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Title: The Swastika, the Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migration
- With Observations on the Migration of Certain Industries in Prehistoric Times
Author: Wilson, Thomas
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "The Swastika, the Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migration
- With Observations on the Migration of Certain Industries in Prehistoric Times" ***
Transcriber's note:
Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
Text enclosed by curly braces is in superscript
(example: 7{me}).
The original text contains a few letters with diacritical
marks that are not represented in this text version.
The original text includes Greek characters. For this
text version these letters have been replaced with
transliterations.
The following symbols are used in this text version to
represent symbols that can not be presented in any other
way.
[S] represents a Swastika with left-bar facing up.
[Z] represents a Swastika with left-bar facing down.
[Z circle] represents a Swastika inside a circle.
[cross] represents a simple cross (plus-sign form).
[circle] represents a circle.
[U] represents a large U.
[V] represents a large V.
[Y] represents a large Y.
[symbol] represents various symbols.
In the Bibliography section the reader will encounter
numerous vertical bars or "pipes" ( | ). These were
present in the original book. The reason for their
presence is uncertain.
Mismatched/unmatched quotation marks are as in the
Smithsonian Institution.
United States National Museum.
THE SWASTIKA,
The Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migrations;
with Observations on the Migration of
Certain Industries in Prehistoric Times.
by
THOMAS WILSON,
Curator, Department of Prehistoric Anthropology,
U. S. National Museum.
From the Report of the U. S. National Museum for 1894,
pages 757-1011, with plates 1-25 and Figures 1-374.
Washington:
Government Printing Office.
1896.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page.
Preface 763
I.--DEFINITIONS, DESCRIPTION, AND ORIGIN.
Different forms of the cross 765
Names and definitions of the Swastika 768
Symbolism and interpretation 770
II.--DISPERSION OF THE SWASTIKA.
Extreme Orient 799
Japan 799
Korea 799
China 799
Tibet 802
India 802
Classical Orient 806
Babylonia, Assyria, Chaldea, and Persia 806
Phenicia 807
Lycaonia 807
Armenia 807
Caucasus 808
Asia Minor--Troy (Hissarlik) 809
First and Second Cities 810
The Third or Burnt City 811
The Fourth City 813
The Fifth City 818
The Sixth and Seventh Cities 819
Leaden idol of Hissarlik 829
Owl-shaped vases 830
The age of Trojan cities 832
Africa 833
Egypt 833
Naukratis 834
Coptos (Achmim-Panopolis) 834
Algeria 838
Ashantee 838
Classical Occident--Mediterranean 839
Greece, Cyprus, Rhodes, Melos, and Thera 839
Greek fret and Egyptian meander not the same as the
Swastika 839
Swastika in panels 845
Swastikas with four arms crossing at right angles,
ends bent to the right 846
Swastikas with four arms crossing at right angles,
ends bent to the left 847
Swastikas with four arms crossing at other than right
angles, the ends ogee and to the left 848
Meander pattern, with ends bent to the right and left 849
Swastikas of different kinds on the same object 849
Europe 854
Bronze age 854
Etruria and Italy 855
Swiss lake dwellings 861
Germany and Austria 862
Belgium 863
Scandinavia 864
Scotland and Ireland 867
Gallo-Roman period 869
France 869
Anglo-Saxon period 870
Britain 870
Swastika on ancient coins 871
Triskelion, Lycia 871
Triskelion, Sicily 873
Triskelion, Isle of Man 874
Punch marks on Corinthian coins mistaken for Swastikas 875
Swastika on ancient Hindu coins 877
Swastika on coins in Mesembria and Gaza 878
Swastika on Danish gold bracteates 878
United States of America 879
Pre-Columbian times 879
Fains Island and Toco mounds, Tennessee 879
Hopewell Mound, Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio 888
Mounds in Arkansas 893
North American Indians 894
Kansas 894
Sacs 895
Pueblos 896
Navajoes 897
Pimas 901
Colonial patchwork 901
Central America 902
Nicaragua 902
Yucatan 902
Costa Rica 903
South America 903
Brazil 903
Paraguay 905
III.--FORMS ALLIED TO THE SWASTIKA.
