Spiro, Le Flore County, Oklahoma, United States, North America
Accession Date:
30 Dec 1966
Notes:
Style: Craig C Raw Material 2: Busycon sinistrum Element: Complete Alteration: Weathered Manufacturing Notes: Drilled distal hole at distal margin of design. Apical hole present but may be punched. Larger deterioration. Hole in body at shoulder on left of center. Design: Geometric. Surface Modification: Incised Symbols: Linked semi-volutes (Joan Gardner, conservator), concentric circles. Residue: Yellow stain in interior. Faint but definite basket impression on outer surface. Use Trace: Placed on basket/mat. Comments: 6 bands of repeating motifs running latitudinally. Volutes run in Z direction. and there they meet are joined by a 3 concentric ring circle. Volute swirls sometimes consist of 4 || lines others of 3|| lines but offset so that there would be room for a 4th. Is this an intentional variation, or is it what happens when a Mississippian artist runs out of time and has to take short-cuts (see what Phillips & Brown have to say about it (Pre-Columbian Shell Engravings from Craig Mound at Spiro, Oklahoma)).