The Great Serpent Bound Analysis

For many years it was believed that the Nile River Valley and Tigris and Euphrates River Valley were the only early civilizations. Then in the 1920’s archaeologists uncovered a secret hidden just beneath earth’s surface; another civilization had existed, a civilization that was home to an estimated population of 50,000 to 200,000 people. This civilization was not only tremendous in number and size of its cities, but in intelligence and ability as well. The Harappan people had built their homes, buildings, and roads from bricks. These homes were more extravagant than one would guess for this time with many of the homes being multi-level. Their architecture was built on platforms to combat flooding in the area. In another impressive feat the

The Hopewell tradition was not a single cultural society, but a widely dispersed set of people. They worshiped a goddess by the name of spider-woman or moon goddess. Mounds were built as a ceremonial object. Which is where they buried members and worshiped. These mounds were actually made as lunar alignments and were an integral part of their highly developed social

The first time I heard about the Mound Builders, which was in this class, these people seemed like a very primitive group. What was so exciting about having the skill of piling up a bunch of dirt. Then I was able to see some of these mounds and the scale was nothing I had imagined. These mounds were huge and also contained distinct structural shapes. Tombs, houses, and religious structures were constructed in or on top of the mounds. What made the edifices even more amazing was the time period they were built. Constructed all the way back to 3000 B.C., the mounds rivaled the most advanced engineering techniques in the world.

For the followers of the Holiness Church in the Appalachian Mountain region, serpent handling is a central activity at their religious meetings. Following a passage in the Gospel of Mark, followers are instructed to “take up serpents” and trust in God enough to put their lives at risk. This rather unique religious ritual can be analyzed and understood by looking towards the MacMillan definition of religion. The MacMillan Encyclopedia of Religion states “[…] almost every known culture [has] a depth dimension in cultural experiences […] toward some sort of ultimacy and transcendence that will provide norms and power for the rest of life. When more or less distinct patterns of behavior are built around this depth dimension in a culture, this

Ceramic making is still a popular tradition today in the Americas, especially on Native Indian Reservations, like in Western, North Carolina. The use of ceramics, however, is quite different than the way it was used by the natives during the Middle Woodland Period. Today, pottery is mainly made for decoration or art purposes by modern day Americans, but according to Wallis (2011), about 3,000 years ago the use of pottery became a very common use and practiced tradition among the native people who lived during that time period. The Swift Creek culture and the Cherokee Indians had very similar methods in formulating ceramics. The archaeological findings of these artifacts states that one group had been more advanced designs on their vessels. This reason is most likely because of the materials that one group was able to access in their area that the other group did not have available. One group was also more traditional and spiritual in making their vessels, which caused them to create more complex designs and methods while designing their ceramics (Block 2005). By looking at the similarities of both groups pottery styles, archaeologists were able to determine the minor but very distinctive differences, that one group processed in their art, than the other. By comparing each group’s ceramics by looking at

The largest mound discovered in North America is Monks Mound in Cahokia, located outside of present day St. Louis and covers more than eighteen acres and is over one hundred feet tall (3). Made with locally quarried soils and built in stages over the course of a century or more, these mounds served as platforms for building, stages for religious and social activities and some were even used as cemeteries (1). It is believed that natives often occupied pre-existing settlements where the previous chiefdom had died out and the site had been abandoned; the reoccupying of these sites lead to the buildup of the earth mounds. Mounds were formed in the shape similar to a pyramid with the top cut off leaving a platform on the summit. Mounds were used to define the public space of the settlements plaza. The chief’s house was always on the largest mound in the settlement. If the mound was large enough a temple could be added or even a mortuary house so natives could prepare their dead. If the chief’s mound was not big enough then the temple mound would be adjacent to the chief’s mound in the plaza so that they would face each other (2).

Throughout the humanities course, I have been intrigued by a vast amount of information on different cultures. However, there was a particular section that truly caught my attention, and has piqued an interest in me that has caused me to do my own research aside from this paper. The culture of the Mayas, and the Aztecs has been extremely fundamental in understanding my ancestry, being that I am Mexican American. I took an interest in their beautiful architecture, their ritualistic and sacrificial religious practices, as well as their history and how they began. Throughout this paper I will outline the similarities and differences of these two cultures, as well as articulate an understanding of the humanity disciplines outlined above.

