Ancient North America

A Mound to Much
Acknowledging the Imperative Need to Rewrite Ancient North American History

LECTURE SERIES PROPOSAL

Acknowledging the Imperative Rewriting Ancient North American History

Ancient north AmericA: A mound to much

FIGURE 1. Cahokian Woodhenge

An illustration of Cahokias woodhenge, a monumental ancient calendar located in central Cahokia.

As the Archeological Institute of America considers possible subjects for the 2013 lecture series, I suggest, nay, I implore you to consider the pressing, critical need for archeologists to reframe our understanding of ancient North American history. I believe a lecture series introducing the following topics, and including these or similar images, is long overdue and would have a profound impact on the fields of archeology, art history, history and anthropology, as well as on the public consciousness. Americas current understanding of ancient North American culture is wrought with inaccuracies and understanding what caused them to occur is essential for accurately reinterpreting existing remains and avoiding future misjudgments of this nature. To continue perpetuating and/or failing to address the plethora of errors caused by racist, male-centric (sexist) ideology, heavily influenced by the economic and political interests of individuals and states, is irresponsible and inaccurate. Calling the publics attention to them is of particular importance and long overdue. Owning and clarifying mistakes in the historical records is important

FIGURE 2. CENTRAL CAHOKIA This illustration portrays central, or downtown, Cahokia (located fifteen minutes east of present day St. Louis, Missouri), though idoes not quite convery the scale of Cahokia. For example, it would take twenty minutes to walk across the central square (the open area in front of the main temple mound.) This area was used for a variety of things, from games to ceremonies, but it was probably primarily a shopping district, where crafts people could vend their wares, just as most central business districts are today. Excavations also tell us that the neighborhoods, or barrios as the have been dubbed, surrounding central Cahokia were also hubs of commerce and creation. Neighbors created and sold their goods independent of each other: in one house pots were made and sold, in the next, pipes. Such crafts, especially pipes and chunkey stones, have been found in communities as far away as Tennessee, Arkansas, the Great Lakes and beyond. Chunkey (chunk-ee) was a wildly popular game in ancient North America that involved throwing stones that resemble modern day hockey pucks (the rolling chunkey stones would then have to be hit by spears or arrows.) Greater Cahokia spread for many miles. From central Cahokia, there would have been houses as far as the eye could see. From the edges of greater Cahokia it would have taken someone three days, walking from sunup to sundown to reach central Cahokia at dusk on the third day. Densely populated suburbs surrounded central Cahokia. Even further out, smaller (but still considerably dense) communities lived a more rural life, raising crops such as corn, sunflower, squash & tabacco. Cahokians lived in households not too different than ours. Each household contained a single family. It was unusual for extended family members (grandparents, etc.) to join a household unless/until they required special care. Cahokia was a complex and sophisticated society that rivalled the largest cities in Europe at the time. Unbeknownst to most, Cahokians made significant advances in agriculture, astronomy, and economics. (Pauketat, 2010; Pauketat 2007; Pauketat 2004)

