Archeological Survey Report. Ixvil 
also of walls on the slopes of the mound; and in an excavation 
amongst these superficial brick ruins made by Mr. Lynch, Deputy 
Magistrate of Motihari, there was found a seal of black earthen-ware, 
bearing a short inscription in characters of the Gupta period, that 1s, 
of the 2nd and 38rd century after Christ. The inscription, which 
consists of four letters, reads Atavijd. This is most probably only a 
name which may mean either Afavi + jd, “the forest born,” or less 
probably Ata + vya, “the cause of motion.” At the end of the 
name there is the Swdstika, or mystic cross, and over the name in 
the middle there is the symbol of Dharmma, and to the left, in a 
slanting direction, a trident, or ¢risél. The discovery of this seal 
shows that Navandgarh Lauriya was certainly occupied by the 
Buddhists as late as the 2nd or 8rd century A. D. Doubtless their 
occupation continued to a later period, for although both Fa Hian 
and Hwen Thsang make no allusion to it, their silence is easily 
accounted for by the fact that the course of their travels did not 
take either of them into the Bettiah district. The two remaining 
barrows of this row are somewhat higher, mound D being 35 feet, 
and EH 45 feet. Both of them are covered with broken brick. The 
top of D had already been opened, and I myself made an excavation 
on the top of mound E. Both had flat tops, as if terraces had ounce 
existed on their summits; and with this impression I began my 
excavation. At the depth of 4 feet all trace of brick disappeared, 
the mass of the mound being plain earth. The bricks were large, 
NG! Ria!” 
163. None of the barrows of the middle line have any traces of 
brick upon them, but seem to be made of plain earth. They are all 
covered with low thorny jungle. The most northerly mound of this 
line, marked H, is 25 feet in height; the next mound, marked G, is 
20 feet; the next F is 50 feet; and the next M is 55 feet. The last 
two are the highest of all the barrows at Navandgarh Lauriya. The 
next mound N is only 15 feet high, and the next southerly mound, 
marked Q, is 25 feet in height. About one-half of the mass of the 
last mound has been excavated and carried away to Bettiah on bul- 
locks and donkeys. The whole heart of the mound is formed of an 
extremely hard whitish clay, which is used by the people as a light 
coloured clay-wash for the walls of their houses. This clay is indeed 
so hard that it turns the edges of common digging tools. When freshly 
kK 2 
