1879.] in Central India. 5 



spots and rolled down the slope, whilst for the smaller tombs stones could 

 be collected without difficulty at the summit or on any part of the hill side. 



Although, on no one occasion, has a collection, so varied as that which 

 rewarded Colonel Pearse's exploration of the large solitary tumulus near 

 Kamptee, been discovered, no single barrow at Junapani has been opened 

 without remains of more or less interest being exhumed. The class of iron 

 implements found in these tumuli in different parts of the Nagpore dis- 

 trict, and further south again, resemble one another as closely as do the 

 tumuli themselves. Some half a dozen barrows only have as yet been 

 examined, out of the many hundreds which are known to exist, so that fur- 

 ther and more interesting discoveries may not unreasonably be expected 

 from future explorations, if conducted on a careful plan. 



The remains discovered were all found in the centre of the barrows. 

 The earth, which had to be dug through, was invariably extremely hard and 

 firm, as if many centuries had weighed it down and compressed it into 

 its present compact form, changing soft earth into stiffish clay. 

 The remains were always reached with considerable difficulty. On 

 each occasion that I have examined these tombs, the first indication of 

 "a find" has been broken pieces of pottery of red or black clay, which 

 generally make their appearance at from 2 to 2-| feet from the surface. 

 Immediately beneath these, the fragments of metal implements, and orna- 

 ments are come upon, together with further traces of broken pottery in 

 considerable quantity. The fragments are evidently the remains of urns 

 originally placed intact within the tombs, but which, consequent on the 

 tumulus having no interior chamber, have been broken by the masses of 

 earth and stone thrown in to fill up the mound. In two cases the shape 

 of the urns imbedded in the clay was distinctly traceable, but it was 

 found impossible to take them out intact. I regret I did not know at the 

 time, what I have since learnt from M. Bertrand and have seen demonstrated 

 at the Museum of St. Germain, that the pieces, if carefully collected, can 

 generally be joined together after the manner of a Chinese puzzle, and the 

 original form can thus be satisfactorily reproduced. 



With the urns the whitish coloured earth (noticed by Col. Meadows 

 Taylor in the Dekhan remains),offering a striking contrast to the surrounding 

 dark soil, is met with. I am unable at present to say of what this substance 

 consists. It is probably the remains of bones. On only one occasion have 

 traces of human remains been found at Junapani, and in this instance six 

 small pieces of bone, weighing -f ths of an ounce only, were obtained. 



The implements discovered with the urns are, with one exception, of 

 iron. The most interesting of them are figured in Plate IV, and the 

 following remarks will help to describe generally their peculiarities ; 



