# ! New ! Woodpecker shell gorget



## backwoodsjoe (Dec 30, 2009)

Here is one I just finished today. It is a gorget similar to the one Nicodemus wears.  I call it the "Nick-Pecker" gorget. It is a reproduction of the Woodpecker gorget that was excavated at the Cox Mound. It is done in Black Mother of Pearl.  Hope ya'll like it ! Below is a history of this and other shell gorgets I do that were excavated here in the southeast !
_
The Cox Mound, or Woodpecker, gorget style is a particularly beautiful and enduring symbol of Tennessee's prehistoric inhabitants. A gorget was a pendant, or personal adornment, worn around the neck as a badge of rank or insignia of status and was thought to be symbolic of both earthly and supernatural powers. A variety of gorget styles, or designs, are known. As a class of artistic expression, this type of artifact falls within the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, formerly known as the Southern Cult.

Just over thirty Cox Mound-style gorgets have been found since the late nineteenth century, primarily from prehistoric Mississippian stone box graves and villages along the lower Tennessee, Cumberland, Duck, Harpeth, and Buffalo Rivers of Middle Tennessee, and the middle Tennessee River valley of northern Alabama. As a result of the frequent mortuary association of Cox Mound gorgets with certain pottery types, namely Matthews Incised, as well as other artifacts, it has been postulated that Cox Mound gorgets date to the period A.D. 1250-1450. One rich grave from the famous burial mound at the Castalian Springs site in Sumner County produced two Cox Mound gorgets.

Typically, Cox Mound gorgets were manufactured on exotic marine shell and were white in color. Other materials, such as black slate in Putnam County and human skull fragments in Hardin County, were used rarely. Engraving the intricate design on the hard shell or slate without metal tools took many hours of skilled labor and is thought to have been a winter activity.

A Cox Mound gorget has three important iconographic elements. In the center is a cross inside a rayed circle or sun motif. The cross is symbolic of the sacred, or council, fire. The sun represents the sky deity and/or mythical ancestors. Surrounding the cross and sun is a scroll-like design element known as the looped square. This feature may represent wind, or possibly the litter on which subordinates carried a chief. Typically the looped square is composed of four lines, but in some cases only three lines are used. Four crested bird heads, which most scholars interpret as woodpeckers, are found on the outer edge. The woodpecker heads always are oriented in a counterclockwise direction, suggestive of the prehistoric Native American swastika.

The woodpecker, like the falcon, was probably a symbol of war to the prehistoric Mississippian Indians. The war symbolism of the bird probably derived from the red head of the bird, which resembled a bloodied scalping victim. The Cherokees associated the red-headed woodpecker with danger and war, and the woodpecker was always invoked for aid by the ball game players. The bird's pecking is similar to an Indian warrior striking the war post at the Victory dance. For the Cherokees, the color red is associated with male attractiveness and fertility, as well as bravery and war. Groups of woodpeckers are thought to be a sign of war to the Creeks and Seminoles. While war is typically associated with males in Native American society, it is important to note that Cox Mound gorgets have been found in both male and female burials._


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## LJay (Dec 30, 2009)

Beautiful!!!


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## Katera73 (Dec 30, 2009)

Awesome work Steve Could you show us a pic of what the shell looks like before you carve on it just curious.


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## Rocky Mtn Johnboy (Dec 30, 2009)

It's awesome!  Thanks for the history lesson.  Very interesting.


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## backwoodsjoe (Dec 30, 2009)

Katera73 said:


> Awesome work Steve Could you show us a pic of what the shell looks like before you carve on it just curious.



O.K.......Here are two photos of the raw shell. In nature there are two of these connected like a clam and is home to a large oyster. The first photo is the top or outside of the shell. This is the side I carve the design on. I have to first grind away the outter bark of the shell to get down to the good stuff. It usually means taking off about 1/8 to 1/4 inches. You never know what color you have until you grind away the bark. Different layers produce different colors. This process takes a while as you have to be very careful not to burn the shell with heat from the grinder. After bark removal, you then polish the shell. Then you can carve, carve, carve !!!

