The Southern Cult - Southeastern Ceremonial Complex

The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC) is what archaeologists have called a broad regional similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian period in North America between about 1000 and 1600 CE. This cultural melange is thought to represent a Mississippian religion evolved at Cahokia on the Mississippi River near modern day St. Louis and spread via migration and diffusion of ideas throughout southeastern North America, impacting existing communities as far-flung as the modern states of Oklahoma, Florida, Minnesota, Texas, and Louisiana. Key Takeaways: Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Common Names: Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, Southern CultAlternatives: Mississippian Ideological Interaction Sphere (MIIS) or the Mississippian Art and Ceremonial Complex (MACC)Dates: 1000–1600 CELocation: throughout the southeastern U.S.  Interpretation: Major towns with mounds and rectangular plazas spread from Oklahoma to Florida, Minnesota to Louisiana, connected by broad-based religious activities and trade in copper, shell, and potteryShared Symbols: Morning Star/Red Horn, Underwater Panther Mound Cities The SECC was first recognized in the mid-twentieth century, although it was then called the Southern Cult; today it is sometimes referred to as the Mississippian Ideological Interaction Sphere (MIIS) or the Mississippian Art and Ceremonial Complex (MACC). The multiplicity of names for this phenomenon reflects both the significance of the similarities placed on it by the scholars, and the struggles those scholars have had trying to pin down the processes and meanings of an undeniable wave of cultural change. Etowah Mound B, Georgia, Mississippian Civilization. Kare Thor Olsen Commonality of Traits The core components of the SECC are repoussà © copper sheet plates (basically, three-dimensional objects cold-hammered out of copper), engraved marine shell gorgets, and shell cups. These objects are decorated in what scholars call the Classic Braden figural style, as it was defined by archaeologist James A. Brown in the 1990s. The Classic Braden style focuses on the winged anthropomorphic being known colloquially among archaeologists as the birdman, depicted on copper plates and worn as headpieces or breastplates. The birdman symbol is nearly a universal component at SECC sites. Other traits are found less consistently. Mississippians typically, but not always, lived in major towns centered around four-sided plazas. The centers of those towns sometimes included large raised earthen platforms topped by pole and thatch temples and elite houses, some of which were cemeteries for elites. Some of the societies played a game with disc-like pieces called chunkey stones. Artifacts of shell, copper, and pottery were distributed and exchanged and copied. Common symbols on those artifacts include the hand-eye (a hand with an eye in the palm), a falconid or forked eye symbol, a bi-lobed arrow, the quincunx or cross-in-circle motif, and a petal-like motif. The Peach Tree State Archaeological Society website has a detailed discussion of some of these motifs. Shared Supernatural Beings The anthropomorphic birdman motif has been the focus of much scholarly research. The birdman has been connected to the mythical hero-god known as Morning Star or Red Horn in upper midwest Native American communities. Found on repoussà © copper and shell etchings, versions of the birdman seem to represent anthropomorphized bird deities or costumed dancers associated with warfare rituals. They wear bi-lobed headdresses, have long noses and often long braids—those traits are associated with masculine sexual virility among Osage and Winnebago rituals and oral traditions. But some of them appear to be female, bi-gendered or genderless: some scholars note wryly that our Western concepts of the duality of male and female are hindering our ability to comprehend the meaning of this figure. Version of the Underwater Panther on a Mississippian Bowl from Moundville. CB Moore, 1907 In some communities, there is a shared supernatural being called the underwater panther or underwater spirit; the Native American descendants of the Mississippians call this being Piasa or Uktena. The panther, Siouan descendants tell us, represents three worlds: wings for the upper world, antlers for the middle and scales for the lower. He is one of the husbands of the Old Woman Who Never Dies. These myths strongly echo the pan-Mesoamerican underwater serpent deity, one of which is the Maya god ​Itzamna. This is remnants of an old religion. Reports by the Conquistadors The timing of the SECC, which ended at (and maybe because) the period of initial Euroamerican colonization of North America, gives scholars a vision albeit corrupted of the effective practices of the SECC. The ​16th century Spanish and the 17th century French visited these communities and wrote of what they saw. Further, echoes of the SECC are part and parcel of a living tradition among many of the descendant communities. A fascinating paper by Lee J. Bloch discusses his attempt to describe the birdman motif to Native American people who live in the vicinity of the SECC site of Lake Jackson, Florida. That discussion led him to recognize how some of the entrenched archaeological concepts are just wrong. The birdman is not a bird, the Muskogee told him, its a moth. One clearly evident aspect of the SECC today is that, although the archaeological concept of a Southern Cult was conceived as a homogenous religious practice, it was not homogenous and probably not necessarily (or entirely) religious. Scholars are still struggling with that: some have said it was an iconography that was restricted to the elites, to help cement their leadership roles in the far-flung communities. Others have noted that the similarities seem to fall into three categories: warriors and weaponry; falcon dancer paraphernalia; and a mortuary cult. Too Much Information? The irony is, of course, that more information is available about the SECC than most other massive cultural changes recognized in the past, making it harder to pin down a reasonable interpretation. Although scholars are still working out the possible meanings and process of the Southeastern Cultural Complex, it is eminently clear that it was a geographically, chronologically, and functionally variable ideological phenomenon. As an interested bystander, I find the ongoing SECC research a fascinating combination of what you do when you have too much and not enough information, which promises to continue to evolve for some decades to come. Mississippian Chiefdoms in the SECC A few of the largest and better known Mississippian mound cities include: Cahokia (Illinois), Etowah (Georgia), Moundville (Alabama), Spiro Mound (Oklahoma), Silvernale (Minnesota), Lake Jackson (Florida), Castalian Springs (Tennessee), Carter Robinson (Virginia) Selected Sources Blitz, John. New Perspectives in Mississippian Archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Research 18.1 (2010): 1–39. Print.Bloch, Lee J. The Unthinkable and the Unseen: Community Archaeology and Decolonizing Social Imagination at Okeeheepkee, or the Lake Jackson Site. Archaeologies 10.1 (2014): 70–106. Print.Cobb, Charles R., and Adam King. Re-Inventing Mississippian Tradition at Etowah, Georgia. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 12.3 (2005): 167–92. Print.Emerson, Thomas E., et al. Paradigms Lost: Reconfiguring Cahokia’s Mound 72 Beaded Burial. American Antiquity 81.3 (2016): 405–25. Print.Hall, Robert L. The Cultural Background of Mississippian Symbolism. The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex: Artifacts and Analysis. Ed. Galloway, P. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1989. 239–78. Print.Knight, Vernon James Jr. Farewell to the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. Southeastern Archaeology 25.1 (2006): 1–5. Print.Krus, Anthony M. , and Charles R. Cobb. The Mississippian Fin De Sià ¨cle in the Middle Cumberland Region of Tennessee. American Antiquity 83.2 (2018): 302–19. Print.Meyers, Maureen. Excavating a Mississippian Frontier: Fieldwork at the Carter Robinson Mound Site. Native South 1 (2008): 27–44. Print.Muller, Jon. The Southern Cult. The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex: Artifacts and Analysis. Ed. Galloway, P. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1989. 11–26. Print.

