Spiro Mounds “Hands” Shell Gorget (Oklahoma)
The Spiro Mounds “Hands” Shell Gorget, carved between 900–1450 CE, shows eyes in open palms and a cross-in-circle motif—symbols of vision, portals, and the Mississippian cosmos. Found in Oklahoma’s sacred Spiro Mounds, it is a powerful reminder of Indigenous artistry and cosmology, now preserved in museum collections after much of the site was looted in the 1930s.
9/10/20251 min read
📜 Spiro Mounds “Hands” Shell Gorget (Oklahoma)
Among the treasures uncovered at Spiro Mounds in eastern Oklahoma, one of the most striking is the carved shell gorget depicting a pair of hands with an eye in each palm. Dating to the Mississippian period (c. 900–1450 CE), this artifact embodies the cosmological and ceremonial depth of the Indigenous mound-building cultures of North America.
Gorgets were carved from marine shell, often imported from the Gulf of Mexico, then finely engraved and worn as chest ornaments. The “Hands” motif is widely interpreted as a symbol of the portal between worlds: the palms and eyes representing spiritual sight, while the cross-in-circle design inside the hands reflects the Mississippian cosmos of four directions surrounding a sacred center. This design links the material and spiritual, making the gorget both adornment and sacred teaching.
Spiro Mounds itself was a major ceremonial center of the Mississippian world. Excavations have revealed caches of engraved shells, copper plates, effigy pipes, textiles, and other offerings—many found in the Great Mortuary (Craig Mound), which served as a communal tomb and ritual repository. The looting of Spiro in the 1930s led to widespread dispersal of these sacred items into museums and private collections worldwide, a stark reminder of the theft of Indigenous heritage.
Today, the “Hands” gorget is housed in institutions such as the Gilcrease Museum and has been featured in the “Spiro and the Art of the Mississippian World” traveling exhibition. Its preservation ensures that the spiritual science of the mound-builders is not forgotten. Far from being decorative trinkets, these artifacts are living records of cosmology, astronomy, and sacred law embedded in Indigenous America.
References:
Brown, James A. The Spiro Ceremonial Center (1996)
Reilly, F. Kent & Garber, James F. Ancient Objects and Sacred Realms (2007)
Oklahoma Historical Society: Spiro Mounds Archaeological Center
Gilcrease Museum, Spiro and the Art of the Mississippian World (2021)