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17.

of the south and central digging are made up of debris essentially of modern origin, covering a period of which the duration is approximately equal to that of the present village. But the artifacts might be considerably earlier, as old articles might continue in use for many centuries and then cast away together with much younger things.

Our north digging this season shows no overlaying layer; the cultural stratum is at the same the surface layer. It can not be definitely determined whether it has been so exposed ever since its formation. But most likely there was a surface stratum levelled away by farmers.

The contact between the modern surface layer and the cultural stratum in the central and south digging in some areas is very sharp. The upper part of the cultural stratum is in most cases characterised by alluvial deposit. But on the whole, the modern debris is in immediate juxtaposition over the cultural stratum. This serves to show that the interval between the abandonment of the site and the beginning of the modern occupation [[strikethrough]]was[[/strikethrough]] ^[[is]] culturally a very inactive period, so far as this particular region is concerned. The only exception is the rather dense distribution of Sui-T'ang burials. So pending further investigation, we may conclude tentatively that the site consists of three cultural strata:

(1) The main cultural remains of the Yin-Shang Period.

(2) The burials of the Sui and the T'ang Dynasty, some possibly earlier.

(3) Modern debris which form the surface layer in the village and on the road.

The interval between the first and the second period is quite a blank. It is probable that the contracted burial is to be assigned to this period. In the second interval, the only we are sure