116916,117631,117750,118935,121411,124072) The Smithsonian acquired seven gift accessions from 1930 to 1933 as a result of donations by J. Townsend Russell. The gifts consisted of Russell's personal collections, purchased col- lections from the Old World Archaeology Fund, and artifacts uncovered at excavations by the Franco-American Union for Prehistoric Research in France.
In 1930, a cast of the Willendorf Venus from the Lower Au- rignacian (now Gravettian) was donated to the U.S. National Museum (ace. 112339) by the Landes Museum in Vienna, Aus- tria. The piece may have been sought for exhibit purposes.
Russell wrote to Judd on 20 September 1930, indicating that while in Vienna he secured the cast that the U.S. National Mu- seum sought. The gift was acknowledged by Assistant Secre- tary Wetmore in a letter to Russell on 30 October.
In 1931, twenty-five water color reproductions of Upper Pa- leolithic Spanish cave art and fourteen casts of Upper Pale- olithic bone art objects and implements were donated to the museum (ace. 117631) by the Old World Archaeology Fund.
Russell arranged the transaction with Father [Don] Jesus Car- ballo, of the Museo Prehistorico of Santander, Spain, and au- thor of a book on the prehistory of Spain, Prehistoria Univer- sal v Especial de Espaha (1924). Members of the American School of Prehistoric Research visited Carballo and the cave site of El Pendo, in Spain (Carballo, 1931). On 6 August 1930, Russell wrote to thank Carballo for his courtesy during Rus- sell's stay in Santander, and expressed the hope that there was progress on the paintings that they discussed. On 23 September 1931, Carballo wrote to the treasurer of the U.S. National Mu- seum to inform him that the materials were sent: "As per In- struction of my good friend Mr. J. Townsend Russell I had the pleasure of sending to you some paintings and reproductions of prehistoric objects." Carballo indicated that the total expense (including payment for the artist) was 1413 ptas. The same day, Carballo wrote to Russell that "in all of this 1 won't get any benefit, I will have the pleasure of having being of some use to you." In a letter, dated 9 January 1932, Wetmore acknowledged the payment for the Carballo collection.
In 1932, Russell donated his European collections (ace.
116916), mostly consisting of single specimens or a small number of pieces from various sites (Figure 79). The most thoroughly reported artifacts in the collection are those from Chambe, France (Figure 80). Russell (1928) briefly described these artifacts in an article titled "A Summer of Prehistoric Re- search in the 'Pays Civraisien'." Subsequently, some of the same objects were illustrated in an article titled Report on Field Work in France, Season of 1928 (Russell, 1929) (Figure 81).
Russell described the circumstances of this transaction to Wet- more on 25 September 1931: "There is in the Museum part of my personal collection in two cases. I plan to present this to the Museum but have never done so as I wished to hold up the gift until I could get the confusion in the collections straightened out. I have just ordered a third case, that was still here in stor-
FlGURE 79.—Handaxe [catalog number 363429] from Meyral, France. [Russell and Old World Archaeology Fund accession (accession 116916).]
age, shipped to the Museum in my name." On 8 February 1932, Wetmore acknowledged Russell's gift.
In 1932, two accessions (ace. 117750, 118935), consisting of Upper Paleolithic collections excavated in southern France un- der the direction of Russell during the 1931 season, were do- nated to the U.S. National Museum by the Old World Archaeol- ogy Fund. The collection was excavated under the auspices of the Franco-American Union for Prehistoric Research in France by the University of Toulouse and the Smithsonian Institution.
The results of this fieldwork were published by Russell in "Re- port on Archaeological Research in the Foothills of the Pyrenees," Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, 1932, and in La Campagne de Fouilles de 1931, by Begouen and Russell, issued by publisher Edouard Privat, Toulouse, 1933 (Figure 82). Among the collections were a variety of chipped stone arti- facts from Roquecourbere, Ariege; chipped stone artifacts, bone fragments, and breccia from Tarte, Commune of Cassagne, Haute Garonne; and chipped stone, bone fragments, ochre, shells, travertine, and a photo from Marsoulas, Commune of Marsoulas, Haute-Garonne. Among the spectacular art objects is a palette from Tarte (Figure 83) (Petraglia et al., 1992).
