Perishable: Yucca Root AZRU8-2845

Yucca Root, Accession AZRU-00008, Catalog #2845. Morris FS 3740. Analyzed by Laurie Webster, 2006. Yucca root and attached fiber. Some stained a purplish-red. Measurements: L 18.0, W 7.0 CM. Image: AZRU8-2845 A: yucca root and attached fiber. Recovered from Earl Morris' excavation of Room 147, Aztec West Ruin. Earl Morris’ description of Room 147 at the time of excavation is as follows: “the immediate floor covering was a foot of refuse, with Burials Nos. 60 and 61 on the surface of the refuse…[long listing of artifacts]… In each end of the west wall is a ventilator opening and in the north half of the east wall is a hole made by relic hunters…The one ceiling support was a pine trunk extending from north to south. The poles were of cottonwood, spaced in threes, and spanning the entire length of the room. The support broke, first at the center, and again at the north wall. In consequence, the ceiling bagged down more than 2 feet at the central point and probably would have completely fallen during the last forty years, wreaking havoc with the contents of Room 136-2, had not the early visitors to the ruin set up a post with a cap piece beneath the break in the stringer” (Morris 1928:379).
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.

丝兰根（Yucca Root），入藏号（Accession）AZRU-00008，目录编号（Catalog #）2845，标本标识Morris FS 3740。2006年由劳里·韦伯斯特（Laurie Webster）完成分析。该标本包含丝兰根及其附着的纤维，部分样本带有紫红色污渍。尺寸测量数据：长18.0厘米，宽7.0厘米。影像资料编号AZRU8-2845 A：丝兰根及其附着纤维。该标本出土自厄尔·莫里斯（Earl Morris）对阿兹特克西遗址（Aztec West Ruin）147号房址的发掘工作。

厄尔·莫里斯在发掘时对147号房址的描述如下：“该房址的直接地表覆盖层为厚达1英尺的生活垃圾堆积，60号与61号墓葬即位于该堆积的表面……[长串遗物清单略去]……西墙两端各设有一处通风开口，东墙北半段留有盗墓者开凿的孔洞……唯一的天花板支撑结构为一根南北走向的松木树干；屋架横杆由按每组三棵排布的棉白杨（Cottonwood）制成，横跨整个房址的长度。该支撑结构先后于中部和北墙处断裂，导致天花板在中心点处下陷超过2英尺。若非早期到访该遗址的人员在梁木断裂处下方架设了带顶帽的立柱，天花板可能会在发掘后的40年间完全坍塌，对136-2号房址的遗存造成严重破坏”（莫里斯，1928：379）。

参考文献：厄尔·莫里斯（Earl Morris），1928年，《阿兹特克遗址发掘笔记》，第26卷第5部分，《美国自然历史博物馆人类学论文集》，纽约。