FIFTY-SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT 



OF THE 



BUEBAU OE AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY 



M. W. Stirling, Chief 



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

 researches, office v^ork, and other operations of the Bureau of Ameri- 

 can Ethnology during the fiscal year ended June 30, 1940, conducted 

 in accordance with the act of Congress of March 16, 1939, which 

 provides "* * * for continuing ethnological researches among the 

 American Indians and the natives of Hawaii and the excavation 

 and preservation of archeologic remains. * * *" 



SYSTEMATIC RESEARCHES 



M. W. Stirling, Chief of the Bureau, left Washington on Decem- 

 ber 26 to continue his archeological excavations in southeastern 

 Mexico. Work was continued at Tres Zapotes imtil April 20. Two 

 additional expeditions were made, one to Cerro de Mesa on the Rio 

 Blanco in the State of Veracruz, and the other to La Venta in 

 northern Tabasco. As last year, the work was undertaken in cooper- 

 ation with the National Geographic Society. Dr. Philip Drucker 

 accompanied Mr. Stirling as assistant archeologist. 



As a result of the second season of work, the chronology of the 

 Tres Zapotes site has now been satisfactorily determined. Indica- 

 tions are that the site was occupied from a date before the begin- 

 ning of the Christian era but that it was abandoned sometime before 

 the beginning of the Spanish conquest. 



At Cerro de Mesa, 20 carved stone monuments were located and 

 photographed, including one with an initial series date in the Maya 

 calendar. This date reads 9-l-12-14r-10, or 1 Oc 3 Uyab. The 

 discovery of this monument raises to three the number of initial 

 series now known from the State of Veracruz. Although a very 

 early Baktun 9 date, it is later than Stela C from Tres Zapotes and 

 the Tuxtla statuette. Of the 20 monuments at Cerro de Mesa, 12 are 

 Stelae. 



Twenty monuments were also unearthed at La Venta, including 

 ^Y& colossal heads, several beautifully carved altars, and some stelae. 



288575—41 1 



