360 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1961 



represented should throw some light on the relationships of the 

 people. Examination of the bones has not yet been completed so 

 no conclusions are possible at this time. The material in general, 

 however, does give a much better understanding of the archeology 

 of that portion of Texas and when correlated with the results of 

 other excavations in the Whitney basin should round out the story 

 in a satisfactory manner. 



In the Boysen Reservoir area in Wyoming, Birdshead Cave was 

 found to contain stratified deposits representing seven with possibly 

 one or two more periods of occupation. There were six district levels 

 seemingly covering a wide range in time. Differences in faunal ma- 

 terial suggest that climatic conditions prevailing in the district during 

 the first occupation were not the same as in subsequent times'. Later 

 levels show varying degrees of change leading to present-day condi- 

 tions. Tlie artifact yield from the cave was small, but such specimens 

 as were collected show changes in projectile-point types from top to 

 bottom. There also was evidence for a shift in the economy through 

 the several occupations. In the lower levels it appears that the people 

 were largely dependent upon plant foods supplemented by small game 

 such as rabbits, squirrels, and conies. In the later levels the economy 

 was definitely based on the limiting of large herbivorous animals as 

 is indicated by the presence of bones from antelope, deer, bighorn 

 sheep, and possibly bison. The presence of steatite vessel fragments, 

 rabbit-hair cloth, fiber cordage, and pieces of basketry in the upper 

 levels suggests that there was a late prehistoric occupancy of the 

 cave by Indians from the Great Basin to the west rather than by 

 peoples from the Plains lying to the east. This has raised an interest- 

 ing set of problems pertaining to the long-term interrelationships be- 

 tween two distinct modes of life in the Western Plains. If the arti- 

 facts from the various levels in the cave can be correlated with those 

 from single-occupation sites, it may be possible to determine the 

 sequence for the open sites in the Boysen Reservoir and the Wind 

 River basin as a whole. Studies of the material from the various sites 

 have not progressed sufficiently to establish a relative chronology as 

 yet (Bliss, 1950). 



An interesting rock shelter was investigated at the Equalizing Re- 

 servoir basin southwest of the town of Grand Coulee, Wash. The 

 excavations were handicapped by the fact that large blocks of stone 

 had fallen from the ceiling of the cave and it was necessary to dig 

 around and beneath them to unearth the archeological remains. The 

 evidence obtained there indicated that the place was not lived in con- 

 tinuously but was one where small groups probably camped from time 

 to time. Three distinct levels of occupation were found, but it did 

 not appear that there were lengthy intervals between the periods when 



