RIVER BASIN SURVEYS — ^F. H. H. ROBERTS 355 



the various kinds of sites arc groups of pctroglyphs pecked into or 

 painted on the surface of adjacent large boulders or the faces of neigh- 

 boring cliffs. The surveys did not confine their efforts to the locating 

 of strictly aboriginal sites but also noted and recorded places of his- 

 toric interest such as early trading posts, pioneer forts, and Colonial 

 and pioneer villages. In many cases there is a definite correlation be- 

 tween Indian remains and those of the white man, and study of them 

 undoubtedly will throw considerable light on acculturation problems 

 and the effects of an advanced civilization on primitive cultures. After 

 the investigations have been completed and the results are available 

 there should be a fairly comprehensive story of the history of the abo- 

 riginal United States from the closing days of the last Ice Age down 

 to the Indian wars in the Plains area in the late sixties and early seven- 

 ties. For the late periods there is, of course, considerable documentary 

 material containing valuable information, but archeological evidence 

 in many cases will augment and clarify the written records. 



OLD REMAINS UNCOVERED 



Excavations have been carried on at several locations where it ap- 

 pears that some of the older Indian groups were present. Along a 

 small tributary of the Columbia Kiver near Cold Springs, Oreg., in- 

 dications of a cultural layer lying beneath a strip of wind-blown 

 volcanic ash were found in the stream bank. Excavations at that 

 location uncovered traces of a single occupation by a group of Indians 

 having a simple culture and, except for the projectile points, very 

 crude tools. There were no indications' of any typo of habitation. 

 The people presumably built their fires and cooked their food in the 

 open. Large numbers of animal bones, many of which were burned, 

 and many mussel shells were present in the debris. It is apparent 

 that the people depended about equally on fishing and hunting for 

 their subsistence. The artifacts consisted largely of hammerstones 

 and choppers with a fair showing of projectile points. The projectile 

 points are leaf-shaped with a concave base. They do not have the 

 side notches or stems such as are common in many parts of the area. 

 I'hc projectile point represents one of the older types but thus far has 

 not been definitely correlated w'ith some of the better-known varieties. 

 The cultural remains probably represent a fairly early stage in the 

 occupation of the Columbia Basin, but their proper place in the se- 

 quence for the area will not be known definitely until the volcanic 

 ash that covered them has been correlated with one of the known 

 eruptions in that region or until a carbon-14 test has been made on 

 the burned bones. 



Another location where relatively old remains were found was in 

 the Tiber Reservoir area alone: the Marias River in Montana. Two 



