the silk road journal nr8

8/10/2019 The Silk Road Journal Nr8

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ISSN 2152-7237 (print)ISSN 2153-2060 (online)

The

Silk RoadVolume 8 2010

The Bridge between Eastern and Western Cultures

Contents

From the Editors Desktop ................................................................... 3

Images from Ancient Iran: Selected Treasures from the National Museumin Tehran. A Photographic Essay ............................................................... 4

Ancient Uighur Mausolea Discovered in Mongolia,by Ayudai Ochir, Tserendorj Odbaatar, Batsuuri Ankhbayar and LhagwasrenErdenebold .......................................................................................... 16

The Hydraulic Systems in Turfan (Xinjiang),by Arnaud Bertrand ................................................................................. 27

New Evidence about Composite Bows and Their Arrows in Inner Asia,by Michaela R. Reisinger .......................................................................... 42

An Experiment in Studying the Felt Carpet from Noyon uul by the

Method of Polypolarization,by V. E. Kulikov, E. Iu. Mednikova, Iu. I. Elikhina and Sergei S. Miniaev .................... 63

The Old Curiosity Shop in Khotan,by Daniel C. Waugh and Ursula Sims-Williams ................................................. 69

Nomads and Settlement: New Perspectives in the Archaeology of Mongolia,

by Daniel C. Waugh ................................................................................ 97

(continued)


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The Silk Roadis an annual publication of the Silkroad Foundation supplied in a limited print run to librar-ies. We cannot accept individual subscriptions. Each issue can be viewed and downloaded free of charge at:. The print version contains black and white illus-trations; the online version uses color. Otherwise the content is identical. Please feel free to contact us withany questions or contributions. Information regarding contributions and how to format them may be foundon the website at .

The Silkroad Foundation Editor: Daniel C. Waugh14510 Big Basin Way # 269 [email protected], CA 95070

2010 Silkroad Foundation 2010 by authors of individual articles and holders of copyright, as specied, to individual images.

Book notices (except as noted, by Daniel C. Waugh)

The University of Bonns Contributions to Asian Archaeology ................................ 125

John E. Hill. Through the Jade Gate to Rome .................................................. 127

Elfriede Regina Knauer. Coats, Queens, and Cormorants .................................... 128

Yuka Kadoi. Islamic Chinoiserie. The Art of Mongol Iran .................................... 130Susan Whiteld, ed. La Route de la Soie ....................................................... 132

Johan Elverskog. Buddhism and Islam on the Silk Road ..................................... 133Khotan is Hot:Journal of Inner Asian Art and Archaeology3 (2008); Bulletin of the Asia

Institute19 (2005 [2009]) .................................................................... 135John Becker, in collaboration with Donald B. Wagner. Pattern and Loom (reviewed by Sandra Whitman) ............................................................ 137

Cover photo: Vairavana, detail of plaque acquired in Khotan by Clarmont Skrine in 1922. British Museum1925,619.35. Reproduced with permission of the Trustees of the British Museum. Photo copyright 2010Daniel C. Waugh. The complete plaque is reproduced in Susan Whiteld and Ursula Sims-Williams, eds.,The Silk Road: Trade, Travel, War and Faith. Chicago: Serindia, 2004, p. 160, no. 60, but misnumbered as

1925,619.25.

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From the editors desktop

This volume inaugurates the appearance of The Silk Roadas an annual publication, instead ofsemi-annually as previously. Most of our contributors are appearing in the journal for the rst

time. Some are well published scholars; others at the beginning of what one may hope will be longand fruitful academic careers. As always, I learned a great deal from working with our authors. Ifit may seen that the editor is exercising undue privilege in contributing more than one piece thistime, that indulgence has been undertaken in one instance as a collaborative venture with a lead-ing specialist and in the other only after having received substantial input from scholars who readthe article in advance and encouraged its publication.I have as well decided to inaugurate here a photo essay series featuring important objects of ma-terial culture and art displayed in museums along the Silk Roads which I have been privileged tovisit, some of them off the map of most tourist itineraries. In many cases these days, of course,museums themselves have developed extensive websites and are putting their collections on-line.Others have yet to do so. These photo essays (best viewed in color in the pdf version of the jour-nal) are but a sampling of a much more extensive collection of photographs which is incrementallybeing posted to Silk Road Seattle (http://depts.washington.edu/silkroad/) as part of its effort tomake the arts of the Silk Road more readily available for teaching and study purposes.

As in several previous instances, this volume of the journal happens to have a fairly heavy con-centration of material about Mongolia. Readers should keep in mind though that our perspectiveremains a broad one both geographically and chronologically. To date Western Asia has beenunder-represented here, something that we may hope to remedy in the future. As one who hasrecently returned from a month in Iran and is expecting to spend additional time in the Middle Eastthis year, I am developing an ever greater appreciation for the idea that the Silk Roads are muchmore than the routes of exchange affecting East and Central Asia.

The only way the journal can continue to be a success and maintain a broad perspective is by

receiving good submissions for future issues. While our target audience is still a general one, thejournal welcomes a range of contributions. We expect to continue to publish work by establishedspecialists, but also welcome work by others who can contribute carefully crafted articles of gener-al interest. New discoveries, of course, are most welcome, but good summaries of existing knowl-edge may have their place too.As I write these lines, next years volume of the journal is still wideopen for contributions, which should be in my hands no later than the beginning of summer 2011.

We can offer the advantage of a generally short turn-around time between submission and pub-lication, unlike the case of academic journals and edited volumes where a year or two (or evenmuch longer) is the norm. I am happy to help authors for whom writing in English is a challenge,although I will not translate articles (Russian being an exception) which have been written in otherlanguages. If you have questions about submissions, send them to the editor; also look at thenew guidelines which have been posted to the Silkroad Foundations website at the URL listed on

the previous page.

Daniel C. [email protected]

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Images from Ancient Iran:Selected Treasures from the

National Museum in Tehran

A photographic essay

Audience hall scene depicting Darius I or Xerxes I,

Treasury Palace, Persepolis. 5th century BCE

Featured museum

All photographs copyright 2010 Daniel C. Waugh

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Footed pottery vessel. Shahr-

e Soukhteh - Sistan. Late 3rd

millennium BCE

Ceramic charioteer. Amarlu

- Gilan. 1st millennium BCE

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Bronze quiver. Sorkh dom -

Luristan. 800-700 BCE

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Gold goblet with winged bulls. Marlik - Gilan. Early 1st millennium BCE

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Lapis lazuli vessel encrusted with gold. Hasanlu -

West Azerbaijan. Early 1st millennium BCE.

Gold earrings. Pasargad - Fars. Achaemenid period.

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Statue of Darius I, with inscription

on base in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Found

at Susa. 6th-5th century BCE.

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Silver foundation tablet of Darius I with inscription in Old

Persian, Elamite and Babylonian cuneiform. Persepolis - Fars.

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Gold rhyton. Hamedan. Achaemenid period.

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The upper part of a stone capital from Persepolis. 5th century BCE.

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Zeus. Nahavand - Hamedan. Seleucid period.

Bronze statue of Parthian

prince. Shami - (Izeh) Khuzistan.

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Floor mosaic (fragment). Shapurs palace, Bishapur - Fars. 3rd (?) century CE.

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Silver bowl (detail).

Klardasht - Mazandaran.

Sasanian.

Stucco bust.

Hajiabad - Fars.

Sasanian.

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The modern nation of Mongolia, locatedbetween Russian Siberia and China, ismostly wide-open steppes an areawhere animal husbandry, hunting, and a no-madic lifestyle have been optimal for thousandsof years. Dynamic competition for pasture andconquests by different groups led to the es-tablishment of many powerful steppe empires:the Xiongnu (3rdcentury BCE 1stcentury CE),Turkish (552 745 CE), Uighur (744 840),Khitan (Liao, 9th 11thcenturies CE) and MongolEmpires (12th 14thcenturies) succeeded oneanother in ruling the steppes of Central Asia.The Uighur groups that gained power in theMongolian steppes were of similar language andculture with the ancient Turks who came beforethem. Even though the territories of Mongolia arerich with archaeological sites attributed to the Ui-ghurs, very few excavations on this period havebeen done. Most researchers who have studied

the Uighurs have focused on their inscriptions.Since 2005, a joint MongolianChinese archae-

ological project has investigated archaeologicalsites in Mongolia. The participating institutionsare the National Museum of Mongolia, the Inter-national Institute for the Study of Nomadic Civ-ilizations (Ulaanbaatar) and the Inner MongoliaResearch Institute of Cultural Relics and Ar-chaeology (Hohhot).1In 2005 we traveled over

3000 km in Mongolia and visited hundreds ofarchaeological sites in order to introduce themto the Chinese scholars and select the ones to

investigate for the next ve years. This surveyof sites from all periods is now published in Mon-golian and Chinese (Enkhtuvshin et al. 2008a).

After the survey, we chose to investigate sitesin Central Mongolia known as durvuljin. Localpeople call them square sites (durvuljin) be-cause of the square or rectangular shape. Thereis some information from scholars who visitedthese sites before, but they had no idea abouttheir function. There is but one brief article, byMongolian Academician Huduugiin Perlee, inwhich he proposed that the site might be a Tur-

kic royal tomb (Perlee 1941/2001). We there-fore chose this kind of site in order better tounderstand its function and determine its date.Most durvuljins have been found in the OrkhonValley [Fig. 1], where we chose to investigatethose located in Khotont county of Arkhangaiprovince, near the Uighur capital of Khar Balgas(Ordu-Balik) [Fig 2].