Meanders, ogees, and spirals, bent to the left as well as
to the right 905
Aboriginal American engravings and paintings 906
Designs on shell 906
Ivory-billed woodpecker 907
The triskele, triskelion, or triquetrum 908
The spider 913
The rattlesnake 914
The human face and form 914
Designs on pottery 920
Designs on basketry 924
IV.--THE CROSS AMONG THE AMERICAN INDIANS.
Different forms 926
The cross on objects of shell and copper 926
The cross on pottery 931
Symbolic meanings of the cross 933
The four winds 934
Sun and star symbols 936
Dwellings 936
Dragon fly (Susbeca) 936
Mide', or Shamans 937
Flocks of birds 937
Human forms 938
Maidenhood 939
Shaman's spirit 939
Divers significations 939
Introduction of the cross into America 944
Decorative forms not of the cross, but allied to the
Swastika 946
Color stamps from Mexico and Venezuela 946
V.--SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SWASTIKA. 948
VI.--THE MIGRATION OF SYMBOLS.
Migration of the Swastika 952
Migration of classic symbols 960
The sacred tree of the Assyrians 960
The sacred cone of Mesopotamia 960
The _Crux ansata_, the key of life 961
The winged globe 961
The caduceus 962
The trisula 963
The double-headed eagle on the escutcheon of Austria
and Russia 963
The lion rampant of Belgium 963
Greek art and architecture 964
The Greek fret 965
VII.--PREHISTORIC OBJECTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SWASTIKA, FOUND
IN BOTH HEMISPHERES, AND BELIEVED TO HAVE PASSED BY
MIGRATION.
Spindle whorls 966
Europe 967
Switzerland--Lake dwellings 967
Italy 968
Wurtemburg 968
France 968
North America--pre-Columbian times 969
Mexico 970
Central America 971
Nicaragua 971
South America 972
Chiriqui 972
Colombia 972
Peru 972
Bobbins 975
Europe 975
United States 975
VIII.--SIMILAR PREHISTORIC ARTS, INDUSTRIES, AND IMPLEMENTS IN
EUROPE AND AMERICA AS EVIDENCE OF THE MIGRATION OF
CULTURE. 977
CONCLUSION 981
BIBLIOGRAPHY 984
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 997
THE SWASTIKA,
THE EARLIEST KNOWN SYMBOL, AND ITS MIGRATIONS; WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE
MIGRATION OF CERTAIN INDUSTRIES IN PREHISTORIC TIMES.
[Illustration]
By THOMAS WILSON, _Curator, Department of Prehistoric Anthropology, U. S.
National Museum_.
PREFACE.
An English gentleman, versed in prehistoric archæology, visited me in the
summer of 1894, and during our conversation asked if we had the Swastika
in America. I answered, "Yes," and showed him two or three specimens of
it. He demanded if we had any literature on the subject. I cited him De
Mortillet, De Morgan, and Zmigrodzki, and he said, "No, I mean English or
American." I began a search which proved almost futile, as even the word
Swastika did not appear in such works as Worcester's or Webster's
dictionaries, the Encyclopædic Dictionary, the Encyclopædia Britannica,
Johnson's Universal Cyclopædia, the People's Cyclopædia, nor Smith's
Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, his Greek and Roman Biography
and Mythology, or his Classical Dictionary. I also searched, with the same
results, Mollett's Dictionary of Art and Archæology, Fairholt's Dictionary
of Terms in Art, "L'Art Gothique," by Gonza, Perrot and Chipiez's
extensive histories of Art in Egypt, in Chaldea and Assyria, and in
Phenicia; also "The Cross, Ancient and Modern," by W. W. Blake, "The
History of the Cross," by John Ashton; and a reprint of a Dutch work by
Wildener. In the American Encyclopædia the description is erroneous, while
all the Century Dictionary says is, "Same as fylfot," and "Compare _Crux
Ansata_ and _Gammadion_." I thereupon concluded that this would be a good
subject for presentation to the Smithsonian Institution for "diffusion of
knowledge among men."
The principal object of this paper has been to gather and put in a compact
form such information as is obtainable concerning the Swastika, leaving to
others the task of adjustment of these facts and their arrangement into
an harmonious theory. The only conclusion sought to be deduced from the
facts stated is as to the possible migration in prehistoric times of the
Swastika and similar objects.
