Perishable: Tumpband AMNH 29.0/8305

Tumpband, Accession AMNH29.0, Catalog #8305. Morris FS 1800. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Yucca tumpband, interlocking and slit-tapestry weave, with diagonal motif. Images: AMNH 29.0/8305A: yucca slit-tapestry tumpband. AMNH 29.0/8305B: other face of yucca slit-tapestry tumpband. AMNH 29.0/8305C: close-up of yucca slit-tapestry tumpband. AMNH 29.0/8305D: close-up of loop at one end. AMNH 29.0/8305E: close-up of loop at other end. AMNH 29.0/8305F: close-up of slits in solid areas and diagonal motifs. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 73, Aztec West Ruin. Morris (1928:313) indicates that “In the northeast corner of the room above Room 73 there had been not over two bushels of refuse, most of it corn tassels, with some corn leaves, still green, but dry as tinder. In the extreme corner, on a small area of the adobe floor which slanted, but had not fallen, were a cloth sandal and an incomplete cloth headband (29.0-8304-8305). Scattered among the dust and wall debris, thence downward to the layer of sand, were five small slabs of wood, a flattened stick painted black, split willow painted red, the forward end of a reed arrow, fragments of rush matting, a cornhusk wrapped pot ring, yucca cord, and a piece of tanned hide (29.0-8579-8586, 8588-8591). It is probable that all of these were originally in the pile of refuse, having become scattered when the ceiling fell. The portions of wooden altar fittings (29.0-8579-8585) may have fallen through the second story doorway from the room above Room 72 to the one above Room 73, or they might have been brought from that chamber by rats.”
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.