300 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [BnlL 179 



and Sahaptin distribution. Coffins are another question, and specula- 

 tions on their period and distribution would serve no purpose hero. 

 Our feeling that red ocher is not a diagnostic trait in the Plateau has 

 been expressed. Stemmed "arrowpoints" are surely not diagnostic of 

 the Sahaptin. A site near Wenatchee (Salish territory) has about 

 80 percent of stemmed points. Chief Joseph Eeservoir (Obsome et 

 al., 1952) yielded more stemmed than other kinds. So did The Dalles- 

 Deschutes area and much, for that matter, of western North America. 

 One would need to be far more specific and would need to use a more 

 sensitive typology than Garth's to prove as close a connection as he 

 has postulated. Leaf -shaped blades, polished bone points, hand game 

 bones in sets, and soft string-twined basketry (if by this Garth means 

 soft twined bags and wallets) are all Plateau-wide traits in both 

 historic and protohistoric levels. 



One last word: Appreciation is tendered Osborne by Garth for 

 criticism of the manuscript which resulted in the paper. Osborne 

 read part of it, but not all that was published, as a research report 

 turned in to Dr. Erna Gunther, at her request. He made criticisms 

 which, as far as he can recall, were ignored in the published paper. 



A FINAL. STATEMENT 



From our point of view little can or should be added to the fore- 

 going. Wlien Garth's and our data concerning the site itself are 

 considered together, the differences that exist seem to fade in the one 

 body of observations. It is unfortunate, however, that a single inves- 

 tigator could not have exhausted the site. The revisiting of a site, 

 such as this, is often necessary, but data gathered cannot compare in 

 sensitivity with those resulting from one thorough-going excavation. 

 However exact we may consider our techniques they need supplement- 

 ing by the half intuitive, half experience-resulting judgments and 

 thought combinations that can come best only from working fully 

 an imdisturbed site. Especially is this necessary in the shallow sites 

 along the unstable banks of the Columbia. 



With the above in mind, plus a caution as to comparisons between 

 cremation and inhumation from the viewpoint of preservation of 

 different materials (flints, opalite, shells, perishables, etc.), it seems 

 wiser to let the matter rest with Garth's and our descriptions. 



SPECULATIONS 



Speculating, when it proceeds from a moderately broad base of 

 acquaintanceship with a problem, may serve a valuable purpose. At 

 least in a situation such as this it makes available some synthetic 

 thinking which might be of value later and which may lead to more 



