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- Melongena Shell Pendant, Alternate View 2
Description: Melongena patula with the umbilical end ground off and a perforation at the lip opposite the spire. Dimensions: L 2, Diam 2 in. Provenience: Lower Ruin Collection: WACC, Tonto National Monument (Catalog No. TONT 1020). - Memorial Day, 1966
Subject: A busy Memorial Day at Tuzigoot National Monument. Date: May 31, 1966 Collection: Tuzigoot National Monument. - Mesquite (Prosopis spp.)
Common name: Mesquite Scientific name: Prosopis spp. Description: Mesquite is a relatively common tree in the southern Southwest, with a variety of species present as far north as the Verde Valley in Arizona. The tree grows relatively quickly, has catkin-like clusters of leaves, and sweet-smelling bead pods. The pods are either sweet or bitter depending on the variety. Uses: Mesquite has been an important food source for indigenous peoples. The Tohono O’odham (Papago) are on the verge of commercial success with this crop. Mesquite flour also has major conservation potential, in that it can be made into “bread” without baking. The Pima have traditionally crushed and soaked mesquite pods in water to produce a drink called vau. Mesquite wood is hard, attractive, and in high demand for quality furniture. Mesquite has recently surpassed hickory as the most popular smoke flavoring for food. Because of the overharvesting, its wood should not be used for this purpose; burning dried pods imparts the same flavor. Both indigenous peoples and early European/American settlers used the tree's inner bark as material for basketry, coarse fabrics, and medicine to treat a variety of disorders. Gum exuded from the stem is used for manufacture of candy (gumdrops), mucilage for mending pottery, and black dye. - Metal Ring
Cultural Period: Historic (late 1500s – 1950) Description: Metal (iron?) ring, heavily rusted and function unknown. Provenience: 10 feet east of the trail leading down from the mesa top. Collection: National Park Service, El Morro. - Metal Ring
Cultural Period: Historic (late 1500s - 1950) Description: Ferrous metal ring. Provenience: Unknown. Collection: National Park Service, El Morro. - Metal Ring, Alternate View
Cultural Period: Historic (late 1500s - 1950) Description: Ferrous metal ring. Provenience: Unknown. Collection: National Park Service, El Morro. - Metal Semi-circular Object
Cultural Period: Historic (late 1500s - 1950) Description: Ferrous metal semi-circular object. Provenience: Unknown. Collection: National Park Service, El Morro. - Metate
Description: Overturned large metate lying on the floor of a room in Nalakihu Pueblo. Date: 1933-1934. Collection: Wupatki National Monument (Catalog No. WUPA 19845). - Metate and Mano
Description: Vesicular basalt metate and a vesicular basalt bifacial rectangular mano with slightly rounded corners and a broken edge. Dimensions: 56.6 x 49.6 x 22.3 cm (metate; outer); 56.5 x 26.7 x 13.4 cm (metate; inner); 17.8 x 10.2 x 2.8 cm (mano). Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card - metate; catalog card - mano). - Mexican Blue Oak (Quercus oblongifolia)
Common name: Blue Oak Scientific name: Quercus oblongifolia Uses: Acorns (nuts) widely eaten as food by Acoma, Apache, Cocopah, Gosiute, Havasupai, Hualapai, Laguna, Mohave, Navajo, Papago, Pima, Southern Paiute, Tewa, Uintah Ute, Yavapai, and Yuma. Variously used for making tools/tool parts (digging sticks, handles, etc.), ceremonial/ritual purposes, and as a tannin (Apache). Sap may also be used as chewing gum or as an adhesive (Navajo). - Midden (Trash)
Along this side of the pueblo, people repeatedly dumped their trash, forming a midden. Refuse tells us much of what we know about past life. Each layer of food debris yields facts about diet, nutrition, and changing reliance on resources throughout the history of the village. Broken pottery and worn out tools reveal relative dates of occupation and technological changes through time. When Wupatki was excavated, artifacts and food remains were collected and stored but not studied for years. Today, rather than excavating new material, we study old collections to learn how people altered or managed plant and animal populations to their advantage. This midden has not been excavated. Walking off trail here, or through any midden, mixes the upper layer of trash with lower levels, destroying the context that is so important to understanding past lifeways. - Mimbres Black-on-white (Style II) Sherd
Description: Mimbres Black-on-white (Style II) sherd. Collection: Northern Arizona University Ceramic Laboratory Comparative Collection. - Mimbres Black-on-white (Style II) Sherd
Description: Mimbres Black-on-white (Style II) sherd. Collection: Northern Arizona University Ceramic Laboratory Comparative Collection. - Mimbres Black-on-white (Style III) Sherd
Description: Mimbres Black-on-white sherd. Collection: Northern Arizona University Ceramic Laboratory Comparative Collection. - Mimbres Style III Bowl
Rotate Description: Mimbres Style III bowl with a geometric pattern. Collection: Museum of Northern Arizona.