Why Heart Failure ( Hf ) Is The Inability Of The Heart

Heart failure (HF) is the inability of the heart to pump adequately to meet the metabolic needs of the body (Jeffrey et al, 2007). It is caused by structural or functional abnormalities of the heart (NICE, 2003). The reduced contractility leads to a reduced stroke volume, and therefore the heart rate is increased to help maintain cardiac output. HF can either be chronic where it has been occurring over time or acute, where it happens suddenly. Around 900,000 people in the UK have HF, with almost as many as damaged hearts but with no symptoms (Petersen et al, 2002). The prevalence of HF increases steeply with age, with the average age at first diagnosis is at 76. The risk of HF is greater in males than in females in all age groups, but there are more females than males due to population demographics (Eggett, 2014). The cost of general practitioner consultations has been estimated at  £45 million per year, with an additional  £35 million for GP referrals to outpatient clinics. In addition to this, community-based drug therapy costs the NHS around  £129 million per year. The hospital admissions due to HF are understood to increase by more than half in the next 25 years, largely due to the ageing population. This paper will focus on comparing and contrasting the classic verves contemporary understanding of HF, evaluating both the traditional concepts and more recent developments of the understanding of this condition. Traditional concepts of HF The understanding of HF hasShow MoreRelatedEssay on Heart Failure3548 Words   |  15 PagesSituation: Two patients in their 70s present to the office at different times today, each with documented heart failure: one diastolic and the other systolic, and both are hypertensive. First, discuss the difference between systolic and diastolic heart failure, providing appropriate pathophysiology. ACEI/ARBs are the only medications prescribed for CHF that have been found to prolong life and improve the quality of that life. 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Problems of Working Women free essay sample

