[Proceedings United States National Museum, 1883. Appendix. ] 
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. 
UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
No. 21. 
CIRCULAR RELATIVE TO CONTRIBUTIONS OF ABORIGINAL AN- 
TIQUITIES TO THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 
By CHARLES RAU, 
Curator of the Department of Antiquities, United States National Museum. 
It happens very frequently that the National Museum receives ab- 
original relics unaccompanied by exact statements as to the locality, or 
localities, where they were found, and by notices explaining under what 
circumstances they occurred. Such information, however, is very de- 
sirable, not only for the sake of accuracy, but also because in many 
cases a communication of the details of the discovery will either con- 
firm former observations, or present new facts, and thus serve to in- 
crease archeological knowledge. For this reason it has been thought 
proper to prepare this circular as a guidance to those who contribute 
antiquities to the National Museum. 
The relics in question occur either on or below the surface, as stray 
specimens unconnected with any other tokens of aboriginal occupancy, or 
in drift-beds, in open-air workshops, in quarries and mines, as caches or 
deposits, on the sites of camping-grounds, villages, and forts, in shell- 
heaps, caves (natural or artificial), graves, mounds and earthworks 
generally, and in or near ruined buildings of aboriginal origin. 
In every instance the locality should be distinctly specified. County and 
State or Territory, of course, are to be mentioned, and, in addition, the dis- 
tance and direction (north, svuth, northwest, dc.) from the next town, and, 
if the place is near a creek, river, lake, or the sea-coast, or a hill or mount- 
ain, it should be stated, and the distance and direction indicated. In un- 
inhabited or sparsely-populated parts of the country, the topographic features 
will suffice to denote the locality. 
As for the accompanying notices concerning the finding of specimens, 
the following brief suggestions are offered: 
Surface-finds.—It is desirable to learn whether the objects were found 
on or below the surface, and, in the latter case, how deeply they were 
imbedded; also, whether specimens of the same kind or of different 
character have occurred in the neighborhood. 
(479) 
