Perishable: Tattooing Instrument AMNH 29.0/9726

Summary

Tattooing Instrument, Accession AMNH29.0, Catalog #9726. Morris FS 3210. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Reed, yucca leaf, and cactus-spine tattooing instrument. Image: AMNH 29.0/9726A: tattooing instrument. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 138, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 138 at the time of excavation is as follows: “On the floor of Room 138 was a film of refuse containing Chaco potsherds…Thence upward, mixed with dust, wall wreckage, and rubbish from a deposit which had been in the second story, there was an almost inextricable tangle of pine timbers, splints, and cedar bark. There had been no fire above this area and all three ceilings had fallen into the first story room. Having been deeply buried, the wood was perfectly preserved. All of the ceilings had been of the same pattern: two pine log supports with pine poles resting upon them. As has been the case wherever observations have been possible, the supports of the successive ceilings were smaller than those of the ones beneath.” (Morris 1928:389). 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): Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, NM; American Museum of Natural History, New York City, NY

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: High resolution images of the item are archived and available to researchers through the National Park Service, 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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