/8 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



sotol ashes, an occasional flint knife, broken arrowheads, and a few 

 clam shells. The ashes were very fine and powdery, penetrating 

 everything, especially our eyes, when the wind blew from the wrong 

 direction. 



Inside the cave ( fig. 81 ) our trenches were dug down to the live 

 rock. Large boulders — from the ceiling — had to be broken or worked 

 around when too large. In the second 5-foot section we began to 

 realize how deeply these deposits had accumulated (fig. 82). We. were 

 not only surprised at the depth of deposits, but amazed to find small 

 natural alcoves at each side of the cave which were completely filled 

 to the roof with occupational debris. One large rock had fallen from 

 the ceiling during the time the cave was inhabited, and subsequently 

 a large mortar hole had been ground into it. Near this hole we found 

 an interesting roller type of pestle used no doubt for grinding seeds 

 and perhaps corn, although no cobs were found. 



Because of numerous sotol plants in the region, the cave may have 

 served as a ceremonial center where large quantities of sotol stalks 

 were roasted and the liquid, extracted from these roasted plants, 

 permitted to ferment in order to supply a mildly alcoholic beverage. 

 Limestones were probably used in the process of roasting, which 

 accounted for the unusually large deposit. The small amount of 

 animal and fish bones within the cave may indicate that the site was 

 used only as a temporary habitation. The similarity in artifacts, the 

 lack of any European objects, and the absence of pottery vessels lead 

 to the assumption that the people were culturally related to, and lived 

 contemporaneously with, the cave-clwellers farther south and west. 

 No cave in West Texas seemed so suitable for burial purposes, yet 

 not a single human had been buried within the cave. Nevertheless, 

 the depth of the deposits as well as the tons of fire-cracked stones out- 

 side the mouth of the cave certainly indicate that the site was used by 

 prehistoric man for many years. 



During a short visit to Carlsbad, N. Mex., a study was made of the 

 cave material from the Guadelupe Mountains collected by R. M. P. 

 Burnet, who assisted me in the excavation of the Goode cave. After 

 seeing a few examples of sandals and coiled baskets in the Anthropo- 

 logical Museum at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, the 

 writer is convinced that the general Big Bend cave culture had a much 

 wider distribution than heretofore conceded. This simple, non-pottery- 

 making, seminomadic, prehistoric complex probably extends as far 

 west and north as the central portion of New Mexico. Its exact rela- 

 tionship to the other cultural complexes in the general Southwest has 

 yet to be clarified. 



