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Digital Archive of Toyo Bunko Rare Books
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On Ancient Central-Asian Tracks : vol.1 |
Citation Information
OCR Text
written on wooden tablets in shape exactly corresponding
to those at the Niya site, and some also on scraps of
paper.
There was thus evidence from the start that the same
early Indian language as found in the records of the Niya
site was in common use also in this distant Lop region for
indigenous administration and business. Considering how
far removed the Lop region is from Khotan, this uniform
extension of an Indian script and language to the extreme
east of the Tarim basin was a discovery of distinct historical
interest. Of a variety of other curious relics by which the
search of that first ruin was rewarded I can only mention frag-
ments of a woollen pile carpet, the earliest so far known, and
a small bale of yellowish silk, fairly well preserved (Fig. 60).
Subsequent finds of wooden measures and of an inscribed
silk selvedge have enabled me to prove that this bale shows
us the regular width, nineteen inches, and the actual form
in which that ancient and most famous product of Chinese
industry used to be carried to the classical West.
From the start the wind-eroded bare ground near the
ruined dwellings yielded an abundant crop of small objects
in metal, glass and stone. There were fragments of bronze
mirrors in abundance, often with good relievo decora-
tion at the back, metal clasps, stone seals and the like.
Beads of glass, paste or stone were picked up in plenty. The
profusion of copper coins, all belonging to square-holed
types of Han issue, was significant, suggesting a plentiful
circulation of petty cash and that lively traffic which it
usually indicates.
In a large structure to the south-west, partly built
with sun-dried bricks, it was possible notwithstanding far-
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561
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571
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578
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