In June to July 1999, the Institute of Archaeology, Dunhuang Academy, carried out excavation in front of Grottoes No. 66 - 78 in the bottom tier of the middle section of the southern area, Mogao Caves, and discovered hall-sites in front of Grottoes 72- 76. The stratigraphic deposits are simple, consisting of three to five layers formed by sandy soil, silt, gravel, ashes or building floors, and shifting sands respectively. The vestiges in front of Grottoes 72, 74 and 76 include the foundations of platforms and halls, which were constructed roughly in the Five Dynasties period and the Song Dynasty. The unearthed objects are primarily ceramic household wares made in this temporal scope, especially in the Western Xia and Yuan times. The commonest motif is the ripple pattern.A comprehensive study of the hall-sites in front of Mogao Grottoes and previously collected archaeological materials show that the medium and large-sized grottoes of Five Dynasties to Song times in the bottom tier of the Mogao Caves were all furnished with halls in front. Through synthetical examination of the structure of those halls with historical records taken into account, the disputable issue of "numbering temples by the grotto" has been basically negatived.
