Copper tadpole cut-out   Save
A. T. Wehrle Collection
Description: This thin sheet of copper has been cut into the shape of a tadpole with a long, wavy tail and slight fin. A set of parallel lines run from the mouth along the bottom edge, tapering and merging into one line along the tail. Six perforations (two lines of three) along the mouth of the tadpole cut into the parallel lines. There are fragments of textile in the interior-most set of perforations. Oxidation has changed the color of the copper to light brown, brilliant green, and pale red purple. This piece is from Mississippian Culture. Between about A.D. 700 and 1600, people living in the central Mississippi River valley developed a lifestyle that archaeologists refer to as Mississippian. Mississippian farmers raised the same crops as their Woodland ancestors. However, they relied more and more on corn, squash, and beans. It is believed that the Mississippian people had to move to new sites, perhaps every ten years, as their soil became less fertile. Most Mississippian groups lived on single farms or in small villages, but, because their food supply could support more people, their villages grew in size and density. Some archaeologists believe the Mississippian cultures developed chiefdoms in which certain persons held a great deal of power. In many of the larger towns and regional centers, the Mississippian people built flat-topped pyramid-shaped mounds of earth that served as bases for buildings. Archaeologists believe that these buildings may have been the homes of leaders or places for public rituals. What happened to the Mississippian cultures is not clear, but there was a decline or disruption of their lifestyle beginning in some places as early as A.D. 1350. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: A3490_000282_004
Subjects: Indian copperwork; Mississippian Culture (A.D. 900–1500); Mound-builders;
Places: A. T. Wehrle Collection