By Sarah Meikle of Smith College

LECTURE SERIES PROPOSAL

both morally and for the future of archeology and the many related fields. Failure to address these issues immediately will have grave consequences, however, if we do immediately, genuinely, and thoroughly, all is not lostyet. Racism has probably been the most devastating and pervasive cause of misinformation about ancient North America. Racism, reinforced by ethno-centric ideology and the political and monetary ambitions of many explorers and scholars, has so distorted the narrative of ancient North America that it could arguably be called a work of pure fiction.The full extent to which racism has influenced understanding of North American history is beyond comprehension. Archeologists today may be reluctant to believe that they continue to perpetuate racism in their work. However, we must acknowledge that merely avoiding making new, blatantly racist claims does mean that they are not complicit in upholding a legacy of racism. The enduring legacy of racism in archeology is what makes calling attention to a different narrative so important. Early European accounts of interactions with Native Americans are often so brazenly racist that most modern, more politically correct readers find them shocking. Racism in modern archeological scholarship, on the other hand, is often subtle, though just as destructive. Why is it that most Americans have never heard of Cahokia? Why do so few people know that while Europe FIGURE 3. CHUNKEY PLAYER PIPE The pipe depicts a kneeling male, was mired in the wearing large ear spools, a necklace around his neck and an elaborate dark ages, ancient hat or hair style, who is in the process of rolling a chunkey stone with his right hand and holding two chunkey sticks in left. North Americans were thriving in a vast and densely populated metropolis, making great technological advancements and creating complex engineering works on a massive scale! (Warriner 2008) Sadly, Cahokia has been largely forgotten outside of scholarly circles. As archeologist Alice Kehoe once noted, Cahokia is hidden in plain site because of the cumulative biases of our intellectual heritage. (Pauketat 2007:135) Native Americans have certainly never been given credit for their extraordinary technological, societal and political feats in the minds of Americans. Doing so would, of course, make the way they were treated by white, European settlers and early Americans all the more awful (and it is already pretty awful.) The realities of our past FIGURE 4 Chunkey stone with eye motif are uncomfortable and sad admissions, however, failing to set the record Chunkey stones, most of which can be traced straight continues the cycle of injustice.
to Cahokian manufacture, are found across Ancient North America. It was obviously an enormous part of the peoples lives and a much enjoyed past-time. Children began playing young and the game was enjoyed by people of all walks of life, regardless of status. Rules and stone styles varied somewhat in different regions, but Cahokian style stons far outnumber any other stype of the time. Later narratives also suggest that betting or gambling on the game was common. (Pauketat 2010)

It is time to explain why, despite a wealth of physical, cultural, linguistic and mythological evidence pointing to pre-Columbian MesoamericanNorth American contact (Kehoe 1998; Pauketat 2007), archeology and art history students are still being taught that such contact never occurred. We must acknowledge the effect of socio-evolutionary theory (which was the application of Darwins theory of evolution to human social history (as apposed to biology) on our understanding of history. Socio-evolutionary theory was a popular, timely concept for early colonists. It seemed, to them, to be scientific proof that they were more highly evolved than the

By Sarah Meikle of Smith College

LECTURE SERIES PROPOSAL

scantily clad savages they encountered in the new world. Conveniently, assuming that no voyagers had crossed either ocean before Columbus in 1492 gave these would-be scientists a whole continent of tests of cultural development hypothesis. (Kehoe 1998:190) Of course, ample evidence existed, even then, to suggest that this was highly unlikely, if not completely false. Polynesian migrations were evidence that canoes (with outriggers) were capable of crossing vast oceans. Surely, then, navigating the Gulf of Mexico would have been feasible, especially if they followed the coast! Many individuals, such as Paul Kane, a painter who traveled across the country in 1840 painting Native Americans, had attested (directly to archeologists of the time) the considerable abilities of the primitive canoes of Native Americans. (Kehoe 1998:190) Of course, in the great tradition of American archeology, this was ignored. Even those who ignore the accomplishments of indigenous people as mariners, there is, of course, the FIGURE 5. WINGED SEPENT ENGRAVING The winged serpent of possibility that Mesoamericans or Northamericans (or ancient Mississippian mythology bears an uncanny similarity to the both) traversed the distance between the woodlands feathered serpent depicted in abundance at Teotihuacan (in Mexico) of North America and the civilizations of Mexico. Some suggesting, again, exchange between ancient North America and Mesoamerica. have thought this unlikely, as the 600 miles between the two are arid and would be a challenge to survive. However, we know that even a lost Spaniard once made it across this very divide. (Pauketat 2010) Surely more prepared, more suitably attired, ancient peoples could have done the same. Even I, prior to doing the extensive research I have done for this proposal, balked at the fact that people in the field of archeology still believe that there was no Mesoamerican-Northamerican contact. Many years ago, I worked in the Australian outback teaching aboriginal adolescents English. While there, I heard legends that I assumed were very old. One of these legends included the tale of aboriginals people crossing the oceans to a land of massive pyramids. I was told, at the time, that Australian boomerangs and red ochre (ubiquitous in Australia) had indeed been found in the pyramids of Egypt. I have no idea if there was any truth to that claim, but have never forgotten the experience. It immediately came to mind again when I encountered claims that the Mesoamerican and Mississippian cultures had never been in contact. FIGURE 6. Engraved Whelk Shell Depicting Birdman
The above busycon shell depicting the iconic birdman of Mississippian cultures was found in a mound at Spiro (in present day eastern Oklahoma). Objects such as this point to trade between ancient North American and Mesoamerican people. The Spiro shells...must have come from either Huastecan area [in Mexico] or the Florida Keys. Since a practically identical tradition of shell carving existed contemporaneously at Spiro and in the Huasteca [in Mexico], I think that cultural exchange between these areas must have been strongly developed. (quoted in Philips and J. Brown 1978, 26-27) (Kehoe 1998:171)

