I explore in this paper the significance of the headdress interred on Burial 11 under Hopewell Mo... more I explore in this paper the significance of the headdress interred on Burial 11 under Hopewell Mound 25 by reexamining its archaeological context and the history of its interpretation. Following Shetrone’s (1926) initial interpretation, I argue that it was an avian headdress that specifically portrayed a two-headed raptor. I support this reassessment with an iconographie analysis of related representations from the Central Ohio River Valley, especially the imagery engraved on a femur from Hopewell Mound 25. I also delve into what these two-headed raptors might have meant to people in the Eastern Woodlands.
Abstract This paper documents a Mississippian chipped stone mace, found by Lyle Edger, an amateur... more Abstract This paper documents a Mississippian chipped stone mace, found by Lyle Edger, an amateur collector, in an agricultural field in Nichols, NY, along the Susquehanna River. This crown-form mace is made out of Dover chert and was probably produced by Mississippian people who lived in Middle Tennessee, circa A.D. 1200–1400. We argue that the Nichols Mace could have been acquired by Iroquoian people as the result of either a gift or diplomatic negotiations. We conclude that the meanings the mace held for Iroquoian people were likely tied to how they acquired it.
I explore in this paper the significance of the headdress interred on Burial 11 under Hopewell Mo... more I explore in this paper the significance of the headdress interred on Burial 11 under Hopewell Mound 25 by reexamining its archaeological context and the history of its interpretation. Following Shetrone’s (1926) initial interpretation, I argue that it was an avian headdress that specifically portrayed a two-headed raptor. I support this reassessment with an iconographie analysis of related representations from the Central Ohio River Valley, especially the imagery engraved on a femur from Hopewell Mound 25. I also delve into what these two-headed raptors might have meant to people in the Eastern Woodlands.
Abstract This paper documents a Mississippian chipped stone mace, found by Lyle Edger, an amateur... more Abstract This paper documents a Mississippian chipped stone mace, found by Lyle Edger, an amateur collector, in an agricultural field in Nichols, NY, along the Susquehanna River. This crown-form mace is made out of Dover chert and was probably produced by Mississippian people who lived in Middle Tennessee, circa A.D. 1200–1400. We argue that the Nichols Mace could have been acquired by Iroquoian people as the result of either a gift or diplomatic negotiations. We conclude that the meanings the mace held for Iroquoian people were likely tied to how they acquired it.
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