The Ultimate Bird of Prey: The Legend of the Piasa Bird, a North American Monster

Anyone from southern Illinois will tell you their share of local ghost stories and monster mythos.  One of the most pervasive would probably be the legend of the Piasa Bird, which is the topic of today’s blog.  This post will briefly discuss the history of the Piasa Bird painting, as well as the legend associated with the painting.  Very little is known about the Piasa Bird due to the lost history of many indigenous groups of the region, but what is known will be addressed herein.

Artistic Depiction of the Piasa Bird (Google Images)

The Piasa Bird is a mythical creature, described as a conglomeration of bird, reptile, mammal, and fish (Figure 1), which is memorialized as a large painting along the bluffs of the Mississippi River outside of the city of Alton and Pierre Marquette State Park.  This great creature was first reported by Father Jacques Marquette, who stumbled upon a large, carved, and painted motif of the creature along the Mississippi River.  He later reported that it was a legendary creature associated with the Illini indigenous group.   The current illustration is one of several reproductions that have been created over the years as the original, believed to have been created by the Illini, was destroyed through quarrying efforts.

The term Piasa Bird is believed to mean “the bird that devours men" or "bird of the evil spirit".  It received this name based on the legend connected to it.  According to a legend that is associated with author John Russel, the Piasa Bird was a creature that terrorized the Illini suddenly and without warning.  The chief of the Illini, Ouatoga, had survived many hardships over his lifetime, but all of his efforts failed against the Piasa Bird, which was systematically killing off the young men of the village.  He prayed and fasted under a full moon, and he received guidance from the Great Spirit.  The Great Spirit informed Ouatoga that the Piasa Bird had a weakness under its wing that could be pierced with an arrow.  Ouatoga turned to Tera-hi-on-a-wa-ka, a great craftsman known for his skill in creating great weaponry, to fashion several sharp arrows, and Ouatoga commissioned six of the best warriors to lay a trap for the Piasa Bird.  Ouatoga provided himself as bait, and the creature happily fell for the ruse.  While it was distracted from its attack on Ouatoga the six warriors slew it, saving the Illini from the terror of the Piasa Bird forever.  Ouatoga, however, was mortally wounded, and it took him several months of constant care to be nursed back to health.  Tera-hi-on-a-wa-ka commemorated the victory by carving and painting an image of the Piasa Bird into the cliffs.  This painting, which is the one that Father Marquette happened upon years later, included vibrant colors of red, black, and green, representing war & vengeance, death & despair, and triumph respectively. 

References

 

Bauser, B.  No Date.  “The Piasa Bird.”  The Madison County ILGenWeb.  http://madison.illinoisgenweb.org/piasabird.html

Brewster, PG.  "The Piasa Bird: A Legend of the Illini." Hoosier Folklore Vol. 8, No. 4 (Dec., 1949), pp. 83-86

No Author.  2015.  “The Legend of the Piasa Bird.”  Illinois Department of Natural Resources.  https://dnr.state.il.us/lands/landmgt/parks/r4/prm/piabrd.htm

No Author.  No Date. “Indigenous Peoples’ Literature: Legend of the Piasa.”  Indians.org.  http://www.indians.org/welker/piasa.htm

No Author.  No Date.  “Piasa Bird.”  Alton Web: The River Bend.  http://www.altonweb.com/history/piasabird/

Peithmann, I."Pictographs and Petroglyphs in Southern Illinois." Journal of the Illinois State Archaeological Society NEW SERIES, Vol. 2, No. 4 (APRIL 1952), pp. 91-94

Temple, WC.  "The Piasa Bird: Fact or Fiction?" Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984)  Vol. 49, No. 3 (Autumn, 1956), pp. 308-327 

Voelke, FE.  "The Piasa." Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1908-1984)

Vol. 7, No. 1 (Apr., 1914), pp. 82-91

 

 

Bottoms Up! The Anthropology of Alcohol

Drinking alcoholic beverages is popular around the globe, and one that is very much intertwined with almost every culture.  Recently, there has been a resurgence in the popularity of alcoholic beverages here in the United States, particularly among “millennials” who are cited as having greater interests in home brewing and vinification, participation in pub crawls and wine walks, and unfortunately increasing incidences of alcoholism.  Despite the recent spike in alcohol related activities among millennials alcohol actually has been ubiquitous among cultures for centuries.  Today’s blog post is dedicated to understanding the biological and cultural origins of alcohol and alcohol consumption.  Topics that will be explored include the biological developments that allowed for the consumption of alcohol, the cultural inception of the production of alcohol, and finally, the social purposes of alcohol production and consumption.