In his book Psychonavigation, ecologist John Perkins tells a somewhat similar story that occurred during his time as a young PeaceCorps volunteer in the Amazon in the late 1960s. Perkins went to great lengths to befriend the local people of various tribes and eventually encountered reports of psychonavigation, the process of navigating to a physical place or tapping into an inner source of wisdom through visions/dream wanderings. Curious,

By Sarah Meikle of Smith College

LECTURE SERIES PROPOSAL

Perkins began seeking accounts of their methodology and was told an old legend about Tupa Inca, a king who had ruled the Incas before Huayana Capac, the father of Atahuelpa. It was the legend of the arrival of boats like spiders (oars?) full of black men arriving on their shores. The black men spoke a language they did not recognize, but, through sign language, conveyed they were from a distant land. They had been sailing for days when they were hit by a terrible storm and lost their way. In the early morning, the day after the storm, they saw what they thought was an army of giants blocking out the sun and were terrified. However, when the sun rose from behind the giants they realized it was, in fact, the towering mountains of the Andes, the likes of which they had never seen before. The black men were grateful to have found land, but were also distressed that they had no idea how to get back home. Impressed by the bravery of these men, Tupa Inca offered to show them the way home if they FIGURE 7. Cahokian Birger Figurine agreed to name their land after him and give him gifts. Side view of Birger figurine showing woman hoeing the serpents back. They, of course, agreed. Tupa Inca then ordered his high priest to psychonavigate the way home. An elaborate ceremony was held and the high priest, wearing only the bird feathers, danced and chanted for many hours before disappearing. Eventually the high priest returned, claiming to have visited their land and offered to navigate the men back home. Tupa Inca had many rafts built and ordered that one thousand of the best warriors prepare for the trip. With much fanfare, people coming from far and wide to see them off, they set sail. Ten moons passed before Tupa Inca returned. His people had been afraid they would not see him again, but he returned to the very spot he had departed from with a raft piled high with gifts. After hearing this legend, John Perkins attempted to find if there was, in fact, an island in the Pacific named Tupa Inca or Tupa or Inca, to no avail. Many years later, National Geographic featured a story about a man by the name of Thor Heyerdahl who wanted to prove that South American Indians could have crossed the Pacific by raft. So, in 1947, he built a balsa log raft, Kon-Tiki, and set sail from Callao, Peru. One hundred and one days later, 4,300 miles away, Heyerdahl and Kon-Tiki arrived in the Polynesian Islands through a coral reef passage called Teava-o-Tupo. The reefs of the passage surround the island of Mangareva, where Heyerdahl discovered legends of a Chief named Tupa arriving from a land with many people on a fleet of rafts carrying one thousand soldiers. (To this very day, the people of Mangareva used the same word for potato as the Incas did when Pizarro arrived in the Andes

