"Cahokia Bird Man" is an original painting by noted Echota Cherokee, Victoria McKinney. Victoria is an award winning Native American artist who specializes through her pottery and paintings in the motifs and artwork of the Mound Builders of the Woodlands and Mississippian periods, 2600 B.C. - 1100 A.D. and 800 A.D. to 1600 A.D., respectively. The small sandstone tablet that was her inspiration, only about four inches tall, shows a man in a bird costume (possibly representing an eagle or peregrine falcon). Other sandstone tablets have been found, but this is the only one that is complete. The artifact dates back to 900-1300 A.D. and was found on the east side of Monk's Mound in 1971. It is the largest mound in the Cahokia complex, so impressive that travelers on Interstate 55 can see it as they zoom past. This gouache painting (a form of opaque watercolor) also incorporates the designs and motifs from the Mound Builders that she uses on her pottery. Vibrant colours, evocative of long lost cultures that are still being studied. Measures 6.75"H x 4.75"W.5"D