Artistic rendition of a hominid consuming fermented fruit.  Image Copyright: N. R. Fuller (Source: Archaeology Magazine)

Alcohol consumption has a long history in modern human cultures, but it may actually be traced back to ancient hominid populations.  According to a study by Matthew Carrigan, the ADH4 enzyme, which allows humans to digest alcohol, may have appeared in ancient hominid species.  Carrigan believes this enzyme has existed for ten million years, and it may have developed out of a biological need from the consumption of fermented fruits.  Carrigan does not believe that the fermentation process was intentional but instead was the result of natural decomposition processes of the plants after they fell from the trees.  Hominids, with their limited knowledge of fresh vs spoiled food, may have consumed these fruits due to their ease of access, resulting in the need to develop a biological mechanism to deal with the consequences.

Humans were consuming fermented foods for centuries prior to actually developing the technology and methods for the production of alcohol.  Intentional alcohol production began with the advent of agriculture, although it is unclear if this production was intentional or just a “happy accident”.  The first alcoholic beverages that were produced were wheat beer in the Middle East and wine in the Mediterranean, although which product was produced was dependent on the local flora (vegetation) of the area as there was some overlap in beer and wine production in these regions.  Southeast Asian areas also produced distilled alcoholic beverages, importing the methods from the Middle East.  Independent invention of alcoholic beverages also occurred in the New World, also corresponding with the establishment of agricultural production.  Chicha, a corn beer, was prevalent in the Andes of South America, whereas balché, a tree and honey alcoholic beverage, was popular among Central American groups.  

Alcohol consumption among ancient Egyptians.  (Source: Google Images)

 

Women were the primary manufacturers of alcoholic beverages, which is not all that surprising when you remember that men were the agriculturalists who planted and harvested the fields and crops.  Despite the role of women in the manufacturing process, they were excluded from alcohol consumption in many societies and cultures.  Women, particularly slaves, helped spread the manufacturing processes of alcohol throughout the Old World, though, allowing for other regions to produce their own variations of alcoholic beverages, such as Grog among Scandinavians.

The motivations for alcohol production and consumption are quite different today from the past.  Alcohol was primarily produced for its perceived medicinal qualities.  This was popular among Sumerians, Egyptians, and Scandinavians alike who all promoted the medicinal qualities of beer, wine, and grog respectively.  Alcoholic beverages were also created and consumed for the purpose of participating in specific ritual practices.  This was a motivation among Central American groups who reserved alcoholic and other types of consumption for bloodletting rituals, but it appears that many other cultures reserved alcohol consumption for ceremonial purposes.  Also, as it appears to be the case in some instances today, alcohol possession may have been tied to social rank.  For example, among ancient Romans there were two types of wine: a finer and sweeter variety that was considered the wine of the nobility and a vinegary variety reserved solely for slaves and the poor.  

Medieval print of the medicinal properties of alcohol (Source: Google Images)

In conclusion, alcohol consumption has a long history within human societies and cultures, which may be older than the dawn of human civilizations according to one scholar.  Alcohol production, however, appears to have begun as other technological advancements, specifically the agricultural revolution, sprang up around the globe.  Alcohol consumption patterns varied and continues to differ among cultures around the globe, but whichever the reason it appears that alcohol consumption will be a staple in human societies for some time.

References

McGovern, P.  2013.  “New Evidence on Origins of Winemaking in France.”  University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. http://www.penn.museum/sites/biomoleculararchaeology/?p=1913

McGovern, P.  2014.  “New Biomolecular Archaeological Evidence for Nordic “Grog,” Expansion of Wine Trade, Discovered in Ancient Scandinavia.”  University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.  http://www.penn.museum/sites/biomoleculararchaeology/?p=1904

McGovern, P.  No Date.  “Intoxicating: The Science of Alcohol.”  University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.  http://www.penn.museum/sites/biomoleculararchaeology/?p=1984

McGovern, P.  ND.  “5,100 Year Old Egyptian Medicinal Wine”   University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.  http://www.penn.museum/sites/biomoleculararchaeology/?p=42

Miller, M.  2015.  “Archaeologist attempts to revive lost alcoholic beverages from ancient recipes and residues.”  Ancient Origins.  http://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/archaeologist-attempts-revive-alcoholic-beverages-ancient-recipes-020189#ixzz40Ccn5k00

No Author.  2014.  “Early Human Ancestors Benefitted from Fermenting Fruit.”  Archaeology Magazine.  http://www.archaeology.org/news/2746-141202-fermentation-digestion-alcohol

No Author.  2013.  “Europe’s Oldest Wine.”  Archaeology Magazine.  http://www.archaeology.org/news/1364-131003-greece-grapes-wine-neolithic

Smith, FH.  2001.  “Volatile Spirits: The Historical Archaeology of Alcohol and Drinking in the Caribbean”.  Dissertation.  University of Florida.

This post is dedicated to PFS and his viticultural family, as well as my dad, a former vintner.