REPOET OF THE SECRETARY, 41 



ancient > habitations were not terraced community houses, such as 

 characterize typical pueblos, but were of an older form, hence Dr. 

 Fewkes assigns them to a period and a people which he designates 

 pre-Puebloan. This conclusion is based not only on the character of 

 the house structures as indicated by their ground plans, but also on 

 the character and decoration of the pottery vessels found under the 

 floors. The most noteworthy feature of this earthenware is the re- 

 markable painted decoration on the inside of the bowls, consisting of 

 representations of men engaged in various pursuits, animals, and 

 geometric designs of exceptional forms, suggesting the culture of the 

 Keres Indians of New Mexico rather than that of other Pueblos. A 

 distinctive feature of some of the animal pictures on the Mimbres 

 pottery is the fusion of two different animal forms, as the antelope 

 and a fish, in a single representation. Dr. Fewkes suggests that the 

 almost constant presence of rectangular and other geometric designs 

 on the bodies of the animals depicted on the pottery may be con- 

 sidered in a sense parallel with certain very ancient paintings on the 

 walls of caves in France, as described by Dr. Capitan and others. 

 The special value of the study of the painted designs on the Mimbres 

 pottery lies in the light which they cast on general problems con- 

 nected with the culture-genesis and clan migrations of the sedentary 

 Indians of the Southwest. These designs are related, on the one hand, 

 to those on Pueblo painted pottery of northern New Mexico and 

 Arizona and, on the other, to the decorations on the earthenware of 

 the prehistoric inhabitants of the valleys of the southern part of the 

 Sierra Madre Plateau, notably those of the celebrated Casas Grandes 

 in Chihuahua. An illustrated preliminary report, under the title 

 "Archeology of the Lower Mimbres Valley, New Mexico," was pre- 

 pared by Dr. Fewkes and published in Smithsonian Miscellaneous 

 Collections (Vol. 63, No. 10, pp. 1-53, pis. 1-8, figs. 1-32). 



In January Dr. Fewkes visited southern Arizona, where he made 

 several archeological reconnoissances, following the Eio Santa Cruz 

 almost to the Mexican boundary. He visited the old Indian missions 

 of San Xavier del Bac and Tumacacori, and in their vicinity examined 

 extensive aboriginal ruins, which were found to belong to the same 

 type as Casa Grande, Ariz. The group of prehistoric ruins near the 

 dilapidated mission of Tumacacori (which imposing structure, now 

 preserved as a national monument, is greatly in need of repair) pre- 

 sents unusual advantages for thorough archeological investigation, 

 with promise of important collections. The walls of the compound 

 can be traced readily, and if imcovered by excavation would reveal 

 important information on the ancient culture of the Santa Cruz Val- 

 ley. Similar remains were noted in other parts of this valley and 

 elsewhere in southern Arizona. While in this general area Dr. 

 Fewkes observed that the Papago Indians of the desert have been 



