Perishable: Coiled Basket, AMNH 29.1/3222

Coiled Basket, Accession AMNH29.1, Catalog #3222. Morris FS 3582. CULTURALLY SENSITIVE, NAGPRA ARTIFACT; ACCESS RESTRICTED. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Decorated, 2 rod and welt/bundle, bunched coiled basket base of sumac or willow, and yucca. Images: AMNH 29.1/3222A: decorated coiled basket base. AMNH 29.1/3222B: decorated coiled basket, side view. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 136-2, Grave 40, 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. For Burial Description see 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.