Ceramic: McElmo Black-on-white, duck effigy pitcher, AZRU1-856

Summary

McElmo Black-on-white, duck effigy pitcher, Accession AZRU-00001 Catalog #856. Morris FS 5416. Analyzed by Lori Reed 2011. Vessel is only 80% complete with 50% of the original pitcher and about 30% reconstructed with unknown plaster material. Measurements: 2.5 cm orifice diameter, 7.5 cm height from base to ducks back, 13 cm height from base to top of handle. Sherd and crushed rock temper is inconclusive as to production locale. Image AZRU1-856 A: side view. Image AZRU1-856 B: anterior (front) view. Image AZRU1-856 C: top view showing orifice. AZRU1-856 D: top view showing orifice. Recovered from Earl Morris excavation of Room 181, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 181 at the time of excavation is as follows. “….considerable deposit of refuse…[continuing] well above the level of the third story…[Of the items found in the refuse deposits in the room] only two of the specimens are of special interest. One is a bird effigy of which the head was not found, the only one of its kind the writer has observed among later wares. The other, is the top of another bird effigy with head, wings, and tail in relief, and a T-shaped hole in the back…In the debris above the refuse was charcoal from a burned ceiling, presumably the third.” (Morris 1928:373) 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

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.

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.

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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