In 1932, the museum accessioned (ace. 121411) a collection of photographs of Paleolithic cave art of Ariege and Haute Ga-
FIGURE 80.—Handaxes [catalog number 363413] from Chambe, France. [Russell and Old World Archaeology Fund accession (accession 116916).]
ronne, France. The collection was purchased for 775 francs by the museum accessioned (ace. 124072) a collection of photo- J. Townsend Russell from Count Henri Begouen of the Univer- graphs of Paleolithic sites and of fossils obtained from origi- sity of Toulouse. The photographs consisted of the most fa- nals furnished by Hrdlicka, as well as films belonging to Rus- mous views, paintings, sculptures, and engravings from caves sell. The photographs from these two accessions were used to in the Ariege and Haute-Garonne regions of France. In 1933, develop future exhibits.
Scale VA.
FIGURE 81.—Drawings of two flint artifacts from Chambe, France, representing an
"Early type of cleaver or handaxe resembling those found at La Micoque (Dordogne)"
and considered to be of the "Mousterian Epoch" (Russell, 1928:11). [These pieces are in the NMNH collection (accession 116916). Published in Russell, 1928, Bulletin of the American School of Prehistoric Research, fig. 1.]
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113
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FIGURE 82.—Cross section of the Marsoulas excavations (Russell, 1932).
Serrano y Sanz (ace. 114125)
In 1931, a collection of artifacts from the Manzanares River Valley at Villaverde Bajo, Madrid, Spain, was donated to the U.S. National Museum by Manuel Serrano y Sanz, of Madrid, Spain. On 12 February, Sanz inquired whether the Staff would like to have Mousterian objects from Madrid for the National Museum. On 15 March, John E. Graf, associate director of the U.S. National Museum, responded: "I regret to advise you that we have no prehistoric objects whatever from Spain in our na- tional collections and for this reason would be particularly grateful for a small but representative series illustrating the Musteriense of Madrid. We should also be glad to receive in this connection notes describing the relationship of the species, their horizon, and any publications which may be available concerning the site or sites whence they were secured." On 2 May, Sanz indicated that he was sending objects from Villa Verde Bajo, and that the deposit was confirmed by P. Wernert and J. Perez de Barradas to be "Precapsian, synchronous with a final phase of the Acheulian." Serrano y Sanz wrote that the
5cm
FIGURE 83 (left).—"Artist's Palette" [catalog number 363247] from Tarte, France. [Russell and Old World Archaeology Fund accession (accession
117750).J
drawing of the site stratigraphy supplied by Serrano y Sanz, the sequence was shown to consist of three strata; the artifacts were found in the lower part of the white sand at a depth of two to six meters. Graf acknowledged the gift in a letter dated 2 June 1931.
Begouen (ace. 117494)
In 1931, casts of engravings of animals and of footprint and fingerprint impressions taken from caves were donated to the U.S. National Museum by the Count Henri Begouen, Professor of Prehistory, University of Toulouse, France. Although the material was purchased by Russell during his explorations with Begouen in the Pyrenees, the accession was recorded as a gift from Begouen. Begouen and H. Vallois described the casts in
"Les Empreintes Prehistoriques," which was published in Comptes Rendus, in 1927. Graf acknowledged the receipt of the collection on 24 December 1931.
