also indicate a higher precipitation and thus a greater 
abundance of oak in the area at the time of the stratum 
LIL occupation. The necessity for an adequate water 
supply during the period of Bat Cave occupation must 
have meant a higher precipitation, as there is no perma- 
nent source of water nearer than the springs at T.U.T. 
Ranch and Jacks Peak about twelve miles across the 
plain from Bat Cave. 
At the present time flood water farming in nearby 
canyons would be possible only in years in which the 
rainy season started relatively early. In the summer of 
1948, the rainy season did not begin until about July 15. 
This probably would not permit a sufficient growing 
period to mature maize, beans or squash before the fall 
frosts at this altitude (6500 feet above sea level). Thus, 
again it seems probable that the Bat Cave people had a 
permanent water supply or that the annual precipitation 
was more favorably distributed throughout the year. 
The remainder of the Bat Cave plants are of no im- 
portance as climatic indicators. All of the genera grow 
in the area today, but their characteristics of growth give 
no indication of past conditions. 
From the nature of the plant remains we may assume 
that the Bat Cave people practiced a subsistence agri- 
culture supplemented by gathering wild plants as their 
fruits matured, or as the need for various plants arose. 
No evidence of extensive storage was encountered in the 
excavation. 
The subject of dating the Bat Cave deposit has been 
purposely omitted thus far. Suffice it to say, Dr. Ernst 
Antevs has studied the local geology. Although it was 
reported in an earlier publication (Mangelsdorf and 
Smith, 1949) that the cultural deposit from which the 
plant remains were recovered could not have begun more 
recently than 2500 B.C., Antevs now feels that this 
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