The only other conrmed durvuljin site outsideof the Orkhon Valley, located to the north in Bul-gan province, is the one named Mogoin ShineUs or Moyunchur stele [Fig. 3]. We compared

AncientUighUrMAUsoleADiscovereDinMongoliA

Ayudai OchirTserendorj OdbaatarBatsuuri AnkhbayarLhagwasren ErdeneboldUlaanbaatar, Mongolia

Fig. 1. Location of durvuljin.

Fig. 2. The Uighur capital Ordu-Balik (Khar Balgas).360+ panorama photo 2007 Daniel C. Waugh, tak-en from NW corner of palace in SE corner of citadel.

16The Silk Road8 (2010): 1626 Copyright 2010 The Silkroad Foundation.Copyright 2010 the authors, including illustrations, except as specied.


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the Moyunchur site complex with the durvuljinin the Orkhon Valley and saw that their generalshapes are very similar, but there is no stele inthe durvuljin sites in the Orkhon Valley. Thereare famous Uighur inscriptions on the Moyun-chur stele; so we thought it possible that thedurvuljin were from the Uighur period of the 8th 9thcenturies [Fig. 4].

We discovered about 40 durvuljin in the Ork-hon valley during preliminary vehicle surveysand by asking local people. These sites arevery easy to see in the open landscape, of-ten located in groups of three to eight in thegorges along the edges of mountains andhills. The structure of durvuljin square sites isa rectangular shaped earthen wall only about0.5 1 m high, with a water channel dug out-side the wall. There is a small mound insidethe wall made of earth, stone and bricks. Thewall gate is always located on the east side.

While our goal was to excavate only thedurvuljin Uighur sites, we found and ex-cavated within the durvuljin complexesburials from other periods, some frombefore the Uighur period and some be-longing to the later Mongol period. Forexample, a Xiongnu grave (3rd centuryBCE 1st century CE) was dug 2000years ago beneath the Khulhiin am site.Eight centuries later the Uighur peo-

ple placed their square site on top of it. Sincemost Xiongnu graves have stone surface mark-ings, the Uighurs probably knew the burial wasthere. The Xiongnu grave was disturbed by theprocess of digging and building up the durvuljinwall but had not been looted the bones andartifacts were moved around but had not beenremoved from the pit. Then 400 years afterthe Uighur square site was built, the Mongols

buried eight of their dead inside the walls ofthe Uighur durvuljin. Therefore, there are threedifferent cultures together in one place at theKhulhiin am square site.

So far we have excavated six durvuljin: twosites of Uvur havtsaliin am in 2006 (no. 3) and2009 (no. 5), Khulhiin am in 2006-2007 (no. 1),Khundiin khooloi in 2007 (no. 3), and two addi-tional durvuljin at Khundiin khooloi in 2008 (nos.5, 6). Here is a brief summary of the discoveries.

1. Khulhiin am site no. 1

We excavated the better preserved durvuljinno. 1 among the three square sites found in anarrow valley here [Fig. 5, next page], start-ing with the Mongol graves inside the squarewalls. In them, we found gold ornaments andbuttons, pearls, and a birch bark hat whichwere used by Mongol wives of the 13th 14thcenturies. When later we excavated the walls,we discovered the Xiongnu tomb beneaththe northern earthen wall. In this disturbedgrave were pottery fragments, many bone ar-rowheads, bone bow pieces, bronze decora-tion, and other wooden and bone artifacts.

Fig. 3. The Moyunchur ritual site.

Fig. 4. The stele with a runic inscription atMoyunchur.

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The durvuljin walls measured 48 x 40m and stood 0.5 m high. Surroundingthis rammed earthen wall was a ditch.

We also discovered a small brickworkwater channel projecting from thenorthern wall, constructed apparentlyfor drainage. Also, we found a pit usedto mix plaster from chalk for prepar-ing a plaster layer for wall decoration.There is one rectangular structure inthe middle of the wall enclosure afoundation of rammed earth surround-ed by bricks, and then plastered over.There were many bricks for walls on topof this foundation, probably for anoth-er building, but the bricks were very disturbed.

We found a total of six graves inside the wallenclosure, located to the west, north and eastof the central building. Each grave had a dis-

tinct structure, different from theothers. The bigger chamber tombswere oriented with their entrywaysat the east side of each chamber.Some of them were circular, otherstunnel-shaped. Some tunnels werelined with bricks inside, while oth-ers had natural soil walls. All the

big chamber tombs (graves 2, 3,4 and 5) had been looted but notthe small pit burials (nos. 1 and 6).Grave no. 1 is a pit burial to the

east of the central building, found45 cm beneath the surface andmeasuring 113 x 112 cm acrossand 70 cm deep [Fig. 6]. Buried

here underneath a small tunnel vault of brickswas a baby around 1 years old. Because smallrodents had disturbed the grave it was difcultto know the manner of burial. The babys head

was to the west; so maybe this was theorientation. The baby had a gold earring.

Grave no. 6was found from a soil spot35 cm below the surface to the east ofthe central building [Fig. 7]. This pit was74 x 32 cm and 115 cm deep. A brick boxwith a lid of wood, stone and brick was

set into a side niche aligned southwest northwest, with a natural step oppo-site the box. Skeletal remains of a baby,also 1 years old, were inside the box,and a couple of tiny gold earrings andthree beads were found on the oor ofthe grave. The orientation of the babyalso appears to have been to the west.

Fig. 5. Durvuljin at Khulhiin am.

Fig. 6. Grave no. 1 and gold earring, Khulhiin am.

Fig. 7. Grave no. 6 and gold earrings, Khulhiin am.

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Grave no. 3 was also locatedto the east of the central build-ing [Figs. 8, 11 next page]. Thelooters hole was 1.5 m in diam-eter. In it we found human andanimal bones, brick fragments,thick gray-colored architecturalfragments which had fallen infrom above, ceramic fragmentsdecorated with patterns, whiteand red plaster fragments, hu-man skull fragments, and brownand black ceramics. 170 cm deepinto the hole were leg bones,shoulder bones and stackedbricks. At a depth of 270 cm wasa chamber tomb constructed of

bricks and packed clay. The looters hole pen-etrated the entrance of the tomb chamber. In-side, the chamber measured 190 x 115 cm and104 cm tall, with an extra length for the cham-ber entrance. The chamber was lled withsoil; there were scattered human bones of ateenager and a skull in the northwest corner.

Grave no. 2, found beneath a layer of build-ing fragments from the central structure, hasa long entryway with stairs mea-suring 4.8 x 1.2 m and orientednorthwest to southeast. The cham-ber entrance, made of bricks,was damaged by looters whenopened. Two fragments of a smallburned ceramic pot lay on theoor outside the entrance, per-haps used for a lamp. The cham-ber is shaped like a bent tunnel,5.4 m long and 1 m high. The tunnel waswalled and oored with bricks packed with clay.

The bones of the body lay close to the en-

trance, and the skull was found in a tight clothbag to the east of the chest [Fig. 8]. The jawwas outside of the bag; because there were noteeth maybe it was from an older person. Un-der the chest were two badly preserved leatherboots whose shape and decoration could still bediscerned. We also found two bone bow joints,on one of which is a runic inscription with 5letters [Fig. 9]. According to Japanese and

Fig.8. Graves no. 3 (above and low-er right); no. 2 (right) Khulhiin am.

Fig. 9. Bow joint with runicinscription, Grave no. 2,

Khulhiin am.

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Mongolian specialists they read tonuz, possi-bly a name, maybe that of the dead person,or maybe someone elses, inscribed on an ob-

ject which had been given to him. We foundan analogous example on the bone bow piecewith markings from the Xiongnu tomb underthe square site wall demonstrating that therewas a long tradition of inscribing bow pieces.

Grave no. 4consisted of a long stepped entry-way 3.8 m long and 1.2 m wide, and a cham-bered pit 325 x 280 cm, with a constructed en-trance between these two sections [Fig. 10]. At

the top of the chamber roof looters had madea hole, in which were bricks, sheep/goat bonesand some ceramic fragments. The vaulted brickceiling of the chamber was 1.6 m high. Smallstones were set between the bricks to securethem in position and then packed with ne clay.Unlike the bricks of the wall, the bricks in theroof had on one side the imprint of a rope. Thiswas probably not for decoration or from beingpressed into a mold, but rather for tting thebricks in the ceiling to protect them from slid-ing. The chamber entrance wall was paintedwith red ochre, and a bronze belt decorationwas found on the entry stairs. This nd is not aritual object, just something that was lost whenthe tomb was being built. Since the looters camein through the roof, the chamber entrance wasintact the bricked entrance was covered witha layer of mud. The entire chamber oor waspaved with bricks, and a second tier of bricksformed a platform in the north part of the

chamber, probably the resting place for the de-ceased before the looters scattered the bones.

Grave no. 5 was also a chamber tomb. Theentryway was 3.2 x 1.3 m and 2.8 m deep,and many animal bones and brick fragments

Fig. 10. Entrance to Grave no. 4 and bronze coinfrom Grave no. 5, Khulhiin am.

Fig. 11. Entrance to Grave no. 3 and looters hole,Khulhiin am.

