Case studies combine archaeological data and oral tradition to illustrate how the archaeological expression of beliefs and meanings passed down in the oral tradition may be interpreted.

Explanations in Iconography: Ancient American Indian Art, Symbol, and Meaning is a significant contribution to the field of archaeology – a contribution in iconography studies that has gradually been coming into its own. Iconography is a rich and fascinating field, as applied to the complex, and heretofore enigmatic, imagery on many ancient Pre-Columbian artifacts. When viewed through the lens of early ethnographic records and American Indian oral traditions, as well as information from knowledgeable American Indian elders, it opens a world of understanding and clarity until recently unknown in the field of anthropological archaeology. It brings us closer to the people who created the artifacts and offers a glimpse into the symbols and beliefs that were important to them. Chapters cover a wide variety of artifacts and imagery from several ancient American Indian cultures. These artifacts include petroglyphs and pictographs (rock art), mounds, engraved shell cups and gorgets, burial architecture and grave furniture, pottery, copper repoussé, and other media. Ancient graphics, engravings, mounds, and all were created to deliver a message to the viewer – and many of those messages are finally coming to light. The artifacts included are from a variety of regions, mainly in the Midwest and Eastern United States. We hope that this volume will encourage others to look more deeply into the meaning behind the ancient imagery and arts and give the past a chance to be known.

• Cover page
• Dedication
• Title page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgements
• Chapter 1. Thoughts and ideas on how iconography works: a basic primer on how ”to do” iconography
• Chapter 2. Son of the sun: iconography in rock art and artifacts that reveals important associations between symbolism associated with Dhegiha religion, celestial bodies, and Western Mississippian ideology
• Chapter 3. Vestiges of the Birdman at Etowah
• Chapter 4. The house between life and death: interpretations about the organization of Mound 3 at the Lake Jackson Site
• Chapter 5. Effigy mounds and rock art of Midcontinental North America: shared iconography, shared stories
• Chapter 6. “Paired Figures Confronting a Forked Pole”: so what’s up with the Forked Pole?
• Chapter 7. The Hero Twins in the Lower Mississippi Valley
• Chapter 8. Arguments for the age of Serpent Mound
• Chapter 9. Contextualizing Mississippian statuary from the Mississippi–Ohio River confluence
• Chapter 10. The great importance of the Great Serpent
• Index