NEW WORLD PALEO-INDIAN—ROBERTS 413 
archeological and paleontological objects are an important aid, al- 
though they also may frequently be inconclusive. The types of men 
responsible for the Sandia Cave, Folsom, Ventana Cave, Gypsum 
Cave, and similar complexes are not known, as no human remains 
have been found in association with implements from any of those 
cultural patterns. A skeleton sometimes thought of as a possible 
example of Folsom man was discovered in a bank of the Cimarron 
River in northeastern New Mexico some 16 miles east of the original 
Folsom site. The bones were in a water-borne deposit 13 feet 6 
inches below the present surface and, from the degree of their fossili- 
zation and a tentative correlation between their situs and a nearby 
buried stream bed and the latter with the bison quarry, were believed 
to be as old as, if not older than, the artifacts and animal bones at 
that location (Figgins, 1935). This conclusion has never been con- 
firmed, however, and as there were no accompanying archeological 
specimens it cannot be said that the skeleton was that of Folsom 
man. It is unquestionably Indian, and certain characteristics of the 
skull—its definite long-headedness, heavy brow ridges, and deeply 
depressed nasal root—are rather primitive (Roberts, 1937), but the 
bones themselves give no hint of the time when the individual lived. 
On the basis of the physical features he could be late Pleistocene or 
early Recent or, on the other hand, a modern Indian. Unfortunately, 
the geologic evidence needed to reach a verdict. is not available. 
One fragmentary skeleton was recovered from the oldest level of the 
Cochise. The bones were so broken and so many pieces were missing 
that it was difficult to make a determination of the physical type. 
After careful study, however, it was concluded that the individual 
was one of the small, southwestern longheads belonging to the Basket 
Maker group. The Basket Makers were the first agricultural pottery- 
making peoples in the Pueblo area, in the period from the beginning 
of the Christian Era to about A. D. 600, and although they had some 
primitive features, they were essentially modern Indians. They are 
believed to have been in the region long enough to have made the 
transition from a simple nomadic-hunting economy to that of the 
hunting, food-gathering, and subsequent agricultural pottery-making 
stages that are well known from excavations in the Pueblo region. 
The Cochise occurrence may be considered substantiation for their 
relatively early appearance in the Southwest, although it might be 
regarded as an indication that the Cochise is not as old as has been 
suggested. 
In the Abilene district, burials are found at varying depths in 
the silts containing implements of the Clear Fork Complex. Some 
were unquestionably subsequent penetrations into the silts, but others 
seem to date from the period when they were forming. The best 