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were found in this section [Fig. 12].As with the other chamber tombs,the bricked entrance was small, only62 cm tall; the looters had enteredthrough its upper part. The cham-ber oor was paved with bricks.In the entryway was a bronze coinfragment, a kai yuan tongbao fromthe early Tang Dynasty (625 CE)[Fig. 10]. This gives a terminus postquem for the site, although oneshould remember that many coinsare kept for a long time. Enough ofthe bones remained to determinethat the dead person was a teenager.

Although the childrens burials werenot looted, the destruction caused bysmall rodents makes it difcult to determine theburial practices. The looters passed over the chil-drens graves either because they thought theywere poorer than the bigger tombs or perhapssimply because they did not notice such smallgraves, which left few traces. Since there were3 gold earrings and 3 beads in the two childrensgraves, it is reasonable to assume that the big-ger tombs were very rich before looting. Someof the bigger tombs were looted several times,which would suggest that signicant time mighthave elapsed between the separate incursions.

2. Uvur havtsal site no. 3

We have excavated two of nine square sitesin this mountain pass (here we report on theexcavation of 2006, but not the one done in2009). There are no deep trenches outside ofthe earthen wall of site no. 3, nor is the wall

high, only about 0.4 m. The outer wall mea-sures 31 m eastwest by 34 m northsouth,and there is a 3 m wide gate on the east side.A rammed earth mound in the middle of thewalled enclosure is 1.5 m high and 12 m wide;its surface is covered with some brick frag-ments and gray and buff-colored roof tiles. It isalso walled with bricks and covered in a chalkplaster layer around the perimeter. In addi-tion to bricks, tiles and pottery fragments, wefound decorative pieces of a zoomorphic de-sign. At rst we thought they were bats, butlarger pieces proved to be stylized dragons.

We found one brick chamber tomb with astepped entryway and small bricked entrancenorthwest of the central structure [Fig. 13]. Theentryway measured 5 m long and 1 m wide;

the diameter of the circular brick chamber it-self is 4.3 m and the height of its dome 2.3 m.Inside were a cows head, human vertebraeand some foot bones, a human jaw, some frag-ments of pottery and construction materials.

3. Khundiin khooloi site no. 3

At Khundiin khooloi, we excavated three of

seven square sites [Figs. 14, 15, next page].At site no. 3, the earthen wall with an east-ern gate has a ditch around it, and a rammedearthen mound, 15 m wide and 1.8 m high,lies in the middle. Architectural elements likebricks, tiles, and pottery fragments are similarto those found at the other sites excavated, butthis mound is distinct in that it has a circularshape. The bricks at this site look more worn

Fig. 12. Step-shaped bricks from Grave no. 5,Khulhiin am.

Fig. 13. Chamber tomb at Uvur khavtsal site no. 3.

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and maybe are old and were recycledfrom another construction. The mostinteresting thing is that there was nochamber tomb here, which shows thatnot all durvuljin sites have tombs.

4. Khundiin khooloi site no. 6

At Khundiin khooloi, we found twodurvuljin sites next to each other.

Square site no. 6 is on the north sideof durvuljin no. 5 [Fig. 16]. Site no. 6measured 21 m wide and had a wallwith outside ditch and central moundwith brick and chalk plaster construc-tion as at the other sites. Here alsothere were no tombs.

5. Khundiin khooloi site no.5

This is the big-gest square site

we excavated upthrough 2008 [Fig.17]. The outerearthen wall mea-sures 34 x 51 m,and its gate facessoutheast. Thecentral structureis a large stonemound coveredwith a layer ofmud and with aat top and some

steps. There wasprobably a larg-er stone struc-ture like a pa-goda built on thisfoundation. A rampof bricks on theeast side forms a

Fig. 14 (below). Durvuljin at Khundiin

khooloi site no. 3.Fig. 15 (right). Central mound at

Khundiin khooloi site no. 3.

Fig. 16. The 6th durvuljin at Khundiinkhooloi.

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kind of stair to thismound. Excavationof the site revealedsix other foundationsaround the centralstructure. Most ofthem are rammedearth and brick wallsand oors like thecentral structures ofother square sites,though some areonly rammed earth.

The second struc-ture measures 6.8 x7 m and stands 1 mhigh [Fig. 18]. Only

the east side doesnot have a brick wallaround the rammedearthen foundation.

The third structure is 5x 5 m square and 0.9 mhigh [Fig. 19]. There weremany chalk plaster frag-ments around this plat-form, which was facedwith brick.

The fourth structure con-

nects to the northwesternside of the central struc-ture [Fig. 20, next page].It measures 6 x 4 m and1 m high. We discoveredinside the rammed earthfoundation wooden poles, 3along the eastern part and 3along the western part.

The base of the fthstructure was made oframmed clay 10 cm thick,on top of which there wasa small earthen founda-

tion, 1 x 0.8 m, covered with bricks [Fig. 21].

The sixth structure is badly disrupted andstands only 0.4 m high; so it is difcult to

Fig. 17. The 5thdur-vuljin at Khundiin

khooloi.

Fig. 18 (above). Structure no. 2, Khundiin khooloisite no. 5.

Fig. 19 (below). Structure no. 3, Khundiin khooloisite no. 5.

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see the shape [Fig. 22]. It has plasteredbrick walls. We found 3 pits for chalk plastermixing aligned along the south wall. Therewas some dried chalk plaster on the bot-tom of the pits indicating that they were usedto prepare the mortar for those buildings.

During the excavationwe found one brick cham-ber tomb to the north ofthe central stone mound.The entryway is 5.4 m inlength and consists of venatural earth steps. Thebricked entrance is justlarge enough for an adultperson to enter. The cham-ber diameter is 3 meters;its dome has a height of 2m. The entryway is 4 mlong, and 1.3 m wide. Atthe top of the dome is a0.8 m diameter hole from the looters. The ooris rammed clay, and in the middle of the cham-ber oor is a small standing wood beam whose

bottom is surrounded by small stones. This mayhave been a pillar in the center of the cham-ber room. At the front of the chamber, stonesand bricks remain from a partitioning wall.

There were mural paintings on the back northwall of the chamber, the rst such discovered inMongolia [Fig. 23]. The mural is 74 cm high andextends 2.3 m around the curved back wall.White chalk plaster was put onto a mud layerthat covered the bricks of the chamber wall,and a detailed drawing of a ower was repeat-ed 5 times. The paint is from natural earthencolors: black, reddish-orange, green and chalk-white. This wall painting of owers presum-ably expresses the idea of a peaceful afterlifefor the dead. They look similar to the lotus,which can symbolize sleep and peace. Apartfrom the interesting mural, human leg boneswere the only artifacts from this looted tomb.

Conclusions regarding

the durvuljin sites

In conclusion, we sum-marize our observationsregarding several impor-tant questions:Date. Because many of

the bricks look old andshow much eroding andcrumbling, we think theUighurs re-used thesebricks from other struc-tures and that they werenot always made ex-pressly for the square

sites or chambers. Maybe they were broughtfrom other places nearby such as Khar Balgas(Ordu-Balik) city. The architectural elements

Fig. 20. Structure no. 4, Khundiin khooloisite no. 5.

Fig. 21. Structure no. 5, Khundiin khooloi siteno. 5.

Fig. 22. Structure no. 6, Khundiin khooloi site no. 5; Ceramic decoration found nearthe central building on its northwest side.

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bricks, tiles anddecorative claypieces lookvery much like the pieces from Uighur citiesand sites such as Por-Bajin in Tuva, Russia.2

Some of the artifacts in the graves are alsovery similar to those from graves excavated inTuva. The ceramic pots, bone and bronze ar-rowheads, and ceramic spindles are similar toones commonly found in Tuva. Two coins indi-cate a date of the Tang Dynasty, and the dur-vuljin form looks like a site to the north wherethere is a famous Uighur inscription at MogoinShine Us. We also received 14C dates from hu-man bones and some wood which fall in the

range of the 7th 9 thcenturies CE (the UighurEmpire in Mongolia existed in the 8th 9th centu-ries). All of this evidence makes us think thesedurvuljin sites are from the Uighur period.

Function. Most of the many graves we exca-vated at the six square sites used brick; thesix brick chamber tombs varied in form. Therewere many kinds of people buried in thesechambers: a 50(+)-year-old man, a 10-year-old boy, a 30-year-old woman, a 15-year-oldboy, and even a one-year-old child. It demon-strates that these tombs are not just for older

people nor just for men. Probably the cham-ber tombs were not for the common people butrather are those of the elite. Two of the squaresites had no burials, two of them only oneburial, and one of them had six burials. Manyburials together in one place may indicate rela-tives. The sites without burials were maybe justritual sites (perhaps constructed to commemo-rate someone who had died elsewhere) or con-structed on the wish of a person who was dying.

Attribution. A number of arguments afrmthat the durvuljin sites are to be connected withthe Uighurs:

The square architecture and layout are thesame as those found at the ritual site of thesecond Uighur khagan Moyunchur. The 14C data provided by Beijing University in-dicate a date of the 7th 9thcenturies, the timeof the Uighur Empires existence. There is the one runic inscription found atKhulhiin am. Among the Central Asian no-

mads, only the Turks and Uighurs used runicinscriptions. The durvuljin sites are very differ-ent from the ritual sites of the Turkic khagans. Architectural elements found at the dur-vuljin sites are similar to those found at theUighur city of Por Bajin in Russian Tuva. Also,the bricks are like those found at the Uighurcapital Ordu-Balik. Those bricks show that theOrdu-Balik and durvuljin sites are connected,a fact that is reinforced by the close proxim-ity of the square sites to Ordu-Balik (17 km). Some of the nds at the square sites are are

very similar to those made by the Russian ar-chaeologist Leonid R. Kyzlasov, who excavatedUighur tombs in Tuva in the 1950s (Kyzlasov1969, 1979).

