The archaeological finds along the Dunhuang limes include various fragments of written material. Of particular interest regarding the military administration are strips of wood, which were often tied together for a long text or may have contained individually sufficient space for messages, tagging of supplies, and the like. As Stein discovered, it was not uncommon to shave off the outer layer of a thin wood block and then re-use it; the rubbish heaps at the beacon towers often contain the shavings with the original text. Here are two examples of the documents on wood, both displayed in the Dunhuang museum.
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