Arizona State Museum Curator's Choice

Sosi Black-on-white Jar

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 12:00:00 -0700

ca. 1070–1180 CE
Anasazi (Ancestral Pueblo), Pueblo II period

This Ancestral Pueblo jar excavated almost a century ago in northeastern Arizona is called Sosi Black-on-white. What does this name mean, and how did the system now used to classify Southwest pottery arise?
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Roman Imperial Ceramic Oil Lamp

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 12:00:00 -0700

Late first to second century CE
Egypt, Ptolemaic period

Once an indispensable item in every Mediterranean household, oil lamps reflected the cultures that produced them. Take a look at an example or two from Roman-era Egypt in Arizona State Museum's collection.
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Polychrome Coiled Basketry Bowl

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:50:47 -0700

ca. 1860–1900
Gabrieleño / Fernandeño (Tongva)

A worn utilitarian object with more than a century’s dust becomes, in its new home, a beautiful link to the Native peoples of Los Angeles.
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Helping to Protect Arizona's Archaeological Heritage

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Mon, 13 Aug 2012 18:00:00 -0700

There are more than 100,000 recorded archaeological sites in Arizona. Who administers the laws that protect sites on state lands and also human remains on both state and private lands? The Arizona State Museum.
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Pack of Playing Cards from Taos Pueblo

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:00:00 -0700

1961
Taos Pueblo

These hand-made cards look something like modern playing cards, but there are many differences. The number of cards isn't right, some designs are repeated, and they are too floppy to play with. Was the maker playing with a full deck? ASM gives you the real deal.
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Tonto Polychrome Olla

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:00:00 -0700

ca. 1340–1450 C.E.
Salado

This is a beautiful example of a type of pottery that spread quite quickly and widely throughout what is now the southern part of the U.S. Southwest and northern Mexico beginning in the late 1200s. We believe it tells a story of migration and cultural integration.
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"Hot" Chocolate Cylinder Jar

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:00:00 -0700

2009
Cochiti Pueblo, New Mexico

Special jars of this shape found in archaeological digs at Chaco Canyon, NM, are thought to have held chocolate beverages during rituals of renewal. What makes us think so? And why might Pueblo artist Diego Romero have decorated this modern jar with flying saucers and coyotes? (They weren't found on the prehistoric jars.)
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Let's Make Camp: How to Outfit an Expedition

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:00:00 -0700

First half of 20th century

What would you take on an archaeological expedition? Hint: you'll need more than a bullwhip and a fedora.
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Tracking the Legend of Bigfoot

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:00:00 -0700

Second half of 20th Century

Is this cast a footprint of the legendary Bigfoot? How did the legend arise?
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Japanese Samurai Helmet and Half Mask

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:00:00 -0700

Edo Period (1603–1867), possibly earlier
Japanese

How is this armor from 17th century Japan better than that used by European knights? And what does it have to do with George Lucas’s Star Wars?
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Conch Shell Trumpet

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 12:00:00 -0700

ca. 1300–1450 C.E.
Hohokam

This conch shell was found in the Sonoran Desert. Where did it come from? How do we know it was used as a trumpet?
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Historic Photo of Archaeologists

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 12:00:00 -0700

1932

Who are these men? What are they doing on that cliff? And how does Arizona State Museum fit into the picture?
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Chinese Tea Cup Found in Tucson

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Fri, 11 Mar 2011 23:00:00 -0700

ca. 1862–1873 C.E.
Chinese

What do one of China’s most famous and beloved historical novels and the Tucson Urban Renewal Project have in common? This small Chinese porcelain tea cup decorated with scenes from The Story of the Stone, written ca. 1760, was found in a trash-filled privy pit in downtown Tucson. It was collected by the museum’s Tucson Urban Renewal Project, directed by archaeologist James E. Ayres, in the late 1960s.
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Prizewinning Baskets

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:00:00 -0700

20th Century
O’odham

We will host the Southwest Indian Art Fair this month and along with it a juried art competition. These baskets are prize-winners, but their awards were bestowed long before ASM’s first competition 15 years ago.
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Oosik

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 13:00:00 -0700

Probably 20th Century
Probably from Alaska

An oosik is the penis bone of a walrus. Although impressive in its own right, its story is really about the relationship between and the different perceptions of people from different cultures.
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"Silent Adios II"

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 13:30:50 -0700

1981
Navajo

This very unusual Navajo textile is one of a series of collaborations between a patron of the arts, a well-known abstract painter and a master weaver. But its story has twists and turns that shed light on the complex nature of collaborative creative work.
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Sikyatki Polychrome Bowl Depicting Katsinam

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 16:02:21 -0700

ca. 1425–1629 C.E.
Ancestral Hopi

This bowl, approximately 500 years old, is painted with human-like figures representing Hopi katsinam spirits. Prehistoric pottery decorations of katsinam are not unusual; but, the specific spirits depicted are often difficult to identify. This example gives us details about a particular ceremony, its participants and its continuity through time.
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Diccionario de la Lengua Castellana, 3rd edition

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 12:00:00 -0700

Published in 1791
Madrid, Spain

This Spanish dictionary from the late 18th century represents a significant milestone in the history of the Iberian peninsula, both linguistically and politically.
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Domestic Dog Effigy

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:00:00 -0700

ca. 1030–1200 C.E.
Anasazi (Ancestral Pueblo)

This jar in the shape of a curled-up dog is one of only a few that have been found in the Southwest. What could it have been used for?
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T-shaped Tabular Tool (Agave Scraper)

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 12:00:00 -0700

ca. 1150–1275 C.E.
Hohokam

Tabular tools like this one were once thought to be prehistoric hoes. Archaeologists have uncovered many threads of evidence to indicate that these were actually hand tools used to process agave plants cultivated since ancient times in the deserts of the Southwest. How do they know this?
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Gila Pueblo Site Tags

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 15:30:28 -0700

1929–1930
Recoverd from Sierra Ancha Cliff Dwellings

These tags are some the few remaining of those used by Emil Haury (working for the Gila Pueblo Archaeological Foundation) to mark sites found during archaeological surveys of the Sierra Ancha in the early 20th century.
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Majolica Barril

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 10:00:00 -0700

18th Century
Puebla, Mexico

This is a wheel-thrown Talavera jar, a Mexican version of the European ceramic style known as Majolica. The jar’s shape is based on a Chinese jardinière (planter) and it bears Chinese and Moorish-inspired designs interpreted by artisans in the town of Puebla.
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Burden Basket Effigy

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Fri, 07 May 2010 14:35:32 -0700

1270–1320 C.E.
Anasazi (Ancestral Pueblo)

This is a fired clay model (effigy) of an ancient, cone-shaped carrying basket with three painted pottery jars stacked inside. This rare object was made by immigrants from the Kayenta region of far northern Arizona or southern Utah who moved to the area around what is now Show Low, in east-central Arizona, more than 700 years ago.
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Jaguar Yoke

asm-web@email.arizona.edu — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 00:01:00 -0700

ca. 600–900 C.E.
Gulf Coast Veracruz Culture, Mexico

This heavy greenstone yoke is probably a ceremonial replica of a wood, leather, rubber or fiber protective belt worn around the waist by players in a Mesoamerican ballgame where the stakes could cost the loser's life.
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