32 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 184 
and September are the “rainy season,” with precipitation averaging 
3.93 inches, or more than 44 percent of the year’s total. Curiously 
enough, June had the least mean precipitation of any month between 
1938 and 1952, inclusive. Yearly averages are fairly uniform: the 
least amount of precipitation, 1938 to 1952, inclusive, was 4.99 inches; 
the greatest, 16.72 inches; in 8 of these 15 years, precipitation was 
more than 6 and less than 9 inches. Eighty-two percent of the mean 
annual snowfall of 9.1 inches occurs in November to February, 
inclusive. 
The mean annual maximum temperature is 71°; the mean minimum, 
36°; and the mean annual, 54°. The highest temperature is 102° F.; 
the lowest, —18°. June, July, and August are the hottest months, 
with means of 69°, 75°, and 73°, respectively. December, January, 
and February are the coldest, with means of 35°, 33.5°, and 37°, respec- 
tively. The interval between mean maximum and mean minimum 
temperatures ranges from 30.5° in January to 41° in June. The date 
of the last killing frost in spring ranges from March 20 to May 1, 
with a mean of April 13. The date of the first killing frost in fall 
ranges from September 17 to November 17, with a mean of October 28. 
The growing season ranges from 157 to 239 days, with a mean of 198 
days. 
February, March, and April are usually very windy, with velocities 
occassionally reaching 50 or 60 miles an hour. Sand and dust storms 
are not infrequent and are very irritating to the respiratory tract and 
the eyes. But, on the whole, the climate is healthful. 
PHYSICAL TYPE 
Although ‘‘the quantity of physical anthropological work published 
on the Southwest is greater than that available for any other Ameri- 
can culture area . . . with the possible exception of the Arctic Coastal 
area,’ according to Spuhler (1954, p. 604; this article provides a 
review of the history of physical anthropological studies in the South- 
west), there are rather few data for the Keres in general and very 
little for Sia. 
Hrdlitka described physical type in general among the pueblos, 
but emphasized that they do not constitute a homogeneous group 
(Hrdlitka, 1935, pp. 263-266, 457, 459). So far as we know, only 
seven Sias have ever been measured anthropometrically, namely, 
seven men measured by Hrdlitka; the pueblo council would not 
permit him to measure women (Hrdli¢éka, 1908, pp. 133, 136; 1935, 
p. 246). The average stature of these men was 162.4 cm. The Sia 
were the shortest of men in nine New Mexico pueblos measured; 
shorter, also, than the Hopi. Hrdlitka suggests that diminutive 
stature may be due, in part at least, to “chronic want” (Hrdliéka, 
