The Yotkan Ruins in Hotan

　　The Yotkan Ruins in Hotan are situated within Ailaman Village, Bagqi Township, 11 kilometers west of Hotan City. To the north lies Hailiqi Cliff, and to the east are Alalba Village and Yalan Gan Village. The site sits at an average elevation of 1,362 meters. It is an important ancient settlement site from the historical Kingdom of Khotan. Based on the distribution of modern remains, there are no visible traces of ancient architecture, and the outline of the city remains unclear. Artifacts unearthed through the ages have all come from a cultural layer buried more than 5 meters below the surface, with the layer itself being about 3 meters thick. In the northeastern corner of the ruins, there is an exposed section of the cultural layer where pottery fragments are densely concentrated. Artifacts discovered over the years include pottery figurines, pottery shards, ancient coins, glass fragments, beads, gold cast statues, seals, jade pieces, bones, and other relics. The pottery figurines mostly depict human figures and animals.