Evening star., 1932-06-23
CUD-CHEW|NG RACE
REVEALED IN TEXAS.
Remains of Prehistoric Cave
DWeIIers Found by Smith
sonian Party.

Remains of a prehistoric race of cave
dwellers. hitherto unknown to science,
have Just been discovered by a Srlith-
soniain Institution expedition IL. the
mountains of Southwestern Texas.
Frank M. Settler, Smithsonian archie
ologist, is back from the Big Bend and
Chisos Mount in region with consid-
cradle amount OF cultural material,
mostly hasketry, obtained from seven
caves spread over wide area. The
material sheds considerable light n the
way of life of this mysterious people.
Trey appear to have made permanent
h-mes in caves from As to so feet IN
depth rather than using them as tenn
porary shelters.
"Cud Chewing" People.
They depended largely on the cacti
of the Texas mountains for food, cloth
ing and utensils, and appear to have
been a "cud-chewing" people. SETTLER
found a great accumulation of partially
masticated balls of the leuchilla, one CT
the local cacti Apparently the leaves
were chewed until all the juice was eX-
tracted before the fiber was discarded.
They had curious practice of bury
ing a small child, never more than 2
years old, almost in the center OF each
cave used as a habitat. No other bur1als
were found. Presumably adult bodies
were placed in special burial caves, none
Of which have been discovered.
There are slight indications Of a
cultural relationship to the basket
makers of Arizona and New Mexico.
The cave people, however, had arrow
shafts, and the basketry techniques are
quite different. They were hunting
people, supplementing their cactus diet
with deer, rabbits. bear and birds of
all kinds. Bones of these animals were
found in the caves. scme broken in
order to obtain the marrow.
European Influence Lacking.
The age of these remains cannot be
determined on the basis of present data.
There was no trace of European lnf1u-
ence. indicating the cave deposits must
have been laid down before the Span
iards first crossed this part of the
United States. Most of the deposits
ranged from fairly near the surface to
a depth of 7 feet. buried under several
feet of bat guano in some cases. Ap-
parently the condition OF the caves has
changed very little since they were in
habited They now are filled with bats
and mud swallows and excavation must
be carried out in an almcst continuous
cloud of fine dust.
GtDLltI NtSCIlEtS bl-S do NCly
primitive, showing no influence of con-
tact with other people and dependent
almost entirely on the local flora. From
cactus fibers they made baskets, sandals,
cordage and blankets, some quite elabo-
Tately decorated.
Remains Brought Here.
Remains Of al these were brought
back for more leisurely study by the
Smithsonian archeologist. Apparently
the mcst common food article was
corn cob" cactus. Large piles of the
discarded cactus thorrs were found.
The culture extended over a wide
area from El Paso east to the Pecos
River and from the Rio Grsnde north
to the neighborhood of Alphine, Tex,
and further explorations may reveal an
even greater range. Settler obtained the
first clue to it last year when he ex
cavated a cave whose mouth was acci
Gentally revealed b. a dog chasing a
fox This cave was explored With great
difficulty and few artifacts were found.
The impossibility Of checking these
artifacts with any of kncwn prehistoric