NO. 10 SECOND REPORT ON FOLSOM COMPLEX ROBERTS 5 



obtained from their excavations, and Mr. Cotter also furnished a copy 

 of the manuscript that he submitted as a report on the work. 



The Denver Museum party dug a series of 15 test pits. These were 

 spaced at intervals extending from the area of the original Coffin 

 finds to some distance beyond the main Smithsonian trenches. The 

 pits gave a good sampling of the character of the deposits across the 

 portion of the site lying between the terrace edge and the ravine bank 

 on a line approximately at right angles to the trenches. One of the 

 test holes west of the large trenches penetrated the artifact-bearing 

 stratum at what appeared to be a likely spot. With this as a starting 

 point an area 30 feet by 30 feet was laid ofif and completely excavated. 

 This large pit (map i) yielded most of the specimens obtained by the 

 Denver group. 



THE MAIN TRENCHES 



As previously stated, the major part of the 1935 work consisted in 

 driving two large trenches from the edge of the terrace toward the 

 deep pit where the 1934 activities were centered. The trenches were 

 dug in lo-foot sections. Their bottoms followed the top of the light- 

 colored substratum just below the old soil level which was the surface 

 of the ground at the time when the site was inhabited by the makers 

 of the tools found there. Detailed drawings were made of the faces and 

 side walls in each section, and these give a minute record of events 

 involved in the growth of the valley fill. All of the material obtained 

 from each section was so designated, and in addition the positions of 

 specimens in the section were carefully noted. Only one trench was 

 carried through to completion (pi. i, fig. 2). The other was stopped 

 when it became apparent that the evidence from it would largely 

 duplicate that from the first. The completed trench was 270 feet 

 (82.296 m) long, 10 feet (3.048 m) wide, and sloped from a depth of 

 3 feet (.914 m) at the edge of the terrace to 17 feet (5.182 m) in the 

 bank of the ravine. When the work had been completed, the section 

 drawings of the sides of the trenches were combined into one long 

 diagram for each wall (fig. i). A number of interesting factors are 

 brought out by these diagrams. 



The numbers extending across the top of the drawing (fig. i) indi- 

 cate the pegs which marked off the courses of the trenches. They were 

 set every 10 feet (3.048 m). References to specific sections in the 

 ensuing discussion will be by number. For example, section i consists 

 of that portion lying between pegs i and 2, section 2 between 2 and 3, 

 and so on. Neither trench had a complete zero section. As there had 

 already been some digging at the terrace edge, when the presence of 



