MISSISSIPPIAN HAND-AND-EYE SYMBOL, PART TWO:

This is part two of the two-part examination of the hand-and-eye motif of the Mississippian cultures of the American midwest, illustrating further examples of the motif in various artifacts, not rock art. In ceramics and other media it seems almost ubiquitous.

The eye in the middle of the palm of the hand is a fascinating and evocative image, the eye peering out from the middle of the hand. This is a combination of two of the anatomical details that define our humanity; the expressiveness of the eye, and the sensitivity and dexterity of the human hand. The hand-and-eye theme is also found on other artifacts from many of the Mississippian- influenced cultures. 

The Moundville Disc - “engraved circular palette with hand-and-eye motif and intertwined rattlesnakes. Moundville, Alabama, A.D. 1300 - 1450,” Alabama Museum of Natural History, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. Fig. 1, P. 167, Steponaitis and Vernon, 2004.

Willoughby Disc, Moundsville, Alabama. Peabody Museum of Art and Ethnology, Harvard University.

We can also look at the theme of the hand-and-eye motif in other media. One well-known example of the theme is found on The Moundsville Disc, also known as The Rattlesnake Disc, and engraved circular palette with the hand-and-eye motif enclosed within two intertwined serpents, made on fine sandstone and measuring 31.9 cm in diameter. Rattles can definitely be seen on the serpents providing the identification as rattlesnakes. These palettes were possibly used in rituals serving as the mixing surface upon which medicines and supernaturally powerful mixtures were prepared. "The two serpents carved on the Moundville disk are intertwined to form an ogeelike portal that surrounds a hand-and-eye motif. Currently, the hand-and-eye motif is interpreted as one of the portals or doorways to the Path of Souls." (Reilly 2004:130) If the mixtures had any hallucinogenic properties the identification of this theme with a portal to another level of being makes sense. Also illustrated is a second palette, known as "The Willoughby Disc" with a double hand-and-eye motif on it, also found near Moundsville, Alabama.

Examples on pottery are fairly common. This illustrated example was recovered near Mobile, Alabama.

Bottle with ogee and hand-and-eye motif, Alabama, near Mobile. A.D. 1400-1500, ceramic, 15.9 cm. High. Harvard University, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Fig. 9, p. 212, Townsend, Richard F., 2004, Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand.

Another example is on this potsherd from Moundsville, Alabama.

Potsherd with hand-and-eye motif from Moundsville, Alabama. Online photo Wikimedia.

Other examples found in Mississippian culture are artifacts known as oblong pendants.

Oblong pendant with rayed circle, ogee, and hand-and-eye motif, Moundville, Alabama.  A.D. 1250 - 1500, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of the American Indian. p. 175, Fig. 14, Townsend, Richard F., 2004, Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand.

These oblong pendants were a lapidary specialty of artisans at Moundville. “Fashioned from thin stone of uniform thickness, these pendants were shaped, polished, and engraved to represent standard symbols. In most though not all cases the material of manufacture is a blood-red, fine-grained ferruginous stone. - - - This design’s original prototype is an older Mississippian motif consisting of a human scalp stretched on a frame.” (Steponaitis and Knight 2004: 176) Presumably they would be worn on a cord as a pendant for important ceremonial occasions, although there have also been suggestions that they may have served as palettes for grinding herbal concoctions for use in these ceremonies. Examples have also been found that were made out of native copper, a valuable material which also had ceremonial implications.

From Dorcas Miller, 1997, Stars of the First People, p.237, Fig. 11.9, Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder, CO. 

These hand-and-eye symbols are thought by many researchers to refer to the hand constellation of Native American cosmography, which itself is thought to represent the portal or doorway to the Path of Souls to the afterlife (the Milky Way). The hand constellation is comprised of the lower half of the constellation that we identify as Orion. Our designated belt of Orion represents the wrist of the hand constellation and Orion’s sword represents the thumb of the hand constellation. The star Rigel, which we identify as Orion’s left foot is the tip of the index finger in the hand constellation, and Eridanus is the tip of the little finger of the  hand constellation.

Whatever its original meaning the hand-and-eye motif is a compelling and truly fascinating image and there must be more of these examples in rock art from the regions that were inhabited by Mississippian cultures still to be found. I look forward to seeing more of them.

NOTE: I wish to again express my gratitude to Dr. Michael Fuller for his generous sharing of photographs and information that helped me with this paper.

Some images in this posting were retrieved from the internet with a search for public domain photographs. If any of these images are not intended to be public domain, I apologize, and will happily provide the picture credits if the owner will contact me with them. For further information on these reports you should read the original reports at the sites listed below.

PRIMARY REFERENCES:

Miller, Dorcas, 1997    Stars of the First People, p.237, Fig. 11.9,Pruett Publishing Co., Boulder, CO. 

Reilly, F. Kent, III, 2004 People of the Earth, People of the Sky: Visualizing the Sacred in Native American Art of the Mississippian Period, pp. 125-138, in Townsend, Richard F., general editor, and Robert V. Sharp, editor, Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand: American Indian Art of the Ancient Midwest and South, Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University Press, New Haven.

Steponaitis, Vincas P, and Vernon J. Knight, Jr., 2004 Moundville Art in Historical and Social Context, pp. 166 – 181.  in Townsend, Richard F., general editor, and Robert V. Sharp, editor, Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand: American Indian Art of the Ancient Midwest and South, Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University Press, New Haven.

Townsend, Richard F., general editor, and Robert V. Sharp, editor, 2004  Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand: American Indian Art of the Ancient Midwest and South, Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University Press, New Haven.