Visualizing the Sacred: Cosmic Visions, Regionalism, and the Art of the Mississippian World

Published by University of Texas Press 2011

Visualizing the Sacred

Cosmic Visions, Regionalism, and the Art of the Mississippian World

Edited by: George E. Lankford , F. Kent Reilly and James F. Garber

In the series The Linda Schele Series in Maya and Pre-Columbian Studies

https://doi.org/10.7560/723085

Overview
Contents

About this book

The prehistoric native peoples of the Mississippi River Valley and other areas of the Eastern Woodlands of the United States shared a complex set of symbols and motifs that constituted one of the greatest artistic traditions of the pre-Columbian Americas. Traditionally known as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, these artifacts of copper, shell, stone, clay, and wood were the subject of the groundbreaking 2007 book Ancient Objects and Sacred Realms: Interpretations of Mississippian Iconography, which presented a major reconstruction of the rituals, cosmology, ideology, and political structures of the Mississippian peoples. Visualizing the Sacred advances the study of Mississippian iconography by delving into the regional variations within what is now known as the Mississippian Iconographic Interaction Sphere (MIIS). Bringing archaeological, ethnographic, ethnohistoric, and iconographic perspectives to the analysis of Mississippian art, contributors from several disciplines discuss variations in symbols and motifs among major sites and regions across a wide span of time and also consider what visual symbols reveal about elite status in diverse political environments. These findings represent the first formal identification of style regions within the Mississippian Iconographic Interaction Sphere and call for a new understanding of the MIIS as a network of localized, yet interrelated religious systems that experienced both continuity and change over time.

Author / Editor information

GEORGE E. LANKFORD is an emeritus professor of folklore at Lyon College. His books include Looking for Lost Lore: Studies in Folklore, Ethnology, and Iconography and Reachable Stars: Patterns in the Ethnoastronomy of Eastern North America.

F. KENT REILLY III is Director of the Center for the Arts and Symbolism of Ancient America at Texas State University–San Marcos.

JAMES F. GARBER is Professor of Anthropology at Texas State University–San Marcos.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	x
Introduction James F. Garber, George E. Lankford and F. Kent Reilly Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
General studies
Chapter 1 Regional Approaches to Iconographic Art George E. Lankford Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 2 The Cosmology of the Osage: The Star People and Their Universe James R. Duncan Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	18
Regional studies: Middle Mississippi valley
Chapter 3 The Regional Culture Signature of the Braden Art Style James A. Brown Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	35
Chapter 4 Early Manifestations of Mississippian Iconography in Middle Mississippi Valley Rock-Art Carol Diaz-Granados Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	64
Regional studies: Lower Mississippi valley
Chapter 5 Mississippian Ceramic Art in the Lower Mississippi Valley: A Thematic Overview David H. Dye Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	97
Chapter 6 The Great Serpent in the Lower Mississippi Valley F. Kent Reilly Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	118
Regional studies: Cumberland valley
Chapter 7 Iconography of the Thruston Tablet Vincas P. Steponaitis, Vernon James Knight Jr., George E. Lankford, Robert V. Sharp and David H. Dye Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	135
Chapter 8 Woman in the Patterned Shawl: Female Effigy Vessels and Figurines from the Middle Cumberland River Basin Robert V. Sharp, Vernon James Knight Jr. and George E. Lankford Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	177
Regional studies: Moundville
Chapter 9 A Redefinition of the Hemphill Style in Mississippian Art Vernon James Knight Jr. and Vincas P. Steponaitis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	199
Chapter 10 The Raptor on the Path George E. Lankford Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	240
Chapter 11 The Swirl-Cross and the Center George E. Lankford Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	251
Regional studies: Etowah and upper Tennessee valley
Chapter 12 Iconography of the Hightower Region of Eastern Tennessee and Northern Georgia Adam King Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	277
Chapter 13 Dancing in the Otherworld: The Human Figural Art of the Hightower Style Revisited F. Kent Reilly and James F. Garber Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	294
Chapter 14 Raptor Imagery at Etowah: The Raptor Is the Path to Power Adam King and F. Kent Reilly Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	313
Bibliography Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	321
Contributors Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	347
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	349

Language: English
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Main content: 375
Illustrations
- Other: 53 b&w photos, 81 b&w illus., 1 b&w map, 3 tables

eBook

Published: December 21, 2010
ISBN: 9780292784659