ANCIENT PUEBLOS OP UPPER GILA REGION. 11 



Small acorns, such as are now eaten by the Mexicans, walnuts, and 

 piny on and juniper nuts were recovered from the caves. The small 

 oaks furnishing the acorns grow on the high land above the streams, 

 and with cedar and juniper berries form the principal food supply of 

 bears. Walnuts grow in profusion along the streams, the trees being 

 quite different in habit from those in the East, forming clumps of 

 stems clothed in dense foliage and yielding great quantities of nuts. 



PABTS OF WILD PLANTS. 



Spines of the agave ; leaves of the yucca and dasylirion ; the curious 

 woody seed cases of the Oenethera; the devil's claw( Martynla sp.) ; 

 grass of several species; Artemisia sp. ; thistle, Carduus Tteo-mexi- 

 canus; Amamnthus palmeri- stems of two species of rush; arrow 

 reed ; pine cones ; bark of cedar and oak ; galls of the 

 oak ; pithy stems of Amh7'osia, the white pith of which 

 was used on offerings; flowering stems of the yucca 

 and like plants ; twigs and branches of various shrubs ; 

 openwork stems of the Cactus opuntia spinosior Tou- 

 mey; fungi, lichen, and galls were found, principally 

 in the debris of Tularosa Cave. 



Branches of oak, the twigs coiled up at the ends, 

 forming a close bunch of leaves, were numerous in 

 the Tularosa Cave. The use of these leaf bunches 

 can not be determined, but they were perhaps gath- 

 ered for bedding. fig. 6.— brush of 



Strips of yucca leaf pounded or chewed at one end tulakosa^cave 

 to release the fiber were employed as brushes (fig. 6), 

 like those used by the present Pueblos for decorating pottery, and 

 brushes for cleaning the teeth and for other purposes were made by 

 chewing the ends of soft sticks. (Cat. No. 246018, U.S.N.M. ; length, 

 4f inches; Tularosa Cave.) 



STONE, BONE, SHELL, AND METAL. 



MATERIALS AND GENERAL REMARKS. 



In the Pueblo region there are few materials found in place suitable 

 for the making of stone implements, and the natives had to depend 

 principally on detrital quarries. Especially is this true of stone suit- 

 able for flaking and chipping, and hence the region lacks in the 

 quantity, boldness, and fineness of chipped artifacts found in other 

 regions. Chalcedony and wood opals are in place, but are almost 

 valueless on account of containing flaws ; some chalcedonj^, however, 

 could be worked into small arrowheads and knives, and this material 

 was often ground into cylinders and highly polished. Obsidian was 



