IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
232 THE DESERT EDGE OF KHOTAN CH. XIX
exposed to those repeated burrowings which threaten all ruins near the inhabited area. Hence one could not
expect here finds of objects such as only ruins abandoned
once for all to the desert sand could preserve. Yet a careful search of the débris layers did not fail to supply
indications of distinct chronological interest. The con-
clusion already drawn from the style of the relievos, that this temple must have been approximately contemporary
with the Rawak Stupa, received confirmation by the discovery close to the floor of a Chinese coin of the un-inscribed type belonging to the Han period. On the other hand, finds of grotesque figurines in true terra-cotta of the type familiar to me from the culture-strata of Yotkan
representing monkeys in human attitudes, as well as of decorative pottery, furnished the first definite evidence
as to the period when this branch of old Khotan art
flourished. It was curious, too, to observe how much
more frequent were fully gilt relievo pieces in the débris
layer resting on the floor than in the upper stratum. The explanation was not far to seek when we noticed how easily the light breeze blowing during the day would carry off the thin flakes of leaf- gold from the gilt fragments excavated if left too long exposed on the surface.
The height of the dune rising southwards over the greater part of the area once occupied by the cella proper
would have made the complete excavation of the latter a
difficult and protracted task. The clearing of the northwest corner and part of the inner north wall face showed
that the remains of terra-cotta relievos were few here, and in no way different from those which had come to light so plentifully from the enclosing passage. So I did not feel justified in spending some weeks on removing the sand which covered the rest of the cella to a maximum height of some eighteen feet.
It was all the easier for me to forgo this sacrifice of time and money as a visit paid during the middle of the day to what my Yurung-kash guides called the ` little But-khana,' acquainted me with a ruin illustrating in a typical fashion all the architectural features I was anxious to ascertain. Going for about two miles to the south-
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