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7.

already been dealt with in another chapter.

The disturbance of the remains of the site goes much further back than the beginning of the modern village. Between the abandonment of the site and the first settlement of the modern village, there is an interval of approximately twenty seven hundred years. What happened during this long interval?  Our observation this season can answer only part of the question, and it is somewhere between the sixth and the ninth century when this place must have been used as a public cemetery.  This is proved by the fact that in our limited digging of this season, at least five burials can be dated to the Sui or T'ang Dynasty or earlier.  In the time preceding and following this period, this place must have been frequently overflooded by the Huan River.  Fine sand, pebbles and even large boulders are all marks left by such overflow.

In order to substantiate the above observations, let us begin with the detailed records of the digging of pit WSnBw ^[[(Map RB, Figs 3-6)]]


April 19/29.  The digging of this pit begins early in the morning.  A square piece of ground of the size 2 by 2 meters is marked off west of the pit WSn.  The surface layer is of a mixed character, consisting of things of modern origin. The first piece of inscribed bone is found at the depth of 0.75 m. in a stratum of yellowish sandy earth mixed with small pebbles.  Such character of the soil continues downward till the day's end.

April 20/29.  The excavation starts at the second meter from the surface.  Soil still yellowish sandy, but gradually a greyish hue prevails.  Gravels become more abundant, mixed at first with shells, black as well as red pot-fabrics. The greyer the soil, the more abundant, the pebble; associated with inscribed bones, bronze arrowheads, incised potshards with black slips.  Grey potshards,the most numerous.  It is calculated that the number of small pebbles between the depth 1.05 and 1.75 is about 100 to every 3.19 C.M.

April 21/29.  Sunday.

April 22/29.  Excavation continues.  Soil greyish sandy. Pebbles