more slender and more nearly cylindrical. With respect 
to diameter/length ratios, the cobs in a selected sample 
of twenty specimens vary from 0.13 to 0.86. In kernel- 
row numbers these same specimens vary from ten to 
twenty-six. Many of the cobs are twisted and contorted, 
and some are fused into conglomerate masses. ‘They must 
have been somewhat soft and pliable at one time, perhaps 
as the result of some chemical action in the soil. 
With respect to race, these cobs appear to represent 
a kind of ‘‘melting pot™’ in which the principal partici- 
pants were the races Capio Chico and Polulo; a minor 
component may have been Chutucuno Chico. 
RA nN iL 268B 
This is another small, looted cemetery of niche graves 
near Chiu Chiu, dating to the late prehispanic period. 
A cache of fifty-three cobs was found within one of the 
burial chambers. 
The specimens are similar to the cobs from site 290 
with respect to color; twenty-nine are red or pink, six 
variegated, and eighteen white, but are brighter due to 
better preservation. Another similarity is the stiff lower 
glumes, which in some specimens are curved like the 
teeth of a wood rasp. Most of the cobs appear to be re- 
lated to the modern Chilean race Chutucuno Chico. 
RAnL 337-1 
This isolated house site is located beside the Loa River 
among scrub vegetation, and is at least 12 km. from the 
nearest prehispanic settlement. The remains consist of a 
surtace scatter of artifacts and a 3.0 by 8.5 meter house 
foundation which contained a maximum of 28 cm. of 
unstratified refuse. A sample of wood from the excava- 
tion yielded a radiocarbon date of A.D. 1250 + 90 years 
(1-5899), thus placing the site within the late prehispanic 
period. 
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