Ceramic Effigy fragment (Acc. #096-133). The Berry Site (31BK22). Burke County, North Carolina. Excavated in 2017 by the Warren Wilson College Archaeological Field School. Unit: N810E197, level: Plowzone 1. Weight: 3.4 g. Material: Clay.
Remarks: This ceramic effigy fragment depicts a bird or some other type of raptor. It likely was attached to the rim of a Native American ceramic vessel. Birds were a common motif used by prehistoric Native Americans in the Southeast. Within the cosmology of many Southeastern Native American groups, birds were powerful symbols and were linked to the upper world. Similar effigy figures include this model from the Fort Walton period in the Florida Gulf Coast (the model was made by the Ceramic Technology Lab of the University of Florida). For an example of what the complete effigy vessel might have looked like, see this model made by the RLA of UNC
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