Photograph as originally submitted to this page in the Historical Marker Database www.HMdb.org. Click on photo to resize in browser. Scroll down to see metadata.
Appearance and Manner of Dress Marker
Photographer: William J. Toman
Taken: September 4, 2010
Caption: Appearance and Manner of Dress Marker
Additional Description: It is rare for clothing to be preserved, so we need other sources of information to determine how people dressed. Sometimes, occasional fragments and ornamentation are preserved. Second, artistic depictions might include cave paintings, figurines, and designs on artifacts. Finally, historic and/or ethnographic accounts of related or similar peoples provide additional information.

At Aztalan, quite a bit of ornamentation or jewelry has been recovered, including earspools (similar to earrings) made of stone, copper, or clay; and pendants and beads made out of shell, copper, and stone. Based on their location in burials, we know that pendants and beads were worn around the neck, wrist, and ankles. Drilled animal bone was also worn in this fashion.

Stone figurines found at other Mississippian sites, and cave paintings found in Wisconsin, confirm these general views, and suggest that there may have been variety in garments as well as the use of colorful feathers. Who you were in the society likely determined what you wore.

Photo caption: Appearance and Manner of Dress
Some example of mussel shell beads found at Aztalan.
Submitted: September 29, 2010, by William J. Toman of Green Lake, Wisconsin.
Database Locator Identification Number: p129994
File Size: 3.506 Megabytes

To see the metadata that may be embedded in this photo, sign in and then return to this page.