A 700-year-old Native American artifact, the Birdman plaque, may depict a woman, challenging previous assumptions about Mississippian warriors.
Re-evaluation of the Birdman plaque
The Birdman plaque, a hammered copper artifact approximately 700 years old, may represent a woman rather than a warrior. In 2017, archaeologist Billie Follensbee and art historian Katie Buford re-examined this Native American artifact discovered in Georgia. Their interpretation challenges more than a century of previous interpretations. It also sheds light on the role of some female warriors in Mississippian societies.Discovery and historical context
In the 1880s, an archaeologist from the Smithsonian, John P. Rogan, discovered two copper plates in a burial mound at Etowah, Georgia. This Native American village housed several thousand inhabitants between the years 1000 and 1550. The most famous, the Birdman plaque, measures approximately 28 centimeters in height. It depicts a figure wearing a bird costume, holding a severed head and a club.Cultural and geographical connections
Etowah belonged to the Mississippian culture, like Cahokia in Illinois and Moundville in Alabama. These centers shared the same ritual tradition, which specialists refer to as the Southeast Ceremonial Complex. The plaque would have been made in Cahokia, decades before the burial. It was then passed on and exchanged southward, eventually ending up in a high-status burial at Etowah.New insights on the figures
Experts previously saw the two Rogan plates as male warriors. Upon re-examining the figures, the two researchers noted slender bodies and a prominent right breast. This anatomical detail had previously been overlooked.
