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CHARLES E. ROZAIRE COLLECTION lute Springs Expedition Attention was first focused an the Tule Springs locality, 13 mites north of Lis Vegas* Nevada, in 1933, when Fentey Hunter of the American Museum of Natural History reported the discovery of an obsidian flake* apparently produced by man, in association with an extinct Pleistocene fauna (Simpson 1933). In 1933, 1953, and 1955, further brief investigations were undertaken by the Southwest Museum, Harrington and Simpson (1961) reported the discovery of several fire hearths associated with burned bones of camel and other extinct Pleistocene animals, burned oak and juniper wood, orange stained burned earth, a bone tool, and a stone scraper. Samples obtained from the deposits produced radiocarbon dates of greater than 23,000 and 26,000 years ago (b*P.), By 1962 a number of prominent American archaeologists were postu­lating that man, with a pre-projectile point culture, had entered the New World 30,000 or more years ago; others considered the evidence in­conclusive, Because of the great potential importance of Tule Springs and the magnitude of the problems involved, further large-scale mvestiga- 110 feet wide, with 1-foot contours, was laid out in the area where concentrated bone exposures appeared* We found no fire hearths, burned bone, or burned earth at any site previously excavated by the Southwest Museum. We tested some 30 other bone exposures and found some evidence of the presence of man but no fire hearths or campsites. A radio­carbon dated climatic sequence, show­ing changes in climate over the past 40,000 years was obtained. A detailed examination of the geology of the spot where the Southwest Museum had found a stone scraper indicated that it had been buried in a rill not more than 9000 years old (circa 7000 B .c.) and probably less than 6000 2 1 wish to thank Dr. IT M. Wormington for reading and editing this report white I am in the Mew Hebrides. Vot 6 * No. i * February 19€3 tion and an interdisciplinary approach were deemed necessary.1 Our principle objective was to determine if man ana extinct Pleisto­cene fauna were contemporaneous at Tule Springs, and if so, at what time level? Although claims of a very early date for man had been made, the tfttr iln'. Jti 1 At a meeting of western states archae­ologists a cooperative project to be directed by me on behalf, of the Nevada State Mu­seum and the Southwest Museum was pro­posed. Funds were provided by a generous grant from the National Science Foundation to the Nevada State Museum. Unprecedented support from other sources, largely coordinated by IT C. Smith, was also obtained from private industry, a labor union, and many private individuals e.g., the International Harvester Company contri­buted 2 bulldozers; the Allis Chalmers Company donated a motor scraper; the In­ternational Operating Engineers Union, Lo­cal 12, provided the equipment operators; the Union Oil Company supplied fuel; Fafford and Associates of Los Angeles did aerial photography and mapping; and the H. C. Smith Construction Company pro­vided much essential equipment. Of major importance was the presence of a Pleistocene geologist, C. Vance Haynes, and a palaeontologist, John Mawbv. Palyno-logists, Peter j, Mehringer and Paul $. Martin, made several trips to the site area to collect pollen profiles. The staff, in­cluding professional scientists, students, and years old (circa 4000 b .c .). The scraper showed a desert varnish much like that found on the surface artifacts of the area today, and is one riot likely to be acquired or retained by an object long buried. We found a series of springs and a stream channel containing Pleistocene fauna, over 40,000 years old. The presence of man at this period has not been established. From about 30,500 to 15,000 years ago, a shallow lake existed in the Tule Springs area. There was a reactivation of the springs and a further cutting of stream channels about 13,000 years ago (11,840 b .c *). This was followed by alluvial deposition within which there is probable evidence of the presence of man and extinct Pleistocene animals 11*500 to 13,000 years ago and definite evidence of man 11,000 years ago, Archaeological evidence was operations were not of the magnitude necessary to provide conclusive results, While the detailed analyses and descriptions of data derived front our work are not yet complete, we do not expect the broad picture to change materially. We excavated between October 1, 1962 and January 31, 1963, removing 200,000 toils of overburden. We dug 2 miles of trenches, 14 feet wide, and Up to 30 feet deep in order to reach the bone beds. A grid 2,100 feet long, 600 cooks, was composed of 23 people. An advisory committee, composed of recognized authorities in the Early Man field who made visits to the site, was Very helpful. Members of the committee were: Drs. j. Desmond Clark, Emil W. Maury, Robert F. Heizer, Alex D. Krieger, Willard F. Libby, Chester Longwell, and H. M. Wormington. A unique aspect of the project was the extensive use that was made of the radio­carbon dating method while work was Still in progress. L>f. Willard F. Libby and Pro­fessor Gordon Fergusson placed the facilities of their radiocarbon laboratory at the dis­posal of the project on a full time basis. A liaison man, who spent half of his time in the field collecting radiocarbon samples and the other half in the laboratory pro­cessing them, was used for the first time. Over 80 radiocarbon dates for Tule Springs are available, thanks to this arrangement. C U R R E N T A N T H R O P O L O G Y scanty and consisted of only 3 bone tools, a stone scraper, and 5 chips or flakes, the residue of tool making, It nevertheless provides proof, corrob­orated by stratigraphic studies arid radiocarbon dating, that man first appeared in this area between 11,000 and 13,000 years ago (ca. 9,000-11,000 B.C,). Reported by R ic h a r d Sh u t l e r , J r . References Cited Simpson, G eorge G aylord. 1933. A Nevada fauna of Pleistocene type and its probable association with Man. American Museum of Natural History Novitates No. 667, New York. Harrington, mark Raymond and Ruth D e Ette Simpson. 1961. tu le Springs, Nevada, with other evidence of Pleisto­cene man in North America. Southwest Museum Papers* No. 18, Los Angeles, 111