Title	Copper Tadpole Cut-out
Subject	Indian copperwork Mississippian culture Mound-builders
Time Period	Mississippian
Description	This thin sheet copper has been cut into a tadpole shape with a long, wavy tail and slight fin. Six perforations have been drilled along a raised portion at the tadpole's mouth; perforations form two lines of three. Oxidation has changed the color of the copper to reddish brown, light green, very pale green, and light blue green. This piece comes from Mississippian Culture. Between about A.D. 700 and 900, people living in the central Mississippi River valley developed a lifestyle that archaeologists refer to as Mississippian. Mississippian farmers raised the same crops as their Woodland ancestors. However, they relied more and more on corn, squash, and beans. It is believed that the Mississippian people had to move to new sites, perhaps every ten years, as their soil became less fertile. Most Mississippian groups lived on single farms or in small villages, but, because their food supply could support more people, their villages grew in size and density. Some archaeologists believe the Mississippian cultures developed chiefdoms in which certain persons held a great deal of power. In many of the larger towns and regional centers, the Mississippian people built flat-topped pyramid-shaped mounds of earth that served as bases for buildings. Archaeologists believe that these buildings may have been the homes of leaders or places for public rituals. What happened to the Mississippian cultures is not clear, but there was a decline or disruption of their lifestyle beginning in some places as early as A.D. 1350.
Collection	A. T. Wehrle Collection
Source	WH04 Box CF0009; A 3490/000282.001
Submitting Institution	Ohio History Connection
Rights	Online access is provided for research purposes only. For rights and reproduction requests or more information, go to http://www.ohiohistory.org/collections--archives/digital-collections--services/rights--reproduction
Type	StillImage
File Name	A3490_000282_001.tif
Image Height	2448
Image Width	3264
File Size	23983600 Bytes
Format	picture; artifacts
Extent	66.04 mm wide, 330 mm long, 2.05 mm deep, 71 g weight.

Copper Tadpole Cut-out

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