From the time of the earliest cultures until the early centuries of the Christian era we have little knowledge of prehistoric life in America. Work is being done and reports are expected which will eventually clarify much which is now shrouded in darkness. It is not that the Southwest was uninhabited at this period, it is just that we know very little about it. It may readily be seen how difficult it is to assemble evidence for this time. There was undoubtedly only a very simple material culture with little save stone tools which would survive. Even though we find implements of this period, however, how are we to assign them to their proper chronological position? With the most ancient cultures some approximation of age may be made on the basis of association with the remains of extinct animals, the climatic conditions indicated by deposits containing artifacts, and other geological data. In the case of fairly recent cultures, the invaluable tree-rings come to our aid and through stratigraphic studies the chronological positions of the cultures immediately preceding them can be established. For the intermediate period only stratigraphy can help us very much and stratigraphic evidence is hard to find. In the Cochise Culture, a sequence lasting until about 500 B.C. has been worked out and the report on Ventana Cave in Arizona, when it is published, will undoubtedly give us much additional information. [Illustration: Fig. 4—Folsom diorama in the Museum at Mesa Verde National Park. (Courtesy Mesa Verde National Park.)] Tabeguache Cave In the Tabeguache drainage of southwestern Colorado have been found caves containing stratified deposits, the lowest of which are believed to be quite old although considerably more recent than the really ancient cultures previously discussed.[66][67] These deposits contained lined and unlined firepits and there were little holes, dug in the cave floor, filled with ashes and charcoal. These are thought to have been too small to have served any utilitarian purpose and it has been suggested that they may have been ceremonial in nature. Also found were grinding stones and a distinctive type of long slender projectile point with side notches to which the name _Tabeguache Point_ has been applied. There was no pottery. Obviously, a great deal of work will have to be done and probably many years will elapse before we have any clear picture of what was happening in various parts of the Southwest prior to the time to which we assign the letters A.D. If only all the descendants of the first people had stayed in the same place and placed their cultural remains neatly on top of those of their ancestors, archaeologists would find everything more simple, though probably rather dull. CHAPTER III THE ANASAZI CULTURE GENERAL REMARKS