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| Drawings of a snake with an SZ design on its underbelly on an engraved shell cup from the Spiro site and a bowl with a scroll having the SZ as central element. This element may connect the decoration on the bowl to the lower world. Another decoration found at the center of some scrolls and at times in scroll arms is called the SZ element (so-called because it can look like an S or a Z). This element occurs on the underbelly of some snakes on shell cups from the Spiro site. On both pottery vessels and shell cups, it usually accompanies other serpent markings such as crosshatched surrounds, bars, and dots. When at the center of a scroll, it may be a direct reference to the Great Serpent as the central power of the lower world. |