Perishable: Willow Mat AMNH 29.0/8063

Willow Mat, Accession AMNH29.0, Catalog #8063. Morris FS 1613. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Sewn willow mat, yucca fiber, mounted to board. Images: AMNH 29.0/8063A: sewn willow mat mounted to board. AMNH 29.0/8063B: close-up of one side showing knotted cord. AMNH 29.0/8063C: close-up of one corner showing flush ends of elements. AMNH 29.0/8063D: close-up of one end showing flush ends of elements (note modern twine). Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 99, Ceiling E, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ (1928:354) description of Room 99 at the time of excavation is as follows: “The north wall, in which there was a ventilator in each end, had settled and split, throwing almost the entire veneer course down to the foundation into and across the chamber. This took place before any of the ceiling gave way, as shown by fragments of willow mats and poles standing vertically against the exposed core of the wall. Two pine logs, crossing the shorter dimension of the room, had been the ceiling support. The small poles were of pine. Introduced between them and the splints was an ornamental finish, such as has been observed in but one other first story ceiling (Room 93). This was composed of slender willows, peeled and graded to size, and made into mats by being pierced at regular intervals and strung on yucca cords. To equalize the taper, half of the twigs were reversed, that is, each one lay with butt paralleling the tip of the next. The range of size of the mats recovered is from 2 feet 7 inches by 3 feet 9 inches to 3 feet 34 inch by 4 feet 11 inches. These mats were laid with ends and edges overlapping. The western part of the ceiling fell long before the rest, and, as a result, the mats it contained were torn and broken, and having been in contact with earth, were badly decayed.”
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.