Cosmograms and Archetype Ancestors at the Pierson Creek & Yaremko Sites, Iowa

Summary

Recently discovered geoglyphs at two Late Woodland sites in northwestern Iowa take the form of anthropomorphic turtles, bison, thunderers and a "stickman" similar to the petroglyphs at Pipestone Monument in southern Minnesota. Excavations indicate the geoglyphs functioned as cosmograms where vision quests and other life-renewal rituals probably were conducted. The cosmograms and associated evidence for rituals are compared to ethnographic descriptions of Lakota tribal myths to reveal possible symbolism for the figures. The two sites are hypothesized to have been part of a "sacred" locality where multiple ritual sites were integrated as a structured mythological landscape. In this narrative, archeological investigation is perceived to be encountering two levels of inquiry: the rationality of place and the dream state of mythology.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Methodology and Interpretation in the Archaeology of Rock Art

Keywords

Spatial Coverage