﻿412 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1922. 
  

  

  leg 
  bones; 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  trunk 
  were 
  mostly 
  crushed 
  by 
  the 
  weight 
  

   of 
  the 
  roof 
  poles 
  and 
  clay 
  which 
  had 
  collected 
  above 
  them. 
  All 
  

   available 
  fragments 
  were 
  preserved, 
  however, 
  for 
  further 
  study. 
  

   The 
  chief 
  result 
  of 
  this 
  subsequent 
  examination 
  20 
  was 
  the 
  positive 
  

   determination 
  that 
  the 
  skull 
  had 
  been 
  subjected 
  to 
  cradle-board 
  

   pressure, 
  resulting, 
  in 
  occipital 
  flattening. 
  Such 
  artificial 
  deforma- 
  

   tion, 
  so 
  characteristic 
  of 
  crania 
  from 
  cliff 
  dwellings 
  and 
  other 
  early 
  

   Pueblo 
  ruins, 
  was 
  scarcely 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  expected 
  in 
  a 
  skull 
  from 
  a 
  

   pit 
  house 
  in 
  Chaco 
  Canyon. 
  From 
  our 
  meager 
  knowledge 
  of 
  the 
  

   pit 
  dwellers 
  (few 
  adult 
  skeletons 
  have 
  been 
  found) 
  we 
  have 
  rather 
  

   assumed 
  that 
  they 
  were 
  a 
  long-headed 
  or 
  dolichocephalic 
  people, 
  an 
  

   assumption 
  which 
  has 
  been 
  drawn, 
  perhaps, 
  on 
  too 
  scanty 
  informa- 
  

   tion. 
  As 
  we 
  become 
  more 
  intimately 
  acquainted 
  with 
  the 
  pit 
  

   people 
  through 
  future 
  exploration 
  and 
  as 
  the 
  character 
  of 
  their 
  

   culture 
  becomes 
  more 
  firmly 
  established, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  unlikely 
  that 
  these 
  

   early 
  conceptions 
  will 
  merit 
  revision. 
  

  

  CONCLUSION. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  basis 
  of 
  two 
  incomplete 
  dwellings 
  only 
  it 
  would 
  appear 
  

   extremely 
  unwise 
  to 
  attempt 
  to 
  draw 
  any 
  definite 
  or 
  final 
  conclusion 
  

   in 
  respect 
  to 
  pit-house 
  culture 
  as 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  Chaco 
  Canyon 
  region. 
  

   That 
  other 
  examples 
  will 
  be 
  discovered 
  seems 
  almost 
  certain 
  ; 
  the 
  un- 
  

   happy 
  fact 
  in 
  this 
  connection, 
  however, 
  is 
  that 
  such 
  vast 
  changes 
  

   have 
  taken 
  place 
  in 
  the 
  canyon 
  since 
  arrival 
  of 
  these 
  pioneer 
  set- 
  

   tlers 
  as 
  to 
  preclude 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  identifying 
  the 
  sites 
  of 
  their 
  

   subterranean 
  homes 
  through 
  examination 
  of 
  the 
  present 
  valley 
  sur- 
  

   face. 
  From 
  preference 
  the 
  pit 
  people 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  constructed 
  their 
  

   shelters 
  in 
  open 
  or 
  exposed 
  places, 
  and 
  these 
  unprotected 
  areas 
  nat- 
  

   urally 
  have 
  been 
  subjected 
  to 
  the 
  most 
  intense 
  leveling 
  influence 
  of 
  

   the 
  elements. 
  

  

  Perhaps 
  the 
  greatest 
  contribution 
  to 
  American 
  archeology 
  which 
  

   can 
  be 
  claimed 
  for 
  these 
  two 
  Chaco 
  Canyon 
  pit 
  houses 
  is 
  the 
  con- 
  

   necting 
  link 
  they 
  afford 
  between 
  similar 
  structures 
  in 
  localities 
  so 
  

   widely 
  separated 
  as 
  Luna, 
  N. 
  Mex., 
  the 
  Mesa 
  Verde 
  National 
  Park, 
  

   Colo., 
  and 
  the 
  Monuments 
  district 
  of 
  northern 
  Arizona. 
  Their 
  dis- 
  

   covery 
  increases 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  known 
  pit 
  dwellings 
  and 
  tends 
  to 
  draw 
  

   them 
  into 
  one 
  distinct 
  group. 
  Of 
  scarcely 
  less 
  interest 
  is 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  

   finding 
  an 
  improvised 
  pipe 
  and 
  basketry 
  and 
  textiles 
  exhibiting 
  ex- 
  

   traordinary 
  skill 
  in 
  weaving 
  adds 
  appreciably 
  to 
  previous 
  knowl- 
  

   edge 
  of 
  pit-house 
  culture 
  and 
  strengthens 
  its 
  suspected 
  close 
  rela- 
  

   tionship 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  subsequent 
  periods. 
  

  

  20 
  The 
  fragments 
  have 
  been 
  examined 
  by 
  Dr. 
  AleS 
  Hrdll£ka, 
  Curator 
  of 
  Physical 
  An- 
  

   thropology, 
  TJ. 
  S. 
  National 
  Museum, 
  whose 
  report 
  is 
  incorporated 
  in 
  the 
  above 
  paragraph. 
  

   It 
  could 
  not 
  be 
  learned, 
  owing 
  to 
  its 
  shattered 
  condition, 
  whether 
  the 
  skull 
  was 
  dolicho- 
  

   cephalic 
  or 
  brachycephalic. 
  

  

  