REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 21 



ashes contained sufficient aboriginal artifacts to show a direct cul- 

 tural relationship with regions to the south and west in the Chisos 

 Mountains and near Alpine. After examining additional material 

 from the Guadelupe Mountains, in the Carlsbad Archeological and 

 Historical Society Museum, and a small collection from caves around 

 Albuquerque, N. Mex., Mr. Setzler concludes that this prehistoric 

 phase has a much wider distribution than heretofore recognized, espe- 

 cially in the eastern part of New Mexico. The exact period of occu- 

 pation of these caves can only be surmised ; but since no evidence of 

 European materials has been reported in association with the san- 

 dals, baskets, and other artifacts, he concludes that the caves were 

 abandoned before any of the early Spanish explorers visited the area. 

 Since most of their material culture comprises baskets instead of 

 earthenware vessels, they may have become isolated before the manu- 

 facture of aboriginal pottery became so widespread and indispensa- 

 ble among the prehistoric inhabitants in either the Southwest or the 

 Mississippi Valley. The chronological relationship, if any exists, 

 between the Big Bend Cave Dwellers and the Basketmaker phase in 

 northern New Mexico and Arizona as yet remains unsolved. 



On October 14, Herbert W. Krieger, curator of ethnology, sailed 

 from New York for Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, to conduct arche- 

 ological investigations in the Virgin Islands under a grant from the 

 Smithsonian Institution. The expedition was undertaken as a result 

 of information conveyed by Robert Nichols, superintendent of agri- 

 culture of St. Thomas, to the effect that a large shell mound existed 

 on the Island of Anegada, the northernmost of the British Virgin 

 Islands. The immediate objective was an exploration of the Anegada 

 mound, which required the cooperation of the United States Coast 

 Guard Service. A survey of the shell mound led to the conclusion 

 that the culture represented was similar to that of other nonpottery- 

 producing cultures discovered on previous Smithsonian expeditions to 

 the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Cuba. At the conclusion of the 

 Anegada survey a trial excavation was made of the Indian midden 

 east of Road Town on the Island of Tortola. Later, excavations 

 were carried out in considerable detail on the A. S. Fairchild prop- 

 erty at Magens Bay on the Island of St. Thomas, and later at Ackles 

 on United States Government property on the Island of St. Croix. 



These investigations led to the discovery of three distinct cultures, 

 all of which may be of Arawak origin — the shell culture on the Ane- 

 gada site, the early Arawak culture type of the Road Town site and 

 to a certain extent of the Magens Bay area, and the late Arawak cul- 

 ture of the Ackles site. An overlapping of the Arawak I and Ara- 

 wak II phases was strikingly illustrated in the excavations at Magens 

 Bay. A chronology of West Indian aboriginal cultures has conse- 

 quently assumed form. The sequence of the three main culture types 



