54 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1947 



areas. He went to Atlanta, Ga., July 23-25, 1946, to confer with 

 representatives of the National Park Service and engineers in the 

 office of the Division Engineer for the South Atlantic Division, Corps 

 of Engineers, about the problems in that area. He went to Lincoln, 

 Nebr., September 24 to October 4, to meet the incoming field parties 

 from the Missouri Basin. At that time he received reports on the 

 explorations, discussed plans for future investigations, and assisted 

 in making arrangements for carrying on the work at the field head- 

 quarters during the fall and winter months. While at Lincoln he 

 made two trips to Omaha to confer with officials of the National 

 Park Service, Region 2, and engineers from the office of the Division 

 Engineer, Missouri Eiver Division, Corps of Engineers. From De- 

 cember 26 to 31, he was in Chicago, 111., to take part in a symposium 

 on river valley archeology in which there were representatives from 

 the National Park Service, the American Anthropological Associa- 

 tion, the Society for American Archeology, the Conunittee for the 

 Recovery of Archeological Remains, and several universities. Dr. 

 Roberts' report on the activities of the River Basin Surveys appears 

 in subsequent pages. 



During the course of the year Dr. Roberts wrote several book 

 reviews for anthropological journals, annotated four books for the 

 United States Quarterly Book List, prepared a number of popular 

 articles on the work of the River Basin Surveys, and served as a con- 

 sultant on manuscripts on anthropology and archeology for several 

 encyclopedias. 



Dr. Roberts was the General Department Representative on the 

 Efficiency Rating Board of Review for the Smithsonian Institution. 

 In this connection he attended the Civil Service Commission Institute 

 of Efficiency Rating Boards of Review. He represented the Smith- 

 sonian Institution at a meeting held in Washington, D. C, April 15, 

 1947, for the purpose of organizing a National Council for Historic 

 Sites and Buildings. 



From July 1, 1946, to June 30, 1947, Dr. Roberts served as a member 

 of the executive committee of the Division of Anthropology and 

 Psychology, National Research Council. 



During the absences of the Chief, Dr. Roberts was Acting Chief of 

 the Bureau. 



The beginning of the fiscal year foimd Dr. John P. Harrington, 

 ethnologist, at Searchlight, Nev., from which point he traveled with 

 Murl Emery to a point above Cottonwood Island in one of the wildest 

 portions of the Colorado River where, according to Indian tradition, is 

 the house of Matavilya, principal deity of the lower Colorado region. 

 The house of Matavilya was discovered to be a natural formation con- 

 sisting of a butte about 200 feet high on the western side of the river, 

 and opposite this butte another, perhaps 500 feet in height, on the 



