Shell gorgets represent some of the most artistic and culturally revealing artifacts from the Mississippian Culture. Recent studies suggest that these intriguing adornments were generally worn in the later portion of Mississippian times known today as the "Southern Death Cult" or the "Southeastern Ceremonial Complex". The Southern Death Cult began about 1200 A.D. and ended during protohistoric times in the mid to late 17^th century. During this late prehistoric time, engraved and unengraved shell gorgets were made. In modern times, they have been recovered from every modern U. S. state that now occupy the old Mississippian lands from eastern Oklahoma and Texas eastward to Georgia, North and South Carolina, Florida and Virginia.

Shell gorgets were constructed from the outer body or whorl of the conch shell commonly found along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts. The inner or concave side was typically used as the front side for engraving, except that in the case of the engraved mask, the convex side was used. Normally each shell gorget was drilled with two suspension holes so that a leather thong could be inserted and tied through each hole for wearing around the neck. On rare occasion, a third middle hole was also drilled perhaps to help fasten some added dangle such as a feather or other adornment.

There must have been several techniques used to craft the plain gorget itself. The primary method certainly included cutting, grooving, drilling and abrading. Once the plain gorget was finished and the suspension holes drilled, the artist often added traditional motifs. The most common decorative technique was engraving with a sharp flint tool. Many gorgets in the southeastern portions of the Mississippian lands such as present-day Tennessee and Georgia often highlighted the

Plain Style. D: 4" Adams Co., IL. (Private Collection)	Plain Style. D: 3" Southeast US (Private Collection)

engraved features with cutouts or fenestrations which highlighted the artistic portion by removing the background field. Fenestrations were used exclusively to highlight the gorget’s motif and never for suspension. Other highlighting techniques include cutting features into portions of the effigy design to create a more stylistic image and adding dark materials into the engraved grooves to make a greater contrast between the background and engraved subject matter on the face of the gorget. Many gorgets are so similarly fashioned that there has been some suggestion that they were made by a relatively few artists in a workshop environment. If true, such labor specialization is further evidence of a prosperous and culturally advanced society.

The most basic gorget style is the plain gorget. As the name suggests, the plain gorget lacks any surface modifications beyond shaping and drilling. Some plain gorgets do exhibit notched or tallied edge treatment. Surprisingly, the plain gorget is rather rare and was probably manufactured throughout late Mississippian times into early historic times. Plain gorgets have been found primarily in Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee. They range in size from 2.5 inches to nearly 5 inches in diameter.

Annular Style. D: 2.2" Brown Co., IL. (Anthony Stein Collection)

The second gorget style utilizes cutouts but no effigies. This includes annular and the four-pointed star (sometimes called cross) gorgets. The annular style is simply represented as a plain gorget with a large hole drilled in the center of the gorget. The center hole is much larger in diameter than the two suspension holes. Assuming that the center hole had some utilitarian function, it may have been used to suspend some adornment. Find and distribution patterns for annular gorgets suggest that the Mississippians shared stylistic designs over the full range of the Mississippian territories. They have been most often found in northern Georgia, along the Illinois River in Brown and Fulton Counties in Illinois and at Spiro. Single examples have also been found in Missouri, Kentucky and as far away as southern Florida. Annular gorgets tend to be relatively small by gorget standards. They range in size from 1.5 inches to 2.5 inches in diameter.

The star or cross gorget is representative of the Mississippians’ fascination with sky imagery and their devotion to the falcon and birdman. These sky images are considered to be markers of the warrior class in the Southern Death Cult. The term "cross" gorget, although well engrained within the collecting community, seems to be popularly misapplied because of more Western Christian projecting into style analysis. The Mississippians had a tradition for exhibiting stars in their artwork.

Star or Cross Style. D: 1.75" Brown Co., IL. (Private Collection)	Star or Cross Style. D: 3.25" Southeast US. (Private Collection)

It is more likely that what has been taken as a cross or crucifix design is really a stylistic presentation of a four-pointed star design. However, in this case, the terms star and cross shall be used interchangeably. The four-pointed star was a popular Southern Death Cult sky image and has endured with other native tribes into the present day. Star or cross gorgets have been found in more styles than any other gorget style. Although regional variations abound, star gorgets are the most broadly distributed of all the gorget types. There are two major varieties: engraved and fenestrated. The engraved cross gorget is a plain gorget with the star or cross design engraved onto the surface of the gorget. Many engraved star gorgets also include within its design circles and scalloped edges. The fenestrated star or cross gorget uses cutouts to form the star itself. Sometimes the fenestrations form the cross by removing parts of the field so that the remaining shell makes up the cross or star design. This is a similar concept to negative painting on pottery where the unpainted portions make up the intended design elements. The other fenestrated design uses the fenestrations to form the actual star or cross. This latter type is more commonly found in present-day Tennessee and Georgia, but it has also been found in western and southern Illinois.

