Rethinking Mississippian copper symbol badges: two previously unreported examples from east Alabama

ABSTRACT

Traditional interpretation of Mississippian copper symbol badges is that they were prestige items associated with both inherited and earned status. In this article we review the current state of knowledge regarding copper symbol badges, introduce two previously unreported examples from the Big Tallassee (1MC1) and Abercrombie (1RU61) sites, and propose a new interpretation for the circulation and disposition of copper symbol badges during the Mississippian and Protohistoric periods. We argue that these objects were initially incorporated into headdresses (worn in both life and death) at major Mississippian towns and then were later transformed into inalienable possessions associated with particular beings, people, or places as large polities collapsed and new political entities were formed.     

Iraq and Hubris: Avoiding History a Review Essay

Book reviewed in this article: Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War: Michael Isiko. and David Corn Blind into Baghdad: America's War in Iraq: James Fallows Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq: Stephen Zinzer The Politics of Truth: Inside the Lies that Led to War and Betrayed My Wife;s CIA Identity: Joseph Wilson The Italian Letter: How the Bush Administration Used a Fake to Build the Case for War in Iraq: Peter Eisner and Knut Royce Iraq and the Lessons of Vietnam: or, How Not to Learn From the Past: Lloyd C. Gardner, Marilyn B. Young, Eds.