It is an open truth that working women have to face problems Just by virtue of their being women. Working women here are referred to those who are in paid employment. Social attitude to the role of women lags much behind the law. This attitude which considers women fit for certain Jobs and not others colors those who recruit employees. Thus women find employment easily as nurses, doctors, teachers the caring and nurturing sectors, secretaries or in assembling Jobs-the routine submissive sectors. But even if well qualified women engineers or managers or eologists are available, preference will be given to a male of equal qualification. A gender bias creates an obstacle at the recruitment stage itself. When it comes to remuneration the law proclaims equality but it is seldom put into practice. The inbuilt conviction that women are capable of less work than men or less efficient than men governs this injustice of unequal salaries and wages for the same Job. We will write a custom essay sample on Problems of Working Women or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The age old belief of male superiority over women creates several hurdles for women at their place of work. Women on the way up the corporate ladder discover that they must be uch better than their male colleagues to reach the top. Once at the top male colleagues and subordinates often expect much greater expertise and efficiency from a woman boss than from a male boss. Conditioned by social and psychological tradition women colleagues too dont lend support to their own sex. Working in such conditions inevitably put much greater strain on women than what men experience. These problems tend to make women less eager to progress in their careers. Indeed many of them choose less demanding Jobs for which they may even be over- qualified. A womans work is not merely confined to paid employment.

Service Management Questions and Answers Essay Example

Service Management: Questions and Answers Essay What ethical Issues are raised in the promotion of sales during a service transaction? A: I think that the first issue Is whether the promotion Is only to Increase the business. That Is to say, the company held this promotion Just because of the bad quality of the products. This may hurt customers Interest. The second Issue Is that sometimes the customers do not even know what they are doing. They are attracted by the promotion slogan or the exciting prices. Sellers exaggerate about the products and customers do not know details about these promotions. They are deceived to ay things. Q: Comment on the different dynamics of one-on-one service and group service in regard to perceived control of the service encounter. First look at the service encounter triad. There are three elements, Including service organization, contact personnel and customer. Perceived control takes place between contact personnel and customer. The service organization chooses the contact personnel and trains them into professional employees to deal with customers directly. For one-on-one service, first the service organization will impose some regulations on the contact personnel, telling them not to do something. Moreover, it is a one-on-one service, the contact personnel is dealing with only one customer. I think there are regulations about how to deal with one customer. Maybe the service organization does not take one person too seriously. The service organization wants to serve more people to improve the margin profit, not wasting too much time on Just one person. The contact personnel on one hand will follow the rules from the service organization, on the other hand, they want to improve their own efficiency, so they may reduce the service quality, because they believe It Is easy to deal with one person, he/she is not that Important. We will write a custom essay sample on Service Management: Questions and Answers specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Service Management: Questions and Answers specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Service Management: Questions and Answers specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer The contact personnel wants to reduce their work too. This behavior definitely causes bad consequences Like dissatisfaction from that customer. From the customers point of view, he/she will think even as an individual, he/she deserves the same level of service. Since there is only one person, he/she wants better outcome, and takes control over the contact personnel. This pressure comes from both sides, one is trying to control the other. But in this situation, the contact personnel may have some advantages over For group service, the situation is still the same. The contact personnel is facing many people instead of Just one, so their service quality should step up according to the instructions from their service organization, I guess. There are definitely differences between dealing with one person or many persons. From the service organizations point of view, group service can bring a lot of profits, using only the same numbers of contact personnel. From the contact personnels point of view, they are facing many people, and their work becomes more difficult and tired. If every person In this group has several questions. They will spend much more time dealing with this case. This customers. From the customers point of view, they have more people. They believe they deserve better service, they ask for much more from the contact personnel. These people may have different ideas about products or service, this situation can easily cause dissatisfaction about the contact personnel. To summarize, whether in one-on-one service or group service, both sides have dynamics to perceived control. Every customer expects same level of service, even better service for groups. This leads to work from the contact personnel, who will try their best to reduce the work themselves.