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SPIDER SHELL GORGETS
CRABLE SITE
FULTON COUNTY, ILLINOIS
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COPYRIGHT
JANUARY
31, 2014 PETER A. BOSTROM
Spider images have been
around for a long time. They have been connected to powerful myths
around the world for thousands of years. The earliest spiders, along
with their webs, are painted on the walls of open rock
shelters in Spain that date to the Paleolithic Period, at least 10,000
years ago. Spider images also appear as recently as the two examples in
this picture. Both of these shell gorgets have large spiders engraved
across the surface of one side. The example on the left has been
computer enhanced to show the outline of the spider. They were found on
the Crable site in Fulton County, Illinois and date to the Mississippian
Period sometime between A.D. 1400 and 1450.
Images of spiders in North America have a strong connection to
women and weaving in the form of a mythical being called Spider Woman.
Spider images begin to appear more often in the U.S. on items made by
late Stone Age cultures in the eastern half of the country. But the
spider motif (design or pattern)
with its various meanings appear as far north as the Tlingit of North
America's Northwest Coast and as far south as Indian cultures in South
America. The spider myths do seem to coalesce in some way, as Franke
writes, "When one looks at the legends that relate to Spider Woman from
the Americas as a whole, one sees that although beliefs differ from
tribe to tribe, a relatively coherent image of Spider Woman emerges. She
is generally a premier goddess of earth and sky, a creator being and a
consort of the sun." But as the mythological interpretations are viewed
around the world, spiders can be seen as having either positive or negative
energy. As negative symbols they are associated with divination,
illusion, and ensnarement. As positive symbols they are related to good
luck, wealth, protection from storms and emblems of bringing heavenly
gifts.
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