Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (formerly Southern Cult, Southern Death Cult or Buzzard Cult^[1][2]), abbreviated S.E.C.C., is the name given by modern scholars to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture. It coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from 1200 to 1650 CE.^[3][4]

Due to some similarities between S.E.C.C. and contemporary Mesoamerican cultures (i.e., artwork with similar aesthetics or motifs; maize-based agriculture; and the development of sophisticated cities with large pyramidal structures), scholars from the late 1800s to mid-1900s suspected there was a connection between the two locations.^{[5] [6]} One hypothesis was that Meso-Americans enslaved by conquistador Tristán de Luna y Arellano (1510-1573) may have spread artistic and religious elements to North America.^[7] However, later research indicates the two cultures have no direct links and that their civilizations developed independently.^[8]

The S.E.C.C. was first defined in 1945 by the archaeologists Antonio Waring and Preston Holder as a series of four lists of traits, which they categorized as the Southeastern (centered) Ceremonial Complex. Their concept was of a complex of a specific cult manifestation that originated with Muskogean-speaking peoples in the southern United States.^[9][10]

Since then scholars have expanded the original definition, while using its trait lists as a foundation for critical analysis of the entire concept.

In 1989 scholars proposed a more archaeologically-based definition for the Mississippian artistic tradition. Jon Muller of Southern Illinois University proposes the classification of the complex into five horizons, with each as a discrete tradition defined by the origin of specific motifs and ritual objects, and the specific developments in long-distance exchange and political structures.^[11]

Due to the seemingly rapid spread of S.E.C.C. traits, early scholarship described the S.E.C.C. as "a kind of religious revival in the lower Mississippi Valley" and nearby regions.^[12] As of 2004, theories suggest that the complex developed from pre-existing beliefs spread over the midwest and southeast by the Hopewell Interaction Sphere from 100 BCE to 500 CE.^[4][13]

Other research shows the complex operated as an exchange network. This kind of network may be illustrated by a pair of shell gorgets whose representation is so similar as to suggest that they were made by the same artist. One was found in southeast Missouri and the other found hundreds of miles away in Spiro Mounds in Oklahoma, suggesting the items were used as gifts or exchange across a wide region. Numerous other pairs of extremely similar gorgets serve to link sites across the entire Southeast.^[14]

The social organization of the Mississippian culture was based on warfare, which was represented by an array of motifs and symbols in articles made from costly raw materials, such as conches from Florida, copper from the Great Lakes area and Appalachian Mountains, lead from northern Illinois and Iowa, pottery from Tennessee, and stone tools sourced from Kansas, Texas, and southern Illinois.^[15] Such objects occur in elite burials, together with war axes, maces, and other weapons. These warrior symbols occur alongside other artifacts, which bear cosmic imagery depicting animals, humans, and legendary creatures. This symbolic imagery bound together warfare, cosmology, and nobility into a coherent whole. Some of these categories of artifacts were used as markers of chiefly office, which varied from one location to another. The term Southeast Ceremonial Complex refers to a complex, highly variable set of religious mechanisms that supported the authority of local chiefs.^[16]

Most S.E.C.C. imagery focuses on cosmology and the supernatural beings who inhabit the cosmos. The cosmological map encompassed real, knowable locations, whether in this world or the supernatural reality of the Otherworld. S.E.C.C. iconography portrayed the cosmos in three levels. The Above World or Overworld, was the home of the Thunderers, the Sun, Moon, and Morning Star or Red Horn / "He Who Wears Human Heads For Earrings" and represented Order and Stability. The Middle World was the Earth that humans live in. The Beneath World or Under World was a cold, dark place of Chaos that was home to the Underwater Panther and Corn Mother or "Old Woman Who Never Dies".

These three worlds were connected by an axis mundi, usually portrayed as a cedar tree or a striped pole reaching from the Under World to the Over World. Each of the three levels also was believed to have its own sub-levels. Deeply ingrained in the world view was the concept of duality and opposition. The beings of the Upper and Under realms were in constant opposition to each other. Ritual and ceremony were the means by which these powerful forces could be accessed and harnessed.^[4]

Motifs

Many common motifs in S.E.C.C. artwork are locative symbols that help determine where the action takes place and where the beings originated:^[4][13]

More information Motif, Image ...

