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Ramey-incised designs interpreted as sky and water symbols.

Inanimate natural objects are also depicted in Mississippian art. These include the sun, water, sky, and fire. Representations of the sun, sky, and fire are interpreted as symbols representing the chief (i.e., square litter), or as a means of associating the chief with the most powerful sun and the sky world (e.g.., the chiefly litter carrying the sun). Again, we note the association of the priest-chief with the upper world. Light and warmth (sun and sky imagery), and power and enforcement (falcon imagery) seem to come from above, from the tops of Mississippian temple mounds.
Faux marine shell (ceramic) with intricate curvilinear design (water motif?).

The common interpretation of Ramey-Incised designs and other curvilinear motifs is that they represent the swirling waters or some other aspects of the often water-covered lower world. Elaboration of Emerson's (1995, 1997) formalistic analysis of specific motifs and patterns would seem to have promise for developing a better understanding of these and other abstract designs.


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