We hope that our excavation of the durvuljinwill encourage further investigation of ancientUighur chamber tombs. Our results have al-ready provided much new information for thestudy of the Uighurs rituals and mortuarypractices.

About the authors

Professor Ayudai Ochir, a historian, is cur-rently coordinator of international researchprojects at the International Institute for theStudy of Nomadic Civilizations. He was direc-tor of the Institute of History of the MongolianAcademy of Sciences from 1990-2001 and Di-rector of the National Museum of Mongolia from2003-2007. In the research on the durvuljins,he headed the Mongolian side of the Mongo-lian-Chinese archaeological team. TserendorjOdbaatar, a Ph.D. candidate in archaeology atthe Mongolian State University of Education,

headed the durvuljin excavations and in par-ticular supervised those at Khulhiin am and the5th durvuljin at Uvur havtsaliin. He has been acurator and archaeologist at the National Mu-seum of Mongolia since 2003. He may be con-tacted at .Batsuuri Ankhbayar is a Ph.D. candidate inarchaeology at the Inner Mongolia Universityin China and a researcher at the International

Fig. 23. Muralpainting in thechamber tomb atKhundiin khooloi

site no. 5.

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Institute for the Study of Nomadic Civilizations.He has worked on the durvuljin since 2005. E-mail: . LhagwasrenErdenebold, Ph.D., is a research scholar at theMongolian University of Science and Technolo-gy. His e-mail: .

References

Enkhtuvshin et al. 2008a

Batbold Enkhtuvshin et al., eds. Mongol ulsiinnutag dahi archaeologiin haiguul sudalgaa /Mengguguo gudai youmu minzu wenhua yicunkaogu diaocha baogao: 2005-2006 nian : 2005-2006 [Archaeological research and investigationof Mongolian territory in 2005-2006]. Beijing:Wenwu chubanshe, 2008.

Enkhtuvshin et al. 2008b

Batbold Enkhtuvshin et al., eds. Arkhangaiaimgiin Khotont sumiin Uvurhavtsaliin amnii3-r durvuljingiin maltlaga, 2006 / MengguguoHaotengte Sumu Wubuer Habuqile sanhao si-fang xing yizhi fajue baogao (2006 nian)

(2006) [The 3rdDurvuljin excavation atUvurkhavtsaliin am, Khotont soum, Arkhangaiprovince, in 2006]. Beijing: Wenwu chubanshe,2008.

Httel and Erdenebat 2009

HansGeorg Httel and Ulambayar Erdenebat.

Karabalgasun und Karakorum Zwei spt-nomadische Stadtsiedlungen im Orchon-tal.Ulaanbaatar, 2009 [in Mongolian and German].

Kyzlasov 1969

Leonid Romanovich Kyzlasov. Istoriia Tuvyv srednie veka [History of Tuva in the MiddleAges]. Moscow: Izd-vo. Moskovskogo un-ta,1969.

Kyzlasov 1979Leonid Romanovich Kyzlasov. Drevniaia Tuva(ot Paleolita do IX v.)[Ancient Tuva from thePalaeolithic to the 9th century]. Moscow: Izd-

vo. Moskovskogo un-ta, 1979.Perlee 1941/2001

Huduugiin Perlee. Huuchnii dursgalt zuiluudiigsahin hamgaalah durmiig bieluulie [Lets follow

the law for protecting ancient treasures]. In:Huduugiin Perlee. Erdem shinjilgeenii uguule-luud, Vol. 1. Ulaanbaatar, 2001, pp 50-51.

Ochir et al. 2009

Ayudai Ochir, Lhagwasren Erdenebold, Tser-endorj Odbaatar and Batsuuri Ankhbayar. Ui-ghuriin yazguurtnii bunhant bulsh [A chamber

tomb of Uighur royalty]. Studia ArchaeologicaXXVI (VI) Fasc.1-22 (Ulaanbaatar, 2009): 328-368.

Ochir and Battulga 2007

Ayudai Ochir and Tsend Battulga. Numiin yasannaalt deerhi bichees [Inscription on the bonebow joint]. Mongolian Journal of Anthropology,Archaeology and Ethnology 3/1(287) (2007):223-225.

Ochir and Odbaatar 2008

Ayudai Ochir and Tserendorj Odbaatar. Hul-

hiin amnii mongol bulshuud [Mongol tombsat Khulhiin am]. Mongolian Journal of Anthro-pology, Archaeology and Ethnology 4/1 (312)(2008): 88-108.

Odbaatar 2008

Tserendorj Odbaatar. Khulhiin amnii hunnubulsh [A Xiongnu tomb at the Khulhiin amsite]. Acta Historica IX, Fasc. 1-34 (Ulaan-baatar, 2008): 21-31.

Notes

1. The scholars from the Inner Mongolia Re-search Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeol-ogy (Hohhot) were Ta La, Chen Yongzhi, SonGuo Dong, Yue Gou Ming and Sarenbilge.

2. A brief overview what is known aboutthe very interesting site of Por-Bajin may befound at . More de-tail is available in the booklet Proekt KrepostPor-Bazhin. Nauchnyi almanakh (N.p., ca.2007). A good many photographs of the siteare at various places on the Internet, includ-ing Google Earth, where you type in the coordi-nates: 503653.87 N, 97236.57E.

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The qanat system is a very old under-

ground structure built since high antiquityto supply water in dry areas. This systemcontains a very rich nomenclature and depend-ing on its location is designated by a differentterm. In Palestine we talk of fuqara, in Spain ofmadjira, in Arabia of falaj, in Morocco of khot-tara, in Sahara of khottara, in Afghanistan andin Xinjiang of karez. I have chosen the Iranianword qanat for this article (Loubes 1998, p.222; Smith 1957; Briant 2001; Goblot 1979,p. 499).

This system is very simple in appearance andis usually characterized by two important as-pects: When the area to tap the water is identi-ed (usually next to a pre-mountainous alluvialfan [Trombert 2008, p. 118]), an underground

down-slope tunnel is built in order to use gravityleading the aquifer water to the farms and thetowns connected to this channel. On the downslope of the mountain, air shafts or wells aredug at regular intervals to aid in the construc-tion and the maintenance of the tunnel. The wa-ter is provided by the mader-tchah(the motherwell) (Goblot 1979, p. 30; Loubes 1998, pp.221222), the deepest of all the shafts and therst well connected to the water reservoir. Wa-ter is then released and ows naturally by grav-

ity along the tunneluntil arriving at the

surface (Sala 2008)[Figs. 1, 2]. Thissystem contains twomain advantages:with a natural slope,there is no need forpumps or other de-vices to raise the wa-ter to a higher level.Secondly, the aquiferwater is accessibleall year long and,with the use of prop-er storage devices,human settlementscan properly controlits ow through thechanging seasons.

thehyDrAUlicsysteMsintUrfAn(XinjiAng)Arnaud BertrandSorbonne University, Paris

Fig. 1. Cross-section of a qanat. Created by Samuel Bailey ([email protected]); from Wikipedia .

Fig. 2. Model of qanat supplying water to the city of Yazd, Iran.Photo (composite image) 2010 Daniel C.Waugh taken at the Water Museum in Yazd, Iran.

27Copyright The Silkroad FoundationCopyright Arnaud Bertrand. Rights to il lustrations reserved as noted.The Silk Road8 (2010): 2741


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In its function, the qa-nat, from the Semitic

denition to dig (Wulff1968), has never beenan irrigation system but amining technique invent-ed to bring the aquiferwater to the surface bythe use of undergroundshafts and tunnels (Gob-lot 1979, p. 27) [Fig.3]. As with many differ-ent water devices in ourworld, past or present,we tend to generalizetheir functioning. Hence,we see very often thatwells are used only forurban life, whereas wa-ter canals from a river,for example, are usedonly for irrigation (Bruneau 1991; 1994/95).

According to recent discoveries and researchregarding the origin of this system, it seemsthat the oldest qanat are located in Iran on thenorthern edge of the Persian Gulf (Goblot 1963;Boucharlat 2001; Qanat1989). During the Ach-

aemenid period, this system was developed,very well controlled and widely spread alongwith the Persians conquests in the north, southand west, eventually reaching Egypt (Briant2001, pp. 10942; Chauveau 1996). Qanatshave continued to be used until today in CentralAsia (Sala 2008), in the Arab world (Lightfoot2000), and in Xinjiang in the northwest of

China (Huang 1994, pp. 70-71; Goblot 1963,pp. 50405) [Fig. 4].

He who passes through Xinjiang, and stops inthe Turfan oasis for a couple of hours, discoversthe magic of these qanats, which are one of themany treasures of the oasis [Fig. 5]. Your Ui-ghur guide will tell you everything about its per-formance, its origin, and perhaps the contextof its introduction into Turfan. What you hearabout the history though may well be wrong,since the subject has been controversial.

There is every reason to believe that the in-troduction of the qanat from Iran to the Turfanoasis occurred no earlier than the 17thand 18thcenturies CE. Many scholars have discussed the

Fig. 3. Workers digging a qanat. Photo 2010 Dan-iel C. Waugh, from a photo in the Water Museum, Yazd. Fig. 4. The spread of the qanat. From Goblot 1963.

p. 504; used with permission.

