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The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (sometimes called the Southern Cult or the Chiefly Warfare Cult) is the name given to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies and mythology of the Mississippian culture that coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization. Contrary to popular belief, this development appears to have no direct links to Mesoamerica, but developed independently. This Ceremonial Complex represents a major component of the religion of the Mississippian peoples, and is one of the primary means by which their religion is understood.
The social organization of the Mississippian culture was largely based on warfare, which can be identified by exotic motifs and symbols and by costly raw materials such as seashell or imported copper. Such objects occur in elite burials, together with war axes, maces, and other weapons. These warrior symbols occur alongside other artifacts which bear exotic cosmic imagery, depicting animals, humans, and mythic beasts. This symbolic imagery bound together warfare, cosmology, and nobility into a coherent whole. Some of these categories of artifacts were used as markers of chiefly office, which varied from one location to another. The term reflects a complex, highly variable set of religious mechanisms that supported the authority of local chiefs.
[edit] Major Sites Associated with the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
[edit] Trivia
- The English rock band The Cult took its name form the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex or Southern Death Cult.
[edit] External links
