New technique helps solve mystery of ancient figurines (Cahokia)

EurekAlert! ^ | Public release date: 2-Jul-2003 | Andrea Lynn (possibly)

[jimtorr]

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Thanks in part to new spectroscopic technology, researchers have solved a great mystery concerning some of North America's oldest pieces of sculpture.

With the use of PIMA -- a non-invasive Portable Infrared Mineral Analyzer -- an interdisciplinary team of scientists at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has identified the source and meaning of "spectacular late prehistoric" figurines found in several locales in the South and the Southeast -- in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Tennessee.

According to lead researcher Thomas Emerson, an archaeologist and the director of ITARP (Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program), the figurines were made of Missouri flint clay from quarries near St. Louis. Artisans at Cahokia, the earliest and largest North American mound society, which was centered in southern Illinois, in all likelihood produced the iconic figurines in the 12th century during an "artistic explosion," but the objects were moved at various times and to various places, where they eventually were found.

There now is evidence that after they were moved, some of the flint clay icons were recarved and retrofitted as smoking pipes, indicating a radical change in their significance. "There is a vast difference between bowing to an ancestral being and smoking one," Emerson said.

The figures appear to have been disbursed only after Cahokia began to decline in the middle or late 13th century, suggesting that the transfers were associated with "the collapse of the old order." Determining when Cahokia-made figures arrived at their new locations "is an important link in the interpretive chain," the researchers wrote in the spring/summer issue of American Antiquity.

In their research, Emerson and his team analyzed 13 museum specimens originally found in the South and Southeast to identify the mineral composition of the raw material. Figures included a resting and a conquering warrior, various squatting and kneeling men, frogs and frog pipes and a "chunky" game player. Cahokian-style figurines are characterized by a highly developed realistic portrayal of human or near-human figures; they are dressed in specific costumes and shown carrying out specific deeds. Occasionally, however, they seem to portray mythical acts or beings.

The transported figures probably were used for long periods of time in their new locations. Their importance "doesn't lie in economic power but rather in symbolic and ideological power."

The association of these highly symbolic figures with Cahokia allowed the researchers to propose that many of the themes -- for example, fertility and warfare -- that later appear in Eastern Woodlands native cosmology, such as the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex," were first codified in Cahokia in the 12th century."

Other researchers were Randall Hughes, Illinois State Geological Survey; Mary R. Hynes, ITARP; and Sarah U. Wisseman, Program on Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials.

[Right Republican]

I'm not interested in Native American paganism, mysticism, or panthesism.

[Vigilantcitizen]

Ping.

[agitator]

I don't give a fat rat's ass what you're interested in. :)

[jnarcus]

How about being interested in the history and archeology of te country in which you live? Most anthropological guesses as to what various items were used for or what their meaning is are vastly off target....I like getting new information and updates on new uses of scientific instrumentation

[genefromjersey]

Well, good for you - ( I heard SOMEONE say ! )

The Cahokia people may have antedated those we now call "Native Americans"; and had a fairly thriving culture-symbolized by the mounds still existing from the Ohio valley to the NY Finger Lakes.

Some of the mounds may have been ceremonial; others seem to have been fighting platforms.Use of smelted copper tools and weapons was common, and some describe a written language, which resembles that associated with the Celts.

[wita]

and I'm sure there is much much more all of which has great meaning for us espcecially the answers to the important questions, like why their culture is no more, how they came to be in an undiscovered land, and how great was their culture in relation to other peoples living on the earth at the time. He who wishes to relive history, or pay little attention to it, hath a fool for an historian. Anyone like that on this thread?

[muawiyah]

Look, I have it on good authority these people were all good Conservatives and that, at least, in Indiana they were registered Republicans who took it upon themselves to vote early and often!

BTW, just because somebody else's ancestral figure was turned into a pipe doesn't mean it gained a newer or lesser meaning. MJ grows wild in the Ohio Valley. No doubt there was trade in other hallucinogenic products throughout the Americas. Those pipes were "handy", eh?!

[CobaltBlue]

>> "There is a vast difference between bowing to an ancestral being and smoking one," Emerson said.<<

Errrrr . . . . and that would be?

[Evil Inc]

There are a lot of interesting things here. Recent talk of drought destroying the Central american cultures of the era. Could these cultures be related somehow? Also the Aztecs and others appeared mysteriously in the region to replace the old. Possibly they were somehow related. I sure would like to know. Even some talk of Irish monks reaching the Americas and influencing these cultures.

[John Beresford Tipton]

Perhaps you should have followed Mark Twain's advice that it is better to be quiet and let everybody think you’re a fool, than open your mouth and remove all doubt?

[Eric in the Ozarks]

They were tall, blue-eyed, blond Indians, like some of the Mandans.

[Congressman Billybob]

Like your name. It's good to know that someone remembers a show about real millionaires, rather than the fake variety of today.

Congressman Billybob

Latest article, now up FR, "Ah-nold Will Win."

[John Beresford Tipton]

Ah, yes, Congressman, you remember my former glory years.
Now I am unfortunately, unable to add anyone to Michael Anthony's list.

Indeed, Mr. Anthony is no longer in my service. He said he was bored giving all those millions to worthy people such as you, Congressman Billybob. Instead he hooked up with that young scamp, Dick Clark, and joined his Publishers Clearing House Prize Patrol.

So though you might keep looking down you driveway for Mr. Anthony, he will no longer be coming here to Silverstone on his way to find his "next millionaire".

On many occasions I was able to summon Michael Anthony to come to my palatial estate, Silverstone, to receive his next assignment. Unfortunately, his scoundrel of a cousin, Mordred "Tex" Anthony had me mortgage Silverstone and invest in Enron. I am now trying to get handouts from all those very same millionaires that I created, but because I did it anonymously, they think I'm a con man and slam the door in my face.

Now if you would like to send me a small remittance, it might enable me to prime my finacial pump, by flying over to Nigeria to move ahead with a project that I am told, in absolute confidence, should fatten my secret bank account that their Central Bank is holding in my name to the sweet tune of $50 million rolling. Can I count on you?

[MineralMan]

"I'm not interested in Native American paganism, mysticism, or panthesism."

Gosh, thanks for sharing that with us. This thread is probably not for you, then. For those of us interested in Archaeology, however, it's in interesting thread. Bye, now.

[gcruse]

I'm not interested in Native American paganism, mysticism, or panthesism.

I'm not interested in invisible men in the sky who exhort us
to eat their flesh and drink their blood.  I hope you don't
subscribe to that particular superstition.

[blam]

Thanks for the ping.

[SunkenCiv]

Note: this topic is from 7/04/2003. Thanks jimtorr.

[fishtank]

In this thread, I can see that the rudeboys of

BOTH

anti-archaeology AND

anti-Christianity

are alive and well here on FR.

***

Both of their comments were childish, ill-informed, rude, and boorish.

Other than that, I don’t have any opinions on the matter.

/sarc

[jimtorr]

Geese, I was ready to hit the abuse button on the post, for somebody stealing my account, until I saw your comment. I certainly don’t remember posting it.

I’m glad you found it worthy of being reposted. It would be nice if more could be discovered about the Cahokia peoples.