- Yucca Quid
Description: Yucca quid (chewed fibers/leaves). Dimensions: (left) 2.06 cm, (center)1.37 cm, (right) 2.86 cm. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Wolfberry (Lycium spp.)
Common names: Wolfberry, Boxthorn Scientific name: Lycium spp. Description: A medium-sized woody shrub with small, grouped thick narrow leaves, small white to light purple flowered, and bright orange-red berries. Uses: The berries may be dried and eaten as a snack or processed into sauces and/or jams. - Velvet Mesquite (Prosopis velutina)
Common names: Mesquite Scientific name: Prosopis velutina Description: A common desert tree with catkin-like clusters of greenish-yellow flowers from April to June. The flowers are followed by long sweet-smelling bean pods. Dye: Black from the sap. Weaving: The shredded inner bark woven into baskets. Other uses: Food such as 'pinole' meal-cakes and tea. - Unworked Bone
Description: Unworked deer metapodial. Dimensions: Approximately 27.25 cm long Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center. - Squash-shell Scoop, Alternate View
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan, Atsinna Pueblo (A.D. 1275 – mid-1300s) Description: Scoop made from the hard shell of a cucurbit (squash). Provenience: LA 99 (Atsinna Pueblo). Collection: National Park Service, El Morro. - Squash-shell Scoop
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan, Atsinna Pueblo (A.D. 1275 – mid-1300s) Description: Scoop made from the hard shell of a cucurbit (squash). Provenience: LA 99 (Atsinna Pueblo). Collection: National Park Service, El Morro. - Squash Stem
Description: Squash stem. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center. - Shrub Live-Oak (Quercus turbinella)
Common name: Live Oak Scientific name: Quercus turbinella 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). - Saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea)
Common name: Saguaro Scientific name: Carnegiea gigantea Description: A towering cactus with upraised "arms," large white flowers, and red fruit. Dye: None. Other uses: The saguaro fruit is an important seasonal food, available after the season called the “Painful Moon” or “Hunger Hurting Moon.” The beginning of the Tohono O’odham and Piman year is haashañ bahidag mashad, the “Saguaro Harvest Moon.” In June and early July, O’odham live in temporary camps in the saguaro forests and conduct the saguaro fruit harvest (hasañ bahidaj). Women use poles made from saguaro ribs to knock down saguaro fruits. The pulp is boiled down to a syrup and prepared as a wine that is consumed during the rainmaking ceremony. The seeds may be dried for a winter snack, or ground into flour and made into a gruel. The Pima have traditionally dried the fruit and prepared it as jam and syrup - ground seeds were mixed with grains to make a porridge or peanut butter-like paste. - Roasted Agave Hearts
Subject: Roasted agave hearts. - Raw Cotton
Description: Raw cotton. Dimensions: Unknown. Collection: On display at the Tuzigoot National Monument Visitor Center (catalog card). - Pumpkin Rind
Description: Pumpkin rind. Dimensions: Approximately 7.2 cm long x 5.1 cm wide. Collection: On display at the Montezuma Castle National Monument Visitor Center. - Prickly Pear (Opuntia spp.)
Common name: Prickly Pear Scientific name: Opuntia spp. Description: A variety of prickly pear species grow in the Southwest, all with large fleshy pads and dark red to purple fruits. Dye: Ground up cochineal (a scale insect that feeds on prickly pear) were processed by native peoples to create red or purple textile dyes. In Europe this color of dye was so rare that only royalty could afford it. In some kingdoms the colors “royal purple”(derived from a sea cucumber) and, after discovery of the New World, royal crimson from cochineal, were reserved for the king by law. Cultivation and export of cochineal dye became a major economic activity, and its source was kept secret for many years. Other uses: Pads and fruit may be prepared as food or beverage by Acoma, Apache, Laguna, Cochiti, Havasupai, Hopi, Isleta, Navajo, Papago, Pima. Isleta have used dried pulp for candlemaking. Also used for medicinal/ceremonial/symbolic purposes by several groups. - Prehistoric Corn, Beans, and Squash
Description: 800-year-old agricultural foods from Wupatki Pueblo. Collection: On display at Wupatki National Monument. - Prehistoric Corn Cobs
Cultural Period: Ancestral Puebloan Description: Twenty-one prehistoric corn cob fragments and two corn kernels discovered in the El Morro collection and cataloged in 1984. Provenience: Unknown. Collection: National Park Service, El Morro.