contents, and other peculiarities. The appearance of some of the kurgans and other ruins is shown in the series of photographs reproduced on plates 57 and 58. The two following plates, 59 and 6o, show roughly the plan and cross-section of each kurgan. The plans show the size and shape at the top of the kurgans, not at the base. The sections are drawn to scale and are oriented with north at the top of the page. An examination of the plates brings out many salient features, far better than can be done by verbal description.
IIIFカラー高解像度
