extends above that zone, but it is shown in his plate (g1) beginning considerably above what he calls the soil of the now inhumed city, so that it probably begins in the upper portion of the lower 6 feet of the light-coloured bed. The well he opened, as in wells of the present day, and in those represented in the Buddha Gayā sculptures, had its walls defined for 2 feet, through the lower bed of alluvium, by baked clay rings or hoops that fitted on to one another, their height being 5" 50, with a diameter, according to Mr. Bose, of 1' 6". The fragment, however, of one of these hoops which he has presented to the Museum seems to prove that this hoop had a diameter of 36′′. This well was found by Mr. Bose to be filled with earthen pots "of various shapes and sizes," and he places great stress on the circumstance that "they were piled up with their mouths downwards. Some were quite empty, while others were filled, partially or entirely, with an argillaceous material." Two of these pots are exhibited in this cabinet, and it will be observed that they present a strong resemblance to the earthern pots used at present, in Bengal, for collecting and storing the juice of the date palm. The contents of the pots were an indurated vesicular marl,"containing bones of birds and small mammals and fragments of charcoal," and large numbers of ribs, probably of goats and sheep. Some teeth were got, mostly from the interstices between the pots, and Mr. Bose considers that the vesicular character of the marl had been produced by decaying vegetable matter. He does not regard this well simply as an old well that had in time become filled with broken ghārās, and one reason he adduces why they should not be considered old village wells, is their close proximity to one another; but if the situation was a convenient one, it is probable that new 1 Op. cit., Pl. XIV, fig. 1. wells would be opened out, close by, as the old ones became choked. He, moreover, does not think that the ghārās are in the well by accident, but considers the most eligible hypothesis of their presence to be that they were dedicated to the dead, some with the ashes after cremation, and others with cooked cereals and meat; and he observes that some of the bones found are probably the remnants of dishes of animal food." Among specimens presented by Mr. Bose to this Museum there are none described as having been taken out of the pots themselves, but only from the well. I have been able to determine the remains of the following mammals from the well itself, viz., numerous limb-bones of Mus, a portion of the jaw of a Herpestes, the teeth of Sus, the ribs of antelopes, sheep, or goats, the teeth of large ruminants, the limb-bones of birds, and the tooth of a large crocodile, just the kind of animal remains that an old well would be expected to yield. It is a curious circumstance if the ghārās from this well were placed in it as food offerings to the dead, that they seem to have been deposited, mouth downwards, without lids of any kind. But whatever may have been the purpose to which this well and those around it were put, they are probably of great age, as Mr. Bose states that they are covered by about 14 feet of alluvium. From their situation on the escarpment of the high banks of the Narbada, the alluvium has doubtless been deposited by that river. It may have been deposited by a single and sudden flood, as we know that alluvial deposits of great depth are occasionally the work of a few hours, or it may have been slowly laid down by a succession of floods. A good deal, however, has yet to be done in the way of an exhaustive examination of these wells, and of their exact relations to the beds in which they occur and of the true nature and position of their contents. The bungalow, in which Mr. Bose resided while at Maheswar, is built on a bed of alluvium which also contains pottery, fresh-water shells and ruminant bones, and specimens of these objects are here exhibited. He states that "the pottery remains of this bed," and I suppose he would also include the bones, although he does not say so, had evidently been carried by the river from some place higher up; and he mentions that at the eastern extremity of the town there were to be seen, by the river side, the remains of an ancient city said by the natives to be turned upside down, viz., the wells in question. Mr. 1-2.-1, an earthen pot1 4" 50 in diameter at the mouth, 8"-50 in diameter at its middle, and 9"-50 high. In form it resembles the earthen pots used for collecting date juice: 2, another 2 measuring 3"-75 in diameter at the mouths 7"-75 high and 6"-70 in diameter at the middle. Six in all were obtained, two of them much damaged. These two pots and the following eleven specimens were found in the well examined by Mr. Bose, and were presented by him, 18th August, 1882. Mr. 3.-A specimen of the cellular marl found in some of the vessels. Mr. 4.-Three portions of the skull of a Herpestes. Mr. 5.-Twelve limb-bones of Mus. Mr. 6.-A tooth of Sus. Mr. 7.-Four fragments of teeth of ruminants. Mr. 8.-Five fragments of the ribs of goats, or sheep. Mr. 9.-Part of the right ilium of a sheep, or goat. Mr. 10.-Right naviculo-cuboid of a goat or sheep. Mr. 11.-Twenty-one fragments of the limb-bones of birds. 1 Op. cit., Pl. xv, fig. 5. 2 Op. cit., Pl. xiv, fig. 3. Mr. 12.-The tooth of a crocodile. Mr. 13.-A portion of one of the earthenware rings that formed the wall of the well. It measures 7" 50 x 5′′:25 × 075. A portion of the thick rim remains on one side. Mr. 14.-A mass, 6" x 4" 75 x 3," of alluvium from the well bed, containing broken pottery. Mr. 15.-A fragment, 1"-50 × 1′′ 25 × 0′′ 30, of pottery blackened externally. This and the following eight specimens were found in the well bed, but external to the well. Mr. 16.—A light carbonaceous mass, 1"25 × 1′′·50 × 1′′, covered with a thin layer of slag, or glaze on one side which is perfectly flat. Mr. 17.-A stone fragment, 350 × 2′′ 75 × 0"-75, probably a portion of a water-worn pebble, a stone implement, or whetstone of some form. Mr. 18.—A flat stone,1 probably water-worn, or it may have been a stone implement. It is only 080 in thickness and is somewhat wedge-shaped, expanded at one end to 4" 30, and narrowed to 3" at the other. Mr. 19.-A fragment, 3" 50 x 0.75 × 0.50, of partially burned wood. Mr. 20.-Nine valves and a fragment of an Unio. Mr. 21.-Two shells of Paludomus, and a shell of another genus. Mr. 22. Three pieces of the jaws of Sus, and one loose tooth. Mr. 23.-A small portion of the lower end of the right femur of Bos. Mr. 24. An earthen vase or pot with a reverted lip. Height 5" 75, internal diameter of mouth 2" 60. External 1 Op. cit., Pl. XIV, fig. 2. 2 Op. cit., Pl. XIV, fig. 4. diameter below neck 4.50. The only ornament consists of two parallel grooves that run round the vase externally at its greatest diameter. This and the twelve following specimens were from the pottery bed below the bungalow, and half a mile down the river from the locality of the well. Mr. 25.-A widely expanded low earthen vessel, Height 2", breadth across mouth 4" 25. The bottom has only a diameter of 1".05. Mr. 26. The right ramus of the lower jaw of an animal belonging to the genus Bos, but imperfect. Mr. 27. The right metacarpal of an animal belonging to the genus Bos. Mr. 28.-Four fragments of long bones, probably of limbs of a ruminant. One fragment is split along one side. Mr. 29.-A portion of a cervical vertebra of Bos. Mr. 30.-The upper portion of a right calcaneum of Bos. Mr. 31.-A portion of a left scapula of Bos. Mr. 32.-A fragment of a right metacarpal. Mr. 33.-A left astragalus of Bos. Mr. 34.-A portion of the lower end of a right humerus of Bos. Mr. 35.—The lower end of a left humerus of Bos. Mr. 36.-Portion of the lower end of a left humerus of Bos. Gungeria. This place is situated in the district of Bālāghat in the Central Provinces, or Gondwana, and in the Gazetteer 1 Bālāghat is described as "consisting of the eastern portion of the central plateau, which divides the province from east to west, supplemented to the south by a rich lowland tract lying 1 Gazetteer, Central Provinces, p. 15. |