Triskelle Style. D: 4.75" Southeast US. (Private Collection)	Triskelle Style. D: 4.8" Southeast US. (Private Collection)

The last of the non-effigy style gorgets is the triskele gorget. These elaborate gorgets are most commonly found in Tennessee. They are known for their scalloped edges, three-whorl center design and a system of rings and circles between the center whorls and outer scallops. Although a southern-style gorget, the fenestrations are usually, but not always, lacking. Although they lack any effigy motif, they do exhibit a high standard of symmetry. The triskele gorget tends to be rather large by gorget standards, as they range in size from approximately three inches to nearly five inches in diameter.

Birdman Style. D: 4.6" Southeast US. (Private Collection)

Gorgets with human effigies are some of the most interesting of the engraved shell gorgets. Some exhibit human figures in what appears to be the dress of the day. Figures are shown full figure with headdress, ear spools, beads and elaborate clothing. Other human figures are represented with part human and part bird-like qualities. The Southern Death Cult placed a high value on the falcon, so portraying a half-man/half falcon image must have been important symbolism in the Mississippians’ belief system. As discussed earlier, the half-man/half bird motif is thought to convey strong symbolism among the Cult’s warrior society. This style gorget is most commonly found at Spiro, northern Georgia and throughout much of Tennessee. They tend to be rather large in size implying their importance. Some gorgets of this type are over five inches in diameter.

Engraved Mask. H: 5.25" Mississippi Co., AR. (Roy Hathcock Collection)	Engraved Mask. H: 6" Southeast US. (Private Collection)

The engraved shell mask gorget is perhaps the most striking of all the shell gorgets. Fashioned in the shape of a human head and neck, it incorporates drilled eyes, a carved nose, drilled or carved mouth and classic Southern Death Cult engraving such as the falcon (weeping) eyes. Although traditionally referred to as a mask, a number of professional excavations have confirmed that they were found on the chest of the wearer. Although some engraved shell masks have been found in Arkansas, Kentucky and distant West Virginia, find and distribution patterns suggest that they were primarily used in present-day Tennessee. Of all the shell gorget styles, it is the largest. They range in size from approximately three inches to over eight inches in height.

Spider. D: 2.5" Crable Site Fulton Co., IL. (Private Collection)

The water spider is an intriguing subject for Mississippian gorgets. Mississippian legend has it that it was the water spider that first brought fire to mankind. With such a storied legend, it is no wonder that the Mississippians placed such high importance on this otherwise obscure creature. Spider gorgets have been found along the Illinois River at the Crable Site in Fulton County, Illinois, in southeast Missouri, Posey County Indiana and western Kentucky. These more western style Spider gorgets have the water spider centered in the gorget often shown with a cross design within the middle of the spider and surrounded by three or four concentric circles between the spider and the outer edge of the gorget. A different style of spider gorget has been found in central Tennessee. This Tennessee style was produced with a relatively smaller center spider but the design is fenestrated in a uniform circular pattern. Spider gorgets are both rare and very desirable. They range in size from about two inches in diameter for the typical Crable style to over three inches for the Tennessee styles.

Rattlesnake. D: 5.2" Southeast US. (Private Collection)	Fenestrated Rattlesnake. H: 2.75" Southeast US. (Private Collection)
Rattlesnake. D: 4.5" Southeast US. (Private Collection)	Rattlesnake. D: 5.25" Southeast US. (Private Collection)

The final major shell gorget style, and the most common of all the effigy styles, is the rattlesnake gorget. Over the term of their production, there have been several types of rattlesnake gorgets. These major styles are the Lick Creek style, the Brakebill style, Carter Quarter Style, Saltville style and the Citico Style. All but the last two styles are fenestrated gorgets. The rattlesnake motif must have been significant to the late Mississippians and protohistoric Native Americans in the southeast United States. Each has a common theme with the rattlesnake’s head in the center of the gorget and the snake’s body coiled in a circle forming the outer effigy. As the styles changed, the rattlesnake motif became increasingly more elaborate. By the time the Citico-style was made, the rattlesnake became very stylized and almost unrecognizable. The literature suggests that the rattlesnake gorgets were not status ornaments but instead were age markers for the wearer. The heart of the rattlesnake-making region is Tennessee and northern Georgia. Only one rattlesnake gorget, a Citico style, has been found west of the Mississippi River. The remainder are clearly southeastern gorgets. These often intricate effigy gorgets tend to be large. Although the early rattlesnake gorgets are three to four inches in diameter, some Citico style gorgets are over six inches in diameter.

Shell gorgets were personal adornments from the Southern Death Cult phase of Mississippian times, and they are interesting symbols of their cultural and religious belief systems. By the last quarter of the 17^th Century, the tradition of making and wearing shell gorgets had come to an end. Although Native Americans continued to wear gorgets beyond the late 17^th Century, early illustrations suggest that shell gorgets were abandoned in favor of medal trade objects of European design and manufacture.