Institute for Biodiversity Science and Sustainability

CAS Anthropology Collections Database


Catalog Number

CAS 1984-0013-0035   CAS 1984-0013-0035; Basket
Category Basketry
Object Name Basket
Culture Tohono O’odham (Papago)
Global Region North America
Country USA
State/Prov./Dist. Arizona
County Pima
Other Geographic Data Area to south and southwest of Tucson
Maker's Name Unknown
Date of Manufacture ca. early to mid 1900s
Collection Name N/A
Materials Bear grass (Nolina erumpens) stems; Yucca (Yucca sp.) leaves; Devil's claw (Martynia sp.) pods
Description Tall olla or jar-shaped basket with flat base, expanded body rising to a high shoulder, wide constricted neck, and flaring rim, woven in coiled technique over bundle foundation; Warp material is split cattail stems and the primary weft is split yucca leaves; Designs are woven of black devil's claw pods and consist of large outlined 4-petal floral motif on base whose petals extend up on the lower sides of the basket, 10 columns of 3 paired black triangles each which begin at the lower sides and extend up to the base of the neck, and 7 terraced diagonal lines on the upper half of the neck; Final rim coil is woven entirely in devil's claw.
Dimensions (cm) Height = 33.8, Rim Diam = 18.8, Max Diam = 28.1