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FIELD MUSEUM NEWS 



November, 1933 



Field Museum of Natural History 



Founded by Marshall Field, 1893 

 Rooserelt Road and Lake Michigan, Chicago 



THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES 



Sbwell L. Avery 

 John Borden 

 WiLLIAlf J. Chauiers 

 Marshau. Field 

 Stanley Field 

 Ernest R. Graham 

 Albert W. Harris 

 Samuel Insull, Jr. 

 Cyrus H. McCormick 



John P, 



WnxiAM H. Mitchell 

 Frederick H. Rawson 

 George A. Richardson 

 Fred W. Sargent 

 Stephen C. Siuhs 

 JAUGS SiursoN 

 Solomon A. Smith 

 Albert A. Spragub 

 Silas H. Strawn 

 Wilson 



OFFICERS 



Stanley Field Praidml 



Albert A. Spragub Pint Viet-Pretiienl 



ikMES Simpson Second Vice-President 



Albert W. Harris Third Vice-Pretident 



Stephen C. Simms Director and Secretary 



Solomon A. Smith . . . Treaturer artd Auittant Secretary 



FIELD MUSEUM NEWS 



Stephen C. Simms, Director of the Museum Editor 



CONTRIBUTING EDITORS 



Berthold Laufer Curator of Anthropology 



B, E. Dahlgren Acting Curator of Botany 



Oliver C. Farrington Curator of Geology 



Wilfred H. Osgood Curator of Zoology 



H. B. Hartb Managing Editor 



Field Museum is open every day of the year during 

 the hours indicated below: 



November, December, January 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 



February, March, April, October 9 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. 

 May, June, July, August, September 9 a.m. to 6:00 P.M. 



Admission is free to Members on all days. Other 

 adults are admitted free on Thursdays, Saturdays and 

 Sundays; non-members pay 25 cents on other days. 

 Children are admitted free on all days. Students and 

 faculty members of educational institutions are_ admit- 

 ted free any day upon presentation of credentials. 



The Museum's natural history Library is open for 

 reference daily except Saturday afternoon and Sunday. 



Traveling exhibits are circulated in the schools of 

 Chicago by the N. W. Harris Public School Extension 

 Department of the Museum. 



Lectures for schools, and special entertainments 

 and tours for children at the Museum, are provided 

 by the James Nelson and Anna Louise Raymond 

 Foundation for Public School and Children's Lectures. 



Announcements of free illustrated lectures for the 

 public, and special lectures for Members of the Museum, 

 will appear in Field Museum News. 



A cafeteria in the Museum serves visitors. Rooms 

 are provided for those bringing their lunches. 



Chicago Motor Coach Company No. 26 buses go 

 direct to the Museum. 



Members are requested to inform the Museum 

 promptly of changes of address. 



MEMBERSmp IN FIELD MUSEUM 



Field Museum has several classes of Members. 

 Benefactors give or devise $100,000 or more. Contribu- 

 tors give or devise $1,000 to $100,000. Life Members 

 five $500; Non-Resident Life and Associate Members 

 pay $100; Non-Resident Associate Members pay_$50. 

 All the above classes are exempt from dues. Sustaining 

 Members contribute $25 annually. After six years they 

 become Associate Members. Annual Members con- 

 tribute $10 annually. Other memberships are Corpo- 

 rate, Honorary, Patron, and Correspondmg, additions 

 under these classifications being made by special action 

 of the Board of Trustees. 



Each Member, in all classes, is entitled to free 

 admission to the Museum for himself, his family and 

 house guests, and to two reserved seats for Museum 

 lectures provided for Members. Subscription to Field 

 Museum News is included with all memberships. The 

 courtesies of every museum of note in the United 

 States and Canada are extended to all Members of 

 Field Museum. A Member may give his personal card 

 to non-residents of Chicago, upon presentation of 

 which they will be admitted to the Museum without 

 charge. Further information about memberships will 

 be sent on request. 



BEQUESTS AND ENDOWMENTS 



Bequests to Field Museum of Natural History may 

 be made in securities, money, books or collections. 

 They may, if desired, take the form of a memorial to 

 a person or cause, named by the giver. 



Cash contributions made within the taxable year 

 not exceeding 1 5 per cent of the taxpayer's net income 

 are allowable as deductions in computing net income 

 under Article 251 of Regulation 69 relating to the 

 income tax under the Revenue Act of 1926. 



Endowments may be made to the Museum with the 

 provision that an annuity be paid to the patron for life. 

 These annuities are tax-free and are guaranteed against 

 fluctuation in amoimt. 



EXPEDITION TO THE SOUTHWEST 

 RETURNS WITH COLLECTIONS 



By Paul S. Martin 

 Assistant Curator of North American Archaeology 



The Field Museum Archaeological Expedi- 

 tion to the Southwest has returned from its 

 third and most successful season at the 

 Lowry ruin in southwestern Colorado. 



This site was formerly inhabited by Pueblo 

 Indians. The structure, containing many 

 contiguous rooms, was Isuilt on top of a 

 mesa situated between two canyons. It 

 stands today, even in its ruined state, an 

 imposing mound about twenty-five feet 

 above the level of the surrounding country. 

 The known length of the ruin is 175 feet, 

 but there are many rooms at both ends and 

 on each side yet to be excavated. Twenty- 

 eight ground-floor rooms have been entirely 

 dug out. It seems certain that most of the 

 pueblo was three stories high, hence it may 

 safely be assumed that there were at least 

 from seventy-five to eighty rooms in the 

 portion which has been investigated. 



