528 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 19 3 5 



thinking that the classification was final. Such was not the idea of 

 the conferences. The sequential systematization was intended to 

 serve as a working hypothesis, to present in convenient form the data 

 which were available at that time. Those taking part in its elab- 

 oration were cognizant of its dependence on evidence from one 

 particular region, the San Juan, and realized that more information 

 from other districts was needed. Consensus was that whenever 

 clear-cut proof warranted a change, there should be no hesitancy 

 about making modifications. An example of this willingness to 

 change is shown in the case of the Hohokam. 



Criticism has been forthcoming on several counts. In some cases 

 the exceptions were well taken, in others they merely show a lack 

 of understanding, a failure to read carefully or even attempt, it 

 would seem, to discern the intentions of the classification. One fre- 

 quently hears that there could not possibly be eight stages in the 

 growth of the cultural pattern because there were not that many 

 diflferent peoples in the Southwest. Also, the twofold grouping of 

 Basket Maker and Pueblo has been scored on the grounds that the 

 actual skeletal differences do not mean anything because the two 

 types are occasionally found together in recent sites. Some insist 

 that even though the sequence has been established it is thoroughly 

 unscientific and should be rejected. Such objections would not be 

 surprising if they were advanced by laymen, but when they come 

 from people who supposedly are thoughtful students of the subject 

 they are a bit baffling. Among the more intelligent criticisms the 

 outstanding are: That the use of a numerical system has too defi- 

 nitely fixed a time element for the whole province ; that it implies a 

 cultural homogeniety in all districts ; that too great reliance is placed 

 upon a single determinant, pottery ; that there is no need for Basket 

 Maker I when there is no evidence for it ; that the various terms are 

 not sufficiently defined; that the assumption that all elements in 

 the complex, except agriculture and the idea of pottery making, were 

 independent local inventions is open to question. 



The Basket Maker-Pueblo remains are believed to be representative 

 of a single cultural pattern. The various periods are not regarded 

 as distinct cultures, but rather as stylistic or developmental sections 

 of that pattern. It is not thought that the growth followed a smooth 

 and orderly progression. On the contrary, it is believed that the 

 advances were intermittent with periods of quiescence during which 

 there was little change. It is the material from the intervals when 

 conditions were static which furnishes the picture for each typical 

 horizon. The lines of demarcation between stages are often vague, 

 and there is an overlap of characteristics which may tend to be con- 

 fusing, although these occurrences can generally be explained if all 

 of the factors involved are carefully considered. 