FIGURE 8. Central Cahokia and Monks Mound

Monks mound is a massive earthen pyramid located in central Cahokia. Evidence shows that is a more complex structure that had been realized. Archeology also tells us that it was built at once, not over time, in what may have been the largest urban development project ever undertaken in Ancient North America. Its footprint is larger than the largest pyramid in Egypt. (Pauketat 2010)

By Sarah Meikle of Smith College

LECTURE SERIES PROPOSAL

(Perkins 1990:33; McIntyre, 1975). It would be amazing if archeologists, who have been so obviously deeply committed to maintaining the current philosophical-historical paradigm, suddenly considered stories like this. (I wont hold my breath.) However, doing so could offer great insights. Perkinss book continues from this story to telling tales of the mythological birdmen of the Andes and reading them, one cant help but think of the famed cult of the birdman associated with Cahokia (Pauketat 2010). (The cult of the birdman relates to an abundance of materials found inscribed with an image of a birdman See figure 6.) Many scholars are still reluctant to consider the possibility that Mesoamerican cultures may have influenced Mississippian cultures, however, new findings should leave little doubt. In fact, recent research actually shows that North American sites predate Mesoamerican ones by a long stretch. According to archeologist Joseph Sunders recent extensive carbon dating of mound sites in Louisiana, there were 2000 years of mound building in south-eastern North America before the first monumental architecture even appears in Mesoamerica. (Lawler 2011:1623) Archeologists had previously thought that the conical mounds dotting the lower Mississippi Valley were no older than 1000 years, but recent radiocarbon dates some sites to the MiddleArchaic period, which ended at about 3000 B.C.E. Thats nearly 2 millennia before the first cities appeared in Mexico, before the Giza pyramids, and about the same time that the worlds first major urban centers evolved in ancient Mesopotamia (Lawler 2011:1621). Even before Saunders dating of North American mound sites, exchange between the ancient people seems obvious if we acknowledge the similar stories, deities and iconography in Mississippian and Mesoamerican mythology. Male-centric (sexist) interpretations of archeology runs a close second to racism (and the associated ethnocentrism) as the cause of our inaccurate FIGURE 9. Natchez chief Great Sun transported on a pole litter. understanding of ancient North American culture. Perhaps La Cacica was carried to the river on a pole liter such as this. Female archeologists have, of course, long been marginalized because they are women. (Kehoe 1998:187) Many early females in the field believed that gaining experiential knowledge through first-hand observations, in respectful cooperation with living Native American people, was essential for valid theorizing. The penchant for such collaborative archeology by women was considered the result of womens weaknesses and tendency towards overly emotional behavior. Of course, doing so would have failed to maintain the traditional ideological dichotomy between the primitives and the scientists that studied them and would have subverted the disciplines role in presenting American Indians as the vanished race, doomed by its cultural retardation to conquest and dominion. (Kehoe 1998:188) Consequently, the publics understanding of ancient North America is the one reported by racist, sexist, white men, that belies obvious truths. The few Americans that did learn about ancient North Americas largest, most influential city, Cahokia, were often told about all-powerful chiefs sacrificing virgins to their primitive gods or an over-idealized society of noble savages living in harmony with the land, never taking more than they needed, neither of which is true. This, of course, supported the idea of socio-evolution and the obvious primitive nature of the Native American savages. It mattered not that in most native communities women roles balanced and complimented the mens. Women were the growers, creators, nurturers, as they raised crops, bore children, tended hearth fires, and created clothes. [] They shared equal power in their natural world. Each worked to help preserve the communitys oral traditions and keep life in balance. [] All the material wealth of the Indians belonged to the women, including the fields, gardens, dwellings, and the village itself. For this reason many historians believed that the more settled tribes gave greater political and social power to females. It would only make sense to assume that in Cahokia, the clan and lineage was accounted through the female line. (Kavash 2007) Even early European explorers recorded observations of powerful Native American women. Hernando de Soto, who (along with a few hundred men) explored southeastern North America from 1539 to 1542, wrote of being met by La Cacica, the woman chief (Galloway 1997:227) when they arrived at the legendary Cofitachequi (which writers have placed on one of the rivers in South Carolina.) The woman chief [] came from the town in a carrying chair in which certain principal Indians carried her to the river. (Berg 2004) As a greeting, the

