Ceramic: Mesa Verde Black-on-white, mug, AZRU1-830

Mesa Verde Black-on-white, mug globular shaped, Accession AZRU-00001 Catalog #830. Morris FS 3940. CULTURALLY SENSITIVE: NAGPRA ARTIFACT; ACCESS RESTRICTED. Analyzed by Lori Reed 2011. Temper is sherd and porphyritic igneous rock suggesting manufacture in the central Mesa Verde region. Vessel is 75% complete. Half of the rim is a reconstruction with unknown plaster material and handle is missing. Measurements: 7.5 cm rim diameter, 9 cm height. Image AZRU1-830 A: top view showing orifice and design. Image AZRU1-830 B: view of mug base. Image AZRU1-830 C: handle side of mug. Image AZRU1-830 D: front view showing design. Recovered from Earl Morris excavation of Room 150, Burial 43, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 150 at the time of excavation is as follows. “It is probable that Room 150 was not a part of the original plan of the pueblo, having been added at a later time. …. the walls are massively and excellently constructed, the northern one containing ornamental bands of dark green stone. The ultimate floor….was hard packed from much use. Upon it in the southwest corner was Burial No 43 and in the northwest, Burial No. 44. In the first foot of fill was some thoroughly decayed refuse and thence upward only wall debris and drifted earth. The pottery from the burials and the sherds from the refuse are of the Mesa Verde complex. Beneath the last floor, artificial material extends more than three feet. In pits cut into it were Burials Nos. 45 and 46. This subfloor fill is composed of wall material and sandy earth containing some refuse and decayed ceiling timbers. …. Parts of the skeletons of one adult and two children were observed. Originally, there were two doorways, one at the center of the north wall, the other similarly situated in the south…." (Morris 1928: 401-402) Reference: Earl Morris, 1928, Notes on Excavations in the Aztec Ruin, Volume XXVI, Part V. See Burial Description in Earl Morris, 1924, Burials in the Aztec Ruin and the Aztec Ruin Annex, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History Vol. XXVI, Parts III and IV, American Museum of Natural History, New York. Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.