Perishable: Corn Tassels/Yucca Chains AZRU8-780

Corn Tassels and Yucca Chains, Accession AZRU-00008, Catalog #780. Morris FS 3654. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Mass of corn tassels tied in yucca-leaf chains, 4-5 tassels per chain. Tassels arranged butt to tip. Links tied with overhand knots and a few square knots. Measurements: Each link approx 2.0 CM in diameter. Catalog card indicates original combined length of fragments was approx 30 ft. (9 meters), and that the lengths of the broken chains range from 7.6 M to 2.0 M. Images: AZRU8-780 A: corn tassels and broken yucca chains 1. AZRU8-780 AA: overall view of corn tassels and broken yucca chains. AZRU8-780 B: detail of corn tassels enclosed by yucca chain tied in square knot. AZRU8-780 BB: detail of yucca chain. AZRU8-780 C: corn tassels and broken yucca chains. Image AZRU8-780 CC: mass of corn tassels and broken yucca chains. AZRU8-D thru AZRU8-ZZ: details of corn tassels and enclosed by broken yucca chains. (Total of 37 images for this artifact.) Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 136-2, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 136-2 at the time of excavation is as follows: “A great quantity of Mesa Verde refuse had been cast into Room 136-2 and evenly distributed, its upper limit being nearly level at a height of 3½ feet from the floor. There was a predominant proportion of organic matter, mostly vegetable, and owing to the air space afforded by the open room beneath (Room 147) and to the 5 to 10 feet of debris above, preservation of perishable, objects was practically perfect, except in the upper 3 to 6 inches which had been moistened by rain water before the ceilings above gave way…At the center of the room, beginning 1½ feet from the floor, was about one-half cubic yard of corn tassels (Fig. 24). The tips of the plants had been broken off and tied into bouquet-shaped bundles, as flowers might be…” (Morris 1928:380).
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.