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| 0410 |
Ancient Khotan : vol.1 |
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OCR Text
Changed
aspect of
ground.
As soon as the main features of the Stūpa had been clearly recognized I hastened to
proceed to the ruin N. v, the object of my next excavations. On the way I noticed a gradual
change in the appearance of the ground, the broad dunes with frequent cones covered by
tamarisk scrub giving way to extensive bare loess-banks between small dunes which were
rarely interrupted by sand-cones. The tamarisk growth, to which the latter owed their forma-
tion, was scanty and mostly dead. Near the line where the change became marked there was
the half-eroded ruin of a small structure of rush-walls, apparently a cattle-shed.
Appearance
of ruin N. v.
Promising as the finds were which my previous 'prospecting' at N. v had yielded, there
was nothing in the survey of the surface remains that could lead me to anticipate how rich
a deposit of ancient records I had struck in this ruin. The remains of the main structure,
as seen in the photograph (Fig. 44), taken from the south and before excavation, consisted only
of much decayed posts marking the walls of a few rooms and of a rush-wall strengthened by
timber which had enclosed a courtyard. There was timber-débris scattered over the slopes
adjoining the ruin on the north and north-east, and leading down to eroded ground from 20 to
25 ft. below the original level; but neither its quantity nor its appearance suggested that more
than a modest dwelling-house had once stood here. The only feature attracting attention was
the large orchard, marked by dead fruit-trees and a fence traceable in deep sand, which extended
to the west and south of the structure as seen in the plan (Plate XXXII).
Condition of
room N. xv.
The small dimensions of the extant remains made it easy to let the men under Rām
Singh's supervision proceed with the clearing of the rooms southward and the adjoining portions
of the courtyard, while I myself, with a few of the more handy labourers, among them Ibrāhīm,
concentrated my attention upon the corner room, N. xv., to the north or more correctly NNW.,
on the edge of which towards the eroded slope my previous search had brought to light the
already mentioned finds. On carefully clearing the drift-sand from the eroded slope in the
direction towards what (for brevity's sake) I may call the northern side of this room, I ascer-
tained that owing to erosion the wall of the room on this side had disappeared almost entirely.
But part of its foundation beam was found still in situ, and thus the original dimensions of
the room, 23 by 18 ft. (including walls) could be measured. Owing to the erosion of this wall
a portion of the layer of rubbish it had retained within the immediately adjoining part of the
room (marked N on plan) had slid down the slope, and from this most of the previous finds
proved to have been recovered. A careful search of the remainder furnished the inscribed
tablets now marked N. xv. 30–36.
Rubbish
deposits
within N. xv.
As soon as systematic clearing had reached the area inside the north wall it revealed
layers upon layers of wooden tablets embedded in a mass of what looked like old rubbish
deposits mixed up with fine dust and remains of a straw-covered roof. On the top of this
fairly compact mass, and clearly distinguishable from it, there lay a thin cover of drift-sand
only about 1 ft. deep. It was not from this sand, but from the consolidated mass of refuse
forming a bank close on 4 ft. thick above the original mud floor, that I extracted tablet after
tablet. Thus the truth soon dawned upon me. I had struck an ancient rubbish-heap, formed
by the accumulations of many years, and containing also what, with an anachronism, may fitly
be called 'the waste-paper' deposits of that period. Fig. 45 shows a portion of the refuse
stratum filling the room as seen when the clearing had proceeded to its centre, and will help
to illustrate the conditions in which the epigraphic riches of this ruin were recovered.
Composi-
tion of
ancient
rubbish-
heap.
Throughout the room the documents on wood and leather, of which it yielded in the end
over 250, were found, either separately or in relative proximity, scattered among layers containing
broken pottery, pieces of matting and wood, straw, rags of felt and a variety of woven materials,
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31
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41
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53
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118
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128
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139
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149
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160
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170
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181
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191
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202
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212
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222
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232
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243
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254
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264
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274
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284
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294
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305
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317
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328
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338
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348
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358
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368
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378
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389
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401
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408
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413
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423
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433
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443
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454
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464
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474
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484
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494
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505
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516
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527
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537
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547
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559
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569
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581
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594
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605
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615
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625
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635
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645
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655
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665
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675
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685
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695
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705
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715
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724
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National Institute of Informatics
and
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