Perishable: Coiled Basket AMNH 29.0/9962

Summary

Coiled Basket, Accession AMNH29.0, Catalog #9962. Morris FS 3443. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Miniature coiled rush stem basket or start, multiple stitch and wrap. Image: AMNH 29.0/9962 A: miniature coiled basket or start. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 135-2, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 135-2 at the time of excavation is as follows. “A cobblestone-lined firepit, 1 foot 8 inches in diameter and 5 inches deep, occupied the center of the floor of Room 135-2. A masonry wall some 7 inches thick, built above the south set of floor supports, transformed that end of the room into a bin. Above a height of 2 feet this wall was broken down. The bin contained 2 and one-half feet of refuse which thinned down to a depth of 6 to 8 inches along the north wall….On top of the rubbish was some washed and blown earth and thence to the surface, wall debris, containing a few decayed, but unburned, sticks from the second ceiling. In the center of the west wall there was once a doorway, 2 and one-half feet wide and beginning 2 feet 4 inches from the floor level. Eventually the masonry below its south side was torn out to within 6 inches of the floor; lintels were laid across the 1 foot 2 inch opening at the level of the sill; and the original door walled up, leaving a secondary passage, perhaps an entrance, but more probably an air hole.” (Morris1928: 387). 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: 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.

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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