Perishable: Reed Mat AZRU8-1812

Reed Mat, Accession AZRU-00008, Catalog #1812. Morris FS 5281. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Large piece of a twined phragmites mat. Elements joined by 7 rows of twining. Measurements: L 74.5, W 40.0 CM (incl cords). Images: AZRU8-1812 A: twined reed mat. AZRU8-1812 B: detail of cordage wrapped around reeds and row of twining. AZRU8-1812C: Detail. AZRU8-1812 D: detail of wrapped cordage. AZRU8-1812 E: detail showing diagonally cut ends of some reeds. AZRU8-1812 F: detail showing doubled and tripled rows of twining cords. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 189, Aztec West Ruin. Morris noted that Room 189 “contained the largest quantity of perishable objects from the Chaco period that have to date been taken from any chamber in the western half of the pueblo. [Later occupants] laid down a 1 to 3 inch floor of adobe upon the earlier refuse and a bin was built up in the northwest corner” (Morris1928:371).
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.