By Sarah Meikle of Smith College

LECTURE SERIES PROPOSAL

woman chief offered de Soto a necklace of pearls and she would, eventually even guide his party briefly (Galloway 1997:227). A 1995 discovery of many female figurines and scuptures proved that archeologists and art historians had been missing a major motif in the Cahokian story: women. Digging has produced tangible evidence that has made archeologists reevaluate the importance of women in Cahokian thinking. Another story was becoming apparent, one with unambiguous feminine overtones [] scarcely noted by the male storytellers. (Pauketat 2010) These depictions of women proved plentiful FIGURE 10.. Going, Going, Gone. Workers destroyed the largest St. Louis as more Cahokian sites were explored, many who mound in 1870. were goddess figures of a motherly deity, and caused archeologists to wonder why they had not been found as far afield as the many sculptures depicting men, mostly chunkey players (chunkey was an incredibly popular game in ancient North America. See figures 3 and 4.) Many presume that this could have only meant that such feminine depictions were far too precious to trade, and not including them in the understanding of Cahokia to date had cause an overemphasis on the masculine based mythology. (Pauketat 2010) We have paid dearly for our many oversights (some more than others), but all is not lost. We have built highways through Cahokian sites (not one or two, but five interstate highways cut through Cahokia) (Pauketat 2010) and in the heartland of Mississippian culture, corporate landowners, having decided to grow rice, have leveled the hills and ridges of the valley floor then tapped into ancient aquifers and flooded vast stretches of land, entire rural counties (Pauketat 2007:10).Yet, we know not what we destroy! Tankersley, an anthropologist at the University of Cincinnati, recently discovered an effigy mound considerably larger than The Great Serpent Mound, the largest effigy mound currently known to North American archeologists. (See figure 11.) Though effigy mounds tend to pre-date most Cahokian settlements, and are unlikely to contain numerous offerings other than very simple, utilitarian objects (such as a tool or a knife) (Birmingham & Eisenberg 2000),

Figure 11. The Great Serpent Mound The Great Serpent Mound in Adam Country, Ohio, as seen from above snakes back and forth for a quarter of a mile, across the plateau it inhabits. Photo credit: Adena Culture. Serpent Mound, Adams Co., Ohio.; 1990. OAIster, EBSCOhost

By Sarah Meikle of Smith College

LECTURE SERIES PROPOSAL

they hint at cultural knowledge of their creators that goes beyond simple mortuary practices. For example, the Great Serpent Mound aligns with the celestial constellation Orion, causing us to wonder at the role such mounds played in early woodland cultures. Discoveries like Tankersleys prove that there is still an abundance of ancient material to be discovered in North Americans. However, as rice fields are flooded and highways are built, our opportunities disappear. At the moment, a new highway and a new bridge over the Mississippi threaten to destroy sites in Louisiana that could redefine Cahokia as even larger than previously thought (Lawler 2011:1623). Educating the public about North Americas true amazing past is essential for inspiring a commitment to preserve such sites. I cant help but wonder if a bold move, such as acknowledging the need to rewrite much of North American ancient history, might be the only catalyst great enough to ensure the public rallies behind the need to preserve such sites. Perhaps it would spark an archeological renaissance across America! Children could play archeologist and Indian instead of the old cowboy game. Surely it would inspire the public to care more than they do about preserving sites that have yet to be explored. Isnt it, at least, worth a try? The way that archeologists present and regard their discoveries reverberates through so many fields of study. Art historians analyze the art of ancient cultures from an aesthetic perspective and social perspective. The meaning assigned to objects, the interpretation of the visual elements, and even what they consider to be art is greatly influenced by the historical and social context of such objects. Although all of these scholarly considerations are incredibly important, it is also worth considering the more personal implications of the way we understand ancient North American cultures. The decedents of these cultures are few, in comparison to pre-Columbian North American populations, and their lives have been profoundly affected by the way new (mostly white) Americans regard them. The way the rest of the world remembers the cultures of their ancestors cultures impacts how they are treated, the opportunities available to them, (often) their self-esteem and, in turn, their ability to thrive. Our understanding of history shapes the way we understand ourselves, and the social, political, economic, environmental and artistic future we shape. So, I urge you, for ethical and practical reasons, to consider the impact a lecture series of this nature could have. For the future of archeology and society, it is of the utmost importance. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely

