University of Virginia Library

BASKETRY

Basketry, of daily use in every household in Pueblo del Arroyo, is
another material that could not withstand dampness. We noted several
instances where baskets had left their imprint on muddy floors or in
sandy accumulations but recovered only three small fragments. One
of these is a 2½-inch-long piece embodying only three coils of a bowl
woven in the well-known technique, 2-rod-and-bundle bunched foundation
with uninterlocking stitches. The other two fragments, clearly
from the same specimen, exhibit simple interlocked stitching on a
1-rod foundation. These three scraps thus represent only two of the
many basketry techniques undoubtedly employed at Pueblo del Arroyo
and only one of several vessel forms, the bowl.

Two earthenware effigies of the bifurcated carrying basket, which
presumably served some religious function, were found in the secondstory
wreckage of Room 27 (pl. 35). Other examples of this unusual
creation, together with remnants of burden baskets, cylindrical baskets,
and other forms have been reported from nearby Pueblo Bonito
(Pepper, 1920; Judd, 1954).