Motif	Image	Description
Petaloid Motif		This motif derives its name from its resemblance to flower petals, but it most likely represents feathers. A Petalloid Motif placed around individuals, objects, or supernatural beings denotes its location as "celestial".
Quincunx or Cross in Circle Motif		The Cross in Circle Motif is prevalent in most Native American religions. It has solar connotations and usually symbolizes the sacred fire that exists in the Middle World. A Cross in Circle Motif combined with a Petaloid Motif symbolized the Above World.
Swastika in Circle Motif		A Swastika is a variation of the Cross in Circle Motif, symbolizing the creative, generative power of the Underworld.
Forked Eye Surround Motif		Beings wearing the Forked Eye Surround Motif are understood to reside in the Above World. It is derived from the eye markings of the peregrine falcon.
Eye Surround Motif		Beings wearing the Eye Surround Motif resided in the Under World.
Ogee Motif		The Ogee Motif symbolized portals into the Underworld. It appears frequently on Under World Deities. It may symbolize caves, may be derived from representations of female genitalia, or may represent the dorsal markings of the copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix).[17]
Striped-Center-Pole Motif		The Cedar Tree and Striped Pole Motif represent the Axis Mundi or "world tree", a central axis on which all the worlds rotated and were connected. It would have had alternating bands of red and white. It is often augmented with raccoon skin bundles, Ogee Motifs, and anthropomorphic heads.
Trilobed Motif		The Tri-lobed Motif functioned as a serpent marking and may have symbolized a supernatural's ability to travel from the Lower World to the Upper World.
Bi-Lobed Arrow Motif		The Bi-Lobed Arrow Motif is often seen in the headdresses of the warriors/birdmen/chunkey players. A complex symbol, it is a graphic representation of a bow and arrow, an atlatl, or possibly a ceremonial pipe. In the Red Horn Cycle, Red Horn is also called "He who gets hit with deer lungs", which may be a euphemism or an allusion to the fact that deer lungs with the trachea attached, resemble the graphic depiction of the Bi-Lobed Arrow. It may symbolize kinship and adoption rituals related to social hierarchies. Examples in the form of Mississippian copper plates have been found in many Mississippian culture sites.
The Hand and Eye Motif		The Hand and Eye Motif is a human hand with an eye gazing out from the palm, yet another symbol of deity. It was one of the most common motifs in Mississippian symbolism and may be related to the Ogee Motif, suggesting it represents a portal to the Otherworld.
Mace Motif		The Mace Motif usually is associated with the warrior image and may be combined with other motifs, especially the Cross in Circle Motif. It is a graphic representation of a war club or ceremonial mace, such as the chipped flint and ground stone versions found throughout the southeast.The mace is also closely linked to the Spirit Birds and may even represent the pars pro toto feather of one of these powerful figures.[18]
Columnella Pendant Motif		The Columnella Pendant is a graphic representation of the longitudinal center columnella of a whelk shell. Because of the association of whelk shells with the black drink ceremony, it is theorized that this symbol is associated with it as well.[19]

Close

S.E.C.C. motifs have been found on a variety of non-perishable materials, including marine shell, ceramics, chert (Duck River cache), carved stone, and copper (Wulfing cache and Etowah plates). Undoubtedly many other materials also were used, but haven't survived the intervening centuries. It may be judged by looking at the remaining artifacts that S.E.C.C. practitioners worked with feathers and designs woven into cloth, practiced body painting, and possibly tattooing, as well as having pierced ears. One surviving painting found on a baked clay floor at the Wickliffe Mounds site suggests they also painted designs in and on their dwellings.^[28] Paintings displaying S.E.C.C. imagery also have been found in caves, most notably Mud Glyph Cave in Tennessee. Animal images, serpents, and warrior figures occur, as well as winged warriors, horned snakes, stylized birds, maces, and arrows. Their location underneath the Earth probably reflect aspects of Mississippian myth and cosmology concerning the (perhaps sacred) precincts beneath the earth.^[29]

• Alligator Effigy Mound
• Angel Mounds
• Cahokia
• Castalian Springs Mound Site
• Etowah Indian Mounds
• Hiwassee Island
• Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site
• Kolomoki Mounds
• Lake Jackson Mounds Archaeological State Park
• Mangum Mound Site
• Moundville Archaeological Site
• Ocmulgee National Monument
• Serpent Mound
• Spiro Mounds
• Town Creek Indian Mound
• Wickliffe Mounds
• Winterville site