24 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1959 
committee was appointed to organize research centering on the im- 
portance of Mesoamerican and northern South American connections 
from the Formative Period up to Spanish Contact, and Dr. Evans 
accepted the secretaryship of this committee. 
Proceeding to Guayaquil, Ecuador, on July 28, Drs. Evans and 
Meggers continued their archeological research in cooperation with 
Emilio Estrada, Director of the Museo Arqueolégico “Victor Emilio 
Kstrada.” This research was principally directed toward filling in 
certain gaps in the sequences that have been worked out in the past 5 
years by Estrada, Evans, and Meggers for the south coast. It is felt 
that progress toward the solution of this problem is now being made. 
On their return trip Drs. Evans and Meggers stopped briefly in New 
Orleans and visited specialists at Tulane University. In March 1959, 
Dr. Evans examined collections at the Heye Foundation in New York 
City to study important material referring to coastal Ecuador; many 
photographs were taken which will serve as a basis for future study. 
Dr. Ralph S. Solecki, associate curator of archeology, visited Uni- 
versity Park and Philadelphia, Pa., between September 15 and 19, 
1958. At Pennsylvania State University he consulted with staff mem- 
bers about fieldwork in the Near East and viewed the ceramic collec- 
tions made by Dr. Dupree and Dr. Matson of the State University staff, 
in connection with the material recovered by the Smithsonian Insti- 
tution Shanidar project. At the University Museum at Philadelphia, 
Dr. Solecki conferred with staff members concerning fieldwork in 
Iran and Iraq. A general survey of the Old World archeological 
collections was made in order to ascertain what materials are lacking 
in the Smithsonian collections. 
During the period March 15 to April 8, 1959, Dr. Solecki was de- 
tailed to participate in a UNESCO meeting in Paris, called to discuss 
measures to minimize the unfavorable effects of large-scale engineer- 
ing works upon items of cultural interest as well as upon the ecologi- 
eal conditions of the regions affected. Dr. Solecki conferred with the 
Secretariat of UNESCO and the Bureau of the International Com- 
mittee on Monuments on matters of procedure regarding the prob- 
lem. He prepared a summary statement of the problems involved and 
suggested solutions, and subsequently participated in a regular meet- 
ing of the Bureau of the International Committee on Monuments 
on April 2. In Paris, and also in London, Dr. Solecki visited several 
museums and scientific institutions to arrange possible archeological 
exchanges between these institutions and the Smithsonian Institution. 
From December 1 to 14, 1958, Dr. S. H. Riesenberg, curator of eth- 
nology, visited the Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass., and Harvard 
University. He continued his study of Micronesian ethnographical 
collections at the Peabody Museum and also examined and abstracted 
