Week 2 Blog

One difference between the animals in the effigy mounds of Wisconsin and the animals in the cave of Lascaux is simply the types of animals portrayed. For example, in the caves, animals such as bison are more common, while birds are more often seen. This could simply be a result of what types of animals the people who created the paintings and the mounds, respectively, were used to seeing. Also, certain animals have held a cultural and possibly religious significance in Native American culture that can be traced back considerably. For example, bears have held a significance that can be traced back to the Middle Woodland. In the case of the caves of Lascaux, it is unknown whether the animals portrayed held any cultural or religious significance.
Another difference is the way in which animals are portrayed. In general, the animals in the cave of Lascaux are portrayed more literally than those in the effigy mounds. The animals in the effigy mounds are generally abstract. Some, in fact, do not look like animals at all. These may be representations of various spirits or mythical creatures, which also lends to the theory that the creation of the mounds was rooted in religion. Also, while you can stand in the cave of Lascaux and look the paintings and tell what they are, to get a good look at an effigy mound, you must look at it from above.
Our use of animals in the names of sports clubs seems quite different from the use of animals in the building of effigy mounds. Unlike the effigy mound builders, who built mounds representing animals they were familiar with, sports clubs do not always name their teams after an animal that can be found in the area. And, in sports clubs there is no worship of the animal for which the team is named. Respect, perhaps, but no worship. There isn't the spiritual connection to the animal that the mound builders seemed to have.
If religion is a system of symbols, mound building definitely fits into the definition. What are mounds if not some sort of symbol? They are also very permanent and were difficult to build, which suggests that they served some long-lasting purpose. The fact that some of the mounds represented spirits and other supernatural creatures suggests that the mounds are tied to some belief in a higher power or higher order of things.