Near the bottom of this excavation hard red clay was encountered, which on opening up proved to contain the well-preserved skeleton of an adult person which had been placed at length on its back with arms at its side. Over the face of this one [human burial] had been placed a rather large shallow dish, through the bottom of which a hole about the size of a five cent piece, or a little larger, had been carefully drilled. This hole was so located as to occupy a position between the eyes when placed over the face. This body was resting on a bed of red clay like that which had covered it. Near the first body was a second body which had been buried in exactly the same way, and had a similar perforated dish over its face. Under this first or upper tier of bodies a second tier of bodies was discovered which had been buried exactly the same way as the upper tier—each one resting separate and alone, though near together, each one tightly enveloped in stiff red clay. All the vessels placed over the faces showed the action of fire, and it was plain to be seen they had once been used in cooking.... The method practised here was to first spread down a layer of red plastic clay, then lay the body upon it, place the perforated dish over the face and finally plaster all with a covering of the same clay. This same method was followed in every case observed. SITES OF RUINS IN THE LOWER MIMBRES VALLEY The portion of the Sierra Madre plateau called Lower Mimbres, or Antelope Valley, extends from where the Mimbres sinks below the surface at Oldtown to Lake Palomas in Mexico, twenty-five miles south of Deming. According to some writers this region has no prehistoric ruins, but several of the beautiful specimens described and figured in the present article came from this valley, and there are doubtless many others, equally instructive, still awaiting the spade of the archeologist. The purest form of the Mimbres prehistoric culture is found in the lower or southern part of this plain, but it extends into the hills far up the Mimbres almost to its source. The plateau on which the prehistoric Mimbres culture developed is geographically well marked, and distinguished from other regions of the Southwest geographically and biologically, facts reflected in human culture. The cultural gateway is open to migrations from the south rather than from the east, north, or west. The evidences drawn from the poor preservation of the walls of the ruins, and the paucity of historical references to them, instead of indicating absence of a prehistoric population suggest the existence of a very ancient culture that had been replaced by wandering Apache tribes years before the advent of the Spaniards. Chronologically the prehistoric people belongs to an older epoch than the Pueblo, and its culture resembles that which antedated the true Pueblos.[10]