Perishable: Plaited Mat AMNH 29.0-8956

Plaited Mat, Accession AMNH29.0, Catalog #8956. Morris FS 2450. CULTURALLY SENSITIVE, NAGPRA ARTIFACT; ACCESS RESTRICTED. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Incomplete plaited 2/2 twill rush mat. Images: AMNH 29.0-8956A: incomplete 2-2 plaited rush mat. AMNH 29.0-8956B: close-up of intricate selvage showing S-twining. AMNH 29.0-8956C: close-up of rounded corner showing dark end of element in selvage. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 95, Grave 20, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 95 at the time of excavation is as follows. “From 7 to 10 feet from the floor of Room 95 in the masonry portion of the fill were various stone artifacts…. must have come from the third floor. Refuse covered the entire area of the first floor. Along the west wall it was from 4 to 6 inches in depth. From the northwest to the northeast corners, it gradually increased to a depth of 1 and one-half feet. Toward the center of the south wall it became progressively thicker from all directions, reaching a maximum depth of 3 and one-half feet. [Description of artifacts]…. Above the refuse, from the line of the doors to the west wall, was a layer of washed sand 2 to 5 inches thick….The ceiling of Room 95 had been supported by three pine logs, running north and south. The two western logs fell long before the eastern one gave way. The timbers of the western two-thirds of the ceiling were completely decayed. The eastern beam either rotted or broke off close to the south wall. As it was forced downward, the leverlike action of the opposite end, together with the similarly exerted force of the corresponding timber in Room 94, completely demolished the north wall down to within 23 feet of the floor….[Description of doorways]. There are ventilators in each end of both north and south walls." (Morris1928: 347-349).
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. Also see: Earl Morris, 1924, Burials in the Aztec Ruin, Volume XXVI, Part III, Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History, New York.