The Aztec Ruin

Morris’ 1919 monograph summarizes the material culture recovered during excavation of Aztec West Ruin. Morris provides descriptions and illustrations of numerous artifacts including textiles, bone tools, pottery, stone tools, and ornaments. “This volume is devoted to reports upon archeological investigations in and about a large Pueblo ruin near the town of Aztec, New Mexico. A large portion of this ruin, now a part of the Aztec Ruin National Monument, was uncovered and carefully studied and some of the results are presented in the following pages. These investigations were undertaken as one phase of the Archer M. Huntington Survey in the Southwest, the objective in this case being the intensive study of a large Pueblo site. The ruin was the property of Mr. H. D. Abrams from whom the Museum obtained permission to make excavations, provided the walls were left in good condition and so braced as to ensure their standing intact for several years. In 1920 the ruin and its immediate surroundings were purchased by the Museum with funds furnished by Mr. Huntington and two years later the property was deeded to the United States for designation as a National Monument which it became by proclamation of President Warren G. Harding, January, 1923” (Morris 1919:7).