Ceramic: McElmo Black-on-white, bowl, AMNH 29.0/6987

McElmo Black-on-white, bowl, Accession 29.0, Catalog #6987. Morris FS 597. Analyzed by Lori Reed 2004. Temper is diorite porphyry indicating production in central Mesa Verde region. Bowl is roughly 40% complete with restoration using unknown adhesive. Measurements: 30 cm orifice diameter (estimate); unknown height. Image AMNH 29.0/6987 A: exterior view showing horizontal coil handle and unpainted surface. Image AMNH 29.0/6987 B: interior view showing painted design. Recovered from Earl Morris excavation of Room 47, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 47 at the time of excavation is as follows. “A Chaco refuse deposit 5½ to 8 feet deep covered the floor of Room 47. Evidently the waste had been poured in through a hatchway in the center of the ceiling since the accumulation was thickest at that point and sloped thence downward in all directions....[long list of artifacts]…Upon the drift sand immediately overlying the refuse were the rotten ceiling timbers showing no trace of fire…The door in the center of the east wall is 2 feet 3 inches wide, 3 feet 4 inches high, with sill 2 feet 2 inches from the floor. This door is of the recessed type, a shoulder of masonry on either side reducing it to a width of 1 foot 10 inches where it opens into Room 46. The blocked door in the south wall has been described under Room 45. The sill is a thin slab of stone which protrudes 2 inches beyond the masonry. In the northeast corner is a recessed diagonal second story doorway leading into Room 48. On the side of Room 47 it is 3 feet wide, dropping to 1 foot 10 inches at the opposite end. The sill is 2 feet 1 inch above the level of the second floor and 14 feet above the first” (Morris1928: 304).
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.