MUSEUM STARTS STUDY OF NEOLITHIC PERIOD

"In our study of the neolithic period in the Near East," Donald Scott '00, Director of the Peabody Museum, said in his annual report issued today, "The researches of the Museum and the Division are tending toward more comprehensive projects in this single field."

The Museum has enlisted the cooperation of the Departments of Geology, Botany, and Zoology in this study, he added. Joseph E. Upson is compiling a physiographic report of the then existing terrain; indicating elevations, drainage systems, climate, rainfall, and productive soils.

Paul A. Vestal '32, the report continues, is studying the history of the wild grasses and plants and their development into the semi- and fully developed domesticated species which are the basis of man's civilized existence. Meanwhile, Sherwood L. Washburn is studying the paleontology of excavated animal bones for light on man's diet and habits during the neolithic period.

In the excavation of the ruin of Awatovi in Arizona, John O. Brew discovered important clues to the history of the Hopi Indians. A program of excavation in this area has been mapped which it is hoped will present a connected history of southwestern life from the early centuries to the burning of Awatovi in 1700.