Howard] THE PONCA TRIBE S 



feathered serpents, eagle warriors, and athletes playing the hoop and 

 javelin game are characteristic. In some parts of the Middle Missis- 

 sippi territory pear-shaped gorgets in the form of a human face with 

 strange "weeping" eyes have been found. 



The Middle Mississippi people were acquainted with copper and 

 worked it into a variety of tools and ornaments. One excellent ex- 

 ample of the coppersmith's art is an ornamental plate showing a 

 dancing eagle warrior carrying a human trophy head in one hand 

 and a mace in the other. 



From stone the Middle Mississippi people made magnificent mono- 

 lithic axes and maces that are masterpieces of primitive workmanship. 

 Woodcarving, weaving, and featherwork also were of a high order, 

 judging by the few examples that have survived. 



Politically the Middle Mississippi Indians were advanced beyond 

 the level of their neighbors to the north and west. The principal 

 political unit seems to have been a city-state of the type found in 

 ancient Mesopotamia and represented in the New World by the Maya. 

 One large village culturally and politically dominated surrounding 

 satellite villages. We know little of the political structure other than 

 that there must have been some means of organizing cooperative labor 

 on a large scale to effect the construction of the great temple mounds 

 and fortifications. Perhaps a theocracy, with the principal chief and 

 his priests acting as representatives of the gods, prevailed. 



The construction of the great earthen pyramids and fortifications 

 and to a lesser extent the elaborate works of art indicate a surplus 

 economy which freed considerable time for these activities. Hence we 

 are not surprised to learn that bottom-land agriculture was the 

 principal economic base of Middle Mississippi civilization. Corn, 

 squash, beans, gourds, and perhaps other crops were raised. This 

 vegetal fare was supplemented by hunting, fishing, and the gathering 

 of wild foods. 



Middle Mississippi culture represents the most intensive Indian 

 occupancy of Eastern North America and the highest cultural achieve- 

 ment north of Mexico. Nowhere was there a civilization which de- 

 veloped so rapidly and expanded so greatly in a few short centuries. 

 From its center in the Southeast, Middle Mississippi influences radi- 

 ated west and north into the Plains, and north into the Northeastern 

 Woodlands. 



Although a great deal has been learned about this civilization from 

 the excavation of its sites, its genesis remains a mystery. Middle 

 American influences are clearly discernible in the truncated pyramidal 

 mounds, art motifs, weapons, and pottery styles. Yet, strangely 

 enough, no Middle American trade pieces have ever been fomid in a 

 Middle Mississippian site. Nor have archeologists found the neat 

 string of connecting sites, either through the islands of the Caribbean 



