Double Mug

prusaprinters

<p>I can't remember when I started going to Crow Canyon Archaeology Center, but its been a few decades ago. &nbsp;My first memory that hooked me was arguing with Ricky Lightfoot over if a wall out at Castle Rock fell up the sloop or down. &nbsp;I can't remember what the conclusion was, but I am sure I was wrong. &nbsp;I love a good intellectual fight and I love them more when I lose because then I know more then I did before. &nbsp;In my first trip they put me through a crash course in Archaeology that pointed out that context is everything. &nbsp;Sure a pot might be whole and beautiful, but where was it found? &nbsp;Was it in a kiva or a room block, or out somewhere on its own. &nbsp;If it was in a kiva, it could have been used for ceremonial or normal cooking. &nbsp;If in a room block, perhaps its for storage. &nbsp;Somewhere on its own, perhaps some teenager hid it as a joke, but then who knows? &nbsp;I was able to take that principle and apply it in my profession. &nbsp;If you can imagine sitting in a room full of engineers trying to find out why something went wrong, context is everything. &nbsp;I've done well because of Crow Canyon.</p><p>And now to the topic at hand. &nbsp;Years ago I went on a Cultural Exploration into Chaco Canyon where the archaeologist was &lt;put name here&gt;. &nbsp;He was one of the originals who documented Chaco Canyon. &nbsp;We were camping out at Chaco and after a great dinner we started talking around the fire. &nbsp;I've always found the Ancestral Puebloan's double mug to be an unusual and beautiful device. &nbsp;I asked several questions about them but what I was after was if it was true that the lower connector was always hollow and open to each side in the mugs. &nbsp;He said yes, always. &nbsp;The light bulb went off. &nbsp;I suffer from that infection, the one where you connect various ideas in ways nobody expects.</p><p>In Physics and Engineering there are some basic principles. &nbsp;Ramps are one as they are used for various purposes. &nbsp;Compression and tension are others. &nbsp;But the one I'm writing about is that water will always find its level. &nbsp;You can put water in a pot and then tilt that pot, and the water will always be level. &nbsp;In middle school they showed us how siphons worked by putting a water filled tube into two water filled cups. &nbsp;No matter if you lifted one cup higher then the other, the water level would always be the same in both cups. &nbsp;Regardless of what these double mugs were used for, they still would be a water level.</p><p>The basic principle of a water level has been used by many civilizations for thousands of years. &nbsp;The Egyptians used this to create a level foundation on which to build the pyramids that exist today. &nbsp;Without a level foundation it is impossible to build any structure out of any material to last.</p><p>So were these double mugs used as levels? &nbsp;Well, I don't know. &nbsp;It would be interesting to know the context in which they were found. &nbsp;Were the broken ones found in middens, or perhaps at the base of walls? &nbsp;Then maybe the apprentice dropped it or the master just said “oops”. &nbsp;If they were found in kiva's, were they found in the niches, which means they were special. &nbsp;I wish I knew.</p>