Southeastern Ceremonial Complex

Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (formerly Southern Cult, Southern Death Cult or Buzzard Cult^[1]^[2]), abbreviated S.E.C.C., is the name given by modern scholars to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of the Mississippian culture. It coincided with their adoption of maize agriculture and chiefdom-level complex social organization from 1200 to 1650 CE.^[3]^[4]

Due to some similarities between S.E.C.C. and contemporary Mesoamerican cultures (i.e., artwork with similar aesthetics or motifs; maize-based agriculture; and the development of sophisticated cities with large pyramidal structures), scholars from the late 1800s to mid-1900s suspected there was a connection between the two locations.^[5] ^[6] One hypothesis was that Meso-Americans enslaved by conquistador Tristán de Luna y Arellano (1510-1573) may have spread artistic and religious elements to North America.^[7] However, later research indicates the two cultures have no direct links and that their civilizations developed independently.^[8]

^ Hornerkamp, Nicholas. "Native American Religions Pre-Contact Period". In Hill, Samuel S.; Lippy, Charles H.; Wilson, Charles Reagan (eds.). Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. pp. 542–545.
^ Griffin, John Wallace. “Historic Artifacts and the ‘Buzzard Cult’ in Florida.” The Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 4, 1946, pp. 295–301. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30138608. Accessed 3 Mar. 2023.
^ muller. "Connections". Archived from the original on 2006-09-14.
^ Townsend, Richard F., and Robert V. Sharp, eds. (2004). Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand. The Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10601-5. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Krieger, A.D. (1945) "An Inquiry into Supposed Mexican Influences on a Prehistoric 'Cult' In the Southern United States". American Anthropologist, 47: 483-515. doi:10.1525/aa.1945.47.4.02a00020
^ Scott Weidensaul (2012). The First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery, and Endurance in Early America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, p. 55
^ Waring, A. (1945). The De Luna Expedition and Southeastern Ceremonial. American Antiquity, 11(1), 57-58. doi:10.2307/275531
^ F. Kent Reilly; James Garber, eds. (2007). Ancient Objects and Sacred Realms. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71347-5.

[hrnrkmp-1] Hornerkamp, Nicholas. "Native American Religions Pre-Contact Period". In Hill, Samuel S.; Lippy, Charles H.; Wilson, Charles Reagan (eds.). Encyclopedia of Religion in the South. pp. 542–545.

[2] Griffin, John Wallace. “Historic Artifacts and the ‘Buzzard Cult’ in Florida.” The Florida Historical Quarterly, vol. 24, no. 4, 1946, pp. 295–301. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/30138608. Accessed 3 Mar. 2023.

[3] uller. "Connections". Archived from the original on 2006-09-14.

[Townsend_2004-4] Townsend, Richard F., and Robert V. Sharp, eds. (2004). Hero, Hawk, and Open Hand. The Art Institute of Chicago and Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10601-5. {{cite book}}: |first= has generic name (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[5] Krieger, A.D. (1945) "An Inquiry into Supposed Mexican Influences on a Prehistoric 'Cult' In the Southern United States". American Anthropologist, 47: 483-515. doi:10.1525/aa.1945.47.4.02a00020

[6] Scott Weidensaul (2012). The First Frontier: The Forgotten History of Struggle, Savagery, and Endurance in Early America. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, p. 55

[7] Waring, A. (1945). The De Luna Expedition and Southeastern Ceremonial. American Antiquity, 11(1), 57-58. doi:10.2307/275531

[8] F. Kent Reilly; James Garber, eds. (2007). Ancient Objects and Sacred Realms. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-0-292-71347-5.

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