14 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 8l 



The few fragments of pottery picked up were interesting because 

 they are from a type of vessel which seems t^ center, more or less, in 

 the El Paso area. It is a very sandy, dark red ware with a dull black 

 painted decoration. The writer has found fragments from vessels of 

 the same kind at many sites in the neighborhood of El Paso, and has 

 seen sherds and vessels of the same type from the ^Nlimbres Valley 

 in southwestern New Mexico. There seems to be no question but 

 that it is prehistoric pottery and that it belongs in the period of the 

 great era in Pueblo development, but its extent — the area of its dis- 

 tribution — is a problem still to be worked out. 



This brief description of the caves and the objects from them is 

 not intended to be in any sense an exhaustive or complete report on 

 a new archeological phase in the Southwest, but is presented purely as 

 an announcement of recent developments in the area. There are 

 puzzling problems which can be solved only by additional work in the 

 region. Many features indicate a culture comparable to that of the 

 Basket Makers, the predecessors of the Pueblo-Clifif-Dweller peoples 

 of the San Juan region. This is especially marked in the spear shafts, 

 curved clubs, sandals, and netting. Other factors point toward a later 

 period and a possible connection with some of the nomadic groups 

 of the region. Unquestionably there is some mixture of early and late 

 material in these sites but unfortunately the stratigraphic evidence was 

 lost during the excavations. From what could be learned of the posi- 

 tions in which the objects were buried, it seems fairly certain that the 

 potsherds and triangular-shaped frames which are thought to have 

 been used in the making of ceremonial headdresses do not belong 

 with the other objects but represent a later horizon. Of this we cannot 

 be sure, however, until further investigations bring more evidence to 

 light. 



On the present meager evidence the writer is inclined to suggest 

 that there is in this section of the Southwest the northern fringes of a 

 culture analogous to the Basket Makers of the San Juan, but which 

 had its fullest development in the northern Mexico region ; a culture 

 closely related to that represented by the material from the Coahuila 

 caves. The sites as a whole open up a new and interesting field for 

 future investigation, one which should be carefully worked, not only 

 that a thorough knowledge of the remains of the region may be 

 obtained, but that the relationships existing between the peoples of 

 this area and those to the north and south mav be determined. 



