SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 123 

 ETHNOLOGICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF 

 CALIFORNIA. 



For several years the University of California, 'through its Depart- 

 ment of Anthropology and by the liberal assistance of Mrs. Phoebe A. 

 Hearst, has been engaged in an ethnological and archaeological survey 

 of the State. A large anioitnt of material, illustrative of Indian life 

 and culture in past and present times, has been obtained and •will form 

 an important part of the anthropological collections which will in the 

 future be exhibited in a museum of the University at Berkeley. At 

 the present time this collection, with others of the department, is tem- 

 porarily placed in one of the buildings of the Affiliated Colleges be- 

 longing to the University in San Francisco. Here the large and valuable 

 collections are safely cared for until the permanent mtiseum building 

 is secured. 



Systematic explorations are being made of the later gravel de- 

 posits, of several caves, and of the ancient shellheaps, in order to as- 

 certain when man first occupied 'this region. The languages of the ex- 

 isting Indians are being studied by experts of the department; the cus- 

 toms and mythology of the different tribes are being carefully recorded; 

 and collections illustrating their arts are being formed for the museum. 

 A study of the physical characters of the various groups of Indians, 

 combined with that of the skeletons found during the archaeological 

 explorations, is being made in order to determine the physical relations 

 of the Indians of California with those of other regions. By correlating 

 the physical characters, the particular cultures of the past and present 

 Indians, and the various linguistic stocks or families still extant, it is 

 hoped to solve the great problem of the relationship of the numerous 

 groups of Indians in California, and their relationship with peoples of 

 other parts of the continent and possibly with certain tribes of Asia. 



Nowhere in America has there been such a diversity of Indian lan- 

 guages as in California, a condition which has long puzzled anthropolo- 

 gists. During the past five years more investigations of these languages 

 have been made by the University and by eastern institutions than in 

 all previous time. These Indian languages are now fast disappearing. 

 Several are at the present moment known only by five or six and others 

 by 'twenty or thirty individuals, and hardly a year passes without some' 

 special dialect, or even language, becoming extinct. For this reason it is 

 desired that students should be instructed in the methods of recording 

 and studying Indian languages, and then devote themselves to special re- 

 search. The University is, therefore, giving instruction in this branch 

 of linguistics with the hope of preparing students to carry on the re- 

 search before the opportunities pass away. Similar reasons apply to re- 

 searches in other divisions of ethnology, and in archaeology; hence the 

 training of students in these subjects is also undertaken by the Depart- 

 ment of Anthropology. 



The officers of the department make a special appeal to persons in 



