Visualizing the Sacred: Cosmic Visions, Regionalism, and the Art of the Mississippian World (Linda Schele Series in Maya and Pre-Columbian Studies)

by George E. Lankford

Just as the Great Serpent represents all of the water powers, it also is a metaphor for the Beneath World. The Beneath World is the lower realm of the basic three-story universe (which may actually be understood to have many layers as subdivisions of the basic three) and may have a central axis in it.

The swirl-cross thus would stand for a location on the column that connects the Beneath World with the Middle and Above Worlds.

the motifs of Sun circle/fire cross/water swirl-cross represent a continuum of points on the cosmological axis, correlating with the three cosmic realms.

the swirl-cross may originally have been derived from the lines of the serpentine forms as they come together in those joints.

These examples of the swirl-cross from Central Mississippi Valley ceramics provide a general realm of meaning for the symbol. They point to a connection with the Underwater Serpents who rule the Beneath World, a realm of meaning which can be generalized to refer to the waters or the Beneath World itself. As a symbol of the Beneath World, the swirl-cross can also be used to indicate a location on the world axis, which explains the frequent appearance of the swirl-cross as a symbol of the Center

When we recall the role of the Great Serpent in the founding of medicine societies (such as the Midé among the Central Algonkians and Siouans), a further hypothesis is suggested: the Moundville copper emblems may be marks of membership in a medicine society which derives its powers from the Underwater Powers. Alternatively, they may be lineage indicators, suggesting a totemic relationship to the powers of the Beneath World.

First, a swirl-cross gorget and pendant can both be found in a single grave

Second, multiple swirl-cross pendants can be found in a single grave

Third, while most of the swirl-cross coppers were found with adults, four were ...

An infant burial south of Mound D (148) contained a swirl-cross pendant, probably on a thong or cord with a few shell beads, placed around the neck of the child. Burial 31 in Mound C was a child wit...

the hypothesis that the swirl-cross emblems were related to adult participation in a medicine soci...

the multiplicity of coppers in Burial 31 suggests that they were bestowed at death, since it seems unlikely that a child would wear more than one. This possibility also provides support for the view that such gifts...

The result is an identification of the swirl-cross as a symbol for the Beneath World, water, and the Underwater Serpent.

The geographic distribution of the symbol—particularly if the guilloche itself was understood to embody the swirl-cross—indicates that the Beneath World symbolism was widespread, possibly one of the Mississippian universals. At the same time, it must be noted that there were “hot spots” of swirl-cross usage. In the Central Mississippi Valley effigy pots of the Great Serpent were part of an array of specialized pottery, including items such as head pots.

Years of archaeological research have shown that sites between the Etowah River Valley in Georgia and the Tennessee River in eastern Tennessee share a great many elements of material culture ranging from architectural styles to burial practices

Representational art is found almost exclusively in two media in the Hightower region: engraved shell and embossed copper.

Engraving shell, particularly for gorgets made of marine shell, has a long tradition in the Hightower region. It appears to begin in the Early Mississippian period and continues into the early Protohistoric period.

The earliest engraved shell in the Hightower region appears in the form of gorgets exhibiting various versions of the cross-in-circle theme

Lankford (2004) has suggested that the cross-in-circle motif may represent the earth or This World in the Eastern cosmology, with the cross defining the center as well as an axis mundi connecting This World to the Above and Beneath Worlds. Howard (1968) has also linked this motif to the sacred fire of the Green Corn ceremony.

In the Hightower region, the cross-in-circle appears most commonly enclosed by a square, referred to as the crib (Brain and Phillips 1996:21–24) or the square cross design (Kneberg 1959:5). Sawyer (2009) has recognized the earliest version of this theme in his Bennett style, which dates from AD 1150 to 1250

By AD 1200 there is another recognizable shell engraving tradition in the Hightower region producing shell gorgets decorated in what Muller (1989) has defined as the Hightower style

The most common theme is known as the Turkey Cock and depicts two birds with tails fanned standing on a flat surface

this theme actually shows the three worlds of Eastern cosmology viewed from the side. The birds represent the Above World, the flat surface This World, and the open space below the Beneath World. The striped pole is the axis mundi that extends from the sun in the Above World through This World into the Beneath World.

The second theme, which is much less common, depicts a spider (Figure 12.2b). Although this theme has not received the attention given to the Turkey Cock, it may be related to This World symbolism.

a third theme in the Hightower style appears slightly later, possibly after AD 1250

This is the anthropomorphic theme, which includes several different variants. All of the anthropomorphic variants depict some version of the Birdman theme and might even refer to different points in a narrative

It is likely that the Birdman depicted here is thematically connected to the same supernatural shown on the Classic Braden–style copper plates fou...

these gorgets also show paired figures and two distinct individuals, who are distinguished based on differences in treatment of the face.

Paired individuals or Hero Twins figure prominently in epic narratives throughout the ethnographic literature of the eastern United States. In many of the Twins narratives, they go through a series of adventures or trials before ascending to the Above World. Reilly and Garber argue that the Hightower anthropomorphic gorgets represent moments in just such a narrative

the middle of the thirteenth century, around the same time that the anthropomorphic theme of the Hightower style appears, a new decorative style also appears in the region. This is the Hixon style

At this same time, AD 1250 to 1350, the Moorehead style replaces Bennett as the carrier of the cross-in-circle motif in the Hightower region

Sometime near the end of the fourteenth century, two new styles with new themes appear to supplant the Hightower and Hixon styles with their Turkey Cocks and anthropomorphic figures.

Lick Creek style

which depicts a wide-eyed, open-mouth...

In Eastern cosmology (Hudson 1976:165; Lankford 1987:83), snakes are associated with the Beneath World, so this theme combines Beneath World symbolism with a reference at least to the centered axis mundi

The second new style is called Williams Island by Muller

Sometimes referred to as spaghetti gorgets, these depict an anthropomorphic theme with two general variations

One variation has only one figure, while others have two figures side by side. Usually the figures appear to be i...

this theme is related to Lodge-Boy and Thrown-Away, the histo...

Somewhat later, probably in the sixteenth century, the Citico style (Muller 1989) develops out of and supplants the Lick Creek style

The only theme continues to be the coiled rattlesnake, which becomes more conventionalized and more complex.

Possibly at about this same time engraved shell face masks also appear (Fig. 12.7). Most of these masks are too small to have been worn as masks, and they often are found in burial contexts on the deceased’s chest rather than on the face.

these are likely the faces of Above World supernaturals or the Thunderers—another version of the Twins depicted in the Hightower and Williams Island gorgets.

Current information suggests that copper artifacts did not appear in the region until after AD 1250 and largely disappeared by AD 1400.

The earliest copper artifacts found in the region were recovered from the earlier stages of Etowah’s Mound C.

These depict the Birdman theme and are executed in the Classic Braden style, whose place of origin is the American Bottom (Brown and Kelly 2000). Brown (2007b) has made the case that the Birdman is connected thematically to a supernatural recorded among Siouan speakers of the upper Midwest known as Morning Star, He-Who-Wears-Human-Heads-on-His-Ears, or Red Horn.

In addition to the Birdman, other motifs executed in the Classic Braden style found at Etowah include the bilobed arrow and various elements of falcon imagery.

addition to Classic Braden, other decorative styles are represented in copper artifacts from Mound C. Some of these pieces may fit in the Late Braden style

Other pieces conform to the stylistic rules of the Hemphill style

centered on Moundville.