414 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
example of the latter was brought to light when high water in the 
Clear Fork of the Brazos River caved off a section of bank some 60 
miles northeast of Abilene and exposed a grave 21 feet below the 
present valley floor (Ray, 1943). Portions of the skull and all the 
hand bones were swept away by the flood. Enough remained, though, 
to give a good indication of the type of individual buried there. The 
profile of the deposits showed an unbroken series of strata extending 
across the top of the grave and rising from what had been the level 
of occupation at the time when it was dug to the present surface. 
There is no question that the burial was made in the early stages of 
the deposition of the silts and that it was as old as the lowest of the 
overlying strata. As these are in the portion of the silts identified 
as probably being late Pleistocene in origin, the skeleton would be of 
similar age. The tip end from a small stone blade was found in the 
grave but, unfortunately, it is not sufficiently characteristic to indi- 
cate its cultural affinities. The bones show that the individual was a 
tallish, moderately robust male about 40 years of age. He had excep- 
tionally heavy brow ridges, a long head, and a broad, rugged lower 
jaw. The skull in some respects might be approximated by occasional 
recent Indians, although in the main it agrees more frequently with 
the more primitive forms of morphologically modern-type man found 
in America. Since from its general features the skeleton could be 
that of a Paleo-Indian, there is nothing anachronistic in its being 
found in deposits that are late Pleistocene or early Recent in age. 
Other remains from deep burials in the Abilene region have shown 
similar characteristics and have been considered as exemplifying a 
very primitive American Indian, probably one of the earlier strata of 
the American population (Hooton, 1933). 
One of the few examples of a burial attributable to a fairly old 
horizon and accompanied by artifacts was that of the Browns Valley 
man in Traverse County, Minn. (Jenks, 1937). It was found in a 
gravel pit while material was being removed for use in highway con- 
struction work. The bones were in a grave that had been dug in late 
glacial or Pleistocene gravels subsequent to their deposition but prior 
to the formation of a thick humus layer that rested on them. Con- 
clusions based on geologic studies of the site are that the interment 
was made in early postglacial times, that is, in the beginning of the 
Recent period. The associated implements consisted of three points 
and two knife blades. In the original description they are classified 
as Yuma-Folsom because of certain features that are suggestive of 
each. In view of later information about those types, as previously 
mentioned, it seems that Browns Valley artifacts would be a better 
designation. They are good examples of one of the older patterns in 
cultural material and merit a distinct name. ‘The skeleton was that 
ws 
