Perishable: Yucca Band AZRU8-2834

Yucca Band, Accession AZRU-00008, Catalog #2834. Morris FS 5521. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Long narrow band of yucca cordage, now broken but ends originally tied together. Original center section worked in spaced rows of overhand knots. Ends terminate in a 3-strand braid. Probably served as a tumpband. See photos of replication of the weave. Measurements: L 85.0 CM, W 2.0 CM. Images: AZRU8-2834 A: yucca band with spaced rows of knotting and braided end. AZRU8-2834 B: detail of braided end. AZRU8-2834 C: detail of knotted rows. AZRU8-2834 D: replication loosened up 2. AZRU8-2834 E: replication of row of knotting. AZRU8-2834 F: replication of row of knotting, loosened up. AZRU8-2834 G: replication, other face. AZRU8-2834 H: row of knotting, loosened up. AZRU8-2834 I: row of knotting, tightened up. AZRU8-2834 J: transition from knotted band to braid 1. AZRU8-2834 K: transition from knotted band to braid 2. AZRU8-2834 L: transition from knotted band to braid 3. AZRU8-2834 M: twelve elements folded over a row of spaced knots, then all braided together into a 3-strand braid. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 193, Aztec West Ruin. For Room 193 Morris described typical architectural features and “refuse that had been deposited on the second floor, including fragments of a considerable number of very fine medium-sized water jars and mugs that were shattered, possibly intentionally, judging from their number and the fact that they were practically new and of the same potter. Another atypical Chaco water jar had the entire surface completely hidden by a coat of lacquer bearing an elaborate design in yellow, red, and black” (Morris 1928:362).
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.