Important Archeological Discoveries Made in Venezuela by Harvard Scientist on Motor Trip

Motoring in a Ford through Venezuela from the seacoast to the Andes, Alfred Kidder, II '33 has discovered valuable archeological material in that hitherto untouched region.

For two seasons, Mr. Kidder has been working in the Venezuelan area, at Lake Valencia, 70 miles west of the capital, Caracas, and among the caves of the Andes. Two distinct cultures have been unearthed and there seems to be evidence of a third.

The purposes of the expeditions is to link the undetermined chronologies of these cultures with those of the Antilles and Columbia. This is a difficult task, since little is known about Venezuelan archeology. The Spanish Conquest of this region took place later than it did in other parts of the New World, and the records of the explorers, the only written material available to the archeologists, are woefully inadequate.

It is known that there was a civilization at Lake Valencia at the time of the Spaniards. Excavations at this site reveal that there were several earlier phases of this same culture, which had reached its highest point at the time of the Conquest. The culture was a simple one, not so advanced as that of the Incas or the Mayas. There was no metal known and the development of stone implements and pottery was advanced. The people lived in lake dwellings, and practiced agriculture. It is from these lake dwellings and similar ones along the coast that Venezuela took its name. Columbus, seeing the houses in the water, called the land "Little Venice."

The culture in the mountains is different. Here the people lived in caves, painted their pottery, and practiced "secondary burial. The archeological material in this area is seant because the caves where the remains are found have been sacked by the natives as a source for curios. It is the opinion of Mr. Kidder that the caves of the mountainous region were used as places perhaps of refuge by the people of the plains and not continually inhabited.