STONE CARVED CICADA BEAD
AND OTHER EXAMPLES OF ANIMAL EFFIGY BEADS
POVERTY POINT CULTURE
ALABAMA
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COPYRIGHT JANUARY 31, 2014 PETER A. BOSTROM

    The stone bead at the top of this picture is believed to represent a stylized version of a cicada or locust. Its main feature is the upswept wings that extend beyond the body. It was made by a Poverty Point craftsmen sometime between 3,350 and 3,730 years ago. The Poverty Point culture represents the people who were living in an area in and around the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas at that time. The Poverty Point site is located in northeastern Louisiana, where the largest earthworks of the period were built. Some of the nicest examples of carved and polished stone beads have been found in this area. Morse writes that, "---the "lapidary industry" is most characteristic of the Poverty Point period in the (Mississippi) valley." They were producing plain tubular beads but their animal effigy beads are the most impressive. Birds were a common theme but they were also making beads in the form of bears, squirrels, rabbits, dogs, and frogs.
    Poverty Point beads can be highly stylized in their form. Power writes that, "These artists did not strive for photographic realism. Later Native Americans explain this type of visual representation as symbolizing all owls or locusts, as the mind knows them to be, rather than merely depicting an individual bird or insect." The meaning behind the locust image may relate to a natural ability, such as jumping, loud singing, or its destructive power of devouring large amounts of vegetation.

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