THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



tween the coast tribes and those of the interior. Dr. Di.xon and 

 ]Mr. Smith entered the Lillooet territory at the same time from the 

 south. On this trip Dr. Dixon collected a number of photo- 

 graphs and plaster casts illustrating the types of this region, while 

 Mr. Smith made a number of excavations at ancient village sites. 

 In the same year Mr. George Hunt continued his collections 

 among the Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island, a tribe with whose 

 language he is thoroughly familiar. 



Mr. Smith spent the greater part of the summer excavating in 

 the shell mounds of Puget Sound and of the west coast of Wash- 

 ington. The results of his excavations show that there was a 

 gradual merging of the ancient culture of this area into that of 

 the Columbia valley, thus agreeing with the ethnological results 

 obtained by Professor Farrand. Archaeological work in this area 

 requires much time and persistence, on account of the great 

 scarcity of specimens in the shell mounds. On his return jour- 

 ney Mr. Smith investigated the Indian remains south of Spence's 

 Bridge, and here also a gradual change of culture seemed to be 

 revealed. 



In 1899 the principal operations of the expedition were in 

 Asia, as will be described later on ; but Messrs. Plunt, Teit and 

 Smith continued their researches. Mr. Smith turned his atten- 

 tion to the shell mounds and burial-caims of northern \'ancouver 

 Island and the islands off the coast of Washington. Many of 

 these cairns were explored, and the shell-heaps near which they 

 were usually placed were examined. The cairns were found 

 invariably to be of great age, and the skeletons which they con- 

 tained were in a bad state of preservation, but much interesting 

 information regarding the methods of burial of the prehistoric 

 occupants of the region was brought to light, and much material 

 for a study of their physical characteristics was obtained. Mr. 

 Smith's work is the first comprehensive survey of the archeology 

 of this region which has been made. 



In 1900 Mr. Teit continued his work on the Salish tribes of 

 the interior of British Columbia. Professor Boas first joined Mr. 

 Teit, and undertook with him a journey on horseback to the 

 villages of the Thompson Indians south of Spence's Bridge. 



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