Ceramic: Chaco-McElmo Black-on-white, human effigy, AMNH29.0/6991/7321

Summary

Chaco-McElmo Black-on-white, human effigy, Accession 29.0, Catalog #6991 (Morris FS 589) and #7321 (Morris FS 913). Analyzed by Lori Reed 2004. Temper is medium quartz sand and slip is bright white with washy application suggesting production in the Chaco Cibola region. Roughly 40% of effigy fragments were reconstructed with unknown adhesive and plaster material. Note: yellowish unpainted portions are plaster material reconstruction. Much of the head shape, facial features, appendages, and orifice shape are museum artist interpretation/reconstruction. Measurements: unknown orifice diameter (reconstruction), unknown height (reconstruction), 11.5 cm maximum diameter of body. Image AMNH29-6991-7321 A: posterior view showing shape of vessel and painted designs across shoulder and down the spine. Image AMNH29-6991-7321 B: anterior view showing painted design on face and left arm. Image AMNH29-6991-7321 C: right side view showing painted checkerboard panel on side of body and solidly painted head portion with decorated ear. Recovered from Earl Morris excavation of Room 111, Aztec West Ruin. In Morris' notes, he speculates that the head (29.0/6991) may be from the effigy (29.0/7321), which seems correct given the paint and slip characteristics. Morris found that “Refuse had been poured into Room 111 through a stair tunnel, presumably like that described under Room 92, in the west end of the south wall. Directly beneath the opening the accumulation was 4 feet deep, sloping down to 2 ½ feet at the northwest corner, and 1 ½ feet across the east end…The wares from the refuse deposit were of Chaco type, but the majority of the vessels from the burial level were clearly and distinctly later. However, there were some possessing characters distinctive of both periods and the largest proportion of black Tularosa ware which has been observed in the entire ruin. A thick pine log had been set into the refuse 5 feet from the west wall and 2½ feet from the south, as if to hold up the south end of the western ceiling support” (Morris 1928:355).

Reference: Earl Morris, 1928, Notes on Excavations in the Aztec Ruin, Volume XXVI, Part V, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

Keywords

Temporal Coverage

Calendar Date: 1110 to 1140 (Late Chacoan)

Calendar Date: 1140 to 1280 (Post-Chacoan)

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Gary Brown

Contributor(s): Lori Reed; Anne Grulich; Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, NM; Aztec Ruins National Monument

Principal Investigator(s): Laurie Webster

Repository(s): American Museum of Natural History, New York City, NY

Notes

Rights & Attribution: Artifact was collected from Aztec West Ruin excavations by Earl Morris between 1916 and 1922. Morris' excavations were sponsored and funded by the American Museum of Natural History, New York.

Rights & Attribution: High resolution images of the item are archived and available to researchers through the National Park Service, Aztec Ruins National Monument.

Rights & Attribution: Publication or use of the image is restricted; permission may be obtained through consultation with American Museum of Natural History and Aztec Ruins National Monument.

Source Collections

Original Item: American Museum of Natural History, New York

Image: NPS, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, New Mexico

Related Comparative Collections

Aztec Ruins Collections housed at Hibben Center, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque

Aztec Ruins Collections housed at American Museum of Natural History, New York

Aztec Ruins Collections housed at Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, New Mexico

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