Ceramic: Chaco-McElmo Black-on-white, bowl, AMNH 29.0/6898

Chaco-McElmo Black-on-white, bowl, Accession 29.0, Catalog #6898. Morris FS 505. Analyzed by Lori Reed 2004. Temper is sand and sherd in a well-fired paste suggesting production in the Chaco Cibola region. Bowl is restored with unknown adhesive but roughly 30% is missing. Measurements: 24.5 cm orifice diameter; 9.5 cm height. Image AMNH 29.0/6898 A: closeup of interior design. Image AMNH 29.0/6898 B: interior view showing full design layout. Note: exterior surface is slipped and unpainted. Recovered from Earl Morris excavation of Room 44, Aztec West Ruin. Morris found that “A terrific fire had raged in Room 44. The chamber had been filled to a depth of from 10 to 15 feet with refuse containing a large proportion of vegetable substance. After combustion, this mass had been reduced in bulk to a depth of 7 feet. The heat generated had been intense. In places adobe clods had been melted and fused and sandstones had been burned to a brick red. Eleven black-on-white bowls, a dipper, potsherds, a grooved ax, a chipped knife blade, and a mammal bone awl (29.0- 6894-6909) were recovered. Among the animal bones from this room, skulls of deer and mountain sheep were conspicuous. The fragments of a number of pottery vessels were sorted from the large quantity of sherds recovered. All are of Mesa Verde type” (Morris 1928:296).
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.