Perishable: Twined Sandal and Ceremonial Stick AMNH 29.0/8793

Twined Sandal and Ceremonial Stick, Accession AMNH29.0, Catalog #8793. Morris FS 2284. CULTURALLY SENSITIVE, NAGPRA ARTIFACT; ACCESS RESTRICTED. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Yucca fiber twined sandal fragment fused to a wood ceremonial stick, 2-strand twining (S). Images: AMNH 29.0/8793A: twined sandal fragment fused to ceremonial stick. AMNH 29.0/8793B: close-up of twined sandal fragment. AMNH 29.0/8793C: ceremonial stick adhering to twined sandal. AMNH 29.0/8793D: ceremonial stick adhering to twined sandal, other face. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 111, Grave 25, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 111 at the time of excavation is as follows. “Refuse had been poured into Room 111 through a stair tunnel, presumably like that described under Room 92, in the west end of the south wall. Directly beneath the opening the accumulation was 4 feet deep, sloping down to 2 ½ feet at the northwest corner, and 1 ½ feet across the east end…The wares from the refuse deposit were of Chaco type, but the majority of the vessels from the burial level were clearly and distinctly later. However, there were some possessing characters distinctive of both periods and the largest proportion of black Tularosa ware which has been observed in the entire ruin. A thick pine log had been set into the refuse 5 feet from the west wall and 2½ feet from the south, as if to hold up the south end of the western ceiling support” (Morris 1928:355).
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. Also see: Earl Morris, 1924, Burials in the Aztec Ruin, Volume XXVI, Part III, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.