The second photo shows the inside of the shell. It is always pearl white.  These shells come from Tahiti. These are the shells that produce the high dollar famous black pearls. Takes it several years to get this size and they are hung from racks in the bays to grow. Each animal is seeded with a small grain of pearl shell and from that they produce the pearls. They are not cheap (pearls or the raw shell).  There is a lot of time in getting to the finished gorget. From start to finish takes about four hours. I can get one to three gorgets out of one of these depending on the size of the shell. Hope this explains the process.


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## slip (Dec 30, 2009)

backwoodsjoe said:


> O.K.......Here are two photos of the raw shell. In nature there are two of these connected and is home to a large oyster. The first photo is the top or outside of the shell. This is the side I carve the design on. I have to first grind away the outter bark of the shell to get down to the good stuff. It usually means taking off about 1/8 to 1/4 inches. You never know what color you have until you grind away the bark. Different layers produce different colors. This process takes a while as you have to be very careful not to burn the shell with heat from the grinder. After bark removal, you then polish the shell. Then you can carve, carve, carve !!!
> 
> The second photo shows the inside of the shell. It is always pearl white.  These shells come from Tahiti. These are the shells that produce the high dollar famous black pearls. Takes it several years to get this size and they are hung from racks in the bays to grow. Each animal is seeded with a small grain of pearl shell and from that they produce the pearls. They are not cheap (pearls or the raw shell).  There is a lot of time in getting to the finished gorget. From start to finish takes about four hours. I can get one to three gorgets out of one of these depending on the size of the shell. Hope this explains the process.



wow, thats very cool. thanks for the info


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## Katera73 (Dec 30, 2009)

Thats awsome it gives a better appreciation on how you make em. Thanks for the photos and explaining the process. I look forward to having one of my own. Maybe I can scrape up something to trade.


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## backwoodsjoe (Dec 30, 2009)

Katera73 said:


> Thats awsome it gives a better appreciation on how you make em. Thanks for the photos and explaining the process. I look forward to having one of my own. Maybe I can scrape up something to trade.



A trade.......That could be possible !


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## bigkga69 (Dec 30, 2009)

Hey Steve, is it known how the originals were made?  Obviously there was a trade for the shell or one heck of a travel route to get it, I would like to see how one was carved back then and what they used!!


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## backwoodsjoe (Dec 30, 2009)

bigkga69 said:


> Hey Steve, is it known how the originals were made?  Obviously there was a trade for the shell or one heck of a travel route to get it, I would like to see how one was carved back then and what they used!!



99.9% of the excavated shell gorgets and bowls were made from Lightning Whelk shells from the Gulf of Mexico. Since there is no written record, we have to guess how it was done. I have carved a few using hafted flint burins and small sharp flint blades but it takes forever. Sure would like to go back in time and watch the masters do it !


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## bigkga69 (Dec 30, 2009)

I wish I could go back in time and watch them do a lot of things!!!  I wonder if they traded or traveled but like you said who knows......


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## swims-with-stripers (Dec 30, 2009)

wow man, you are skilled! do you do this stuff for a living or just for fun? just curious. nice work!


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## TNGIRL (Dec 31, 2009)

Steve, it's beautiful!!!! I found a book I have that has drawings of gorgets in it, might try to copy and send some to you? if you would be interested.


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## Al White (Dec 31, 2009)

Very nice work!!  Here's a pic that I took at the Ocmulgee Indian mounds, any idea about this one?


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## Nicodemus (Dec 31, 2009)

I`m honored to wear of two of Steves gorgets. The Ivorybills, and the Rattlesnake.


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## backwoodsjoe (Dec 31, 2009)

Nicodemus said:


> I`m honored to wear of two of Steves gorgets. The Ivorybills, and the Rattlesnake.



Nick it is an honor to have you wear them !


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## Tugboat1 (Dec 31, 2009)

Interesting info and beautiful work. Thanks for taking the time to share that information.


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## backwoodsjoe (Jan 3, 2010)

Tugboat1 said:


> Interesting info and beautiful work. Thanks for taking the time to share that information.



Your welcome sir !


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## bam_bam (Jan 3, 2010)

I am proud to say that my family has three of steves work and all of them show great craftsmanship.


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