ART. IV. Methods of Archæological Excavation in India. By A. REA, M.R.A.S., Archæological Department,

Madras.

AFTER devoting two successive seasons to investigating some of the Buddhist mounds in the Krishna and Godavari districts of the Madras Presidency, and having on occasions conducted excavations at various other places, the experience thus gained may be of service, if placed at the disposal of those whose duty or pleasure it is to conduct such interesting work.

Apart from the charm attendant on touring about from place to place, and the observing of the quaint peculiarities found in almost every locality, the archæologist finds much to interest him in his own branch of Indian research. Not the least fascinating part of Archaeology is that devoted to the excavation of ancient remains, which have lain for ages buried in the earth. It is not, however, without its draw. backs, such as the local superstition of the people, who, misunderstanding the motives for such work, connect it with the search after treasure, so dread a visit from the demons supposed to guard it, and use various means of stolid resistance to hinder its being carried out. One may make every arrangement before visiting the place, get the usual order from the district officer to the village-Headman, and afterwards on going there be told that, though the Headman has made every effort, no coolies can be got. A suggestion that it might be necessary on my part to mention this circumstance to the district-officer, usually results in the appearance of a few coolies, but without spades or other implements, and they assert that there are none to be had in the village. After another similar hint to the village-Munsif that these tactics are too stale to deceive any one, the coolies appear fully armed for work, and then, when it is seen that these VOL. XXII.-[NEW SERIES.]

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men are paid their wages daily, and that the work itself is not exactly what they thought it would be, they turn up by the hundred, each with his spade, crowbar or basket, and no difficulty is afterwards experienced. It may be as well to say that the wages should never be handed to the maistries or overseers, but to the coolies themselves, either individually or in groups. Should this not be attended to, the coolies will gradually decrease in number, and, if private inquiries are made, it will be found that the maistries have been appropriating a not insignificant portion of the men's payvarying from a fourth, more or less-for their own use and benefit. The coolies themselves will seldom come and voluntarily offer a complaint.

Even when the work is fairly in hand, there is constant worry and anxiety, for one may be almost certain that if he leaves any part of the work to be attended to by another, something will go wrong in the place he has just left. He must therefore be continually on the alert for any discovery, or any blunder on the part of the coolies.

Kinds of labour available for work.-It may be broadly stated that one should never attempt too much at a time No matter how extensive the work to be done, no more should be taken in hand than what can be personally supervised. This method of work is more laborious, and takes more time, but it is the most satisfactory in the end. If the labourers the coolies of India especially-are left to themselves, they will smash right through a wall, and, without the least hesitation, destroy, perhaps, as far as they can, the very object for the uncovering of which, the work is being undertaken. With a very few exceptions, it seems impossible to make any of them understand or appreciate the motives which prompt the work of archæological excavation. Indeed, they believe the real object of the digging is treasure, and that the searching after a wall is only a blind too transparent to deceive them. They think they are too clever to be thus taken in, and so believe that it really matters little whether they smash up masonry or not. Even some of the educated or wealthy classes do not appreciate the full worth

or value of excavation for the elucidation of the early history, arts, and customs of India. One wealthy Zamindâr lately asked me, if Government were not searching after treasure, what possible motive could they have in spending money digging into old mounds ?

It saves an immense amount of worry and anxiety if one is able to procure one or two trustworthy and intelligent maistries or overseers to stand over the coolies while they are at work.

Though some coolies may perhaps know they are digging for a wall supposed to be in a certain position pointed out to them, they go right ahead like an unthinking machine, destroy the wall they are digging for, and remove the debris along with the earth, without seemingly ever seeing it.

The damage is only discovered when you next take your round of that particular spot and see the section of the wall, they have cut through, on each side of the trench; you stop the work, and set them to excavate along the face of the wall. In this part of the work they do very well, for they have an object before them, and as long as it keeps straight, or curved, as the case may be, they are all right; but, should there be a break or a turn one way or another, they are at a loss, and dig straight on, even though they may know they are cutting through brickwork instead of earthwork. When everything has to be done with material of this sort, it will be apparent the need there is for efficient personal supervision in the carrying out of such investigations, where every object brought to light should be scrupulously left uninjured, and in position.

2. Buddhist and other mounds; with surface indications.Archæological research has now proceeded far enough to enable us to know what classes of buildings-the work of various religious sects, belonging to a particular date-we may expect to find in certain localities; and the approximate limits within which they are only to be found. This, combined with a knowledge of the style of works these races. erected, enables us to carry out the work of excavation in a scientific manner.

After one has gained some experience in the work, one can almost instinctively tell what sort or class of building is in a mound, and whether a mound covers a building or not. He will be able to distinguish between a mound formed by nature over the remains of a building, and another, such as a tumulus, raised artificially. It is sometimes difficult to decide which is which, without actual excavation. With this knowledge he can select a spot for the trial trench which will come on the wall without unnecessary waste of time, labour, and expense.

Of all the sites in Southern India as yet explored, those of the Buddhists are the most ancient, and have been the most fruitful in interesting results. They yet offer an almost inexhaustible field for archæological research in the northern districts of the Madras Presidency. The Krishnâ district alone is particularly rich in large numbers of unexplored remains of the Buddhist period. These mounds have now been tabulated, and they only await excavation to reveal their treasures.

Many of the mounds have no traces of walls on the surface, but there are numbers of other indications which enable the expert to judge whether there is anything there, and in a certain way will let him know whether or not the results will justify the outlay. Herein lies the wisdom of a good selection of the spot for the trial trench, for on it should depend whether the digging is to be carried on or stopped. In most cases this can be so decided. It is obvious, however, that no one can say exactly what is, and what is not in a mound, and of course any one is capable of proving it, by digging it all over, or completely removing it, even though the work should be fruitless in results and the reverse in expense. This, however, is not scientific excavation, but it is exactly the difference between the work of an expert and that of the novice. Only the very minimum of expenditure should be incurred on a mound until such time as its nature is fully proved. If the remains, the expert expects, exist, then the work should be carried on with energy. But should the reverse be the case, then the

explorer, who works after scientific methods, will not have the mortification of having wasted a large sum of money without anything to show for it. Others, again, think the proper way is to drive one or more wide trenches right through a mound, cutting it into two or more separate parts, trusting to pick up whatever comes in the way. But this is a very destructive mode of procedure, and has nothing to recommend it. The diggers forget the simple fact that, as the building was the original cause of the mound being formed, so, if the structure is there, they will find traces of it by simply tapping the outer edges of the mound; of course carrying in their trenches for a sufficient distance from the outside. If these come on nothing, then it is useless to cut right through; but if it is thought that remains do exist, the better proceeding is to try a trench at another point.

In most of the Krishnâ mounds as yet examined there was no masonry on the surface, but on some part, of all those where remains were discovered, there were either a few, or perhaps numbers of fragments of large-sized bricks, chips, or fragments of marble sculptures, and chunam or broken pottery. Any, or all of these point to there being something underneath the ground. Should there be no indications of that or other kind visible on the surface, then if the explorer's funds are limited he should seek new pastures, for his finds will probably be nil. There are exceptions of course, but they only prove the rule. Two instances recently occurred. At Garikipâd, in the Krosûr taluk, a stupa was discovered in a mound, which had on its surface all the indications above noted. Two miles to the west, is another mound, almost identical in shape and out a brick or anything of the sort visible.

size, but withWithin this I

was from the first doubtful of finding anything, but considering the identicity in form with the other mound, thought it best to prove the matter, and drove in a trench for a short distance, but the work of a few coolies for the greater part of a day was sufficient to show there was no building there, though the section proved that the mound was artificial, being prob