22 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



few questions pertaining to Alsea phonetics. In view of the 

 fact that the allotment made for his field researches during 

 the fiscal year became exhausted, Dr. Frachtenberg was 

 obliged to remain in the field until the close of June. On 

 January 15 he resumed the work of preparing a grammatical 

 sketch of the Alsea language, which was finished late in 

 May; this consists of 158 sections, approximating 600 manu- 

 . script pages. During June he was engaged in typewriting 

 this grammatical sketch, which will be published in part 2 

 of the " Handbook of American Indian Languages." 



In addition to his field investigations Dr. Frachtenberg 

 coiTected the proofs of his grammatical sketch of the Siuslaw 

 language, special attention being given to the insertion of 

 the proper references taken from his Lower Umpqua texts, 

 printed in the Columbia University Contributions to An- 

 thropology. 



Mr. W. H. Holmes continued the preparation of the 

 "Handbook of American Antiquities" whenever his exact- 

 ing duties in behalf of the National Museum permitted. 

 Part 1 of this work is well advanced toward completion; 

 much attention has l^een given to part 2, and the preparation 

 of the numerous illustrations is well in hand. 



During the month of July Mr. Gerard Fowke was engaged, 

 under instructions from the bureau, in making limited arche- 

 ological investigations in northeastern Kansas and south- 

 eastern Nebraska, the purpose of which was to ascertain the 

 value of certain recent determinations regarding the age of 

 the prehistoric aboriginal occupancy of this region. Respect- 

 ing the large mounds, the age of which has been under dis- 

 cussion, Mr. Fowke reports that three points must be taken 

 into consideration in fixing a definite age for these remains, 

 as follows: 



1 . The relics found in and around the lodge sites, except for the _ 

 markings on some of the pottery, are in no wise different from those 

 found on the sites of villages which were occupied when Lewis and 

 Clark came through here. 



2. Fairly solid bones of animals, and occasionally human bones, are 

 found in the bottoms of the lodge sites, even where these are damp 

 most of the year. In the pits, where such remains are preserved by 

 ashes, this would not mean much; but where they are found in clayey 



