Archaeologists have become increasingly interested in ancient belief systems and it is recognized that the material remains of past societies may effectively aid in constructing informed interpretations of religious institutions and ritual practice. Recent research seeks linkages between ethnographic accounts and eastern Woodlands representational imagery. In this article, I examine depictions of animal pelt headdresses and marshal prairie–plains ethnographic accounts to argue that Mississippian figural imagery denotes more than status ascription. Animal pelt headgear was a distinctive and prominent feature of Mississippian belief systems, which materialized transcendent beings in figural art. The implication is that Mississippian ritual sodalities may be comparable to historic prairie–plains exemplars. Closer analytic attention and focus is warranted to assess the cultural contexts in which ceremonial regalia is visualized in Mississippian art. In this regard, ritual headgear may help identify specific culture heroes venerated within the context of ritual sodalities.

中文翻译：

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动物毛皮帽和密西西比州的仪式联谊会

考古学家对古代信仰体系越来越感兴趣，人们认识到过去社会的物质遗骸可能有效地帮助构建对宗教机构和仪式实践的知情解释。最近的研究寻求人种学描述与伍德兰东部代表性图像之间的联系。在这篇文章中，我研究了动物毛皮头饰和元帅草原 - 平原民族志的描述，以论证密西西比人的形象意象不仅仅意味着地位归属。动物毛皮头饰是密西西比信仰体系的一个独特而突出的特征，它在人物艺术中实现了超然存在。这意味着密西西比州的仪式联谊会可能与历史上的草原平原典范相媲美。有必要进行更密切的分析关注和关注，以评估密西西比艺术中形象化的礼仪王权的文化背景。在这方面，仪式头饰可能有助于识别在仪式社会背景下崇敬的特定文化英雄。