Abstract
OWING to the period, variable in duration, but usually not inconsiderable, which must elapse before it is possible to publish in full the details of the valuable field-work which is carried out by the Smithsonian Institution in astrophysics, geology, biology and anthropology, the annual exploration pamphlet issued by the Institution is of considerable interest, as giving an early authoritative account of the various expeditions sent out during the year. The latest issue (Publication 3235), for example, which covers the activities of 1933, records the establishment of a new solar observing station on Mount St. Catherine, Sinai (G. C. Abbott), and describes the work of the Norcross-Bartlett Arctic Expedition (Capt. R. A. Bartlett), of a deep-sea expedition to Puerto-Rico (Paul Bartsch), a search for extinct marine mammals in Maryland (Remington Kellogg), particulars of the Hancock expedition to Galapagos (Waldo L. Schmidt), and zoological collecting in Siam (Hugh M. Smith). The greater part of the publication, however, is devoted to the activities of members of the Smithsonian staff in the investigation of the archaeology and ethnology of the American Indian, the former a subject in which great progress has been made in recent years by the systematic application of scientific methods of excavation and correlation of results. Dr. Frank H. Roberts, Jr., has continued his excavations of Pueblo sites in the southwestern United States, in which the development of Pueblo culture and more particularly of the Pueblo dwelling is being revealed. Dr. Walter Hough has also been engaged in studying an important aspect of Pueblo culture by tracing ancient canals in Arizona, while an earlier phase of Indian history has been illuminated by Mr. F. Setzler's cave and mound explorations in Texas and Louisiana. Dr. W. D. Strong has been engaged in the study of the archaeology of Honduras and the Bay islands; while Miss Frances Densmore in her studies of Floridan music and Mr. John Harrington by oral inquiry among ancient members of Californian tribes have recorded material which, but for their activities, would shortly have been lost beyond recovery.
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Expeditions of the Smithsonian Institution, 1933. Nature 134, 317 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/134317b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/134317b0