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middle mississippi valley 64 chapter 4 Early Manifestations of Mississippian Iconography in Middle Mississippi Valley Rock-Art Carol Diaz-Granados Middle Mississippi Valley petroglyphs (rock carvings) and pictographs (rock paintings), with their copious amount and variety of symbolic motifs, provide an unparalleled inventory of Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (secc)/ Mississippian Ideological Interaction Sphere (miis) (Reilly and Garber 2007) iconography. This corpus of motifs radiates out from the Middle Mississippi River Valley into the Lower Missouri and its tributaries, in the Eastern Woodlands and Southeast. The Middle Mississippi River Valley, particularly the confluence region, and its environs contain the largest concentration of rock-art in the Eastern Woodlands (Grant 1981:137). Emma Lila Fundaburk and Mary Fundaburk Foreman recognized this even earlier than Campbell Grant and credited Missouri as “the center of a Middle West petroglyph area” (Fundaburk and Foreman 1957:93). Klaus Wellmann’s sweeping overview of North American rock-art names three concentrations in the Eastern Woodlands. Wellmann states that one “zone extends from Missouri into the Tennessee River valley as far east as Georgia and western North Carolina” (Wellmann 1979:149). The Missouri rock-art region referred to in this discussion (with more than 150 sites, including a copious amount of diagnostic motifs) contains iconography that extends minimally to the west (Spiro), east (Cahokia), south (Moundville), and southeast (Etowah). Although systematic rock-art research is being carried out in a selection of other eastern states (Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee) and the number of reported sites in those states is steadily increasing, my point of reference will remain Missouri. This is partly because of the availability of motif charts and distribution maps (Diaz-Granados 1993; DiazGranados and Duncan 2000) and this area’s proximity to the major Mississippian site of Cahokia. Comparisons to Missouri’s rock-art sites containing secc and related regional (miis) iconography will continue throughout as a base of reference. early manifestations in rock-art 65 Current research both in rock-art and in comparative iconography has broadened the scope of this secc/miis and encouraged a growing awareness and acceptance of its regional variations. The basis of a previous ongoing “confusion” has stemmed in large part from the reality of finding particular motifs co-occurring with those not present in the fifty-one motifs on Waring and Holder’s expanded list (Waring 1968c:91). This means that along with a number of the “traditional” symbols commonly viewed as arising from the secc (Waring 1968c; Howard 1968; Phillips 1940; Phillips and Brown 1978, 1984), in some localities we find these traditional motifs portrayed along with other, possibly more regionally specific motifs. This co-occurrence of motifs is significant and should eventually lead to a clearer picture of their intended meaning. The absence or presence of key secc symbols likewise provides insight into the regionalism factor and may serve as a key to a selection of American Indian oral traditions and belief systems, along with the movement and dispersal of populations. Although it is difficult to pinpoint the exact groups responsible for producing the rock-art, we can gain insight into what was important to those people through their repeated use of specific motifs. More importantly, this rock-art is found in situ, which offers the potential of providing a map of the extent of usage or influence of the iconography. That is, the location of a rock-art site is where it was originally created—the rock-art is rarely if ever moved, and thus each example of the iconography can be considered site specific. This differs from traditional cultural materials such as clay pottery, copper, and shell items. So with petroglyphs and pictographs we have not only a specific location but an art form with imagery that has an unquestionable association with its creator’s oral traditions, lifeways, and/or cosmology. In addition , we can see at least some of the motifs continuing to serve as icons for later American Indian groups, attesting to the longevity of associated oral traditions and beliefs. At the same time, we can begin to comprehend how these regionally important icons fit together to form meaning through their presence, absence, and co-occurrences. Determining the significance of cooccurrences is a tougher task, but one that I believe is ultimately attainable. This emerging awareness of the factor of regionalism in regard to the iconography and the analysis of rock-art motif distribution in the Middle Mississippi Valley in relation to that regionalism are the main foci of this chapter. [3...

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