Sarah Meikle Smith College Senior

By Sarah Meikle of Smith College

LECTURE SERIES PROPOSAL

B i b l i o g r a p h y
Applegate, D. & Mainfort, Jr., R. C. (edit.) Woodland period systematics in the Middle Ohio Valley. Tuscaloosa,AL : University of Alabama Press, 2005. Birmingham, R.A. & Eisenberg, L. E.. Indian mounds of Wisconsin. London : University of Wisconsin Press, 2000. Blitz, J., Moundville.Tuscaloosa. AL : University of Alabama Press, 2008. Butler, B. M. & Welch, P. D. (edit.). Leadership and Polity in Mississippian Society. Carbondale, IL : Southern Illinois University, 2006. Cahokia Mounds State Historical Site UNESCO World Heritage, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/198 Chedd, G., Myths & Moundbuilders. (film) Watertown, MA : Documentary Educational Resources, 1981. Clay, R. & Berle. Where have all the houses gone? Webbs Adena house in historical context. Southeastern Archaeology 28, no. 1: 43-63, 2009. Cook, R. A., Sunwatch: Fort Ancient development in the Mississippian world. Tuscaloosa, AL : University of Alabama Press, 2008. Fagan, B., Ancient North America: The Archaeology Of A Continent. London :Thames & Hudson, 1991. Hargrave, M. L., Geophysical Investigations Of Late Prehistoric Sites: Part II: Mississippian Centers. Southeastern Archaeology; Summer 2011, Vol. 30 Issue 1 Hays, C.T., Adena Mortuary Patterns In Central Ohio. Southeastern Archaeology 29, no. 1: 106-120, 2010. Galloway, P. (edit.), The Hernando de Soto Expedition: History, historiography and discovery in the Southeast. University of Nebraska Press, 1997. Kavasch, E. B., The Mound Builders of Ancient North America. Lincoln, NE : iUniverse, Inc, 2004. Kehoe, A. B., The Land of Prehistory: A Critical History of American Archeology. New York : Routledge, 1998. La Lone, D., The Rise and Fall of Semiperipheral Development in Andean World-System. Journal of WorldSystems Research, VI, 1, Spring 2000, 68-99. Lawler, A., Americas Lost City. Science 23 December 2011: 1620-1621. Lawler,A., Does North America Hold the Roots of Mesoamerican Civilization? Science 19 September 1997:1796 Lawler, A., Preserving History, One Hill at a Time. Science 23 December 2011: 1623. Lewis, B. & Stout, C. (edit.), Mississippian Towns And Sacred Spaces: Searching For An Architectural Grammar. Tuscaloosa, AL : University of Alabama Press, 1998. Livingood, P., Mississippian Polity and Politics on the Gulf Coastal Plain: A View from the Pearl River, Mississippi.Tuscaloosa, AL : University of Alabama Press, 2010. McIntyre, L., The Incredible Incas and their Timeless Land.Washington D.C.: National Geographic Society, 1975. Nguyen, K., Archeology of Religion: Integrating Symbols with Materiality. Problematics, Vol. 5, Issue 1, 25-28, Anthropology Journal, Stamford University, 2010. Pauketat,T., Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippians. Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press, 2004. Pauketat,T., Cahokia: Ancient Americas Great City on the Mississippi. Penguin, 2010. Pauketat,T., Chiefdoms And Other Archaeological Delusions. Lanham, MD : AltaMira Press, 2007. Perkins, J., Psychonavigation: Techniques for travel beyond time. Rochester, VT : Destiny Books, 1990. Reilly, F.K. & Garbe, J., Ancient objects and sacred realms: interpretations of Mississippian iconography. Austin, TX : University of Texas Press, 2007. Salzer, R. J. & Rajnovich, G. The Gottschall Rockshelter: An Archaeological Mystery. St. Paul, MN : Prairie Smoke Press, 2000.

