Perishable: Shoe Sock, AMNH 29.1/3224_2

Shoe Sock, Accession AMNH29.1, Catalog #3224. Morris FS 3573. CULTURALLY SENSITIVE, NAGPRA ARTIFACT; ACCESS RESTRICTED. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Probable shoe-sock of turkey feather and yucca fiber, simple looping. Images: AMNH 29.1/3224_2A: fragment of looped turkey-feather object, probably a shoe-sock. AMNH 29.1/3224_2B: fragment of looped turkey-feather object, other face. AMNH 29.1/3224_2C:, close-up of looped structure 1. AMNH 29.1/3224_2D: close-up of looped structure 2. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 136-2, Grave 37, 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.