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0338 Explorations in Turkestan : Expedition of 1904 : vol.2
Explorations in Turkestan : Expedition of 1904 : vol.2 / Page 338 (Grayscale High Resolution Image)

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doi: 10.20676/00000178
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486   SKELETONS EXCAVATED IN NORTH KURGAN.

was bent in such a position as to bring the hand opposite the face and on a level with it, while the right arm was extended down at an angle of 4e with the trunk.

In front of this body and parallel with its main axis lay two air-dried bricks, 7.5 inches long by 2.5 inches wide, set on edge. At a right angle with these, 1.5 inches from the top of the skull, I came upon another brick of indeterminable length, but the same thickness. The. three were laid in so deliberate a fashion as to suggest an attempt at sepulture. Between the heels and the end of the spine four lapis-lazuli beads (see N.K. 5o, plate 40, fig. 6) came to light, drilled from both flat surfaces so that the hole was roughly double-conical. Four inches back of the neck appeared a smooth, clay, plummet-shaped object, possibly also a burial gift. Skeleton, bricks, and gifts all lay on an even bed of ashes mixed with small pieces of charcoal, resting on a layer of hard-burnt earth.

Skeleton No. zo.—In terrace vii on the southerly slope of the kurgan, the workmen came upon traces of human remains at + 29.5 feet. These proved to be the jumbled bones of a child, evidently hauled about and dislocated by an animal, for I found a burrow extending straight down through the middle of it all. Two feet below this level, in what seemed to have been the bottom of the burrow, the missing bones that belonged above were found, together with two crania of small rat-like rodents. The loose earth that had filled the hole from the hillside above had allowed so much dampness to enter that all the bones were in an extremely fragile condition.

Skeleton No. rs.—In the same terrace vii, and at the same level, + 29.5 feet, though nearer the outer edge of the hill, were found the cranium and a fewvertebræ and long bones of a young child. The position in which the body had lain was indeterminable, and the bones fell to pieces as soon as they had dried.

Skeleton No. 9.—On April 7, in terrace v, we came upon a child burial at a height of 29 feet. No traces of the cranium could be found, though four teeth lay in an orderly row as if there had been no disturbance. The main axis of the body was approximately southwest to northeast. In the softer earth about the pelvis and lower limb-bones, I took out i,o66 minute white beads, apparently of stone (N.K. 222, plate 4o, fig. 5). They were cylindrical, about 1' -inch in diameter and length, and so delicately bored that a very fine needle was required to thread them. Their presence on the leg-bones and pelvis, and their absence on the upper parts of the body suggest that they might have been sewn to a kirtle or other garment, and not used in strings, as were the larger beads we found later.

Skeleton No. 2 (h3).—The next burial in order of altitude appeared in terrace I at + 28 feet. It was the skeleton of a young child lying on its right side in a contracted position. From the top of the cranium to the end of the spine measured but 13 inches and the knees were so drawn up that the greatest width of the body in position was 8 inches. The main trend of the body was southwest and northeast. The right arm bones lay parallel with and behind the vertebra, the left arm bent to bring the hand palm down in front of the face. (See fig. 535.)

When the bones were removed they were found to have been laid on a horizontal layer of wood-ashes and charcoal varying from 2 to 3 inches in depth and