6 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. IO3 



area, and of possible correlations of both with geologic phenomena 

 of known age. To facilitate the recording of archeological informa- 

 tion and to aid in the geologic studies a detailed 5-foot (1.524 m.) 

 contour map of the basin and its gullies was prepared by Mr. Merrill. 

 Results were more gratifying in some cases than in others. This 

 is in part attributable to an insufficient quantity of archeological 

 evidence rather than to its quality, and to the fact that certain phases 

 require further work. On the whole, however, an interesting outline 

 of developments in the area is apparent from present information. 



ARCHEOLOGICAL WORK 



The archeological activities, under the writer's direction, were 

 carried on by the students in the group. The grid system was followed 

 in the digging. Areas to be investigated were staked ofif in 5-foot 

 (1.524 m.) squares, the lines running east-west and north-south, and 

 exploratory trenches were laid out in 5-foot widths with their lengths 

 continuing as required on the basis of 5-foot units to provide con- 

 sistency in the records and in order that the sections would be uniform 

 in case it was found necessary to expand the trenches into larger 

 areas. The men were given separate sections, each working his own 

 from the surface to the bottom of the excavation (pi. 2, fig. i). The 

 material was removed layer by layer, following the natural strata, 

 and the vertical and horizontal positions and the nature of the earth 

 surrounding all objects found were carefully recorded. On the com- 

 pletion of a section a scale drawing was made of the face of the next 

 section before work was started on it. In this way profiles showing 

 the nature of the deposits as they occurred at 5-foot intervals through- 

 out the digging were made available for study and as a part of the 

 data pertaining to the excavations. The archeological material pre- 

 sented no handling difficulties, but in the case of the animal bones it 

 was often necessary to harden them with preservatives and to apply 

 plaster jackets before removal. 



Excavations in three sizeable areas and four trenches in and around 

 the basin (fig. i), digging in four places on the level top of a terrace 

 in the brakes, midway between the rim and the plain below, and in 

 buried hearth levels exposed by gullies in the lower plain, produced 

 an interesting series of implement types with geologic evidence for 

 a sequence in some of the forms. This was also true for some of 

 the animal bones, although the number of variations involved was 

 not as great. Four types of projectile points came from the basin 

 and its environs and from the terrace site. They occurred in four 



