Cahokia
and the Mississippi Mound Builders
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
Cahokia
and the Mississippi Mound Builders
The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex was believed to be a religion, with elaborate rituals. The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex is also referred to as the Southern Cult.
Artwork depicted on figurines is
thought give is clues as to the practices of this religion. There
still ongoing debate about how widespread the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
was in Mississippian Societies. While there is strong evidence
that it was commonly practiced during later periods, the evidence for its
practice at specific Misissippian sites is less clear. Information
from Jon Muller's slide presentation (see link below), shows how pottery
from Etowah, GA and St. Mary's, MO has a very similar decorative style,
suggesting that this religion was communicated across some distance.
Jon Muller's presentation highlights the current interest in this topic.
Link
SIU
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
This is a web based presentation
of a paper presented at the 2000 Annual Meeting of the Society for American
Archaeology. It has an excellent slide presentation, with examples
of artifacts (such as pottery) found at multiple sites, including Etowah.