24 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1941 



for a considerable period before burial ; in several cases mud dauber 

 nests were found in the skull or among the bundled bones. This 

 finding indicates that the period in which these bodies were exposed 

 in an open death house included at least one warm season. 



On February 27, 1941, Dr. Stewart went to Peru in connection 

 with the program sponsored by the State Department for cultural 

 cooperation with other American republics. In Lima, through the 

 kindness of Dr. Julio C. Tello, director of the Museum of Anthro- 

 pology, Magdalena Vieja, he had the privilege of studying two docu- 

 mented series of human skeletal remains, one from Paracas and the 

 other from Malena. These two series are interesting for comparison 

 because that from Paracas is very early, whereas that from Malena 

 is late coastal Inca. The Paracas people, although relatively ancient, 

 were far from being primitive in the cultural sense. Their textiles 

 are famous and among the finest produced anywhere. While in 

 Lima Dr. Stewart visited many of the nearby ruins and ancient 

 Lidian sites. From these trips Dr. Stewart brought back a small 

 collection of the more interesting skeletal remains to supplement 

 earlier collections. 



During the week of March 30 Dr. Stewart represented the Insti- 

 tution and the National Geographic Society at the Third Assembly 

 of the Pan American Institute of Geography and History meeting 

 in Lima. Following the Assembly he visited the Museo Arqueologico 

 "Rafael Larco Herrera" at Chiclin, where, through the kindness of 

 Sr. Rafael Larco Hoyle, he was able to study a documented series 

 of Mochica and Cupianique skeletons. These remains are from the 

 oldest cultural periods of the northern coast. From Chiclin Dr. 

 Stewart went south to Mollendo, and thence by way of Arequipa 

 to Cuzco. Here, besides visiting some of the famous ruins, he saw 

 the fine collection of mummies and trephined skulls at the University 

 of Cuzco and the Instituto Arqueologico. 



Dr. Waldo R. Wedel, assistant curator in archeology, was in the 

 field from June 1 to September 16, 1940, continuing the Institution's 

 archeological survey of Kansas, begun in 1937. The 1940 explora- 

 tions were carried on at several locations in Rice and Cowley 

 Counties. Preliminary excavations show that the sites investigated 

 mark villages inhabited by semisedentary, partly horticultural In- 

 dians who did not live in earth lodges. These people made pottery, 

 wove basketry, had a wide variety of artifacts in stone, bone, horn, 

 and shell, traded with the Pueblos on the Rio Grande for turquoise, 

 pottery, and obsidian, and were in contact with white men. Frag- 

 ments of glaze-paint pottery represent types made on the Rio 

 Grande between 1525 and 1650, and bits of chain mail suggest a 

 visit from some of the early Spanish explorers. It is tentatively 