By Sarah Meikle of Smith College

LECTURE SERIES PROPOSAL

B i b l i o g r a p h y
Smith, K. & Miller, J. Speaking with the ancestors: Mississippian stone statuary of the Tennessee-Cumberland Region. University of Alabama Press. Tigerman, K., Wisconsin Indian Literature: Anthology of Native Voices. London :Wisconsin Press, 2006. (Library of Congress Catalogue) Tussel, D., Prof Claims Hes Found Even Greater Serpent Mound. Columbus, OH : The Columbus Dispatch. August 3, 2011 Volo, J. M. & Volo, D. D., Family life in Native America. Westport, CT : Greenwood Press, 2007. Warriner, G., Cahokia Mounds: Ancient Metropolis. (film) CMMS/Camera One, 2008. Young, B. & Fowler, M., Cahokia: The Great Native American Metropolis. 2000. University of Illinois Press, Urbana & Chicago

L I S T

O F

I L L U S T R A T I O N S

Figure 1. Cahokian Woodhenge. Illustration courtesy of Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. Figure 2. Central Cahokia. Illustration courtesy of Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. Figure 3. Chunkey Player Pipe. 8.5 x 5.5 effigy pipe found in Muskogee County, Oklahoma. Now part of the Henry Whelpley Collection at the St. Louis Science Center.. Figure 4. Chunkey stone with eye motif, Lizs Eye site. Fortier,A. 1995.The Vogt Petroglyph Complex in Monroe Co., Illinois. Illinois Archaeology 7(1-2): 82-101. Fig. 8, p.92 Courtesy of the Illinois State Archaeological Survey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Figure 5. Winged Serpent Engraving (on Shell). Hamilton, H.W. 1952. Image courtesy of Missouri Archaeologist. Waring, A.J., Jr. 1940-1945. The Southern Cult and Muskogean Ceremonial. In The Waring Papers, The Collected Works of Antonio J. Waring, Jr., edited by Stephen Williams, p. 30-69. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnography, Cambridge MA. Fig. 14, P.14 Figure 6. Engraved Whelk Shell Depicting Birdman. (Craig B style) Oklahoma, LeFlore County, Spiro, Craig Mound, A.D. 12001400; marine shell, l. 33 cm. Figure 7. Cahokian Birger Figurine. Image courtesy of llinois State Museum. Original artifact at the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Resarch Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Figure 8. Central Cahokia and Monks Mound. Illustration courtesy of Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. Figure 9. Natchez chief Great Sun transported on a pole litter. Illustration courtesy of Brown, J.A. 1985. The Mississippian Period. In Ancient Art of the American Woodland Indians, edited by D.S. Brose, J.A. Brown, and D.W. Penney, photographs by D. Bakker, pp. 93-145. Harry N. Abrams, NY. II, p.368 (Brown 1985; Fig. 16, p.112) Figure 10. Going, Going, Gone. Image courtesy of Missouri History Museum, St. Louis, Missouri. Figure 11. The Great Serpent Mound. Photo credit: Adena Culture. Serpent Mound, Adams Co., Ohio.; 1990. OAIster, EBSCOhost

By Sarah Meikle of Smith College