RECONNAISSANCE IN TURKESTAN 28 1 • 



20 or 30 feet above the surface within. Where the walls are cut 

 by gullies old galleries are exposed which seem to have been con- 

 tinuous with the wall. Quintus Curtius states 70 stadia as the 

 extent of the walls in the time of Alexander. This, if the short 

 stadia were meant, would be about three miles, which would be 

 approximately the circumference of that part of Samarkand now 

 called Afrosiab. 



As in all Turkestan, so at Samarkand, the older structures still 

 standing are those of the Mohammedan period. The many im- 

 mense and wonderfully decorated mosques built by Tamerlane, 

 though now falling into ruin, belong among the wonders of the 

 world ; and this not only on account of their great size, but also 

 because of the beauty of their decoration. Seen from Afrosiab, 

 these ruins tower high above the rich foliage of the oasis city — evi- 

 dences of the wealth of treasure that Tamerlane had accumulated in 

 Turkestan within two centuries after Genghis Khan had sacked the 

 country and massacred much of its population. 



Review of the Field. 



What I have been able to say here regarding the archeology of 

 Russian Turkestan seems but a meager statement ; but it was soon 

 clear that all that could be accomplished in such a reconnaissance 

 would be the observation of the character and abundance of the evi- 

 dences of former occupation, and to obtain some idea of their distri- 

 bution and size. 



Our reconnaissances covered a territory nearly 1,400 miles long. 

 It was necessarily only of a preliminary character, and intended to 

 supply a general idea of the problems to be solved and of the best 

 points at which to begin. 



While we have been surprised at the abundance of the data offered 

 by the region toward these solutions in natural and artificial records, 

 we are impressed with a realization of the intimate relation in which 

 this region stands to the Quaternary and prehistoric history of the 

 whole continent. Physically it forms part of the great interior region 

 extending from the Mediterranean to Manchuria, whose history has 

 been one of progressive desiccation, but in Russian Turkestan the 

 effects of this have been mitigated by the snows of the lofty ranges 

 and the lower altitude of the plains. 



Archeologically this region has, through a long period, been a 

 center of production and commerce, connecting the eastern, western, 

 19 



