Ceramic: McElmo Black-on-white, olla, AZRU1-906

Summary

McElmo Black-on-white, olla, complete with plaster reconstruction. Accession AZRU-00001 Catalog 906, Morris FS 4652. Analyzed by Lori Reed 2011. Sherd and granular igneous temper indicating local production. Two horizontal strap handles placed on lower body (one is broken). Measurements: 7.1 cm diameter (most of rim is plaster material restoration), 30 cm height. Image AZRU1-906A: exterior view showing handle (other one is missing). Image AZRU1-906B: exterior view showing intact handle (partially reconstructed with plaster material). Image AZRU1-906C: view showing repair hole and recessed base. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 55 Aztec West Ruin. Olla was beneath floor of Room 55. Earl Morris’ description of Room 55 at the time of excavation is as follows. “The floor of Room 55 is at the last-used court level, that is, 3 feet higher than that of Room 59 which adjoins it on the east. A fire pit 1 foot 7 inches in diameter and 5 inches deep was at the center of the floor, and although there were no artifacts upon the latter, a large black-on-white olla (Field No. 4652) was buried beneath the southeast corner. A test pit sunk where this pot was found revealed several, hard-packed yard levels and none but Chaco sherds. In the south wall, 1 foot 3 inches from its east end, there remains the bottom of a doorway…. Slightly east of the center of the north wall is a second 2-foot door….” (Morris 1928: 294-295) 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): Anne Grulich; Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, NM

Principal Investigator(s): Lori Reed

Repository(s): Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, NM; American Museum of Natural History, New York City, NY

Notes

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

General Note: 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.

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.

Source Collections

Original Items: American Museum of Natural History, New York, and NPS, Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, New Mexico

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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