Fig. 5. The location of Turfan in Xinjiang. Satellite photo:NASA Visible Earth, Taklimakan_A2002088_0525_1km.jpg.

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matter of the date, basing their arguments onevidence from different Chinese texts (Wang1959, pp. 62022; Trombert 2008). Some sug-gested that the qanat system was originallyfrom China where it existed as early as the for-mer Han dynasty. As ric Trombert summarizes(2008, p. 117):

In China, several theories have been advancedconcerning the origins of karez technology inXinjiang. Depending on individual authors, itwas: (1) imported from Persia; (2) locally de-veloped and rened through long-term expe-rience; or (3) developed elsewhere in ChinasCentral Plain and then imported with someminor modications. Some combination of (1)and (2) seems the most probable. But untiltoday, the Xinjiang Karez system is still com-monly considered in China as one of the threeGreat Ancient Chinese Works, the other twobeing the Great Wall and the Grand Canal.

Also, following leads rst provided by the Otaniexpedition (Otani 1963), some specialists havemaintained that evidence discovered in the cit-ies of Gaochang and Jiaohe during the rst halfof the 20th century includes the remains of aqanat system dating from the early Tang dy-nasty. Thus they claim that China adopted thesystem from Turfan; this in turn would suggesta new date for the importation of the qanat inChina.

Since Tromberts recent article (2008) hasnow provided us with a very complete analysis

of the textual references to the qanat in thehistory of the Turfan oasis, there is now littlereason to question a date of the 18thcenturyfor the systems in-troduction there. As-suming then that thedate is not an issue,we need to exploreother aspects of thehyrdological systemsin Turfan. Indeed,the main role of thisqanat system in thecapture of water isclear, but what kindsof water devices wereused prior to its in-troduciton needs tobe determined. Afterexamining this issuewe can address the

question of why the implantation in Turfan ofthe qanat was a success and why it arrived solate in history.

Our knowledge of the history of Turfan is nowrather extensive, and we have documents andarcheological proofs indicating that the maincities of the oasis (Gaochang, Jiaohe, Tocksun,Luckum) were heavily populated. The demo-graphic and cultural expansion continued untilthe conicts which arose starting in the seven-teenth century between Chinese and Muslims(Maillard 1973, pp. 1943). There are some im-pressive statistics on population: for example,the Western Liang arrived with 10,000 familiesin Turfan at Gaochang city in 442 CE (Ibid.).Where there is life, there is water. Where suchsignicant numbers of people are involved, wemust discuss more precisely the different wa-ter techniques used to supply the families livingin this space and to irrigate the elds and the

grapesA geographical and hydrographical over-view of the Turfan valley

It is not possible to assess the textual orarchaeological evidence without making a thor-ough survey of the natural landscape of theTurfan basin and more precisely of the naturalcourse of water through time.1Turfan is dividedinto three main counties: the Shanshan coun-ty on the east, the Turfan County in the cen-ter and the Toksun County on the west [Fig.6]. The oasis, which measures around 2000

km, takes the form of a depression with veryfew reliefs and lies on the eastern part of theTienshan , whose highest peak, the Bogda

Shan (in Turkic) orsky mountain, risesto 5455 m.

Turfan is separatedfrom the Tienshanby the re mountain(Huoyanshan )located on the northof the south valley of

the oasis. Because ofthe collapse of theTarim plateau (Coque

Fig. 6. The oasis ofTurfan with the threecounties. After Loubes1998, p. 244, 104;used with permission.

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1992; Gentelle 1992, pp. 55558;Mercier 1980) into the Tienshan, animportant geomorphologic fault [Fig.7] appeared during the quaternaryperiod dividing the basin in two, eacharea being the focus of settlement. Inthe northeast, on the re mountain,we nd some well known historic sitessuch as Bezeklik and Shengjiagou. Inthe west and south spreads the valleyof Turfan with multiple cities and vil-lages still ourishing today.

Furthermore, this fault contributed to the de-pression of the Basin. Today, along with theDead Sea in Israel, the Turfan basin is oneof the two lowest points on earth, at around162 m below sea level [Fig. 8]. The Yuehu (salt lake or Aidingkol in Turkic), represents thelowest point of the basin, and the salt moun-tain (Cheul-tagh) rising to 1000 m, marks thesouthern boundary of the oasis. On the eastside of the basin, the desert narrows access tothe oasis, and only one direct road leads to thesites of Gaochang, Turfan and Toqsun in theeast part. On the northwest side, the pass ofDevan leads to the current Xinjiang capital ofUrumqi.

The natural water course in this oasis is typicalof the desert andmountain envi-ronments suchas those of theXinjiang region.Between autumnand spring watercomes from themelting of thesnow lying on theTienshan in thenorth. The melt-ing water fun-

nels [Fig. 9] into

Fig. 7. The Tibetan plate moving against theTarim plate. Reproduced with permission

from Gentelle 1992, p.557.

Fig. 8. Cross-section of Turfan from northto south. From Huntington 1907, p. 254.

Fig. 9. Hydrographic relief of Turfan.Re-produced with permission from Maillard 1973,g. 1. Base map from Survey of India mapsheet no. N. K-45 (1922), reproduced in M. Au-rel Stein, Innermost Asia (1928), vol. IV, p. 31.

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small streams go-ing down the slopeand giving birth inthe valley to riversalimenting differ-ent parts of the oa-sis (Maillard 1973,p. 6). Three maingorges, here de-scribed from eastto west, determinethe entry points ofthe water into theoasis:

Through the Toyukgorge (no. 1 onthe map), mul-tiple small watercourses from theTienshan slopes

meet to form an important river which owsthrough Subashi in the north-east and thenpasses west of Lukcun city.

Via the Shengjinkou gorge (no. 2), a littlefarther west, a river passes through the cit-ies of Murtuk and Sangym-Aghyz and belowBezeklik. In the valley of the oasis, the riverows west of Gaochang and nally arrives inthe south of the basin. Finally through the Turfan gorge (no. 3),on the western side of the oasis, the Davan-dir River, which originates in the Devan cor-

ridor passes west of Huoyanshan and so owswithout any obstacles tothe modern city of Turfanand to the city of Jiaohe(two arms of the riverpass around the city). Atone time it reached thesouthern edge of the oa-sis, bringing water to Ayd-ingkol lake.

In general it is difcult forthese main rivers to pen-

etrate to the southern partof the oasis. For example,the rivers and the shallowwater slopes tend to createtheir own way through theHuoyanshan, but disap-pear in the gravel locatedon the southern end of there mountain. The Turfan

region receives annually only 16,6 mm of pre-cipitation. Hence, most of its supply must comefrom groundwater (Loubes 1998, p. 213).

Historically these rivers permitted many landsto be fertile and gave life to this oasis. How-ever, as the geographer Ellsworth Huntingtonsuggested a century ago, there is an obviousdifference between the situation that prevailedunder the Han dynasty and what can be ob-served in modern times (Huntington 1907).Rivers have disappeared or substantially dimin-

ished in length. An important desert is advanc-ing in the west and the east ofthe oasis, bringing ultimatelydeath to some places and birthto others.The change of climate and hy-

drographic conguration broughtthe population of the Turfan Ba-sin closer to the geological faultnear the new capital of Turfan.Ancient cities have been aban-doned for new sites and onlythe qanat keeps this oasisfrom drowning in the desert(Gentelle 1992; Coque 1991;Jing 2000) [Figs. 10, 11].

Fig. 10. Prole of a qanat in the Turfan valley.After

Loubes 1998, g. 103; reproduced with permission.

Fig. 11. Model of qanat system inTurpan Water Museum, looking Ntoward the mountains. From Wi-kimedia .

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Water systems in the history of Gaochangand Jiaohe cities

The two main cities of Turfan, Gaochang andJiaohe, played a crucial role in the developmentof the oasis in pre-modern times (Li 1999),serving as its capitals until they were aban-doned in the 15th 16thcenturies. Located in thevalley of the Turfan oasis, Gaochang could ex-pand easily in the north, south and east. One

of the main rivers passes close to the west sideof the city. Jiaohe city [Fig. 12], located west ofthe Turfan capital, lies atop a 15 m high mesa.Its river, owing from the north, divides to sur-round the city and join once more in the south.2Jiaohe is then about 20 m above groundwaterand its river is located directly below the cityin the plain. Therefore, considering the impor-tance of these cities in the history of the oasis,they needed effective water devices. Their verydifferent geographical features should indicatethat the systems for bringing water were natu-rally different.

Over the period between the Han Dynasty andthe 14thcentury CE, archaeological and textualevidence indicate that the two cities had threedifferent water systems: wells, undergroundchannels linked to surface channels and vari-ous kinds of canals (Ibid.; Sun 1983; Maillard1973, p. 64).

Archaeological discoveries show that under

the Jushi people3who controlledthe oasis priorto the rst con-quest by theHan Dynasty in90 BCE in Jiaohecity elds wereirrigated by a cer-tain form of irri-gation system,about whosefunctioning wehave no infor-mation. The Hou

Hanshu, describ-ing apparentlythe situation in

the late rst century BCE or early rst centu-ry CE, suggests that the Jiaohe and Liuzhongkingdoms were already densely populated:

The king of Nearer Jushi (Turfan) lives in thetown of Jiaohe (Yarkhoto, 20 li west of Tur-fan). A river divides into two and surroundsthe town, which is why it is called Jiaohe (Riv-er Junction). It is 80 li (33 km) from Liuzhong(Lukchun), the residence of the Chief Clerk.

