SEVENTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT 



OF THE 

 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



M. W. Stirling, Director 



Sir : I have the honor to submit the following report on the field 

 researches, office work, and other operations of the Bureau of Ameri- 

 can Ethnology during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1955, conducted 

 in accordance with the Act of Congress of April 10, 1928, as amended 

 August 22, 1949, which directs the Bureau "to continue independently 

 or in cooperation anthropological researches among the American 

 Indians and the natives of lands under the jurisdiction or protection 

 of the United States and the excavation and preservation of archeo- 

 logic remains." 



SYSTEMATIC RESEARCHES 



In addition to his administrative duties, Dr. M. W. Stirling, Direc- 

 tor of the Bureau, completed the preliminary studies of the archeologi- 

 cal collections made in Panama in 1953, and prepared for publication 

 the sections relating to Taboga, Taboguilla, and Urava Islands, and 

 also that from Almirante Bay on the Panama north coast. 



Dr. Frank H. H. Koberts, Jr., Associate Director of the Bureau, 

 was occupied principally with duties pertaining to the management 

 of the Kiver Basin Surveys, of which he is Director (see his report, 

 p. 5). He reviewed and revised a number of manuscripts on the 

 results of excavations at sites in various areas. In the latter part of 

 September Dr. Koberts went to Lincoln, Nebr., to discuss the opera- 

 tions of the field office located there and to talk with the men who 

 were coming in from the field. En route to Lincoln he visited the 

 Department of Anthropology at the University of Michigan where 

 he examined various archeological collections and spoke to a group 

 of students on the problem of Early Man in America. In November 

 he attended the 12th Plains Conference for Archeology held at the 

 Laboratory of Anthropology, University of Nebraska, and took part 

 in discussions on the archeology of the Missouri Basin. During the 

 winter months he devoted a portion of his time to the preparation 

 of a manuscript covering the high points and summarizing the activi- 

 ties of the Kiver Basin Surveys from the beginning of fieldwork in 



