220 KURGANS OF THE MERV OASIS. 
ordinary sort must have existed, but they have utterly disappeared, and their 
sites are marked only by low mounds, or by an accumulation of pottery strewing 
the surface of the ground. Canals, too, must have abounded, but their traces 
are rare and hard to follow, and it is exceedingly difficult to determine their age. 
-_ 
( ¢ Sheikh -i- Mansur 
\ ne 
W, KishmanT. 
j . \ 
Gyibelli T. “E.KishmanT. 
Yaz T.° Chang! ‘OF PoyinTetfechdleck T. 
i? eee fe 
ZA, *Gechel rant. 
\ 
! 
| 
\ 
\ 
\ 
\ 
\ 
5 
N 
ae: 
\ 
\ 
\ 
Sa 
2 
a3 

Fig. 430.—Sketch Map of the Merv Oasis. 
T = Tepe = Kurgan. 
THE KURGANS. 
In spite of great diversity the kurgans as a whole are modeled upon a single 
plan. All have flat tops, all are symmetrical in vertical section, and most are 
rectangular in plan. They vary greatly in size, however, the heights ranging 
from 15 to 80 feet, and the diameter from 65 to 480 feet. In age, too, and in the 
amount of weathering to which they have been subjected, there are equally impor- 
tant differences. The older kurgans, which generally are also the smaller, are so 
far reduced in size and height that their sides have a slope of only 15° or 20°, and 
can be climbed on horseback almost anywhere. ‘The newer ones, on the other 
