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A human arm bone, embedded in caked mud and surrounded by a long string of bracelets, is the most striking feature of the collection of Indian relics which Mr. C. B. Cosgrove has brought back with him from New Mexico. Mr. Cosgrove, who has just returned to Cambridge, has spent the last two years in charge of the Peabody Museum expedition in the Mimbres Valley in south-western New Mexico.
At work with knife and scraper preparing the bracelet encircled arm for exhibition, Mr. Cosgrove commented on the crude jewelry and pottery with which he was surrounded.
"In the naturalistic tendency of its design the pottery we found in the Mimbres Valley seems to be entirely peculiar to that section of Indian territory. On one bowl for instance is an almost perfect representation of a lizard.
"The bracelets we found, which in some instances have become cemented on the arm bone, are of Pacific clam shell, and were evidently traded in to the interior by coast tribes. Almost all of the jewelry, including several turquoise necklaces was found as part of burial trappings.
"We know practically nothing about the Indians whose pueblo towns we are excavating. In the northern part of the state there are living descendants of the ancient tribes, but the southern peoples have apparently passed out of existence entirely. From what we have been able to glean of their life, it appears that they were chiefly agriculturists, instead of wandering hunters like most of their contemporary aborigines.
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