Ceramics at the Long Swamp site were not limited to jars and cooking pots. Clay was also shaped shaped into human and other animal forms before being hardened by fire.
This effigy is appears to dipict the head of a snake or serpent. There are two punctations made for the eyes and a clean incised line forms the serpent’s mouth. The break at the base of the head suggests the effigy was attached to a body or adorned a ceramic vessel. The effigy fragment is small, weighing only 2.2 grams and length of 20.16 mm from the tip of the mouth to the back of the head and a width of 10.72 mm at the eyes.
The effigy was found in a pit which was originally used as a source for clay. The clay may have been used to create plaster which was applied to the pallisade surrounding the village. Later, the pit became a refuse site where this effigy was discarded around A.D. 1100.
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