RECONNAISSANCE IN TURKESTAN 287 



and since the great basin was fed both by glaciers of the southern 

 ranges and by the great ice cap of Russia, a correlation of both 

 might be effected; for, in view of the great orogenic movements 

 to which the Caucasus, the Persian, and the Tienshan have been 

 subjected, it cannot be positively asserted that the Central Asian 

 glacial expansions were all contemporaneous with phases of the 

 mundane glacial epoch. 



As regards further work in physical geography, Professor Davis 

 writes : 



' ' The order in which I should like to see the * * * studies 

 taken up, in order to most rapidly define the conditions of early 

 human history, on the plains is as follows : 



' ' The shore lines of the Caspian and Aral seas ; first on the south- 

 west, south, and southeast, then on the northeast and the associated 

 plains. 



" The double belt of piedmont plains and bordering ranges with 

 special work in certain glaciated valleys. 



' ' The deposits of loess from Samarkand to Tashkend. 



" The Issikul basin. By a special, independent party. 



" Secondarily, Block mountains and the Narin formation." 



Summary. 



We have shown that the recent physical history of the region is 

 legibly recorded in glacial sculpture and moraines, in orogenic move- 

 ments in valley cutting and terracings, in lake expansions, and in 

 the building up of the plains, and we have made some progress in 

 correlating these events. 



We have also found full confirmation of the statements as to a 

 progressive desiccation of the region of long standing, which has 

 from a remote period continually converted cultivable lands into 

 deserts and buried cities in sands. 



We have found, widely distributed, great and small abandoned sites 

 of human occupation, with evidences of great antiquity. 



We have reason to think that a correlation of these physical and 

 human events may be obtained through continuance of the investi- 

 gation, and that archeological excavations will throw light on the 

 origins of Western and Eastern nations and civilization. 



