410 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
and Sandia remains. As the era of aridity had already set in before 
the arrival of the hunters, even though their appearance was com- 
paratively soon after its beginning, the initial occupation of the cave 
is believed to have taken place early in the Recent period. 
Evidence for a relatively ancient group in southern Arizona was 
found in Ventana Cave (pl. 8) in the Castle Mountains (Haury, 
1943). There in the bottom of approximately 15 feet of deposits 
were stone implements accompanying bones from the native horse, 
giant sloth, tapir, and bison. The artifacts were projectile points, 
_ choppers, scrapers, and gravers, a complex very similar to the Folsom 
except that the points were not fluted. They approximate the gen- 
eral Folsom shape, but no attempt was made to produce the facial 
channels (pl. 9, fig. 1). The assemblage of bones and artifacts was 
in a lime-cemented layer of volcanic debris. This conglomerate, sup- 
plemented by other indications of water action, is good evidence for 
a decidedly wet period in that part of the Southwest. The combina- 
tion of heavy precipitation and an extinct fauna again suggests a 
pluvial condition comparable to that previously discussed and, al- 
though geologic studies at the cave have not yet been completed, 
possibly a terminal Pleistocene or beginning Recent age. 
Important evidence bearing on later developments in the area was 
also found in Ventana Cave. Artifacts in the layers above the stratum 
containing the old material trace the progress of a cultural develop- 
ment from a simple hunting, food-gathering economy through the 
acquisition of agriculture and the pottery-making industry and sub- 
sequent agricultural and ceramic stages to historic times. The strata 
containing this series rested disconformably on the conglomerate, in- 
dicating a break in the continuity of occupation. The hiatus prob- 
ably represents a fairly long interval because during that period 
modern fauna replaced the old animals and there was marked change 
in the types of cultural objects. 
Recent erosion and the cutting of gullies or arroyos in the south- 
western corner of New Mexico, in southeastern Arizona, and in the 
adjacent area just across the border in northern Mexico have exposed 
hearths, artifacts, and other traces of human inhabitation. The 
materials from these sites have been called the Cochise Culture and 
have been grouped into three stages or sequent phases on the basis 
of their typological traits, the nature of their geologic provenience, 
and the associated fossils (Sayles and Antevs, 1941). The oldest of 
the phases occurs in sand-gravel deposits that also contain bones of 
the native horse, camel, bison, mammoth, and extinct wolf, prong- 
horn, and coyote. Hickory charcoal is found in the same level. This 
kind of wood no longer grows in the region as it requires much more 
moisture than is now available. The layer of sand and gravel has 
been interpreted as being a flood-plain deposit from a permanent 
