Effigy Mounds

The state of Wisconsin is apparently covered in native American mounds of all sorts. the most prominent and mysterious of these are the effigy mounds. These mounds are in the shapes of different animals, humans and animal-humans also know in the scientific community as humanils(the term manimal is also widely accepted). These mounds pose some interesting questions about symbology not only with regards to religion but also with regards to secular life.

Effigy mounds are not the only places that we have encountered representations of animals in our religious studies class so far. The Lascaux Cave was covered in paintings of prehistoric animals. How do these representations differ from the effigy mounds of Wisconsin? The difference between the two seems to be the effigy mounds representation of the structure of the universe. They represent different mounds seems to symbolize the different parts of the universe, the upper world and lower world, and the harmony between the two. The Lascaux caves do not seem to show such a structure to be existent in the minds of the painters.

In today's world, animals are used as symbols widely. Possibly most noticeable is the use of animals as mascots. how does this differ from the animal representations of effigy mounds? The most obvious is that it's theorized that effigy mounds were sacred and were important spiritually to the people who built them. Mascots such as the Chicago Bears or the Liverpool Liver Birds do not hold any spiritual meaning to the people who are fans of those teams. Although the Anaheim Angels may be a good exception to that rule.

In the end the importance of these effigy mounds to there builders may never be fully understood, but at the least we must understand that they were an important facet of the spiritual lives of the builders.