Hallowed path: An historical analysis of the mutable perspectives on interpretations of Mississippian Period iconography

Interpreting Mississippian Period iconography has been an ongoing process for the last five hundred years. As early European explorers moved into the Southeastern United States, only the remnants of the once great Mississippian communities still held sway. Gone were the vast ceremonial complexes which exemplified the height of Mississippian culture. At their pinnacle, these people created some of the most intricate and ornate ceremonial objects in all of North America. Infused with iconographic imagery representing both naturalistic and supernatural elements, these cultural and religious objects characterized the core of the Mississippian belief system and were, in all likelihood, tied to the economic, political, and social structure of the Mississippian people. Once considered unknowable, the meaning behind these objects is now being deciphered using a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates and necessitates the views of Native and non-Native historians, art historians, folklorists, archaeologists, ethnologists, cultural anthropologists, and ethnohistorians