#yavapai

A few of the 1500+ petroglyphs at the Hedgpeth Hills. Typically I don't share locations but this is a secured site curated by the local university & open to the public. https://deervalley.asu.edu/

Basketry Olla Depicting Humans, Horses, and Saguaro Cacti, Yavapai, 1920, Art Institute of Chicago: Arts of the Americas

The 1930s, when this Yavapai basket was created, marked the last period in which significant traditional North American Indian basketry was made. The production of major basketry had flourished in the Far West since the remote time of early migrations–long before pottery was invented and long before sedentary life–when people lived by hunting and gathering. This ancient pattern persisted in the remote desert basins and mountains of the Great Basin and adjacent lands until the early 20th century. Among the Yavapai, whose homeland lies in west-central Arizona, basketry was an important craft. Yavapai artists made burden baskets, trays for winnowing and parching seeds, water bottles, and containers for boiling food with the aid of heated rocks. The present basket has a bold positive-negative organization, defined by large triangular compartments containing abstract silhouette of standing anthropomorphic figures, diverse animals, cacti, diamond shapes, and diminutive cruciform designs. It presents an exceptionally expert example of the weaver’s skill, creating a controlled yet dynamic design by balancing the highest quality of jet-black Devil’s Claw against an elegant light willow. — Permanent collection object description</> Curatorial Discretion and Mrs. Leonard Florsheim funds Size: 40.6 × 45.7 cm (16 × 18 in.) Medium: Willow and devil's claw plant fibers