XXVI REPORT OF THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY. 



indebtedness to the many coiTespondents who have enriched 

 ethnoh)a-v bv their zeal in the collection of information and 

 b}' their liberality in conveying it to the Bureau for the public 

 good. 



FIELD opp:kations 



The field operations during tlie j^ear just closed comprised 

 (1) archeoh »gic researches and (2) general field studies, the lat- 

 ter being directed chiefly to mythology, technology, and lin- 

 guistics. The archeologic work was conducted by Mr W. H. 

 Holmes and his collaborators. The general field studies were 

 carried forward by Mr H. W. Heushaw, Mr Albert S. Gatschet, 

 Mr J. Owen Dorsey, Mr James Moonev, Dr W. J. Hoffman, 

 and Mrs Matilda Coxe Stevenson. 



ARCHEOLOGIC FIELD WORK 



In the conduct of the archeologic researches Mr W. H. 

 Holmes had the assistance of Messrs Cosmos MindeleiF, Gerard 

 Fowke, and William Dinwiddle. Dr Cyrus Thomas, with the 

 assistance of Mr F. W. Wright and Mr Frank Hamilton Cush- 

 ing, also contributed to this branch of the work. 



The survey begun in the tide-water regions of Maryland and 

 Virginia in the spring of 1891 was continued throughout tlie 

 present year. Careful attention A\as given to the examination 

 and mapping of the shell deposits of the lower Potomac and 

 Chesapeake bay, and many of the historic village sites visited 

 by John Smith and his associates were identified and examined. 

 The remains on these sites are identical with those of the many 

 other village sites of the region. Mr Holmes studied the arche- 

 ology of South, West, and Rhode rivers and of the shores of 

 the bay above and Ijelow Annapolis. The middle Patuxent 

 was visited, and the site of the ancient village of Mattpament 

 was identified and examined. The valley of the Rappahannock 

 in the vicinity of Fredericksburg, and the neighboring valleys 

 of a number of the western tributaries of the Potomac received 

 attention. Ancient soapstone quarries, one in Fairfax county, 

 Virginia, and tliree in IMontgomery county, and one in Howard 

 county, Maryland, Avere studied, and collections of the quarry 



