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Show OH 7/ THE ANCIENT BASKET MAKERS OF SOUTHEASTERN UTAH. BY GEORGE H. PEPPER, Assistant in the Department of Anthropology. THE southwestern part of the United States is noted archaeo-logically for its cliff dwellings and pueblos. The cliff- houses are more numerous in Colorado, Utah and Arizona, but the largest group of ruined pueblos is situated in one of the broad canons of northwestern New Mexico. These homes of the ancient people, though differing greatly in form and situation, as well as the cave lodges and boulder houses of the old river beds, were doubtless the result of environment, and were probably, to a certain ex-tent, occupied contemporaneously. The numerous problems suggested by these ruins have been studied by careful investi-gators, and exploration work has served to verify many hypo-thetical conclusions and to disprove as many more ; but the work may continue indefinitely, for each season brings to light some new problems of importance, and it is one of these that will be considered in this paper. The Wetherill family of Mancos, Colorado, have been closely associated with the archaeology of the Southwest for nearly a quarter of a century, and they have had the honor of bringing before the public the great Cliff- Dweller region of Colorado and Utah. They have been untiring in their efforts as collectors and are keen observers. Richard, the eldest son, was the leader of most of the exploring trips, and it was he who found, in the Grand Gulch region of southeastern Utah, the skeletons of an ancient people, whose skulls were markedly different from those of the Cliff Dwellers, and who named this new people the ' ' Basket Makers." Two gentlemen, Messrs. McLoyd and Graham, fol-lowed the pioneers and made a representative collection of the objects and utensils of the Basket people. It is from accounts of the region given by the last named explorers, supplementing the statements of the Wetherill brothers, whom I consider |