On Lowry Mesa there is a condition similar 

 to that found at Troy, namely, a village 

 built on the remains of others. The Museum 

 expedition has found evidence of five 

 separate occupations of this mesa. During 

 the last one the large stone-walled pueblo 

 was commenced. The evidence indicates 

 that even during the final occupation there 

 were an ebb and flow of peoples, and that 

 there were at least five distinct building 

 periods in what we now call Lowry pueblo. 



It might be of interest to explain for those 

 who have not visited such a site how these 

 conclusions are reached. The first steps in 

 the work consist of careful trenching on all 

 sides of the pueblo and outside of what 

 seem to be the exterior walls. This work 

 may bring to Ught many puzzling features, 

 which at the moment cannot be understood, 

 but perhaps may be interpreted later in the 

 light shed as more information is obtained. 

 For example, three years ago in the pre- 

 liminary trenching several apparently dis- 

 connected walls and two kivas (underground, 

 circular ceremonial chambers), were en- 

 countered. At that time, those features, 

 especially the walls, meant nothing, because 

 they were apparently just orphan walls 

 without any near relatives or ancestors. 

 It has now been determined that those very 

 walls formed part of the one-story terrace 

 of the pueblo and are still connected with 

 what the writer once thought was the main 

 section of the village. 



The conclusion that there were at least 

 five building periods during the last occupa- 

 tion of Lowry ruin was reached by a close 

 study of the masonry and by noting whether 

 the corners of the walls are tied or abutted. 

 A tied comer is one in which the stones of 

 the two walls are interlaced so as to bind 

 them together securely. An abutted corner 

 is one in which a later wall touches an earlier 

 one. Careful study of these factors indicates 

 that Lowry pueblo began with perhaps 

 eight or ten rooms; that it was abandoned 

 and reoccupied several times; and that at 

 least five additions and alterations were 

 made, so that the maximum number of 

 rooms was probably about two hundred. 



On and under the floors of the rooms many 

 interesting specimens came to light. Under 

 one room, for example, were found eight 

 well-made bone tools, a beautiful green 

 stone implement, which was probably 

 ceremonial in nature, and two wooden 

 artifacts, the use of which is problematical. 

 These objects had been wrapped in a cedar- 

 bark matting, badly rotted when discovered 

 this year. They were buried under the floor 



by some prudent Indian, who probably 

 placed them there for safe-keeping. Three 

 dog skeletons interred within the walls of 

 the pueblo were likewise uncovered and 

 brought back to the Museum for examina- 

 tion. A gn"eat deal of excellent pottery was 

 found. Pottery is very important to the 

 archaeologist, because by studying its 

 texture, color, and design he can generally 

 determine changes and sequences of culture, 

 and can also work out the relation of one 

 pueblo to another. During the past season, 

 the Museum expedition dug up thirty pieces 

 of pottery and approximately eight hundred 

 potsherds, which are valuable for study, as 

 well as many bone and stone tools. 



A system of determining by the rings of 

 a section of trunk the dates of cutting of 

 certain species of trees used by the Indians 

 as roof beams and door lintels, has recently 

 been developed by Dr. A. E. Douglass of 

 the University of Arizona. The earliest 

 known date of Lowry ruin is a.d. 894, 

 but an earlier one may be obtained, as more 

 than twenty log specimens from various 

 rooms were secured this summer. 



The Southwest Expedition is financed 

 from funds provided by the late Julius and 

 Augusta N. Rosenwald. 



Colored Agate 



FVequent inquiries are received from 

 Museum visitors about methods of coloring 

 agate. The natural colors of most agate 

 are pale, so that the beauty of the stone is 

 enhanced by artificial coloring. This is 

 accomplished by soaking the stone for days 

 or even weeks in a suitable solution. Agate 

 is composed of layers of differing degrees 

 of porosity which absorb different quantities 

 of the solution and so are stained in contrast- 

 ing shades. The solutions commonly used 

 are honey or sugar in water. After treatment 

 with the sugar solution the agate is treated 

 with strong sulphuric acid which chars the 

 sugar, producing various shades of brown 

 and dull red. There are other solutions 

 which deposit pigments in the pores of the 

 agate. Of late years many agates are colored 

 with aniline dye but these are not highly 

 esteemed. 



A large selection of colored and uncolored 

 agate appears in a case at the entrance to 

 Hall 34. 



Exhibit of Shore Birds 



The principal species of American shore 

 birds are on exhibition in a case recently 

 installed in Hall 21, containing the system- 

 atic collection of birds. Included in this 

 exhibit are the rails, sandpipers, snipe, 

 woodcock, oystercatchers, plovers, stilts, 

 avocets, jacanas, tumstones, and phalaropes. 

 A curious characteristic of the phalaropes is 

 that, unlike most birds, the female is more 

 beautiful than the male. Also, a matriarchal 

 plan of living prevails among them, the 

 males attending to the duties of incubating 

 the eggs and caring for the young when 

 hatched. The plovers are of special interest 

 because of the large size of their eggs as 

 compared with the size of the birds. The 

 snipe and woodcock are among the favorite 

 game birds of sportsmen. The birds were 

 mounted by Ashley Hine, Staff Taxidermist. 



Museum Hours Now 9 to 4:30 



Effective November 1, and continuing 

 until February 28, Field Museum resumes 

 its regular winter visiting hours, opening 

 daily at 9 a.m., and closing at 4:30 P.M. 



A ninety-pound topaz crystal is on exhibi- 

 tion in H. N. Higinbotham Hall (Hall 31). 



