30 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. Ill 



presence of several levels of aboriginal occupation. Because the 

 deposit was of small extent and limited depth, and lay close to future 

 developmental lines where looting would inevitably take place, com- 

 plete excavation was undertaken. Excavations confirmed the first 

 impressions of a succession of occupations, and the artifact sample, 

 though small, suggests significant variations from level to level. If the 

 artifacts from the successive strata can be successfully correlated 

 with artifacts from some of the single-occupation sites in the reservoir 

 area, it may become possible to arrange the latter in a sequential order 

 and thus bring a measure of relative chronology into the prehistory 

 of the locality. 



Analysis of the cave materials is now under way, and the actual 

 significance of the site awaits a full and definitive statement of the 

 laboratory findings as well as the field data. It may be noted, how- 

 ever, that the cave fill consisted of a series of culture-bearing strata 

 separated by layers of decomposed rock and dust. Ash beds and 

 hearths, some of the latter apparently containing fire-blackened stone, 

 were associated with the upper cultural levels. A few plainware 

 potsherds were found on and just below the surface. Below these, 

 but in the upper levels, were steatite vessel fragments, pieces of 

 rabbit-hair cloth, fiber cordage, basketry, small side- and base-notched 

 points, and a few bits of obsidian. At successively lower levels were 

 found small triangular points, then large side-notched points, and 

 finally "fish-tailed" points with basal notch or concavity. Charcoal 

 occurred in abundance at all levels. Refuse animal bone was moder- 

 ately plentiful, consisting mainly of rodent and artiodactyl material, 

 with little or no bison. 



Strongly suggested in all this is a late prehistoric occupancy of the 

 cave by Indians from the Great Basin to the west rather than by 

 Plains peoples from the east. An interesting set of problems is thus 

 opened up as to the long-time interrelationships between two rather 

 distinctive modes of life in the semiarid western plains. The identity 

 of the poorly represented earlier occupants at Birdshead Cave must 

 remain uncertain until more work has been done at other better- 

 yielding sites. 



The charcoal from Birdshead Cave is now being studied for dendro- 

 chronological possibilities. Through the courtesy of Gila Pueblo, 

 Globe, Ariz., which placed a Swedish increment borer at the disposal 

 of the River Basin Surveys party, borings were collected from living 

 pines on the slopes about the cave. It is yet too early to indicate the 

 results of these examinations and the likelihood of establishing a 

 tree-ring chronology for the locality. 



