Shell gorgets are a Native American art form of polished, carved shell pendants worn around the neck. The gorgets are frequently engraved, and are sometimes highlighted with pigments, or fenestrated (pierced with openings).

Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (formerly Southern Cult, Southern Death Cult or Buzzard Cult[1][2]), abbreviated S.E.C.C., is the name given by modern scholars to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture.

They clearly context for mask gorgets comes from the Northern represent a human face, with the eyes depicted by Plains, where a probable shell mask has been reported drilled holes, and the nose and mouth often carved in an historic Kansa war bundle still in use in the in relief. Although the majority lack engraving, those 1880s (Howard 1956).

2024年6月18日 · These are generally construed as the “weeping eye” motif which is a documented style of ceremonial art from the SECC. A few of these gorgets have elongated cutouts or fenestrations and/or simple holes adjacent to the body to further delineate the overall shape of the snake.

On the opposite side of the eye, some of these gorgets have two oddly placed small triangles pointing toward the gorget edge. These are generally construed as the "weeping eye" motif which is a documented style of ceremonial art from the SECC.

Found marking the grave of an important individual, this gorget was worn as a neck ornament during life. Mississippian culture was one of the most cosmopolitan Native American cultures prior to the arrival of Europeans.

Shell mask gorgets are generally found associated with burials. They are considered to be gorgets because enough of them have been found in that position on the chest of the individual. It's believed that the holes drilled for the eyes were used as suspension holes.

Spiro Mississippian Hand and Eye gorget, c. 1200-1350 CE, now in the collection of the Minneapolis Institute of Art. From artsmia.org (the description refers to two gorgets in Mia’s collection): ”…The Hand and Eye motif signifies the constellation that marks the entrance to the Path of Souls in the sky, the Milky Way.

These large gorgets were carved out of conch shell traded all the way in from the Gulf Coast. Worn as chest ornaments, they were a marker of influence and standing in ancient Mississippian culture. Each has prominent celestial imagery, depicting important elements of the Above World.

This classic Fort Ancient marine conch gorget was found in Augusta ca. 1950 at site 14BK4. While a resident of Augusta, Payne wrote Gen. Lewis Collins and informed James Overton that he had exhumed 110 skeletons ca. 1810 when digging his 60' x 70' basement at this location. Payne said an ancient village had been between Bracken and Turtle Creeks.