EEPOBT OF THE SECRETAKY. 13 



will be continued by Doctor Paton, avIio will investigate also the 

 correlative structural changes in the central nervous system that ac- 

 company these functional developments, and will endeavor to deter- 

 mine the elements which conduct the nervous impulses. 



I am glad to state that the advisory committee continues the same, 

 and to record my appreciation of the helpful action of the members 

 m recommendations as to appointments to the Smithsonian seat. 



EXPLORATIONS. 



ARCHEOLOGY OF GULF STATES OF MEXICO. 



Dr. J. Walter Fewkes, a member of the Bureau of American Eth- 

 nology, has carried on an extended archeological reconnoissance for 

 the Smithsonian Institution in the Gulf States of Mexico. His trip 

 was successful, adding information to what is known of the prehis- 

 toric inhabitants of this rich but only partially explored region. 

 While the main object of this visit was the increase of our knowledge 

 of Mexican archeology, attention was incidentally given to the strik- 

 ing likeness of many prehistoric objects observed to those from the 

 United States and its bearing on the question of culture migrations. 

 An area was shown in each of the States of Vera Cruz and Tamauli- 

 pas, as typical of the prehistoric culture of this region, one of these 

 extending from Xalapa, capital of Vera Cruz, to the Gulf coast, the 

 other being near the city of Tampico, on the banks of the Panuco and 

 Tamese rivers. 



The numerous ruins or mounds that occur in these areas, rarely 

 visited by archfeologists, are supposed to be tyjDical of the former 

 culture of two great allied peoples, the Totonacs and Kuaxtecs, who 

 in j)rehistoric times inhabited the greater part of Vera Cruz and what 

 is now southern Tamaulipas. 



On account of its historical as well as archeological importance, 

 f., visit Avas made to the little-known ruin of Cempoalan, a Totonac 

 metropolis visited by Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico. xVrcheo- 

 logical literature pertaining to this city is very scant}^; there is not 

 a single description in English of the still well-preserved temples of 

 this remarkable capital. On his visit to the site of Cempoalan 

 Doctor Pewkes obtained many fine photographs of the four stately 

 pyramids and gathered nuich data regarding their construction. He 

 also studied and took photographs of the many small objects found 

 in the neighborhood of the mounds that will later be published. An 

 attempt to determine the site of another flourishing Totonac city 

 revealed, near the ancient Villa Eica do la Vera Cruz, an important 

 cluster of earth mounds of considerable size. These were also photo- 

 graphed and their relics studied. 



