Southern Cult; Southeastern tradition
FormalPara Category:Culture
FormalPara Definition:A network of exchange and interaction in the southeastern and midwestern United States from around 1200–1500. A complex consisting of a range of specialized artifacts and motifs found in mortuaries and rich burials at some of the principal sites of the Middle Mississippi Culture (Mississippian) in southeastern North America. Beginning c 1200 AD, cult objects include ear-spools, ceremonial axes, and disks made of copper or shell – all engraved with symbols of military and supernatural power, such as the cross, the sun circle, the swastika, and the eye-and-hand. Characteristic artifacts such as monolithic ceremonial axes, effigy jars, and worked shell objects have been found in abundance at the major ceremonial centers at Etowah, Georgia; Spiro, Oklahoma; and Moundville, Alabama. The cult’s climax occurred between 1200 and 1400, but had virtually disappeared by...
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(2021). Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. In: Encyclopedic Dictionary of Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58292-0_190898
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-58292-0_190898
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Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
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