HOLMES] ABORIGTISrAL AMERICAN AXTTQUITIES PART I 117 



pass to the north through Oregon, "Washington, and British Colum- 

 bia, the cuhnination being reached \Yith the tribes of the Northwest 

 coast. In the south attempts to model or carve the human figure 

 are unknown, while animal figures are of rare occurrence. As we 

 advance toward the north sculptures, human and animal, increase in 

 number, and in British Columbia there is an extraordinary develop- 

 ment of the sculptor's art culminating in the remarkable grave posts, 

 masks, and giant totem poles. That Middle America has had no 

 influence on the culture of this coast is manifest. 



Considering all phases of their culture, the achievements of the 

 California tribes must be regarded as inferior to those of the Gulf 

 States, the Mississippi Valley, the Pueblo region, and the Northwest 

 coast, and possibly even to tlie Eskimo of Alaska. 



Among those who have conducted archeological investigations in 

 California are: Whitney, Schumacher, Yarrow, Henshaw, Powers, 

 Bowers, Holmes, Sinclair, Meredith, Terry, Yates, Palmer, Becker, 

 Nelson, Rust, J. C. Merriam, and Skertchley. 



8. The Colujibia-Fraser Area 



The interesting region beginning in northern California and 

 extending north to include the Columbia and Fraser Valleys pre- 

 sents diversified yet in a large way uniform culture phenomena. 

 Owing to the somewhat marked differences between the coastal 

 environment, which is moist and rich in forests, and the interior, 

 which assumes generally a semiarid aspect, the material culture, 

 ancient and modern, presents numerous minor differences. Naturally 

 the inland culture graduates into that of the plateau and mountain 

 region on the east. It is not separated very definitely from Cali- 

 fornia on the south, but presents strong contrasts with the culture 

 of the Northwest coast. 



The inhabitants of recent times comprise numerous stocks and 

 tribes of jn-imitive culture whose chief dependence was and is hunt- 

 ing and fishing and the natural supply of seeds, nuts, fruits, and 

 roots. In the south the acorn was a principal article of diet. Their 

 better houses were of wood and earth and have left few traces except 

 the shallow floor excavations with accompanying heaps and ridges 

 of earth, and in the arid interior the earth rings which mark lodge 

 sites. Along the shores are numerous shell heaps, the industrial 

 contents of wdiicli agree with those of the general region except in so 

 far as differences have resulted from differences in 

 workT*^^ ^^'^'^ environment. Eells mentions burial mounds in the 

 Willamette Valley which yielded a wide range of 

 the ordinary local relics, besides, in cases, glass beads and articles of 

 iron. Chase examined certain mounds on the coast in southwestern 

 Oregon, with similar results. Earthworks and simple fortifications 



