TRANSLATION:
HIPPARION-FAUNA FOSSIL LOCALITIES IN PAO-TE-SHIEN, NW-SHANSI
(continued)
The excavation
of fossils for medical use constitutes a source of income for the people. It is
hard to tell how long it has been practiced; one estimate is 60-70 years.
However, when the large number of abandoned mines and the length of some still
in use are taken into account, an older age of the practice can be considered.
The quarrying commences in such a way that where conditions appear promising,
for example at a site where fossils occur on the surface, a horizontal tunnel
about 90 cm wide and high is excavated. Where a larger fossil concentration is
found, the tunnel can be enlarged into a chamber. If the nest, which at the
beginning of the activity was productive or in later phases of the activity was
recently being worked, is exhausted, excavation is continued arbitrarily in any
direction, in which activity only the common hardening of the clay in the
vicinity of the fossils can give an indication of the outcome of the chosen
direction. There are no deviations from the horizontal level, if small
exceptions are ignored.
People often dig for four to five days or for one week
until another fossil nest is found. This working method explains the
irregularities and branching of the tunnels (see
Figure 6,
Figure 7). The tools used
are generally simple (see Figure 8). A relatively heavy pickaxe with a short
handle is the general tool used in the work. A small hatchet is used for
separating the fossils from the matrix and the teeth from the jaws. For
transportation of the material, a small wooden cart with four small wheels is
used. It is 1.3 m long, 60 cm wide, and 35 cm high. A flat basket on the cart
contains the excavated material. People especially trained for this task pull
the cart on all fours, using a harness that runs between the legs and over one
shoulder. Oil lamps typical for the region and placed in specially carved niches
or standing on suitable iron rods driven into the clay, are used for
illumination. In spring, the buyers for the Chinese drugstores come and buy the
available stock. One catty of bones is worth 6 cash [no units in original], and
1 catty of teeth is worth 6-8 copper cents.
During the summer, mining activities
usually cease because of farming.
During his
travels, the author also visited Nan-Sha-Wa in the region of Ho-Ch’ü-Hsien [Hequ
County], 140 li [=70 km] north of Chi-Chia-Kou. There, also, the people excavate
the fossils of the Hipparion fauna. The fossil nests there seem to be larger,
but less filled with bones. However, the number of the mines is too small
(three, of which only two are being used) to allow any significant conclusions
to be made .
The matrix
there is sandier, and the immediate proximity of the bones is seldom infiltrated
by calcium carbonate. As in Chi-Chia-Kou, the tunnels are situated 25 m above
the Carboniferous layer and are covered by about 30 m of barren clay. See
illustration [Figure 5]. They are 1 m high and up to 3 m wide. The reason for
this is partly explained by the softer matrix and partly by the sparser
distribution of fossils. The pickaxe used is wedge-shaped, with a short,
straight edge. For transportation, a small wheelbarrow on a wooden wheel with a
basket tied to it is used.
A further
region that was visited during travel is Wu-Lan-Kou [Wulangou] in the region of
Fu-Ku-Hsien [Fugu County] in Shensi, 110 li [=55 km] west of Pao-Te-Hsien. A
host of tunnels is
situated
there, all in a very restricted space in a side ravine. The significance of the
fact that they all lie at the same height would not have been noted, had this
not also been noticed in Chi-Chia-Kou. Also there the material is sandy/clayey,
and the bones in contrast are more fragile than in Chi-Chia-Kou. Above the
fossil horizon, there is about 35 m of barren clay. The height above the
Carboniferous could not be established. Thus, it seems that the total thickness
of the Hipparion clay is the same in all three regions, and the position of the
fossil horizon is the same in each case. The working methods are the same as
those used in Chi-Chia-Kou.
Now, a short
summary will be made. The extent of the Hipparion Clay in the east is up to the
Cambro-Ordovician limestone hills and in the west to the Yellow River towards
Shensi, as seen in the profile of Figure 9. To the north and south, the author
has not crossed the border of the Hipparion Clay, but observations and findings
support the reasoning that the fossil-bearing regions are former oases,
separated by areas devoid of fossils. By far the most important fossil-bearing
region is situated in Chi-Chia-Kou. Northwards from Chi-Chia-Kou, it is in Nan-Sha-Wa;
in the west, it is in Wu-Lan-Kou; and in the south, it is in the Kung-Lung-Yen [Kunlunyan]
(not visited), halfway between Pao-Te-Hsien and Lin-Chia-Yü [Linjiayu] (see
Figure 9). Taking into account the notable distances between the regions from
Chi-Chia-Kou—Nan-Sha-Wa being 145 li away, Wu-Lang-Kou 135 li, and Kung-Lung-Yen being 60 li
away—the vision of them as oases is not without foundation.
