Perishable: Plaited Mat AMNH 29.0/6792

Plaited Mat, Accession AMNH29.0, Catalog #6792. Morris FS 402. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Plaited mat, 2/2 twill, some 3-span floats. Image: AMNH 29.0/6792A: plaited matting. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Kiva D, Aztec West Ruin. Morris describes Kiva D as having “been burned before its original contents were removed….Quantities of charcoal covered the floor. The adobe from the roof was fused in places and in others burned to the consistency of brick. The space above was filled by fallen masonry” he also indicates that the bodies of four individuals were in the kiva at the time of burning. “Pottery vessels and other objects were scattered about on the floor and on the banquettes as if left where convenience dictated by those accustomed to frequent the chamber” (Earl Morris 1916-1923 unpublished “Kiva Notes”; on file at Aztec Ruins National Monument, Aztec, New Mexico).
Earl Morris, 1924, Burials in the Aztec Ruin and the Aztec Ruin Annex, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History Vol. XXVI, Parts III and IV, American Museum of Natural History, New York.