PREHISTORIC INHABITANTS OF THE COLUMBIA 

 RIVER VALLEY 



By HERBERT W. KRIEGER, 



Ciiralor. Diz'ision of Ethnology. U. S\ National Museum 



The tracing of early travel and migration rontcs in the Pacific 

 Northwest is one of the most aljsorhing phases in the study of primi- 

 tive American civilization. Archeological evidence of culture rela- 

 tionships that formerly existed hetween great groups of native 

 Americans has been found in the upper plateau region, in the basin 

 of the Columbia River in the states of Washington, Oregon, and 

 Idaho. In recent years studies of these early cultural relationships 

 have been made at various points in the valley of the Columbia by 

 the Washington State Museum, the University of California, the 

 American Museum of Natural History, and the Bureau of Ameri- 

 can Ethnology. 



During the summer and early fall of the current year archeological 

 investigations for the Bureau of American Ethnology were con- 

 tinued in the arid section of the Columbia Basin and in the valley of 

 the Snake River. In 1926, the region extending from the mouth of 

 the Yakima River to the Canadian border was explored. During 

 the present season exploration of archeological sites was continued 

 from the mouth of the Yakima River to Hosier, Oregon, in the 

 vicinity of The Dalles. At this point an appreciable increase in rain- 

 fall and forest growth marks the dividing line between the humid 

 northwest coast and the arid j^lateau of the interior. 



Of the many objects uncovered, a small number were of value in 

 distinguishing" sub-culture areas, although in most essentials the 

 early occupants of the upper plateau possessed a remarkably uni- 

 form culture. The sub-culture area of north central Oregon appears 

 to be distinguished by the excellent chipping of weapon points and 

 tools from obsidian, jasper, agate, and chalcedony. The sub-area of 

 The Dalles and Miller Island, the so-called " Dalles culture," is 

 characterized to a greater degree than is the sub-area of north cen- 

 tral Oregon by realistically shaped animal and human figurines exe- 

 cuted in stone and wood and appearing on wooden combs, stone 

 pestle heads, stone liowls. and as stone plaques. The sub-area of The 

 Dalles is also unif[ue in the possession of a lozenge or ovoid-shape 



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