60 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1914. 



was a study of methods of excavation and repair of ruins adopted 

 by Egyptologists. On his return from Egypt Dr. Fewkes passed 

 through Greece and southern Italy and was able to acquaint himself 

 with the method of excavation and repair of ancient ruins in these 

 countries, especially those on the Acropolis and at Pompeii. 



Dr. Fewkes arrived in Washington in April and immediately re- 

 sumed work on his report on the Aborigines of the West Indies, 

 vfhich was continued during April and the greater part of May. In 

 the latter month he again took the field and spent the whole of June 

 in archeological research in the Mimbres Valley, N. Mex. In 

 this work he was able to enlarge our knowledge of the distribution 

 of pottery symbols and to add important collections to the National 

 JMuseum. The Mimbres Valley is practically the northern extension 

 into the United States of an inland basin known in Chihuahua as 

 the Sierra Madre Plateau. The fact that its drainage does not con- 

 nect with any stream that flows into the Atlantic or the Pacific 

 Ocean imparts a peculiar character to its geographical environment. 

 On the southern part of this plateau, as along the Casas Grandes 

 River, mounds and ruins of large size are well known, from which 

 have been taken some of the finest pottery in the Southwest ; but the 

 archeology of the extension of this plateau into New Mexico has 

 never been adequately examined. In his brief reconnoissance Dr. 

 Fewkes collected evidence that the prehistoric culture of the Mimbres 

 Valley was strikingly characteristic. The decorated pottery from 

 the ruins in this valley is unlike that of any other region. It con- 

 sists mainly of mortuary food bowls, which the prehistoric inhabit- 

 ants were accustomed to break or " kill " and place over the heads 

 of the deceased, who were buried beneath the floors of the houses. 

 About 60 specimens of beautiful pottery, more than half of which are 

 ornamented with painted figures of human beings and animals, were 

 found or purchased. As these are the first examples ever brought 

 to the National Museum from this region, the results are gratifying. 

 They afford through their geometrical ornamentation, and especially 

 because of the life forms which predominate, an interesting insight 

 into the ancient culture of the Pueblo region to the north and in the 

 Gila Valley to the west. It is Mexican in type, and some of the frag- 

 ments are practically identical in form and ornamentation with the 

 beautiful pottery fi-om Casas Grandes, Chihuahua. 



During the year Dr. Fewkes added about 350 pages of manu- 

 script to his report on the Aborigines of the West Indies, which was 

 approaching completion at the close of the year. 



Shortly before the close of the preceding fiscal year Mr. James 

 Mooney, ethnologist, proceeded to the reservation of the East Chero- 

 kee Indians in western North Carolina for the purpose of continuing 

 the translation and elucidation of the large body of sacred formulas. 



