National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books

Chinese trade route through it, still received water sufficient for permanent occupation. Until the
Chinese and other documents found at L.M. have been duly interpreted no definite view can be
formed of the character of this settlement. But it appears to me on topographical and archaeological
grounds very probable that it derived some importance from its position close to the direct route
connecting the Chinese station of 'ancient Lou-lan', i. e. the Lou-lan site L.A., with Mīrān and
Charkhlik, then as now the chief places of the Lop territory or Shan-shan.

Position In Serindia I have discussed in detail the great role which that station, the bridge-head as
of L.M.
relative to it were of the ancient Chinese high road coming through the desert from Tun-huang, must have
L.K. fort. played during the centuries immediately before and after Christ, standing as it did on the track
of the main traffic between China and the West.¹¹ The route connecting it with the old capital of
Shan-shan or Lop, located at the site of Mīrān, and thence with the oasis of Charkhlik (I-hsün),
was certainly much frequented, and as the fort L.K. lies just on the most direct line between the
two points,¹² it may safely be assumed to have been intended to guard the route. But it is probable
that a local source of supplies existed for the maintenance of the fortified roadside post and for the
convenience of such traffic as passed by it, and since no ancient cultivation was traceable around
L.K., the conclusion seems justified that it was the settlement marked by the L.M. site which
furnished those supplies and thus directly accounted for the location of the fort at this point. We
shall see farther on that the position occupied by the ancient Chinese castrum L.E. on the old
high road leading from the Tun-huang Limes to the Lou-lan Site is likely to have been determined
by a similar consideration.¹³

Section IV.—LIST OF ANTIQUES EXCAVATED OR FOUND AT THE
SITES L.L., L.M., AND L.R.

OBJECTS FOUND BETWEEN RUINED FORTS L.K. AND L.L.

L.K.–LL. 01. Jade celt; broad, thin, sharpened to fine L.K. L.L. 02-3. Two stone flakes, single and double
axe-edge. Green jade. 1¼″×1⅜″×¼″. ribbed. 1⅜″×⁹⁄₁₀″ and 1¼″×⅜″.

OBJECTS EXCAVATED WITHIN RUINED FORT L.L.

L.L. 01. Fabric frs.; rags of felt, canvas, silk, &c., with frs. L.L. 08. Fr. of grey marble, irregular. 2½″×⅞″×⅜″.
of hair rope and hemp cord. Gr. length (fabric fr.) 1′ 8″.
L.L. 09. Quantity of chopped straw, and two small
L.L. 02. Fr. of printed silk, blue with resist pattern frs. of perished wood.
of white dots in diagonal trellis, each lozenge containing
a rosette of seven dots around a centre dot. Weave, fine L.L. 010. Fr. of bronze, concavo-convex. 1⅜″×⅜″׳⁄₃₂″.
warp-rib. Torn. c. 3″ sq. Pl. LXXXVI.
L.L. 011. Fr. of pottery, fine black. 1⅜″×⅞″×¼″.
L.L. 03. Felt cord; three strands, twisted. c. 7″ long.
L.L. 012. Stone core, hard black. 1″×1¼″×⅜″.
L.L. 04. Bronze frame, oblong, on thin hemp string.
⅝″×1″. L.L. 013. Strip of woollen fabric; light buff, strong,
evenly woven, plain cloth. 9″×¼″.
L.L. 05. Fr. of iron (?) slag. 2½″×2″×1⅛″.
L.L. 014. Strip of felt, light natural yellow, with remains
L.L. 06. Misc. fabric and vegetable frs., including of strong figured woollen fabric stitched to it. 8″×1″.
wool, felt, string, plaited grass, plain woollen cloth, hank
of cloth (?) thread, &c. Gr. length (thread) 2′ 3″. L.L. 015. Fr. of felt, light natural buff, in holes. 11″×
9½″.
L.L. 07. Bundle of felt frs., with string and pieces of
woollen jean. Gr. M. (felt) c. 9¼″×10¼″. L.L. 016. Hank of cotton (?) thread, undyed. Length
1′ 4″.