AREAS EXCAVATED AND STRATIFICATION

The first of the excavated sites to claim attention is the Bhiṛ Mound—the earliest of the three city sites. In this city much of the digging has consisted of trial trenches and pits, most of which have been filled in again; but a substantial area (Fig. i) was opened up near the middle of the old city, about five minutes' walk to the south of the Archaeological Museum and a little to the north of the village of Bhiṛ Dargāhi, and a smaller plot a little to the west of it. The remains unearthed in these two areas, as well as in a number of trial trenches, disclosed four strata, namely:

Stratum IV, fifth-sixth century B.C., Achaemenid period. Of these, the first stratum now consists of only a few fragmentary rubble foundations scattered here and there on the surface of the mound. They are posterior to the foundation of the Greek city in Sirkap, and indicate that the Bhiṛ Mound site continued to be partially occupied after that event.

DEPTH OF SUCCEEDING STRATA

As to the depths of the strata, the foundations of the second were found to descend to an average depth of about 4-6 ft. below the surface; those of the third to a depth of 9 or 10 ft., though occasionally somewhat deeper; and those of the fourth to a depth of 14-16 ft. Virgin soil was reached throughout the site at a depth of between 16 and 20 ft. As a rule the foundations descend to some 2 or 3 ft. below the floor-level, but in some cases, especially in the third settlement, substantially deeper.

CHANGING CHARACTER OF RUBBLE MASONRY

Speaking generally, the walls in the second stratum are the neatest and most compact on the site. For the most part they are built of limestone and kañijūr combined, but sometimes of limestone only, and sometimes of kañijūr only. In the third stratum the masonry is generally somewhat rougher and looser than in the second, though exceptions to this rule may easily be found. In the fourth stratum it is invariably distinguished by its rougher and more massive character.