Bowl with human head, 1100–1500
Mississippi Valley, late Woodlands
Ceramic
5 x 7 7/8 x 10 inches
The Minneapolis Institute of Arts, The Tess E. Armstrong Fund, 96.22.1

Ceremonial bowls decorated with small human heads set on the rim are found in many Mississippian culture sites. The head represents an important ancestor or a spiritual character and makes the bowl into a metaphor for the body, one which provides the sustenance of food or the healing power of medicine. The tab at the opposite side of the rim is usually found on effigy bowls, where it could have been used for holding or pouring. A design of large spiral swirls was engraved into the outside of the bowl. The spiral is one of the most common Mississippian iconographic motifs and carries multiple references to water and shapes in the night sky.