SIXTY-EIGHTH 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, 1951, conducted 

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

 August 22, 1949, which provides for continuing "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 archeologic 

 remains." 



SYSTEMATIC RESEARCHES 



Dr. M. W. Stirling, Director of the Bureau, left Washington early 

 in January to continue the program of archeological work in Panama 

 inaugurated in 1948 in cooperation with the National Geographic 

 Society. En route, he made stops of several days each in Mexico, 

 Guatemala, El Salvador, and Costa Rica to study and photograph 

 archeological collections in those countries. In Panama the primary 

 objective was an archeological reconnaissance on the relatively un- 

 explored Atlantic coast of Panama lying between the Canal Zone and 

 the Chiriqui lagoon. It was here in 1502 that Columbus attempted 

 to establish the first European colony on the American mainland. 

 Three river systems in this region were explored — the Rio Salud, 

 Eio Indio, and Rio Code del Norte. The latter is the largest river 

 on the Panama north coast. Columbus found this region inhabited 

 by Indians who wore gold ornaments and who did not live in villages 

 but in single houses separated from one another by considerable dis- 

 tances. Dr. Stirling's archeological work confirmed this observation. 

 The archeological remains consisted primarily of pottery and stone 

 objects removed from the refuse deposits where the houses had stood. 

 Near the coast the pottery was simple in style, unpainted, and with a 

 limited variety of forms. Near the headwaters of the rivers the 

 pottery became more elaborate as a result of influences from the high 

 culture centers that existed in pre-Columbian times on the Pacific 

 side of the divide. On concluding this survey, in the latter part of 

 March, the expedition established headquarters at La Pintada in the 

 Pacific drainage opposite the headwaters of the Code del Norte, where 

 additional excavations were undertaken with the intention of estab- 



