Ceramic: McElmo Black-on-white, ladle, AZRU-00001/805

McElmo Black-on-white, small ladle, Accession AZRU-00001, Catalog #805, Morris FS 4653. Analyzed by Lori Reed 2006. Temper is tentatively identified as granular igneous and sand suggesting production at Aztec. Ladle is 100% complete. Measurements: 10 cm bowl diameter, 18.2 cm length from handle to bowl rim. Image AZRU1-805 A: view showing interior design and handle design. Recovered from Earl Morris excavation of Room 43, Aztec West Ruin. Morris indicated that “two floor levels were found in Room 43. In the center of the upper floor was a fire pit lined with sandstone. Between the floors were 3- feet of refuse containing some fallen wall stones and timbers, large pine logs, small round poles, and cedar splints, composing the full quota of wooden elements for a ceiling. This refuse was a Chaco deposit from which came a mammal bone awl and a ladle of black-on-white ware (Field Nos. 4230, 4653) and numerous potsherds. Burial 81 was beneath the lower floor. West of the center of the south wall is a blocked and almost obliterated door. Built up in the room against it was a masonry ventilator shaft, like those with which kivas were equipped, extending down to the lower floor.” (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.