Archaeological investigations in the Southwestern field proceed apace. New facts and fancies burst forth in such profusion that the trend of the studies is well-nigh obscured by the complexity of information emanating from the area. The specialists at times find it difficult to comprehend developments. Hence there is little wonder that students and laymen are prone to succumb to a sense of futility when they view the welter of material on the subject. To many the archaeology of the Southwest now seems so involved, so cluttered with minutiae that it has become dull and stupid and can no longer be regarded as the source for a fascinating story of the cultural and material growth of a primitive people. Yet the new chapters being added are even more interesting than those with which most people are familiar.

Data from archaeological investigations in the habitation mounds of the lower Sacramento Valley by the Sacramento Junior College during the last three years have thrown much light on a very interesting and hitherto imperfectly known aboriginal trait of molding and baking small clay objects. Wissler characterizes California as an area in which pottery was absent. Kroeber subsequently notes that pottery-making occurred north of the Tehachapi Mountains. Gayton describes pottery in detail for the Yokuts and Western Mono. Meredith first specifically noted the occurrence of baked-clay objects in the northern San Joaquin Valley. Holmes, Jones, and Schenck followed, the latter's being the most comprehensive study.

There is reason to believe that the bow came into use in the New World in relatively recent times, and that prior to its introduction, or its much less probable local invention, the spear-thrower enjoyed continent-wide distribution in both Americas. These suppositions are based on the apparent total absence from all respectably ancient deposits of small, light points suitable for the tipping of arrows; and, conversely, by the presence in such deposits of larger points, of sizes and weights appropriate for service with the heavier, longer darts propelled by the spear-thrower. Furthermore, the spear-thrower is known to have been replaced by the bow in the Southwest during the Basket Maker II period, probably in the early centuries of the Christian era.

Mr. John F. Isackson, while working for the United States Bureau of Reclamation, September 13, 1934, discovered two Indian knives or side scrapers. The Bureau of Reclamation was engaged in making a survey of the quality of the soil at this point to hold water for a storage reservoir to impound the waters of the Deschutes River. The project was known as the Wikiup Damsite No. I, Deschutes Project. The site is located in Sec. 8, R. 9E. T. 22S., Willamette Meridian. It is shown on the Maiden Peak quadrangle of the U. S. Geological Survey of Oregon. Plate I, Figure 1 shows the location of the test pits, drill holes, and trenches. The logs of these are shown in Appendix B. Pit 4 is just to the east of the concrete monument on Control Line Damsite No. I at 14, 47.8.

Excavations made in 1928 at the north wall of the large pueblo of Chetro Ketl in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, indicated that there had been fourteen feet of sandy fill in the canyon at that point since the foundations of the pueblo were laid. Sherds in the walls of the Chaco arroyo likewise pointed to considerable fill since the occupation of the large Chaco pueblos in the late 9th to early 12th centuries. This has raised the question of rate of deposition on the valley floor and of land surface levels during and since the time of prehistoric occupation. Linked with the problem of old land surfaces was that of burials, which have been notable for their scarcity in this canyon, and it seemed that an investigation of these old surfaces might yield some information on the possibility of burial grounds deep below the present surface.