Vol. 7, 1921 ANTHROPOLOGY: E. H. MORRIS 19 
Approximately 250 archaeological sites have been visited and examined, 
148 of them intensively. The distribution of the letter is as follows: 
Immediate valley of the San Juan ■ 22 
East and south side of river : 
Canyon Frances 3 
Canyon Gobernador 12 
Canyon Largo 1 
Kootz Canyon ' 1 
Chaco Valley , . . ._ . 22 
Eastern slope, Tunicha Mountain. . . 20 
North side of river: 
Animas Valley ' 27 
La Plata Valley 14 
Between La Plata and Mancos rivers 26 
For the present, the San Juan culture area may be considered co- 
extensive with the watershed of the river whence it takes its name. This 
area is some 25,000 square miles in extent. It is a vast elevated plateau 
cut through by a few perpetual streams and numerous cliff -bordered 
washes which flow only during spring thaws or subsequent to heavy rains. 
Despite its general aspect of intense aridity, aboriginal culture flourished 
over the entire area to the extent that almost every locality capable of 
supporting an agricultural people is marked by ruins large or small. These 
remains belong to four major cultural horizons, in stratigraphic order as 
follows : 
IV. Late Black-on-white 
III. Early Black-on-white 
II. Pre-Pueblo 
I. Basket Maker 
1. Basket Maker Period. — The chief diagnostic characters of Basket 
Maker culture are: Pronounced dolichocephalic crania, without artificial 
occipital flattening; apparent total absence of permanent habitations; 
absence of bow and arrow; use of atlail; high development of textile manu- 
facture, with specialized types of sandals and burial baskets; absence of 
pottery; and the cultivation of one very primitive type of corn. 
Remains of the Basket Maker period have been found only in a re- 
stricted area, all identified sites being within a radius of twenty-five miles 
of Bluff City, Utah. This region has been intensively worked by Dr. 
A. V. Kidder and Mr. Samuel H. Guernsey. Hence, to them belongs 
the credit for having identified and characterized this initial culture 
stratum. 
2. Pre-Pueblo Period. — Crania from pre-Pueblo sites are for the most 
part dolichocephalic, like those of the Basket Makers; but among them 
there are a minority of what appear to be brachy cephalic crania with 
artificial occipital flattening, such as is typical of the subsequent periods. 
