- Grant Negative 37
Subject: Baskets and woven mats, Montezuma Castle National Monument. Date: ca. mid-1940s Collection: WACC: Montezuma Castle/Well. - Matting and Basket Fragments
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan, Atsinna Pueblo (A.D. 1275 – mid-1300s) Description: This mount contains the remains of three different perishable artifacts. The upper left is a rim fragment of a wicker basket. Laurie Webster, of the University of Arizona, describes this basket as having a 1/1 interlaced weave structure with a multiple-element warp, and a rim selvage with 360 degree wrapping around a group of perhaps four twigs. Each warp twig is 1.5 - 1.8 mm in diameter, and the warp channel is approximately 2.0 cm wide. The weft consists of a single twig, 1.0 mm in diameter. There are eight rows of weft per cm. The second artifact (bottom left) consists of the partial base of a wickerwork basket identified by Laurie Webster as having a 1/1 interlacing weave structure with a multiple-element warp. Of the six warp channels in the outermost row of the basket, three contain two twigs and four contain three twigs. The average width of the warp channels is 2.0 cm. The diameter of each warp twig is approximately 2.0 mm, and each weft twig is between 1.5 and 2.0 mm. The basket has seven weft rows per cm. Archaeobotanist Karen Adams identified the raw material as possibly oak (Quercus sp.). A brown substance with off-white specks adhering to the upper surface of the basket may be food residue. The fragments on the right are part of a large, deteriorated, consolidated mat-like object. Laurie Webster identified the weave structure as 1/1 plaiting, and Karen Adams identified the raw material as five-to-ten year old split oak (Quercus sp.) stems. The warp elements are 4.0-6.0 mm in diameter and spaced about 2.0 cm apart, and the weft elements are about 6.0 mm wide and spaced about 2.0 cm apart. Dimensions: 4.5 cm-long by 5.5 cm-wide (upper left); 7.3 cm by 11.0 cm (bottom left); 9.0 cm long and 21.0 cm wide (largest fragment on the right). Provenience: LA 99 (Atsinna Pueblo), RM 17, Fill. Collection: National Park Service, El Morro. - Matting Fragment
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan, Atsinna Pueblo (A.D. 1275 – mid-1300s) Description: Laurie Webster, of the University of Arizona, identified this artifact as a coarse plaited wicker mat-like object. The warp elements are 5.0-6.0 mm in diameter and 1.5-2.0 cm apart, and the weft elements are 5.0-6.0 mm wide and 5.0-6.0 mm apart. Archaeobotanist Karen Adams identified the raw material as five-to-ten year old split oak (Quercus sp.) stems. Dimensions: 16.0 cm long and 16.5 cm wide. Provenience: LA 99 (Atsinna Pueblo), RM 17, Fill. Collection: National Park Service, El Morro. - Coiled Basket Fragments
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan, Atsinna Pueblo (A.D. 1275 – mid-1300s) Description: Fragments of a close-coiled basketry bowl identified by Laurie Webster, of the University of Arizona, as having a two-rod and bundle foundation and non-interlocking stitches. The rods are 2.0 mm in diameter, and the stitches average 1.5 mm in width. The weave density is two to three rows and five to six stitches per cm. Archaeobotanist Karen Adams identified the rods and stitches as sumac (Rhus sp., probably , aromatic, and the bundle (technically a welt in this basket) appears to be a twisted yucca leaf. Dimensions: 6.5 long x 21.0 wide cm, 4.0 wide x 16.0 long cm, 3.8 wide x 16.8 long cm, and 2.5 long x 13.0 wide cm. Provenience: LA 99 (Atsinna Pueblo), RM 17, Fill. Collection: National Park Service, El Morro. - Beargrass (Nolina microcarpa)
Common names: Beargrass Scientific name: Nolina microcarpa Description: Beargrass is a large clumping grass with narrow fibrous leaves. Dye: None. Other uses: Widely used in basket and/or mat weaving. - Woven Yucca Matting
Description: Woven yucca matting. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: Navajo National Monument. - Woven Tray
Description: Woven tray. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: Navajo National Monument. - Sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri)
Common name: Sotol Scientific name: Dasylirion wheeleri Uses: Until a few decades ago, the Tohono O’odham (Papago) wove beautiful sleeping mats by plaiting together sotol leaves after removing marginal teeth. - Yucca Matting
Description: Yucca matting with twilled weave (over three, under three fine weave). Dimensions: 11.5 x 7 cm. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Prepared Grass
Description: Prepared grass, coarsely worked and folded back on itself several times. Dimensions: L 7.2, W 6.5 , T 4.5 cm. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Twilled Weave with Remnants of Cordage
Description: Yucca matting made with a twilled weave with a piece of cordage attached to the matting. The cord is made of 2 z-spun yarns s-twisted together. At one end a very short length of another cord is attached with a square knot and the loose ends were then twisted back around the cord. Dimensions: 8 3/4 in by 7 in. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Twilled Weave, Close-up
Description: Yucca matting made with a twilled weave with a piece of cordage attached to the matting. The cord is made of 2 z-spun yarns s-twisted together. At one end a very short length of another cord is attached with a square knot and the loose ends were then twisted back around the cord. Dimensions: 8 3/4 in by 7 in. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Matting
Description: Matting made from the common sotol (Dasylirion wheeleri sp.), or possibly yucca. Two edges remain intact. Dimensions: Approximately 15.5 x 14.5 cm. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 479). - Pot Rest
Description: Woven yucca pot rest. Dimensions: 2.6 cm tall; Diam 12.3 cm. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. MOCA 1747). - Yucca Basketry
Description: A basketry artifact made of yucca. Dimensions: 7.5 cm. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center (Catalog No. 140 or 1578).