Storage jar

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Description

This Mesa Verde Black on white ceramic storage jar or olla was most likely made to store water. It is has a neck that is slightly flaring and painted with black rim ticks. Around the neck are designs believed to be representative of turkey tracks. The jar appears to have been mended at its time of use, as there are holes drilled and a yucca strand holding the object together.

Object Information

Date Created:

1180-1280

Local ID:

O.256.1

Collection:

A. Wetherill Collection

Provenance:

While chasing stray cattle on December 18, 1888, Richard Wetherill and his brother-in-law, Charlie Mason, “rediscovered” Cliff Palace. During the winter of 1888–89 they, along with other Wetherill brothers and friends, unearthed hundreds of artifacts from Cliff Palace and other Mesa Verde cliff dwellings. After the Smithsonian declined to purchase the collection, the State Historical and Natural History Society (today’s History Colorado) did acquire it for $3,000. The purchase price of $3,000 was $1,500 more than the entire State appropriation to the Society for that year, so three Society members took out bank notes for the additional $1,500 needed. The collection comes largely from Johnson, Grass, Moccasin, Webber, and Mancos Canyons. The Wetherill Collection consists of more than 1,300 ceramic, stone, bone, and perishable materials, testament to the thriving culture of the ancestral Pueblo people who lived in southwest Colorado for centuries.

Place of Creation/Discovery:

Mesa Verde

Count:

Cultural Attribution:

Ancestral Puebloan

Rights:

No Copyright-United States