Perishable: Feather Ornament AMNH 29.0/8639

Summary

Feather Ornament, Accession AMNH29.0, Catalog #8639. Morris FS 2130. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Feather ornament of plied 2(2Z-S)Z cordage with feather attachments wrapped around herb bundle. Image: AMNH 29.0/8639A: cordage with feather attachments wrapped around herb bundle. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 78, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 78 at the time of excavation is as follows. “About three-fourths of a cord of cedar splints such as were used in the construction of ceilings had been left in Room 78, covering the entire area of the chamber, but deepest against the north wall. …. One pine log, extending north and south, had supported the ceiling. The small poles were of cottonwood. This ceiling had remained intact until after the ruin was reduced to a mound. Finally,….the log rotted off next to the north wall, and permitted that end of the ceiling to settle down upon the mass of splints…. Where the timber entered the south wall it broke, but did not fall. An extensive deposit of vegetable refuse had been thrown into the room above Room 78. When the ceiling settled, much of this ran through and around it, and, together with dust and sand….eventually completed the filling of the room except for a cavity, triangular in cross-section, across the south side. … [Explanation of artifacts]….Between the refuse and the surface of the mound were elements of the second ceiling; partially charred wood and fire-hardened adobe. Numerous peeled willows and their impressions in adobe clods indicated that in the second ceiling there had been an ornamental finish of these slender sticks closely placed on top of the layer of small poles. Ventilators are present in the ends of the north walls.” (Morris 1928: 326-327) 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

Principal Investigator(s): Laurie Webster

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.

General Note: 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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