San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-04-24
Excavations by American
Indian Foundation Scien-
tists-Relics Are Said to
Be Over 1000 Years Old.

EIks Springs, Mo-, April 24.-Shel-
tiers beneath OverhangEng limestone
bluffs along the White and CowSkln
rivers in the Ozarks of Missouri ana
Arkansas are today giving up to
science the relics of prehistoric race
that inhabited this section upwards of
a thousand years ago. The work OF
excavation is being done near here by
an expedition from the Museum of the
American Indian, Heye Foundation.
Relics Buried Deep.
Buried deep in the dry dust of CEN
turtles beneath these formations OF
shelving rock where the ancients made
their homes. these relics are being I'M
earthed with no little difficulty. a
cloud Of powdery dust arises as the
workers search the deposits for traces
of a civilization that is still unidentl-
fled. Use of masks often is necessary.
For the present, the ancient people OF
the region are being referred TO by
NJ. r. Harrington. in charge of the ex-
pedition, as the Ozark bluff-dwellers.
They have not been identified as the
ancestors of any modern Indian tribe.
In some Of the rock-shelters, par
ticularly on the Cowskin or Elk river,
the expedition has found near the sur
face traces of a different and more
modern, but still pre-colonial, Indian
race. These Indians, according to Mr..
Harrington. probably were the 0sagess
or some related tribe. 1t is estimated
that even these specimens are at least
three or four hundred years old. Those
left by the spear-throwing bluff-dwell-
ers Of the Ozarks, which also have
been uncovered, are probably upwards
OF a thousand years old.
All Truly Aboriginal.
Everything so far found is purely
aboriginal, Mr.. Harrington explained,
not the slightest trace of the white
mans handiwork or influence having
been discovered. The specimens in
clude basketry, woven textiles, wooden
articles, implements of stone and bone
and even pieces of pottery. Some of
the articles no doubt were buried by
the ancient dwellers for safe keeping,
it is believed by the excavators, while
others simply wore out and were dis
carded or lost in the ashes and trash
of generations that has accumulated
beneath the bluffs. At some places
the deposits have been found so well
protested by the overhanging rock for
nation that they are absolutely dry,
which has resulted in remarkable pres
ervation.
1t was a visit by Mr.. Harrington at
the home in Seneca. Mo-, of DR.. ". G.
Barnard, who had one of the largest
private collections of Indian relics in
existence at that time, that resulted
in the present expedition. That was in
the fall of 1914.
Finds Are Interesting.
Among his specimens" said Mr..
Harrington, "were a number of pieces
of baskets. textile fabrics and wooden
articles which gave every evidence of
being prehistoric. Knowing that such
perishable articles dating from that
period are practically unknown east
of Utah and New Mexico, inquired
{ as to their origin and was surprised to
learn that they came from the Ozarks,
especially from the district along the
upper White river, where they had
been found in dry deposits beneath
everhanging bluffs. l then and there
planned to explore some of these rocky
bluffs or rock Shelters as they are
called by Psychologists, but the oppor-
tunity did not come until May. 1922
when the present expedition set forth
from The museum"
That expedition consisted Of thr