. Bulletin. Ethnology. 108 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [ fiable (because indeterminate or unrecorded) data, the total of 98 ( percent) being nearly identical with the figure for burials whose mode of body flexion could not be ascertained. Also, there were many borderline cases so that the groupings here given are to some extent arbitrary. No attempt was made to record the direc- tions in which the various skeletons faced. Head to: North Northeast Bast- __ _ _ No. 25 6 — 23 Percent of 356 Head to: West Northwest Indeterminate or no data No. .__ 72 -_ 37 98 Percent o
. Bulletin. Ethnology. 108 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [ fiable (because indeterminate or unrecorded) data, the total of 98 ( percent) being nearly identical with the figure for burials whose mode of body flexion could not be ascertained. Also, there were many borderline cases so that the groupings here given are to some extent arbitrary. No attempt was made to record the direc- tions in which the various skeletons faced. Head to: North Northeast Bast- __ _ _ No. 25 6 — 23 Percent of 356 Head to: West Northwest Indeterminate or no data No. .__ 72 -_ 37 98 Percent of 356 Southeast 22 South 42 Southwest 31 Total 356 Omitting from further consideration the 98 unclassifiables, we may represent diagrammatically the number and revised percentage of the remaining burial directions as shown in figure 14. From this it appears that burials were oriented to every point of the compass, () 37 (^oJ 7Z A*' 02%) 3/. e&.3%) 23() 2Z(8S%j t>) FiGDttB 14.—Orientation of 258 burials at Buena Vista site 3. least commonly toward the northeast (6 times, or percent) and most often toward the west (72 times, or percent). That a gen- eral westerly or southerly direction was probably intentionally sought is indicated by the fact that over 70 percent of the determi- nable burials were laid with their heads to the northwest, west, southwest, or south, showing a rather decided preference for this half of the circuit. In this connection it may be recalled that at site 2, the northeast quadrant (north, northeast, east) included percent of the 92 determinable positions against less than 21 percent so placed at site 3. Also the northeast-to-south half the circle included 36 percent as against 55 percent at site *» Heye (1921, p. 38) states that during his excavations on San Miguel Island, "Of the undisturbed skeletons practically all were found lying on their backs, with arms and legs flexed and
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