Perishable: Willow Mat AMNH 29.0/9926

Willow Mat, Accession AMNH29.0, Catalog #9926. Morris FS 3410. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Sewn mat of willow wood and yucca fiber. Image: AMNH 29.0/9926A: sewn willow mat. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 134-2, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 134-2 at the time of excavation is as follows. “In the center of the floor of Room 134-2 was a fireplace, 1 foot 7 inches in diameter and 7 inches deep. A bin 2 and one-half feet square occupied the southwest corner. The east and west walls, as well as those of the room forming the other side, were of sandstone. The door in the center of the west wall, 2 feet 5 inches wide, 4 feet high, with sill 2 feet from the floor, had been sealed from the side of this room….There was a meager amount of refuse on the floor, thickest adjacent to the bin…. In the debris above the refuse were cottonwood poles and cedar splints from the ceiling, and fragments of ornamental willow matting.” (Morris1928: 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.