NO. 7 ARCHEOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS IN TEXAS ROBERTS 3 



of the Southwest in fairly large numbers, but a few of them suggest 

 at least slight Pueblo influence. The latter seem to be of greater age 

 and in some instances are partially covered by portions of those of 

 more recent date. Whether they have any relation to the objects 

 found in the caves is a problem still to be solved. 



Three figures which probably were intended to represent masked 

 heads were found on the walls of one of the caves (fig. i). In two 

 examples the persons represented seem to have been wearing a tablet- 

 like headdress, a feature quite common in the Southwest since early 

 historic times. Thus far no evidence has been obtained to show that 

 the ceremonial mask was in use in prehistoric times, although certain 

 investigators are inclined to believe that its development may have 

 begun, as the result of influences from the Mexican cultures to the 



Fig. I. — Representations of masked heads painted on walls of one of the caves. 



south, in the period just foUow^ing the great era of the Pueblo peoples 

 and immediately preceding the advent of the Spanish explorers. The 

 use of the ceremonial headdress has been markedly widespread in 

 recent times, however, not only among the Pueblos and Navajos but 

 also among the Apaches in certain of their observances. Among the 

 majority of the groups using the mask and headdress there is con- 

 siderable use of thin strips cut from the flowering stem of the yucca 

 or Spanish bayonet in building up the framework. Fragments of 

 frames made from this sort of material were found in several of the 

 caves, and it seems quite probable that the pictures represent such 

 objects. Their stepped or terraced shape is comparable to some 

 of the Pueblo forms. The third figure possibly represents the mask 

 worn by a participant in a bufTalo or similar dance and is cer- 

 tainly decidedly suggestive, in its character and the manner in which 

 it was drawn, of the work of the nomadic Indians. 



