Tag: Adams County Illinois

by Dr. Sandy B. Carter, Jr., Roswell, Georgia

Central States Archaeological Journal Vol. 66, No. 3, July 2019

These two long nosed god maskettes (Figs. 1–3) were found near the Quincy Indian Mounds in Adams County, Illinois. They date to 1050–1200 A.D. (ref. 1 and 2) and are made from conch shell. They measure 1 ½” (H), 1 ¾” (D), and 1 ½” (W). To be noted are engraved eyes at the base of the nose and an engraved mouth under the nose, as well as perforations to attach the maskette to the earlobe. The maskettes were previously curated by James Reed, DDS, Quincy, Illinois and Tommy Beutell, Tuckaseegee, North Carolina.

Long and short nosed maskettes have been found in at least nine states including Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama, Florida and Kentucky (but not Tennessee, as clarified by Smith and Beahm (ref. 3)). At least thirty-seven maskettes have been discovered with the largest number coming from Illinois, where fifteen have come from the Cahokia area including St. Claire, Calhoun, Pike and Adams counties along the Mississippi River. Materials from which they are made are shell, copper and bone (ref. 4). Elite Mississippian men wore these prestigious ornaments on their ears and Cahokia is considered the original source of maskettes (ref. 5).

Images of these ear ornaments have also been seen in a pictograph in the Picture Cave, Missouri, on copper plates (Spiro and Etowah), on Lightning Whelk shell vessels (Spiro), and on the ears of the flint clay “Big Boy/Resting Warrior” figurine (Spiro).

Dye discusses the iconographic significance of the long/short nose maskettes. He interprets them as representing the mythological Hero Twins and the progeny of “Morning Star/Red Horn” or “He-Who-Wears-Human-Heads-As-Earrings” (ref. 2). Duncan and Diaz-Granados also point out the mythological transition from long nosed to short nosed maskettes (ref. 4).

In summary, long nosed maskettes are unique Cahokian artifacts, and archaeologists realize that these art creations that we admire, had iconographic “supernatural and otherworldly” meaning to indigenous peoples (ref. 6).

References:

1. Perino, Gregory H., The Yoken Site, Pike County, Illinois. In Mississippian Archaeology in Illinois: I, Site Reports from the Southern Illinois and Chicago Areas. Bulletin No. 8, Illinois Archaeological Survey, Inc., p.182, 1971.
2. Dye, David H., Long and Short Nosed God Maskettes, Central States Archaeological Journal, pp.176–179, Volume 64, Number 3, 2017.
3. Smith, Kevin E. and Emily L. Beahm, Corrected Provenance for the Long-Nosed God Mask from “A Cave Near Roga, Tennessee,” Southeastern Archaeology, pp. 117–121, Volume 28, Number 1, 2009.
4. Duncan, James R. and Carol Diaz-Granados, Of Masks and Myths, Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, pp. 1–26, Volume 25, Number 1, 2000.
5. Pusketat, Timothy R. and Susan M. Alt, Medieval Life in America’s Heartland, Medieval Mississippians, The Cahokian World, edited by Timothy R. Pauketat and Susan M. Alt, pp. 76–81, 2015.
6. Koldelhoff, Brad H. and Timothy R. Pauketat, An Archaeology of Ancient Religion: A Case Study from Ancient Religion in the American Midwest, edited by Brad H. Koldelhoff and Timothy R. Pauketat, p. 18, 2018.