To the east it is 9,120 li (3,792 km) to Luoy-ang. He [the king] controls more than 1,500households, more than 4,000 individuals, and2,000 men able to bear arms [Hill 2009, p.49].4

Given what seems to have been a substantialpopulation of the Turfan oasis cities, especiallyJaohe, we may assume that wells were builtin the city by the local people before the rstcentury BCE [Fig. 13]. This city was also oc-cupied by the Xiongnu for a time. They usedthe natural defensive quality of the site for pre-

paring multiple attacks on the other oases ofXinjiang and on the Chinese army during thecampaigns launched under Han Wudi (141 87BCE). The wells represented the only way toassure clean and protected water if the city wasbesieged (Briant 2001, pp. 3031; Pulleyblank1981). By the time of its reoccupation by theChinese in 61 BCE, the city contained multipledeep wells. The city changed hands again. With

Fig. 12. Model ofJiaohe in museumat the site. Photo-graph 2008 DanielC. Waugh.

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its reconquestunder the East-ern Han (73102CE), new wellswere dug usingthe techniquesemployed to cre-ate the earlierones (Li 1999,pp. 31017; deCrespigny 1984,pp. 17384;1970; 1995).

The rst ar-chaeological evi-dence for these

wells dates fromas early as theWestern Han Dynasty (Li 1999, p. 315), al-though the latest excavations have determinedthat most of the 300 wells discovered in Jaohedate between the 5th century (when the West-ern Liang and the Qu family controlled the oa-sis) and the end of the Tang Dynasty [Fig. 14].Because rivers owed on the east and westsides of Jiaohe, part of the water not used for

irrigation fed the groundwater of Jaohe un-der the plateau. Hence, to capture this under-ground water and ensure its supply during themany different attacks on the city, wells weredug at least to a depth of 20 25 m.

An example is one excavated by Li Xiaos teamin 1994 built on the same level as the troglodytehouse No. 2 in the northeast of the city. Aftera rst excavation at the surface of the city, thearchaeologists discovered the top of the well in

a 2 m high chamber calledxiadishi. Thewell itself had extended down some 23 30 mbefore striking water (Ibid., pp. 31019) [Fig.15]. This xiadishi was connected to thejiandifa (a tunnel leading to the house). Whileduring the Han Dynasty the wells of the cityhad been dug directly from the surface, begin-ning in the 2nd to 3rd centuries and especially

Fig. 13. Model ofJiaohe (detail).Photograph 2008Daniel C. Waugh.

Fig. 14 (above). Sketch of the well from house 2of Jiaohe. Drawing Arnaud Bertrand.

Fig. 15 (right). Picture of well of Jiaohe. Photo Arnaud Bertrand.

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under the Tang dynasty, when the houses be-came troglodyte, some of the well-heads weremoved underground to protect the water fromthe hot temperatures. With the building of the

jiandifa corridor, the water could be broughtthrough the tunnel directly to the house via a

jar connected to a rope, thus avoiding the hotclimate on the surface (Ibid., pp. 31112).

The water systems of Gaochang city are morecomplex to understand because it appears thatseveral devices were used at the same time fordifferent tasks [Fig. 16]. During the conquestof the oasis by the western Han, the Chinesedeveloped considerably the infrastructure ofTurfan and positioned their garrison at the Ga-ochangbi (the wall of Gaochang) during

the rst half of the rst centuryBCE. The Han military strategi-cally located its city next to the

river on the west side of thetown, which had the strongestow at the time (Pulleyblank1981; Gentelle 1992; Hun-tington 1907, pp. 25467) andthus must have constitutedthe main water supply. Hence,when posted in Gaochang, thesoldiers must have rst tappedthe river manually, and whenthe garrison became an actualtown, they built channels goingthrough the town irrigating the

crops and supplying water tohouses.

The rst textual references(Pelliot 2002, p. 128; Yamamo-to and Ikeda 1987; Guojia wen-wu 1986-1987) mentioning ahydraulic system in Gaochangdate between the independentGaochang Kingdom (500 640CE) and the end of the 8th cen-tury. A very ingenious waterchannel was built in order to ir-

rigate the entire valley locatedin the vicinity of Gaochang. Lo-cated 20 li north of GaochangCity, in the Xinxing Gorge of

the Kizil Range (near Sengging-aghiz), a maincanal, called the Manshui Canal (the fullwater canal), brought water into the heart ofthe oasis; it fed the ditch around the city walland owed on southward [Fig. 17]. The othercanals were connected to it (Trombert 2008, p.130). The open air canals all functioned thanksto the existence of dykes and a reservoir (placedon the northern and southern ends of the city)

which served as transfer station to irrigate thenorth and the south of Gaochang. It is still notcertain whether this Manshui canal tapped a

well canal or underground canal builtinto the Kizil-tagh range. Many Chinese special-ists have made a direct link between the wellcanal mentioned in the sources and the qanatsystem. As Trombert points out (Ibid. p. 133):

Fig. 16. Plan of Gaochang city, 5thto 8thcenturies, and of its market

place. Reproduced with permissionfrom Hansen 2004, p. 11; after /.

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Even if this interpretation were correct, itwould only demonstrate that the qanat sys-tem was completely marginal in the TurfanBasin since none of the other forty canals wasnamed well-canal, not even the main canalthat transferred the water from the Kizil rangefoothills to the cultivated plain: [] its namewas Full-Water Canal.Such a canal system was probably used for

irrigation both inside and outside the city. Thecity plan indicates that the main canal led di-rectly into the city and fed a network of smallercanals around it. A system of canals envelopinga city is quite common in Chinese towns: Luoy-ang under the Wei is a good example (Pelliiot2002, p. 43; Steinhardt 2002, p. 65). Today inTurfan city, irrigation for its trees and grapes is

supplied by a canal. Were such canals also usedfor supplying water to human consumption?One canal went directly to the Buddhist mon-astery on the southeast side. If this open ca-nal provided water for people, would not tanksand a decantation system have been neededto purify it? In the modern town of Turfan, de-cantation and reservoir systems are placed infront of many houses so that the water used forirrigation is also used for other purposes [Fig.18]. Perhaps in Gaochang ancient city the samesystem was used. Further research is needed totest this hypothesis.

Apart from canals, the German archaeologistsGrnwedel (1906) and von Le Coq (1913) dis-

covered some wells in the city without givingtheir location. These wells were built directlyin the clay soil of Gaochang and were usual-ly 46 m maximum depth (much less than inJiaohe) (Maillard 1973, p. 64). Groundwaterwas quite important until the 20th century, and

the water was accessible from within the cityby the building of proper wells. The existenceof these wells conrms that Jiaohe and Gao-

chang used thesame techniqueto access wa-ter even thoughtheir geographi-cal features arecompletely dif-ferent. Perhapsthe well special-ists were work-

Fig. 17. The water canal plan near Gaochang fromTurfan. Reproduced with permission from Trombert 2008,

p. 130 (after Nishimura and Sun Xiaolin).

Fig. 18. Plan of aUighur house ofTurfan city withthe water drain-age system. AfterLoubes 1998, p. 289, 126; reproducedwith permission.

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ing for both cities at the time?Surely the study of other an-cient towns such as Tocskunor Bezeklik could further eluci-date this point.

Why the success in the in-troduction of the qanat?

Now that we have an overviewof the different systems usedto bring water to the elds andthe cities of Jiaohe and Gao-chang, we can propose a prac-tical explanation why in Turfanand not in Dunhuang, for ex-ample, the qanat managed to work (Trombert2008, pp. 12426).

The different water systems require similar ex-pertise in excavation to create wells or under-ground channels and tap water from the moun-

tains. Thus the methods used and the resultingstructures correspond to those of the Iranianqanat. The deep wells in Jaohe, for example,are quite similar to the vertical shafts used forthe qanat system. In Gaochang, the same can

said for the Manshui canal, which required sub-

stantial expertise to tap effectively the waterfrom the Kizil Range. The people of Turfan thuswere familiar with the techniques required toconstruct underground canals through alluvialsoils and conglomerate.

This expertise in excavation techniques is re-ected as well in other structures and drew ontraditions going back over two millennia in theregion. In Jiaohe, for example, there are vari-ous dwelling caves carved out in the rst in-stance to protect people from the severe heat[Fig. 19]. The various Buddhist cave sites suchas Bezeklik, north of Turfan in the Huoyanshan(re mountain), are other illustrations of howthe techniques relevant to well constructionwere employed. Further examples can be seenin the underground shafts of tombs at locationssuch as the famous Astana cemetery [Fig. 20].Thus there was a base of practical knowledgethat then could be applied to creat the qanatsystem centuries later. The tools may havebeen the same for these different constructionsand used once more for the qanat system (Sala2008) [Figs. 21, 22].

The historical evolution of an oasis like Turfan

goes hand in hand with the evolution of wa-ter control. Over the centuries beginning withthe end of the Eastern Han dynasty, the demo-graphic evolution of Turfan required improve-ments in hydraulic engineering capacity. Yet bythe 15th century Jiaohe and Gaochang citieswere being abandoned. There are several prob-able explanations, above all, rst, the destruc-

Fig. 19. Even major buildings in Jiaohe werein some cases largely constructed below theground, here an administrative building in thecenter of the city. Photo 2008 Daniel C. Waugh.

