Ancient Objects and Sacred Realms: Interpretations of Mississippian Iconography

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [263]-282) and index. Table of Contents: Foreword Vincas P. Steponaitis Acknowledgments 1. Introduction F. Kent Reilly III and James F. Garber 2. Some Cosmological Motifs in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex George E. Lankford 3. The Petaloid Motif: A Celestial Symbolic Locative in the Shell Art of Spiro F. Kent Reilly III 4. On the Identity of the Birdman within Mississippian Period Art and Iconography James Brown 5. The Great Serpent in Eastern North America George E. Lankford 6. Identification of a Moth/Butterfly Supernatural in Mississippian Art Vernon James Knight and Judith A. Franke 7. Ritual, Medicine, and the War Trophy Iconographic Theme in the Mississippian Southeast David H. Dye 8. The "Path of Souls": Some Death Imagery in the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex George E. Lankford 9. Sequencing the Braden Style within Mississippian Period Art and Iconography James Brown 10. Osage Texts and Cahokia Data Alice Beck Kehoe References IndexPublisher Marketing: Presents 10 essays that analyze the iconography of Mississippian art in order to reconstruct the ritual activities, cosmological vision, and ideology of these ancient precursors. This work correlates archaeological, ethnographic, and art historical data that illustrate the stylistic differences within Mississippian art.

Contributor Bio:  Reilly, F Kent III ROBERT LLOYD WILLIAMS, a former student of renowned Mayanist Linda Schele, has studied the Mixtec codices since the 1980s and has taught courses relating to them since 1992. He is currently completing a Ph. D. in anthropology at the University of Texas at Austin. Contributor Bio:  Garber, James F JAMES F. GARBER is Professor of Anthropology at Texas State University-San Marcos.