Hopewell Sphere visual art
 

Graeber / Wengrow 460-1: "Hopewellians produced one of the most sophisticated repertories of imagery in the pre-Columbian Americas [...] Much of the imagery is evocative of shamanic ritual, vision quests, and soul journeys ([with] a particular emphasis on mirrors), [and] also periodic festivals of the dead"
 
a suggestion that "social influence derived from control over esoteric forms of knowledge" (461)
 
interesting note on individual expression: "it is difficult to find two figures in Hopewell art--and there are quite a few of them--that have the same hair." The art includes "an endless variety of playful, idiosyncrative styles of haircut, clothing, and ornamentation" (462-3)

> from David Graeber and David Wengrow's Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (2021)

> tagged with #ritual, #fashion, #indigenous_peoples, #art

> created May 18, 2026 at 10:53:59 AM


> part of unfinished everything


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unfinished everything is an original work / ongoing project (1997-present) by jeremy p. bushnell

selection, arrangement, and original text available for creative reuse under this licensing arrangement

authors' quoted words are their own.


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