1Y2 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1900. 



ments were securod and examined l\y Mr. F. A. Lucas, of the U. S. 

 National Museum, who found them to belong to a gigantic sloth, one 

 of the Tertiary Mylodons. Mr. Mercer says that about 2 miles beyond 

 the cavern there is a ])urial pit from which he previously obtained 

 human bones and obsidian implements. 



On the partially wooded ridge overlooking Murph3^s on the north 

 and within half a mile of the cav^e, we came upon an Indian village, 

 comprising iialf a dozen dwelling houses and the usual accompaniment 

 of sunnncr shelters and milling places. Two of the houses are shown 

 in Plate S. They are round and upward of 25 feet in diameter. The 

 walls are formed of planks and the roof is covered with clapboards 

 radiating from a conical, shingled chimney. The framework is of 

 poles and the construction does not differ essentially from that of the 

 aboriginal round-house of many tribes. The men and women all 

 appeared to be busy with domestic affairs, the work being conducted 

 in a large roofed structure, open at the sides; and in a Jttle conical 

 shelter made of sticks and brush, on the slope below the village, we 

 found two old women pounding acorns. 



In one of the houses was quite a store of basketry, some of the 

 pieces evidently homemade, but others the work of the Paiute and 

 other neighboring tribes. Within the group of houses was an inter- 

 esting granary — a tall wattle work receptacle resting upon a stem of 

 wood and further supported by four marginal poles. Its purpose was 

 no doubt to place the crop of acorns, corn, or other '^ood material 

 beyond the reach of rats and pigs. 



A single family, the remnant of a larger community, is located on 

 the Adams place, a little to the eastward of the village of Murphj^s, 

 and a small village was encountered on the road from Vallecito to 

 Angels, a few miles south of Murphy s. Here I procured some photo- 

 graphs of a rather comely Indian woman engaged in th^ arduous task 

 of grinding acorns, her interesting family of three children entering 

 prominently into the pictures (Plates 12 and 13). Plates 10 and 11 serve 

 to illustrate two of the first steps in the acorn industry, the carrying 

 and hulling of the acorns, and the use of the mealing plate in grinding. 

 The upper view in Plate 12 shows the miller as she sits oyer the crater- 

 like cone of pulverized acorns with the heavy pestle raised in front of 

 her face. As the pestle descends into the center of the heap, spread- 

 ing it out over the margin of the mortar, one hand or the other is 

 freed and deftly rakes the meal toward the center of the stone again 

 and joins the other hand to raise the stone, the whole movement being 

 so rapid that there is no pause in the operation of pounding. The 

 shallow mortar, formed of a flattish stone, is planted in the ground 

 even with the surface, and the meal spreads out on the firmly -impacted 

 soil. The basket receptacle for the meal, covered with the fanning 

 basket tray, is at her right hand, and the children, engaged in play, 