Fig. 20. Diagram of a tomb at Astana. Long entrancecorridors to such tombs often had vertical shafts forventilation and light.After Loubes 1998, p. 135; repro-duced with permission.

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tion from wars that started between the Muslimsand the Chinese, and second, the destructionof the wells of Jiaohe and the canals of Gao-chang, forcing the nal abandoment of thesetwo main cities. Climate change also seems tohave played an important role with the southof the oasis progressively drying out, leadingto increased salinity of the soil and remaining

water. Hence, the people of Gaochang startedto move north closer to Turfan city, where thewater supplies could be guaranteed. (Gentelle1992). A new Gaochang village, completelytransformed by the Chinese in the 1960s, wasbuilt north of the ancient city (Loubes 1998, pp.9495). However, Jiaohe would never be occu-pied again.

The introduction of the qanat system in the18th century, by then already known in otheroases not far from Turfan on the north road ofXinjiang (Li 2005, pp. 2528; Huang 1994),was a response to the need for a new water

technology. Only the qanat could save the oa-sis from complete desertion such as had hap-pened in other oases in Xinjiang due to a de-ciency of water. The familiar examples are thecities of Loulan, Niya and Miran, located in theeastern and southeastern part of the Taklam-akan Desert, which up to the fth century werepart of a ourishing kingdom of Kroraina (in

Prakrit; Shanshan in Chinese). The abandon-ment of Loulan was mainly due to the failureof the Tarim River to continue supplying waterto Lake Lop-nor. In the north of the Taklamak-an as well, the ancient oases of Caohu, Tarim,Luntai and Yuli are now abandoned, because nosolutions were advanced to bring back water tothe villages and feed the crops (Berque 2005,pp. 27780).

If the qanat had not been introduced to Tur-fan, the same situation would have happenedthere. And it worked there due to the suitablegeographic conditions. The qanat must be es-tablished in a mountainous environment where

there is sufcient groundwater and with spaceto link the system to the surface canals. Thetechnical expertise developed over many cen-turies in constructing dwellings, wells and ca-nals was available to take advantage of the fa-vorable geography.

Can the qanat save Turfan now?

Today the qanat feeds the oasis, but cannotcontinue to do so into the future. Demand forwater is growing, too many qanats are beingbuilt in close proximity and too many wells arebeing dug, thus exceeding the capacity of theground water to keep the system functioning(Halik 2003; Lein and Shen 2006). From 1946to 1981 in the Shanshan county of the Turfanoasis (on the east of the valley), about 1985qanats and wells were dug [Fig. 24, next page].The increase of wells lowers the groundwaterlevel (Loubes 1998, p. 228): in 1949, the an-nual quantity of underground water reached

Fig. 21 (left). A worker cleaning a qanat. Photo 2010 Daniel C. Waugh, from photo exhibited in Water Mu-seum, Yazd.

Fig. 22 (above). Lamps and digging tools used byqanat workers; display in Water Museum, Yazd. Pho-tos 2010 Daniel C. Waugh.

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2,101,300 m3; by 1985, the quantity was only1,772,400 m3. Examples from Iran illustratehow exactly the same process has underminedthe qanat system there (Qanat 1989, esp. PartIII).

As Alls (2006, p. 413) puts it,

Water is going to become in a few years amajor problem in the oases [fed by the qa-nat system]. The local authorities announcethe progressive extinction of the traditionalwells (qanat), the water level being now toopoor. Motor pumps are replacing them be-cause we need to dig deeper in order to reachthe groundwater level. In Xinjiang, new watersystems like electronic water basins are test-ed in order to save these many oases gnawedby the qanat.

So it seems that very soon the people of Tur-fan will need to make a new choice: must theymove elsewhere, or must they introduce a yetanother new hydraulic system to save its beau-ty for the centuries to come?

About the author

A graduate student from the Sorbonne in Paris,Arnaud Bertrandis a specialist in the archae-ology of the Xinjiang region. His eld of re-search focuses on the ancient water systems inChinese Central Asia and the history of the mili-

tary conquest of Xinjiang under the Han Dynas-ty. He is now an associate curator at the GuimetMuseum in Paris where he is working with LaureFeugre (ofcial representative of the BuddhistCentral Asian collections), Jacques Gis (direc-tor of Guimet Museum) and Zhao Fang (Don-ghua University Shanghai) on the publicationof a catalogue regarding the collections of the

ancient textiles discovered by PaulPelliot in Dunhuang. After complet-ing a year in Yale in the East AsianDepartment as a postgraduate, hewill prepare his Ph.D. under the di-rection of Alain Thote (Director ofStudies at the cole Pratique desHautes Etudes) and ric Trombert(CNRS) in Paris.

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Jean-Paul Loubes. Architecture et urbanismedes oasis du Turkestan chinois: le cas de Tour-fan. Paris: lHarmattan, 1998.

Luo 2009

Luo Xin . Zhonggu beifang minghao yan-jiu[Studies on The Titulary ofMedieval Inner Asian Peoples]. Beijing daxuechunbanshe, 2009.

Maillard 1973Monique M. Maillard. Essai sur la vie matrielledans loasis de Tourfan pendant le haut moyen-ge. Arts asiatiques, 29. Paris: A. Maisonneuve,1973.

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Shiruku Rdo bijutsuten: Otani Tankentai50-shnen kinen : 50 [The 50th anniversary of the Otanimission on the Silk Road]. Tokyo: Yomiuri Shin-bunsha, 1963.

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Paul Pelliot. Les routes de la rgion de Turfansous les Tang, suivi de Lhistoire et la gogra-phie anciennes de lAsie Centrale dans Inner-most Asia,Ed. Jean-Pierre Drge. Paris: Insti-tut des Hautes tudes Chinoises du Collge de

France, 2002.Pulleyblank 1981

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Qanat, Kariz and Khattara: Traditional WaterSystems in the Middle East and North Africa.Ed. Peter Beaumont et al. London; Wisbech:The Middle East Centre, SOAS, and Middle Eastand North African Studies Press, 1989.

Sala 2008Renato Sala. Underground Water Galleries inMiddle East and Central Asia: survey of his-torical documents and archaeological stud-ies. Laboratory of Geoarchaeology, Instituteof Geological Sciences, Academy of Sciencesof Kazakhstan, 2008 accessed7 May 2010.

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Anthony Smith. Blind White Fish in Persia. Lon-don: G. Allen and Unwin, 1953.

Stein 1925

Aurel Stein. Innermost Asia: Its Geography asa Factor in History. Geographical Journal65/5,6 (1925): 377403; 47398.

Sun 1983

Sun Xiaolin . Tang Xizhou Gaochang xiande shuiqu ji qi shiyong guanli

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[The irrigation system in theGaochang district during the Tang dynasty]. In:Dunhuang Tulufan wenshu chutan , Ed. Tang Changru . Wuchang:Wuhan daxue chubanshe, 1983, pp. 51943.

Trombert 2008

ric Trombert. The Karez Concept in Ancient

Chinese Sources: Myth or Reality? Toung Pao94 (2008): 11550.

Wang 1959

Wang Guowei . Xiyu jingqu kao [On the well-canals in the Western Regions],In: Guantang jilin . Beijing, Zhonghuashuju, 1959, pp. 62022.

Wang 2000

Wang Su . Gaochang shi gao. Bei-jing: Wenwu chubanshe, 2000.

Wulff 1968

H. E. Wulff. The Qanats of Iran. ScienticAmerican, April 1968: 94105.

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Yamamoto Tatsur, Ikeda On. Tunhuang andTurfan Documents Concerning Social and Eco-nomic History, III. Contracts, 2 vols., Tokyo,Toyo Bunko, 19861987.

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Zhang Guangda . Lirrigation dans la re-gion de Koutcha. In: Les manuscrits chinois deKoutcha. Fonds Pelliot de la Bibliothque natio-nale de France, ed.ric Trombert. Paris: Col-lege de France, 2000, pp. 14350.

Notes

1. For a survey of the geography of Turfan seeHuntington 1907, pp.254-257; Stein 1925, pp.473-498; Maillard 1973, pp. 5-12.

2. The name Jiaohe means literally betweenthe rivers.

3. According to the archaeological evidence,the Jushi people, possibly Indo-Europeans,have been living in the Turfan basin since thelate Bronze Age or early Iron Age (see Mair1998, I, p. 242). On the history of Turfan be-

fore the Han conquest see Lin 2000; Luo 2009.4. Many specialists have debated the accura-

cy of numbers in the ofcial documents whichtend to inate the actual gures. On this mattersee Loewe 1967; 1974.

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Michaela R. ReisingerUniversity of Vienna

During the summer of 2008 the Mongol-American Khovd Archaeology Projectexcavated a cluster of eight graves

at the burial ground of Shombuuziin-belchir(Miller et. al. 2009). Burials SBR-12, SBR-13and SBR-16 yielded bow and arrow artifactsincluding bone bow-stiffening plates, bow-wood and arrow remains. Bow reinforcementshave been found quite frequently but rarelyin their original position (Sosnovskii 1946;Rudenko 1969; Davydova 1985; Tseveendorj1989; Khudiakov and Tseveendorzh 1990;

Gorbunov et al. 2006). The fact that the originalposition was preserved in the Khovd burials issignicant for determining approximate lengthsof the respective parts of the bow and allowingreconstruction of its shape. Analysis of the newnds and comparison of them with previouslyfound artifacts advances our understandingof Inner Asian archery equipment and thedevelopment of archery equipment in general.