Abbott (ace. 124660,128495,134685,140811,150229) Wilfred C. Abbott, of the Standard Bank of South Africa, do- nated archaeological collections to the U.S. National Museum in five separate accessions from 1933 to 1938 . The first acces- sion (ace. 124660) was received during Abbott's visit to the museum in 1933. It consisted of a small collection made at Tanbryn Farm, District of Bainsvlei, near Bloemfontein, South Africa. The artifacts were found on a hard bed of shallow pans in the veld during 1931 and 1932. On 10 June 1933, L.L. Wed- lock, J. Townsend Russell's temporary assistant, wrote to Ab- bott after the visit, stating: "I enjoyed very much indeed your visit to Washington and feel the hours spent with you were among those which I have enjoyed most during my brief career as an archeologist. Mr. Judd joins me in thanking you for your kind disposition toward the Museum and we both appreciate very much your efforts in assisting us toward the acquisition of more complete collections from South Africa. We wish these to be as educationally useful as possible."
Nine months later Assistant Secretary Wetmore wrote to Ab- bott, on 5 March 1934, indicating that additional materials from South Africa were wanted: "The stone implements which you forwarded about a year ago were of much interest and a most desirable addition to our meager prehistoric exhibit from South Africa. We should be pleased indeed to add any addi- tional specimens which you may care to forward." Soon after, Abbott sent materials from two localities as part of a second ac- cession (ace. 128495). Abbott noted that, although the artifacts were probably Paleolithic, they were of uncertain age.
The third accession (ace. 134685) of South African material was received in 1935, during Abbott's second visit to the U.S.
National Museum. On 27 May 1935, Judd wrote to Abbott to express his appreciation for the collection: "Before your depar-
modest African collection. If I could make you believe how thoroughly welcome these artifacts are, I am sure you would be amply rewarded for all the trouble you went to in collecting them and bringing them over in person." Wetmore acknowl- edged the gift on 28 May 1935. Abbott replied on 6 June: "You are more than welcome to the few artifacts I was able to bring over. I was only sorry I was not able, before leaving Cape Town, to get at my full collection, as I have many duplicates from other areas & of different cultures & could have left you a more varied selection." In 1936, Abbott sent another small col- lection of artifacts (ace. 140811) from three localities near Ca- petown. In a letter dated 1 July 1936, Wetmore thanked Abbott for his "continued and generous interest" in donating material.
The final accession (ace. 150229) of South African material was received in 1938. In a letter to Judd, dated 6 February 1938, Abbott described camping in the "Witsands," or the white sand dunes of Criqualand West, Cape Province, on the border of the Kalahari Desert, and at the foot of the Langeberg Hills. Abbott indicated that microliths were found in several ar- eas in the dunes, and in one area in particular, "Mousterian" ar- tifacts were found. "Towards the end of our stay we found a site somewhat further from our camp, and on lower ground where we picked up a number of Mousterian implements, some of them quite large and these will be included in the parcel go- ing on later." Judd responded on 25 April, expressing apprecia- tion for the parcel:
From your photographs and description I can readily imagine what a delightful time you had camping at the foot of Langeberg and searching the nearby sand dunes. Your description of the Witsand country reminds me very much of our own western Texas and southern New Mexico where I have enjoyed experi- ences very similar to yours. It adds much to the adventure when drinking water is distinctly at a premium; where casual pools must be shared with cattle and goats. With you as guide, it would be a pleasure to lead a Smithsonian expedi- tion into the Witsand region and rugged ravines of Langeberg. But I am quite certain the possibility of such a jaunt is too remote for consideration. We must leave to you the satisfaction of searching out the rock shelters to be explored there.
On 23 August 1938, Abbott provided information on his finds and sent newspaper clippings about which he opined:
"These archaeologists seem to be on the track of some startling discoveries, though I don't hold with the theory of a 'missing link.' If one accepts that life, human life, was created & not evolved. I can't understand why scientists want to establish that man, in the marvelous perfection as we know him, evolved from an ape & was not created by a beautiful being." Anticipat- ing the disruptions that would soon occur in the exchange of objects, Judd wrote to Abbott on 24 September 1938: "Radio and daily press are bringing echoes of the unhappy state of af- fairs in Europe. It is most disheartening and discouraging. Ev- ery individual in the United States, I am sure, is today praying that war may be avoided. But how to stop a madman without war?" On 23 December 1938, John E. Graf, associate director of the U.S. National Museum, acknowledged the gift.
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