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

T'ien-shan, here called Qarliq-tagh, and is surrounded by desert expanses on all
sides. The village was flourishing at the time of our first visit in January 1928,
when the finds were made, but at our second visit, in February 1934, it had been
destroyed in the civil wars in Sinkiang.

Where the small brook passing through the village comes to the row of low rocks
near to the south of Miao-erh-ku there is on its western side an insignificant ruin
of a mud hut of dubious age, Pl. I b. (This is not the brook passing the temple from
which the village has taken its name, but situated to the west of it). Around this
ruin some pottery fragments were picked up from the surface of the ground on an
area about 100 m. in diam., and they occurred also in the upper 10 cm. of the
loessic soil.

Some of the sherds are painted, but unfortunately they are all quite small. The
ware is red and reddish yellow in different shades; the thickness varies between 3
and 13 mm. The painted ornamentation consists of black lines or red stripes, Pl.
2: 1—4. Pl. 2: 3 is from a handle and shows a spruce-twig pattern, also occurring
on another handle.

The plain sherds are as a rule more coarse than the painted ones, but the colour
of the ware is about the same in both cases.

Of the coarser wares one sherd from a rim (No. K. 13328: 44) has small incised
lines above the handle, and several sherds have a more or less thick raised border
with finger impressions, Pl. 32: 6. In Pl. 32: 5 such a raised border has been given
the form of an arch, probably to form a handle. Pl. 32: 7 is from a very small cup
with a single row of incised commas around the neck.

Plain handles of different sizes are common. Most of them are loop-handles
which have been applied vertically, but there is also an example of a horizontal lug-
handle.

The bottom fragments all show flat bottoms, the walls forming a very obtuse
angle with the bottom. Otherwise we know very little of the shape of the vessels;
their size ranges from small cups to medium-sized jars.

Most of the potsherds are probably of prehistoric age, but among the unpainted
ware there seem to be specimens of later date (Han or later?).

The only stone object found here is a part of a rude hammer with a large per-
foration near the centre for the handle, Pl. 4: 21. Its blunt edge shows traces of
wear. It is very uncertain if it is of prehistoric origin. The only analogy known to
me is a fragmentary hammer found by Birger Bohlin at Hui-hui-ch'eng-tze in
NW Kansu together with a T'ang coin (MFEA No. K. 13557: 5).


B. SENGIM-AGHIZ.

Sengim-aghiz, the mouth of the Sengim valley, is situated 33 km. east of Turfan
and 9 km. north of Qara-khoja on the border between the foothills of T'ien-shan

15