Viewing page 53 of 182

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

9.

cultural and the surface layer is accordingly also more obscure. This is however only an instance of isolatory intrusion; the contents of the cultural strata of this pit remain remarkably uniform. In the adjacent pit(WSn), where the contact between the surface and the cultural layer is definitely intact, the contents of the grey stratum are exactly similar, except that it is free from the presence of ceramics of the later period. This section may be taken as typical of the undisturbed region, which is rather rare in the central region.

But the most typical and important of well-preserved pit is that of S2 and S2Bn where the greatest number of iscribed bones were uncovered. Here the surface stratum is between 50cm. and 70cm. thick, beneath which was a layer of loessy soil, rather sticky and hard to break, mixed with fine gravels and saturated with inscribed bones. A great deal of broken shards and animal bones were also found in this layer. It attained a thickness between one and 1.50 meter, interbedded at several points by soft ashy matter with abundant charcoal. Inscribed bones were found more in the upper part of this stratum; but most of these were badly worked, in consequence of which many inscribed characters become utterly indistinct. The lower part was darker and softer, also contained more pot shards. The soil usually was of a more greyish hue downwardly; then it becomes fairly homogenous for quite a considerable thickness. As the potshards became more numerous the inscribed bones also got more scanty. This is an interesting point to remember, as it represents fairly well the relative positions of the distribution of the various artifacts underground. The grey layer is succeeded by another hard stratum, the contents of which, however, are hardly different from the upper stratum. The inscribed bones found below this hard layer were better preserved, as they were embedded in more carbonized soil. This formed the lowest part of the cultural soil.