THE NATIVES OF THE KHARGA OASIS, EGYPT 
BY DR. ALES HRDLICKA 
CURATOR, DIVISION OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY, U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 
(WITH THIRTY-EIGHT PLATES) 
1. INTRODUCTION 
For a number of years important and very careful archeological 
researches have been conducted in Egypt under the auspices of the 
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. These researches 
have been carried on by Mr. A. M. Lythgoe, Curator of the Egyptian 
Department in the Metropolitan Museum, and his able assistants, 
Mr. A. C. Mace, and Mr. Herbert E. Winlock. They have extended, 
thus far, principally to certain pyramids and cemeteries of the Xllth 
Dynasty, and to the temple of Hibis as well as the large early Chris- 
tian necropolis at the Great or Kharga (= Eastern) Oasis. 
The dynastic monuments and cemeteries actually under exploration 
by the Expedition are those of Amenemhat I. and Usertesen I., the 
first two kings of the Middle Empire. They are situated on the 
western margin of the desert bordering the Nile valley, near the 
native town of Lisht, some thirty miles south of Cairo. The research 
is being directed in part toward the clearing of the great pyramid 
temples, and in part to the examination of what remains of the 
contents of the graves, particularly in the numerous and remarkable 
burial pits located about the more northern of the two pyramids. 
The excavations have been attended from the beginning by the 
recovery of skeletal remains dating especially from the Xllth, but 
also from the XVIIIth to the XXIst Dynasties. In view of the 
fact that a large amount of this skeletal material could be definitely 
identified from a chronological standpoint, and because of the great 
scarcity of Egyptian skeletal remains in American collections, the 
writer endeavored to bring about a saving of such crania and bones 
for the U. S. National Museum, and eventually, due to the generosity 
of the authorities of the Metropolitan Museum and the aid of Mr. 
Lythgoe, an arrangement to that effect was perfected by the two 
Institutions. As a result of this arrangement, the National Museum 
is already in possession of more than three hundred well dated 
SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS, VOL. 59, No. t. 
