IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Ruins of Desert Cathay : vol.2 |
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Citation Information
36o GLIMPSES OF TURFAN RUINS CH. LXXXII
which enclose nearly a square mile full of imposing ruined structures now scattered amidst cultivation. The areas
once occupied by private dwellings have gradually been
levelled into fields—a work in which irrigation deposits have doubtless aided. The massive ruins of big temples and
monasteries, and of a fortified palace, are steadily being dug
down by the villagers for the débris accumulated between their walls, which is much prized as manure. Old ` Khats,'
i.e. manuscript fragments, are constantly turning up in the course of these operations, which are usually carried on during the winter months, and these used to be thrown away or utilized for papering window screens, until Russian travellers commenced to purchase such ` refuse.'
With so much destruction proceeding, and amidst such
an embarras des richesses of remains, the archaeological
exploitation of these ruins must be confronted by its
own particular difficulties. I was not surprised at the
number of the structures where it was impossible to
distinguish the results of systematic excavation from the
burrowings of manure - digging peasants. Nor was it
easy to ignore the doubts of a chronological nature
necessarily arising at a site which was never completely
deserted, and where many of the buildings probably continued to be tenanted in one way or other long after their original use had ceased.
But in spite of these drawbacks the ruined town had proved a very rich mine, and I only wondered how the
means might be found to assure the complete clearing of it
before it was too late. To me personally, as I remembered
the conditions of last winter's campaign in the desert, there
was something both alluring and strange in the thought
that everywhere about Turfan one's labourers could always
return to their homes for a night's meal and shelter. Was
it not like excavating in one's own garden or park to be able to carry out the tasks without constant care about food, water, and transport ? The same was true of the
interesting ruins of Buddhist shrines and cave- temples dotting the sides of the narrow picturesque valleys close
above Kara-khoja. There in the recently cleared grottoes of Bezeklik I was still able to study a style of mural
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