REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 59 



sloth remains and of the bones from large creatures that preyed on 

 the sloth, and the possibility that it may provide evidence of human 

 contemporaneity with such extinct animal forms in that area. Plans 

 and methods for a program of excavation were discussed and various 

 suggestions were made concerning the advisability of providing an 

 exhibit in situ for visitors to the Boulder Dam Recreational Area. 



From Boulder Dam, Dr. Roberts returned to the Lindenmeier site 

 where he continued his investigations until the end of September when 

 the project was brought to a close. During the six seasons of inten- 

 sive exploration of this Folsom site and the adjacent area much new 

 and valuable information on the subject of early occupation of North 

 America was obtained. From the large series of specimens collected 

 it will be possible to draw comprehensive conclusions relative to the 

 material culture and economic status of the aboriginal peoples inhabit- 

 ing that portion of the country during the closing days of the last Ice 

 Age, and in general to broaden the knowledge on early stages in New 

 World history. 



Dr. Roberts returned to Washington in October. He spent the 

 autumn and winter months working on the material from the Linden- 

 meier site, preparing the manuscript for his report on the investiga- 

 tions there, in writing short articles for publication in various scien- 

 tific journals, in identifying numerous archeological specimens sent in 

 from all parts of the country by interested amateurs, and in furnishing 

 information on many phases of New World archeology. Plans and 

 preparations were made for an expedition to the Code region in the 

 province of Penonome, Panama, but, because of the last-minute devel- 

 opment of an insuperable combination of adverse circumstances, the 

 proposed investigations had to be abandoned. 



On May 15, 1941, Dr. Roberts went to Bedford, Va., to initiate exca- 

 vations at the Mons site near the Peaks of Otter where the late D. I. 

 Bushnell, Jr., had found artifacts suggestive of a much earlier aborig- 

 inal occupation of the area than previously had been supposed. Con- 

 struction work on the Blue Ridge Parkway had destroyed much of the 

 site, but a series of test trenches dug in various undisturbed remnants 

 established the fact that it had once been an Indian camping place, 

 possibly a village site of late protohistoric times. However, there was 

 no evidence of its having been used by older groups comparable to the 

 early hunting peoples of the western plains. 



On the completion of the work at the Mons site, Dr. Roberts returned 

 to Washington and on June 11 left for San Jon, N. Mex. Camp was 

 established on the rim of the Staked Plains lOy^ miles south of that 

 town and excavations were started at a site where material suggestive 

 of another phase of early man in North America, the so-called Yuma, 

 has been found. The location is in a shallow basin that appears to 



