NO. 13 SOVIET ANTHROPOLOGY — FIELD 99 



produced a large amount of clay slag, sherds, aud pottery-making 

 tools, all of which indicated that tiiis was a i)Otters' quarter. 



Excavations in the nictallists' quarter were hegun at several differ- 

 ent levels. The cultural strata reached a thickness of 5.0 m. The 

 upper layers, at a depth up to 1. 5 m., were attrihuted to the eleventh- 

 thirteenth centuries of our era, judging by the pottery and other finds, 

 while the lower strata belonged to the period of the Kushans. Many 

 more or less regularly formed, palm-shaped pieces of metal weighing 

 from 500 grams to 5 kilograms have been found both on the surface 

 and in the excavated portions. Investigations have shown that pieces 

 of pig iron served as raw material for the metalcraftsmen of Cjld 

 Termez. The discovery, in the upper strata, of fragments of crucibles 

 (which do not relate to iron production), pieces of alloy, and poly- 

 metallic ores, as well as fragments of copperware. all point to the 

 existence of copper fashioning as well as forges. 



The presence of jewelers' shops in this quarter has also been j)roved 

 by the discovery of special furnaces used in this craft. Several build- 

 ings were unearthed during the excavations, three of which were 

 evidently used for trading, since they were open to the street on one 

 side ; their dimensions were 2.0-2.5 square meters. Behind these 

 premises were located the manufactory buildings, where remains of 

 furnaces, odds and ends of ironware, etc., were found. 



Other rooms connecting with the shops served for living quarters, 

 not, apparently, for the shop owner and his family, a fact which 

 would have been inconsistent with the seclusion of family life, but 

 for the apprentices and workers. Fragments of an arch (tacar), con- 

 structed of burnt bricks, came to light beneath these trading premises. 



Judging by the pottery and other finds, all these buildings belonged 

 to the eleventh and twelfth centuries of our era. In the lower strata, 

 about 1.5 m. beneath the surface, were found pottery, coins, and 

 other articles attributed to the first centuries of our era, and in addi- 

 tion to these, the very same type of iron moldings as were found in 

 the upper layers, of similar palmlike shape and of varying weight. 



The material obtained here indicates that matuifacturing existe<l 

 on the site under investigation during a long period lasting from 

 T.ooo to 1,200 years and that pottery making, the jeweler's craft, glass 

 and copper work flourished in Termez during the eleventh and twelfth 

 centuries. 



A separate group of the Termez Kxpcflition investigated the ancient 

 irrigation system along the Surkhan-Daria River within the pre- 

 cincts of the Termez district. Of the right bank of the river were 

 found remains of ancient head structures and canals, one of which. 



