424 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1944 
cated occurrence of the kind in the New World. The ash layer con- 
tained several partial sloth skeletons, and it was obvious that the ani- 
mals had used the cave as a shelter and had died there. Nothing sug- 
gested that they had been killed by Indians, but that the latter had 
been there during the early period was shown by the charcoal and 
stone flakes present in the debris on the original floor. 
Some 20 miles west of Palli Aike, in the valley of the Rio Chico, 
was a formation called Fell’s Cave, although strictly speaking it was 
a shelter rather than a true cave (pl. 11). It had been formed at 
some time when the river undercut the canyon wall. The deposits 
there were slightly over 8 feet in depth and contained another in- 
teresting sequence. The top layer consisted for the most part of 
sheep dung and produced no artifacts. The stratum below it, how- 
ever, yielded evidence of four cultural horizons. There was no 
structural change in the geologic debris, and clearly marked lines of 
demarcation were absent, but the archeological and faunal material 
was sufficiently differentiated to demonstrate the levels. In the latest 
horizon were Ona-type points and some of the larger, cruder, stemmed 
forms like those present in Palli Aike. The next level contained only 
the latter kind of points, while below it were stemless points and 
blades. Scrapers of various kinds occurred throughout the stratum, 
but it was only in levels containing stone points that bolas were found. 
Associated with this material were bones from the guanaco, fox, and 
bird. There was a marked change in the proportions from the top 
downward until at the bottom, which was the bone-point horizon, 
bird and fox bones predominated and those from the guanaco were 
only sporadic. 
Underlying the above stratum was a sterile layer, 15 to 28 inches 
thick, composed mainly of slabs, blocks, and disintegrated pieces of 
conglomerate that had fallen from the ceiling. This debris com- 
pletely sealed off from the upper levels a layer of occupation refuse 
ranging from 3 to 9 inches in depth. Numerous artifacts, stone flakes, 
and bone fragments were scattered through it, and there were four 
hearths where fires had burned. Broken and burned bones from the 
giant sloth, native horse, and guanaco were mixed with the charcoal 
and ashes. Artifacts in the layer were bone implements, various 
kinds of scrapers, cylindrical rubbing stones, chopping stones, and 14 
roughly made stemmed points of stone. These specimens show that 
the first occupants of the shelter had an entirely different material 
culture from those who used it later. The stem from a point found 
in the top of the ash layer in the bottom of Palli Aike Cave is from 
the same type as all but one of the points from the bottom stratum 
in the shelter and serves, with those from upper levels, to demonstrate 
that the same type sequence prevailed in both locations (pl. 12). The 
