ABSTRACT Compared to other gorget styles and themes made during the Mississippian period, the so-called rattlesnake gorgets of eastern Tennessee have been found in fairly large numbers. Stylistically, Muller assigned these gorgets to the temporally related Lick Creek and Citico styles, while Crawford’s recent work has argued for substyles within. While their style has been studied extensively, the idea that these gorgets depict rattlesnakes generally has been accepted without further consideration. In this paper, we present the results of a systematic iconographic study of rattlesnake gorgets. Ultimately, we conclude that the image’s original referent is not just a snake but instead is intended to be a model of the cosmos at night.

中文翻译：

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田纳西州东部“响尾蛇”峡谷的图像探索

摘要 与密西西比时期的其他风格和主题相比，田纳西州东部所谓的响尾蛇峡谷的数量相当多。在风格上，Muller 将这些 gorgets 分配给与时间相关的 Lick Creek 和 Citico 风格，而 Crawford 最近的作品则为其中的子风格而争论。虽然他们的风格已被广泛研究，但这些蛇颈蛇描绘响尾蛇的想法已被普遍接受而没有进一步考虑。在本文中，我们展示了响尾蛇鼻喉的系统图像学研究结果。最终，我们得出结论，该图像的原始指示对象不仅仅是一条蛇，而是旨在成为夜晚宇宙的模型。