[McClung Museum] [Object of the Month]

        PREHISTORIC EAR SPOOLS AND PINS

        (May 1998)

        [Ear Ornaments]
        EAR SPOOLS AND PINS.
        (64K)
        Slate, soapstone, and shell.
        East and Middle Tennessee, AD 1100-1600.

        DESCRIPTION

        Ear spools and pins are typically associated with the Mississippian period (AD 1100-1600) in both East and Middle Tennessee.

        Ear ornament styles include:

        • Asymmetric Disk Style Ear Spools - The disk style spools were found at the Mound Bottom site in Cheatham County, Tennessee. These spools were manufactured by carving and polishing slate. This style is characteristic of the middle to late Mississippian period in Middle Tennessee.

        • Symmetric Ring Style Ear Spools - These spools, also from the Mound Bottom site in Cheatham County, Tennessee, were made by drilling and polishing soapstone blocks. This style also is characteristic of the middle to late Mississippian period in Middle Tennessee.

        • Disk and Peg Style Ear Pins - This pair of disk and peg style ear pins were manufactured from marine shell, and most likely were found at the Abel Farm site in Tennessee. Note the single hole drilled near the tip of the peg on each pin. These holes may have been used to suspend textiles, feathers, or beads from the pin. This style is characteristic of the late Mississippian period in East Tennessee.

        • Bobble and Pin Style Ear Pins - These ear pins from the Toqua site were made by cutting and polishing the central support, or columella, from a busycon conch shell. The natural whorl of the shell is still visible along the side of the bobble. This style, which also is characteristic of the late Mississippian period in East Tennessee, has been found with both adults and children who were believed to have hereditary high status.

        Ornaments such as these are interpreted as symbols or markers of status. Peoples living in Tennessee during the Mississippian period lived within highly organized chiefdoms where daily life was structured by one's status or class. Status had a hereditary component, as indicated by the occurrence of status markers among children as well as adults.

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