Effigy Mounds

Effigy mounds are symbols of native american religion. The birds and bird like creatures are representative of the over world, the bear creatures and other land creatures are symbols of the lower world, and serpents and lizards represent the underworld. The presence of all of the different worlds represent a harmony of existence. This goes along with Geertz's symbols representing a general order of existence. The concepts of over, lower, and underworlds make enough sense as to be believable. Building the massive structures added meaning, and provided explanations for the world around the native peoples. The way the mounds were built reflects the meaning of them. Many of the underworld effigies show signs of being dug downwards before being built up. This ties in the mythology of the underworld existing underground. The extensive rituals associated with building the mounds and the rituals performed on and around the completed mounds shows how important the mounds were to the people. Simply moving the astounding amount of soil shows dedication to what the mounds represent, and the importance to the people.

I can't help but wonder why such massive structures were built. Many of them were too large to properly view from the ground, and without being able to easily see the whole thing, constructing symmetric shapes must have been obscenely difficult. I wonder how long it would take modern man, without the use of heavy machinery, to built a 700 ft long mound. I can only guess years. Are there any symbols modern man would be devoted enough too, that he would give the time energy to constructing giant mounds by hand? I would guess not.