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| Gayle's Favorite Engraved Conch Shell from Spiro |
| Gayle may have good taste in Conch Shell Engravings, but she is still a little fairy girl. Consider this photo of me in the rain at the Winterville Mounds in Mississippi, one that she took from inside the shelter of the museum because she refused to go out in....THE RAIN! WHAT A SISSY! Lucky for me this place seldom has freezing weather, as it was just before New Years. Although it has happened, as you can see by the picture on the right. Click on the same picture for what it usually looks like. |
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| The ground was so slick that day I fell off the mound and down the Railroad tie steps that have no hand rail. Fortunately I did not fall down all of the 88 steps, just some of them. . |
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| Large shells came from the Gulf of Mexico and were used as containers for the Black Drink. The name Black Drink comes from the color of a hot drink made by boiling the parched leaves and twigs of the Holly plant. The Black Drink was a male only ritual beverage used during ceremonies and meetings. Three species of shells were made into cups including the lightning whelk, emperor helmet, and horse conch. The example above is a lightning whelk. The use of shell cups and the Black Drink was an important part of the religion of the Southern Cult. The Southern Cult is the name given to a broad, regional similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies and mythology of the Mississippian culture that accompanied their adoption of maize agriculture This shell from Craig Mound has Gayle's beloved Armadillos and dates from 1200 A.D. to 1350 A.D. |