Cat Serpents

As a youngster in the 50’s and 60’s, Ron Bogg grew up in an area rich in archaeological resources. His home town, Jefferson City, Missouri, sat on a south bluff, close to several important rivers and creeks which emptied into the Missouri River. He walked a few blocks from his home and found three-to-five-thousand-year-old tools in a cow pasture overlooking a creek bottom. While still a child, he developed a desire to learn more about the people who created the artifacts he found.

His quest for understanding brought him to his first meeting of the Central States Archaeological Society in 1966, and carried on through a tour in Vietnam and the years of raising a family and building his own business. He served as an officer and ambassador for the Greater St. Louis Archaeology Society and looked for opportunities to learn from experienced “diggers” and collectors. The legendary Roy Hathcock took him on his first dig and remained a lifelong friend and mentor. In about 1974, Ron Bogg acquired his first Cat Serpent and his attention focused in on that particular form. He began a passionate, personal quest to identify and document the Cat Serpents of the Mississippian Indian culture from northeast Arkansas and the bootheel region of southeast Missouri. Bogg’ s decades of research have culminated in the lavishly illustrated Cat Serpents: Underwater Spirits in Mississippian Pottery, a fascinating fascinating look at these unique combinations of animal, bird, reptilian, and human characteristics. Hundreds of full color photographs illustrate the varied forms and are accompanied by detailed descriptions. Thoughtful articles interpreting the mythology and traditions of the Dhegihan people of the Mississippian Culture bring a new understanding to the symbolism of the Cat Serpent effigies