Report on the Bureau of American 

 Ethnology 



Ser : I have the honor to submit the following report on the field 

 researches, office work, and other operations of the Bureau of Ameri- 

 can Ethnology during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1957, conducted 

 in accordance with the act of Congress of April 10, 1928, as amended 

 August 22, 1949, which directs the Bureau "to continue independently 

 or in cooperation anthropological researches among the American 

 Indians and the natives of lands under the jurisdiction or protection 

 of the United States and the excavation and preservation of archeo- 

 logic remains." 



SYSTEMATIC RESEARCHES 



Dr. M. W. Stirling, Director of the Bureau, spent the period Febru- 

 ary 4 to May 10 conducting an archeological reconnaissance in Ecuador 

 under the joint auspices of the National Geographic Society and the 

 Smithsonian Institution. Assisting in the work were Mrs. Stirling 

 and Woodbridge Williams, National Geographic Society photog- 

 rapher. During the course of the expedition the party saw all the 

 major archeological collections in the country. They made test exca- 

 vations at various places on the coast of Esmeraldas and Manabi and 

 during April 3 to April 17 conducted a stratigraphic excavation at 

 Tarqui, near Manta. The cultural deposits reached a depth of 15 

 feet. Although detailed study of the abundant material recovered 

 remains to be done, the site evidently belongs to the late Formative 

 Period. Other places of interest visited during the reconnaissance 

 were the Island of Santa Clara, the Inca ruin of Ingapirca, and the 

 famous archeological site of La Tolita on the northern coast. On 

 the east side of the Andes several mound groups were discovered on 

 the Pastaza River in the vicinity of Puyo and Shell Mera. The work 

 was accomplished with the permission and cordial cooperation of the 

 Ecuadorean Casa de la Cultura. The expedition is particularly in- 

 debted to Carlos Zevallos Menendez, head of the Casa de la Cultura in 

 Guayaquil, and to Emilio Estrada of Guayaquil for their whole- 

 hearted assistance. 



Dr. Frank H. H. Roberts, Jr., Associate Director of the Bureau, 

 devoted most of his time to duties pertaining to the management of 

 the River Basin Surveys, of which he is Director (see his report, 

 p. 44). Early in July he made an inspection trip to a field party 



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