Stone pipe, feline effigy. Three stone pipes carved to
represent a cat like animal were found at Moundville. This
may represent a relationship, albeit unclear, with Mesoamerica.
Heye Foundation, Museum of The American Indian.
|
|
|
Shell cup. This fragment represents
a dancing warrior or priest. There were more than one figure
on this cup, and multiple human figures are a theme on carved
shell from Spiro. Another feature is the beaded forelock,
possibly a symbol of rank. This was found in a burial. Heye
Foundation, Museum of The American Indian. |
Slate disc. These discs, sometimes
called palettes, are found either carved or plain in Mississippian
sites. The plain ones may have been used for grinding mineral
pigments for painting, but the use for the carved discs is
unclear. Here a hand eye symbol is encircled by two entwined,
knotted rattlesnakes. The hand and eye motif is found on
ceramic vessels, stone discs and on a copper gorget. It is
thought that this motif may symbolize the hand and eye of
the Creator. The hand and eye motif has been defined as one
of the Southern Cult motifs. Moundville Museum. |
|
|
Blackware pot with hand and eye
motif. Moundville Museum. |
Ceramic pot with skull
and bones. The skull or death motif appears to be part of
the Southern Cult. Although none of the mounds at Moundville
appear to have been burial mounds, there is a large Mississippian
cemetery. Moundville Museum. |
|
|
Painted bottle, found
in burial context. Moundville Museum. |
Forward to the next page of this essay
Back to the previous page
Back to Online Essays |