Evidence to date suggests that bows of thistype may vary considerably in length. Rausing(1967) proposes a prototype ranging from

125160 cm. Bone plate ndings from widelydistributed sites in Inner Asia indicate a length of

neweviDenceAboUtcoMpositebowsAnD

theirArrowsininnerAsiA140155 cm [Fig. 1].1The length of preservedbows from Niya and Yingpan in Xinjiang is ina similar range (142155 cm; Hall 2005). Theprototype of this bow is an asymmetrical one,the upper and lower part of the bow andtheir reinforcements being of unequal length(1540 cm for the above-mentioned bows, Hall2005, 2006).

The reinforcements cover the tips of the bowas well as the handle. A bow type that featuresreinforcement of both is frequently referred toas a Hun, Hunnic or Hsiung-nu compositebow (Waele 2005, Hall 2006), suggesting anassociation that, though denitely valid, is notexclusive. This bow type may have developedin Central Asia during the 3rdto 2ndcentury BCE(Gorbunov and Tishkin 2006; Hall 2006), withearliest nds from the area of Lake Baikal, butwas distributed across Eurasia in a way thatdoes not indicate its use by only one people (orconfederation of peoples).

The strengthening plates distinguish it fromanother bow type, which is similarly associatedwith various peoples referred to by an umbrellaterm, the Scythian bow. This bow type, bestknown for portrayals of its pronounced cupidbow shape, is notably smaller, and usually

associated with smaller, bronze trilobatearrowheads featuring a socketed hafting

method. A variation of this typehas been found in the TarimBasin at Subexi (Wieczorekand Lind 2007).

A composite tool set

Bow and arrow function asa composite tool: being infact one weapon, they should

Fig. 1. Map of bow ndings in In-

ner Asia. Sites mentioned in thetext are: 1 Shombuuziin-belchir(SBR), 2 Khirgist-khooloi (HGH),3 Ilmovaya pad (ILM), 4 Bury-at region: Cheremukhov Pad(CHR), Derestuy Kultuk (DRS),5 Yaloman II (Y II), 6 Subexi, 7Yingpan, 8 Lop Nor region: QumDarya (L.N.), 9 Niya

42The Silk Road 8 (2010): 4262 Copyright 2010 The Silkroad Foundation; Copyright (including illustra-tions except as noted) 2010 Michaela R. Reisinger

Copyright 2009 Bryan K. Miller.


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also be reviewed as such. A bow is a complexand powerful weapon with a broad range ofpotential applications. Precisely because of itsbroad application, it needs a counterpart whichfocuses on a narrower use. Thus, differentarrows optimize a bow for use on dissimilartargets. Given the relative speed and relativelylow cost of their manufacturing process and the

quantity which a person may carry, it makessense to specialize arrows for use on particulartargets. Even if it is of poor quality, a bow canfunction effectively in shooting an arrow: ...arrow quality is normally more important [toaccurate shooting] than [the] quality of thebow (Lane 1968, p. 978).

The manufacturing of tools like bows and arrowswill be inuenced by a broad range of factors,not just the mechanics of the tools themselves.There are considerations involving theavailability of materials and the manufacturing

process, and there are contextual demandsregarding the specialization for the use ofthe tools that are produced. Devising multi-purpose tools that have a broad application butalso function effectively for specic purposescan be a challenge, and in general the variousdemands on the maker and by the user canconict and thus require certain balancing orcompromise.

The basic idea of a bow is a stave (acting likea two armed spring), spanned and held undertension by a string (McEwen et al. 1991). In thediscussion which follows, I will refer to the bowhandle, extending from which are the limbs,at the end of which the string is attached.The belly of the bow is the inside (facing thearcher); the back is the outside. Drawing thebow applies different forces to different parts ofthe bow. With the bending of the limb, the bellyis placed under compressive forces while theback is placed under tension. Drawing the bowincreases the force continuously and, for a long,rather straight-limbed bow, results in a nearlylinear force-draw curve. Changes in bow shape(e.g. reex of the limbs, set-back at the handle,

rigid end pieces) change this force-draw curve,leading to a steeper initial increase and a muchmore moderate one at the end of the draw. Thisis important, as aiming takes place at full drawwhere a maximum of energy must be employedto hold the draw and could, if excessive, damageaccuracy. This force in fully drawn position iscalled the draw weight of the bow. (Klopsteg1943, Kooi 1983, Kooi 1996). By loosing, the

energy input accumulated in the limbs of thebow is (partly) transferred to the arrow, which,if constructed and cast (shot) correctly, will yalong the line of aim and transfer the remainingpart of that energy to the target.

It is important to understand that the ightcharacteristics of the arrow are equally

determined by the properties of the arrowand by the bow with which it is shot (Klopsteg1943). The quality of the cast is a crucial factorthat denes the functionality of both tools.To produce a powerful and accurate cast, theenergy transfer, both from muscular effort tostored energy and from that to the arrow, mustbe optimized, and the act of discarding can notbe detrimental to accuracy. Yet optimizationmeans not only achieving a maximal cast byminimal energy input, but also achieving it byminimal material input which is a compromisebetween using as little material as one dares[]

and using as much as one must, to avoid thehazard of breakage (Klopsteg 1943, p.181).

Bow types

Bows can be described by their structuralcomposition as well as by their shape (prole).While the rst characterizes a bow by theused materials and their relative positions, thelatter also reects their exact arrangement. Assimilar shapes can be reached through differentstructural compositions and one kind ofcomposition can result in different shapes, both

approaches are used to describe unambiguouslya bow. All types of bows deal with the samestructural requirements and address the samemechanical problems to achieve a commongoal to propel an arrow with the necessaryamount of force and speed for the intendedpurpose.

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There are different ways to deal with the forcesplaced on the different parts of the bow. A bowmay be made of different kinds of wood or,for example, of harder heartwood for the bellyand more elastic sapwood for the back. Other

possible materials used to construct the bowor reinforce its stressed parts need to have ahigh capacity for withstanding the tensile andcompressive forces without damage to thelimb. A bow constructed of different pieces ofthe same material is called a laminate whilea bow made up of different materials can becalled a reinforced, backed or composite bow(Rausing, 1967).


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Backing is material applied to the back ofthe bow and can be of two types. While in areinforced bowa string or (plaited) strands ofsinews are lashed onto the back of the bow(free backing, used for example by the Inuit),a backed bow is reinforced by a whole layerof material that is rmly attached (glued) tothe back (close backing; Balfour 1980, Kooi1983). A composite bow features not only aclose backing but several layers of differentmaterials, held together using an adhesive(like hide- or skin-glue). This usually includesmaterial applied to the belly of the core(facing; Kooi 1983).

In its full form the composite bow comprisesthe following materials [Fig. 2]: A wooden core, which gives the constructionthe necessary dimensional stability. A material bearing compressive loads;usually horn, with a maximal strength of 13 kgper mm2 (which is twice to 3.5 times that of

hardwood; Mc Ewen et al. 1991, Bergman andMcEwen 1997). It also has a high coefcientof restitution (the ability to return to originalshape after distortion). Most commonly waterbuffalo horn is used (Mc Ewen et al. 1991),though the use of horn of the fossil rhinocerosis not unheard of (B. tichorhinas; Balfour1980). Another material with similar propertiesis baleen. A material handling tensile stress, usuallysinew, which has a high tensile strength of 20kg per mm2 (four to ve times that of wood;McEwen et al. 1991, Bergman and McEwen

1997). (Unspun) silk can also be used, replacinga larger mass of wood than its own and storingmore energy per unit mass (Klopsteg 1943).

Adhesives derived from hide, sinew, or sh-bladder (McEwen et al. 1991).

A stiff material like bone or antler forreinforcement laths; other materials includehardwood and horn (Rudenko 1969). I would

treat references to the latter with care as,especially in translated works, horn and antlerare often confused.

By employing different materials for the partsmost stressed, it is possible to maximize thebenets of having an easily handled short bowwhich nonetheless will be strong and veryefcient in the transfer of energy. In the case ofself-bows, made only of wood, shortening the

bow-length results in a loss of draw-length, asthe limbs can be bent only to a certain extentbefore damage occurs. A composite constructionallows for a smaller bow-length while retainingthe long draw without increasing the risk ofbreakage. The limbs in such a reinforced bowcan be bent over a smaller radius, withstandingthe stronger tension at the back and strongercompression of the belly. Additionally, shorter,lightweight limbs use less energy when movedforward with the release of the string and thusmove over a shorter distance with greaterspeed. This results in higher arrow velocity

(Bergman et al. 1988, McEwen et al. 1991,Alex and Menes 1995). Since the combinationof the horn, sinew, glue and bone is roughlytwice as heavy as an equivalent of hardwood,in the interest of building limbs and especiallytheir ends as lightweight as possible, theamount of material used should be reduced toa minimum (Alex and Menes 1995). Anotherfactor contributing to the recovery speed of thetips and thus to the velocity of the arrow is thebacking of the bow to connect the ends of astave with a mass of elastic material runningalong its back makes the mass act like anelastic string. Drawing the bow will stretch this

ribbon; release will lead to rapid contraction,which will increase the speed with which thestave regains its state of rest, and thus the castof the bow (Rausing 1967, p.19).

The reinforcements used in a bow alterexibility and stiffness, and their length affectsefciency. Stiffening the handle is crucial for

Fig. 2. Compositebow construction.Relative positionsof horn, wood andsinew in a bow, withbone bow platesfrom SBR-16.

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stab