A resistant reading of the poem uncovers the idea that religion, specifically the Judeo-Christian religious tradition, is intrinsically harmful and retrogressive in nature. If the ‘snake’ is interpreted as a synecdoche for Judaeo-Christian religious tradition as a whole, a profoundly negative opinion of such an ideology is formed throughout the poem. Without the ‘snake’ that is this religion, there would be no “pain and suffering”. The poem asks, “what could bear such a weight”, interrogating the conscience of religion, implying guilt on its behalf. Furthermore, the imagery suggested in the second stanza surrounding the snake’s “shadow” evokes negative ideas concerning the nature of the religion, which is further bolstered by its ability to “separate itself” from this shadow, and to “move on

However, with the remains of their pieces of tools and other goods across the lands in different villages it can be speculated that some groups of Native Americans had social relations with others, or had mobile groups spread across the lands. For example, the clovis was an instrument used for hunting by the Paleo-Indian groups. The Clovis and Folsom peoples, and has been found in animal and village remains across the land. Judging that their groups traveled a lot this means that they built social connections with other groups. Leaving behind many small villages of fewer people for archaeologists to excavate. Additionally, social constrictions are seen in the people who follow after the Paleo-Indian peoples who focused more on hunting and gathering, but relied heavily more on natural foods such as fruits and nuts. As a result of this gathering technique for food supply, more villages were formed beginning with the archaic peoples. I believe this had led to the evolution of larger populations in native villages as I had read throughout Plog’s book that the villages got bigger with the increased use farming agricultural goods such as maize and beans. Rather than small campsites, villages rose as a result such as the Shabik’eschee peoples in Chaco Canyon. The development of village life led to new cultural customs such as cremation of the dead and preserved

Ever since ancient times, humans have used their uniquely creative minds to organize and construct awe-inspiring architecture. Our planet, once an empty canvas for human innovation, is now coated with manmade constructions. But before towering skyscrapers, grand hotels, and modern chapels came into existence, the world was bejeweled with ancient forms of engineering. Two of the more popular constructions from the ancient world include Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids at Giza. These incredible megaliths are seemingly very different, but share various similarities, and both help archaeologists gain insight to the religious beliefs and socio-political organization of the people who constructed them.

The Cherokee homelands were scattered in major parts of Kentucky and Tennessee but were also located in other states such as: Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. They have been known as being one of the most culturally and socially advanced tribes since becoming in contact with European explorers. Since the Cherokee were located in different places in the United States this resulted in a difference between tribes, this paper will focus on the Tennessee Cherokee. The Cherokee have been known to be highly spiritual and religious, for example they had a very high consciousness towards owls and cougars and they would honor their existence in many of their stories and rituals. Once the Europeans invaded their homelands because of the gold found, the Cherokee adopted the style of their invaders and even adopted some of their farming and building methods.

In this essay I will be considering only but one of the many questions that archaeologists analyse when researching the human past. As the title suggests, did civilization, or, a term preferably used by scholars; social complexity, arise from a conflicted band of nomadic people or from a mutual consensus among them? As well as my own thought’s, I will be discussing the ideologies of a number of professionals, both in archaeology and social anthropology, focusing mainly on the early development of the archaic Mesopotamian and Mesoamerican civilisations.

In chapter 6 of Earth's in his people's we begin to see the similarities between the first civilizations like Mesopotamia and Egypt in which around roughly the same time The Fairly large Indus Valley Civilization Rose during the same time period as the first civilizations. Liking other civilizations the Indus Valley Civilization had huge cities, with the two most famous ones being Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro in which archaeologist show that the cities were very organized with their Construction and standardization of styles and shapes of the things they built such as houses churches statues and many other things. The Indus Valley people had like other countries developed many sophisticated Technologies and works of art and unique buildings however,

However, ancient architecture often proves to be more baffling than a number of the earliest religions. One of the most popularly known mysteries of anthropology is that so many civilizations constructed pyramids with similar designs and functions completely independently from each other (Winks 10). Proponents of AAT may point at the stars, but there are other plausible explanations for this similar architecture. For example, the Jungian theory of psychological archetypes postulates that within every human mind lies a series of “primordial images” that influence perception and development (Feist). Because archetypes are hypothetically shared across cultures, they provide a sound explanation as to why and how independent civilizations have often constructed similar structures, practiced comparable religions, and have narratives with fundamentally identical themes. Namely, hundreds of cultures have creation myths that involve a sacred tree that provides for humanity, and many more have tales of tricksters of all sorts, such as coyotes, fairies, or even deities such as the Norse god Loki (Hansen). Pyramids could very easily be an archetype that represents ritual practices and stability. However, even if pyramids weren’t archetypal images in the psyche, the pyramid is one of the most structurally stable shapes for a monument; its weight is mostly found near the base, which provides a phenomenal level of support. It would only make sense that independent groups would eventually build pyramids as important monuments if they were meant to

Many decades ago, northern Central America and southern Mexico cultures developed complex political and social ranks. Researchers today know this region as Mesoamerica, known for its rich soil, abundant amount of rainfall, and agriculture. (Judge & Langdon, 2012) The Mesoamericans, Aztec and Mayan tribes, developed into complex civilizations for multiple reasons. These societies were advanced and complex for their time in areas, such as architecture, agriculture, militarism, and education. Each had unique religion and political systems as well. The rise and fall of both were due to several factors.