Anasazi Ceramic Vessels
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GUEST:
Well, I know they've been in my husband's family for many, many years. They think they may have come out of Arizona or New Mexico. But that's just about all I really know about them. I was hoping you would tell me about them.
APPRAISER:
Well, you're bang on with the area. They're known as Anasazi pots. And the Anasazi were an ancient Native American pueblo people that lived in the Four Corners-- that's the four corners where the four states Utah, Colorado, New Mexico and Arizona join. And they existed around about sort of 1000 to 1300 AD.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
And they're famous for their buildings that they lived in. They would have these pit houses that would surround a kiva, which was like the main meeting house. But they also built these extraordinary cliff dwellings very high into the cliffs, only accessible by a single ladder, which could be pulled up when the enemy came as a defensive situation, you know?
GUEST:
Oh, sure, sure.
APPRAISER:
These are made from a local clay that they would make into a ball and sometimes mix with ash and things like that. And then they would make it into long strips, and they were coiled like this. And while it was still wet, or in a leather condition, they would scrape it till it was really, really thin. What's remarkable about these is that they're intact. So much of this archaeological material comes in fragments, and the pieces are put together. So this is really quite wonderful. This is probably a seed jar. It held the seeds for planting. And this is probably a general-purpose bowl. Have you any idea of the value?
GUEST:
Oh, no, I wouldn't even begin to guess.
APPRAISER:
This bowl, it's much more common, but, again, unusual because it's intact. About $800 to $1,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
Okay, and the seed jar, probably $3,000 to $4,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow, wow!
APPRAISER:
And that's $3,000 to $4,000 retail price.
GUEST:
Oh, my. So what kind of an insurance value would you put on them?
APPRAISER:
I would probably put an insurance value of about $6,000 on the two.
GUEST:
Oh, wonderful.
APPRAISER:
Okay?
GUEST:
Wonderful, wonderful, that sounds great.
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