96 Field Columbian Museum— Reports, Vol. i. 



I skimo. Students of the ancient peoples and arts of America will 

 look with particular interest on certain acquisitions from Yucatan, and 

 some examples of sculpture from the Valley of Mexico give an excel- 

 lent idea of the achievements of the Dative races in this line. South 

 America has yielded but little directly, although collections returned 

 to the Museum from the Peabodv Museum of Cambridge add greatly 

 to the wealth of material from 1 'em and other Pacific Coast countries. 

 The culture of the ancient Romans, already so well represented both 

 by reproductions and original works, is further illustrated by a group 

 of bronze objects of surpassing interest, recently obtained from a 

 villa near Pompeii. The most remarkable of these objects are two 

 bronze bath-tubs ami a bronze table with circular top supported by 

 legs imitating those of the lion. Among the most notable additions 

 to the Egyptian collections is the magnificent series of stoneware, 

 ranging in date from 3,000 years before Christ to a late period. 

 The bronze sistrum presented by Dr. Keeley is a large and perfect 

 specimen, and its inscriptions are of the greatest interest, showing it 

 to have been used in the Temple of Ammon at Thebes. Among 

 numerous other bronzes, a large statue of Osiris is worthy of special 

 mention. A series of grave tablets and tombstones includes two 

 large fragments of tomb tablet reliefs of exquisite workmanship, 

 similar to pieces recently acquired and published by the Berlin 

 Museum. A fine series of faience or blue glaze mortuary figurines is 

 of interest, but is exceeded in importance bv the coiled ser- 

 pents in the same material, one of which is remarkable for size 

 and color. Among the stone statues is a noticeable figure of Apet, 

 executed in black basalt. From Asia the Department has secured 

 three valuable marble images representing Buddhistic divinities. 

 Main specimens from the mounds of the Mississippi River and the 

 ancient copper mining district of upper Michigan collected by the 

 Curator of the Department have been added to the arche- 

 ological division. The Division of Physical Anthropology especially 

 has been enriched by materials selected from collections now 

 brought together for the first time, although in possession 

 of the Museum before the current year. One collection made by 

 D. Scott Moncrieff for the Columbian Exposition, consisted of four 

 skeletons, several crania and an original burial package, containing 

 three adult women and one girl, all in desiccated condition. As to 

 this package, although the funeral garments are of European origin, 

 the date of burial is probably about 1845, as with the bodies were a 

 large quantity of the "Log-cabin" medals of the '' Tippecanoe and 

 Tyler too'' campaign of 1840. The bodies, otherwise, were note- 



