6 ON THE OLDER FORMS OF 



be from eleven to twelve hundred years old. One is said 

 to have come from Asiatic Turkey and to be two thousand 

 years old. It is interesting to observe that the tiles are 

 not only large and massive, but that those made for bor- 

 dering the eaves have widened margins, variously deco- 

 rated, generally in scroll pattern, and the joint tile, or 

 imbrex, as it is to-day in China and Japan, has one end 

 closed by a circular disk, and what is very interesting in 

 these ancient tiles is that, in nearly every case, the deco- 

 ration is that of a rosette pattern ! The following figures 

 (figs. 6 and 7) are roughly sketched from the plates in 



question with their identifications as given by Ninagawa. 

 The tiles are in every case very thick, and roughly made ; 

 in many instances the under surface bears cloth-mark im- 

 pressions. Furthermore, all the specimens figured whether 

 from Japan or Korea belong to the normal form of tile, 

 with curved tegula and semi-cylindrical imbrex. This is 

 the earliest form of tile known to the Japanese, and tiles 

 of this kind are called by them Ilongawara or true tile. 

 This form of tile is to-day the common form of tile in Ko- 

 rea, China, Cochin China, India, as well as in all those 

 countries bordering the Mediterranean. When found far- 



