Perishable: Cotton Braid AMNH 29.0/8397

Summary

Cotton Braid, Accession AMNH29.0, Catalog #8397. Morris FS 1890. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Flat, knotted, cotton braid with square knot at one end. Images: AMNH 29.0/8397A: flat cotton braid. AMNH 29.0/8397B: close-up of square knot at one end. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 80, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 80 at the time of excavation is as follows. “From 6 inches to 1 foot 3 inches of washed sand and adobe covered the floor of Room 80….The veneer of the south wall, from the bottom of the door to the ceiling level, had fallen, as had a similar portion of the north wall. Dust and refuse….completed the fill to a depth of 5 and one-half feet. One pine log extending north and south had upheld the ceiling and the small poles were likewise of pine. The beam broke near the center, but did not snap off at the walls. Instead, the ceiling bagged downward until the broken ends of the timber came to rest on the fill beneath. Along the walls, under the woodwork, there was a cavity on all sides which never filled. There was much refuse on the second floor, predominantly of vegetable matter. From what remained above the ceiling….[long list of artifacts]….In the fallen masonry, reaching to the surface of the mound, were parts of the unburned second ceiling and charcoal and burned earth from the third…There is a ventilator in each end of the north wall.” (Morris 1928: 327-329) 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): Lori Reed

Contributor(s): Gary Brown; Anne Grulich; Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, NM; Aztec Ruins National Monument

Principal Investigator(s): Laurie Webster

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

Record Identifiers

Aztec Ruins National Monument Accession Number(s): AMNH 29.0

Notes

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.

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.

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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