50 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1915. 



of June. On January 15 he resumed the work of preparing a gram- 

 matical sketch of the Alsea language, which was finished late in 

 May; this consists of 158 sections, approximating 600 manuscript 

 pages. During June he was engaged in typewriting this grammati- 

 cal sketch, which will be published in part 2 of the " Handbook of 

 American Indian Languages." 



In addition to his field investigations Dr. Frachtenberg corrected 

 the proofs of his grammatical sketch of the Siuslaw language, spe- 

 cial attention being given to the insertion of the proper references 

 taken from his Lower Umpqua texts, printed in the Columbia Uni- 

 versity Contributions to Anthro]1ology. 



Mr. W. H. Holmes continued the preparation of the " Handbook of 

 American Antiquities " whenever his exacting duties in behalf of the 

 National Museum permitted. Part 1 of this work is well advanced 

 toward completion ; much attention has been given to part 2, and the 

 preparation of the numerous illustrations is well in hand. 



During the month of July, Mr. Gerard Fowke was engaged, under 

 instructions from the bureau, in making limited archeological in- 

 vestigations in northeastern Kansas and southeastern Nebraska, the 

 purpose of which was to ascertain the value of certain recent deter- 

 minations regarding the age of the prehistoric aboriginal occupancy 

 of this region. Respecting the large mounds, the age of which has 

 been under discussion, Mr. Fowke reports that three points must be 

 taken into consideration in fixing a definite age for these remains, as 

 follows : 



1. The relics found in and around the lodge sites, except for the markings 

 on some of the pottery, are in no wise different from those found on the sites 

 of villages which were occupied when Lewis and Clark came through here. 



2. Fairly solid bones of animals, and occasionally human bones, are found 

 in the bottoms of the lodge sites, even where these are damp most of the year. 

 In the pits, where such remains are preserved by ashes, this would not mean 

 much ; but where they are found in clayey earth it is evident that " thousands 

 of years " is a meaningless term to apply to them. 



3. Persons who claim these " thousands of years " for pretty much everything 

 they find in the ground, must explain why it is that while the bones and imple- 

 ments of these assumed " ancients " are found in such quantities and in such 

 good preservation, those of later Indians should have entirely disappeared. 



The only tenable theory of age is the amount of accumulation in the depres- 

 sions of the lodge sites. Above the clay which formed the roof, and is next 

 to the floor now, is a depth of material sometimes, it is said, as much as 20 

 or even 22 inches of mingled silt, decayed vegetation, and soil from the sur- 

 rounding wall. It is used as an argument of age; that as these sites are on 

 hilltops where there can be no inwash, this depth must indicate a very remote 

 period for their construction. But a large amount of the earth thrown out into 

 the surrounding ring or wall will find its way back into the depression. The 

 water will stand in them a good part of the year, and the soil remain damp 

 even in prolonged drought ; vegetation is thus more luxuriant than on the out- 

 side, and its decay will fill up rather rapidly. In addition, much sand blows 



