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0481	Innermost Asia : vol.2
極奥アジア : vol.2

the rest with the same fate. The eroded clay terrace, a regular Yārdang of which the ruin occupies
the northern end, extends for about 50 yards with a bearing from NNW. to SSE., and owes its
preservation to the masonry of the raised graves which occupy its top. Exactly the same depth
of erosion was observed at a series of Muhammadan tombs occupying small detached Yārdangs
about 2 miles to the SE. (Fig. 477 a). If we assume that the earlier occupation of this area in
Muhammadan times ceased towards the close of the fourteenth century, the rate of erosion here
might be estimated at over 1½ feet per century, which somewhat exceeds even that observed at
the Loulan site.¹¹

But it will be well to bear in mind that the effect of erosion is likely to have varied in different
portions of the tract according to the length of time during which it was left without water and
hence without protecting vegetation. This will help to explain observations made while visiting
other and probably later remains in the neighbourhood of Kalāt-i-gird. Proceeding to the south of
Rāmrūd in order to visit certain ruins situated a little more than a mile to the west of Kalāt-i-
gird, I passed through a belt of old Yārdangs lightly coated with shōr (Fig. 501) and thus curiously
recalling the 'White Dragon Mounds' of the Lop Desert, though on a much smaller scale. They
were from 8 to 10 feet in height and showed an approximate bearing from N. 325° W. to S. 175° E.
in conformity with the 'Bād-i-sad-ō-bist-rōz'. Their northern end or head was always steep,
while the other end sloped down gently like a tail, the simile applied by the observant Chinese
to those dreaded 'Dragon Mounds'.¹² The explanation of the peculiar white surface of these
particular terraces was offered by an unmistakable flood-bed more than 100 yards wide, with
abundant scrub near its banks, which was crossed a short distance beyond.

The remains above referred to, which the map marks as Gumbaz-i-shāhī and to which my
guides gave the name of Kalāt-i-tāghaz, comprise some eight or nine domed tombs scattered about
an extensive Muhammadan graveyard. The ground showed here practically no trace of wind-
erosion and the domed structures, though manifestly of some age, were in comparatively good
preservation. They would appear from this to belong to a later period of occupation, just like
the large mansions at Machī. That the ground near by must have been already desert when they
were built is proved by their bricks. These, 10″×6″×2″ in size, were invariably found full of small
twigs of tamarisk and similar scrub, such as still grows in plenty near the flood-bed. Ruins of tombs
and a small farm traced at a distance of about 3 miles to the SE. of Kalāt-i-gird showed bricks of
the same size, and in view of the scanty erosion, nowhere more than 4 feet or so, might likewise
be safely attributed to that later phase of settlement in the southern delta.

Section II.—REMAINS OF PREHISTORIC SETTLEMENTS

Among the remains of human occupation in past ages which aridity and wind-erosion combined
have preserved for us on the very surface of the now dry southern delta of the Helmand, those of
a prehistoric civilization perhaps offer the chief interest. They are represented by the broken
pottery, stone implements, and similar hard debris that are found in remarkable abundance, thickly
covering the summit and slopes of the small wind-eroded terraces or Mesas. These rise in great
numbers like islands above the now arid plain between the vicinity of Hauzdār in the north and that
of Kalāt-i-gird in the south. Judging from the large-scale survey, they are also very numerous
farther to the SE., across the Afghān boundary. The layers of such debris mark the sites of
prehistoric settlements. It is due to the protection afforded by these layers that the soil beneath,
all alluvial clay, has retained the original level, while around them the level has been lowered in

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