No conclusion is attempted as to the time or place of origin, or the
primitive meaning of the Swastika, because these are considered to be lost
in antiquity. The straight line, the circle, the cross, the triangle, are
simple forms, easily made, and might have been invented and re-invented in
every age of primitive man and in every quarter of the globe, each time
being an independent invention, meaning much or little, meaning different
things among different peoples or at different times among the same
people; or they may have had no settled or definite meaning. But the
Swastika was probably the first to be made with a definite intention and a
continuous or consecutive meaning, the knowledge of which passed from
person to person, from tribe to tribe, from people to people, and from
nation to nation, until, with possibly changed meanings, it has finally
circled the globe.
There are many disputable questions broached in this paper. The author is
aware of the differences of opinion thereon among learned men, and he has
not attempted to dispose of these questions in the few sentences employed
in their announcement. He has been conservative and has sought to avoid
dogmatic decisions of controverted questions. The antiquity of man, the
locality of his origin, the time of his dispersion and the course of his
migration, the origin of bronze and the course of its migration, all of
which may be more or less involved in a discussion of the Swastika, are
questions not to be settled by the dogmatic assertions of any individual.
Much of the information in this paper is original, and relates to
prehistoric more than to modern times, and extends to nearly all the
countries of the globe. It is evident that the author must depend on other
discoverers; therefore, all books, travels, writers, and students have
been laid under contribution without scruple. Due acknowledgment is hereby
made for all quotations of text or figures wherever they occur.
Quotations have been freely made, instead of sifting the evidence and
giving the substance. The justification is that there has never been any
sufficient marshaling of the evidence on the subject, and that the former
deductions have been inconclusive; therefore, quotations of authors are
given in their own words, to the end that the philosophers who propose to
deal with the origin, meaning, and cause of migration of the Swastika will
have all the evidence before them.
Assumptions may appear as to antiquity, origin, and migration of the
Swastika, but it is explained that many times these only reflect the
opinion of the writers who are quoted, or are put forth as working
hypotheses.
The indulgence of the reader is asked, and it is hoped that he will
endeavor to harmonize conflicting statements upon these disputed questions
rather than antagonize them.
I.--DEFINITIONS, DESCRIPTION, AND ORIGIN.
DIFFERENT FORMS OF THE CROSS.
The simple cross made with two sticks or marks belongs to prehistoric
times. Its first appearance among men is lost in antiquity. One may
theorize as to its origin, but there is no historical identification of it
either in epoch or by country or people. The sign is itself so simple that
it might have originated among any people, however primitive, and in any
age, however remote. The meaning given to the earliest cross is equally
unknown. Everything concerning its beginning is in the realm of
speculation. But a differentiation grew up in early times among nations by
which certain forms of the cross have been known under certain names and
with specific significations. Some of these, such as the Maltese cross,
are historic and can be well identified.
The principal forms of the cross, known as symbols or ornaments, can be
reduced to a few classes, though when combined with heraldry its use
extends to 385 varieties.[1]
[Illustration: Fig. 1. LATIN CROSS (_Crux immissa_).]
[Illustration: Fig. 2. GREEK CROSS.]
[Illustration: Fig. 3. ST. ANDREW'S CROSS (_Crux decussata_).]
It is not the purpose of this paper to give a history of the cross, but
the principal forms are shown by way of introduction to a study of the
Swastika.
The Latin cross, _Crux immissa_, (fig. 1) is found on coins, medals, and
ornaments anterior to the Christian era. It was on this cross that Christ
is said to have been crucified, and thus it became accepted as the
Christian cross.
The Greek cross (fig. 2) with arms of equal length crossing at right
angles, is found on Assyrian and Persian monuments and tablets, Greek
coins and statues.
The St. Andrew's cross, _Crux decussata_, (fig. 3) is the same as the
Greek cross, but turned to stand on two legs.
The _Crux ansata_ (fig. 4) according to Egyptian mythology, was Ankh, the
emblem of Ka, the spiritual double of man. It was also said to indicate a
union of Osiris and Isis, and was regarded as a symbol of the generative
principle of nature.
[Illustration: Fig. 4. EGYPTIAN CROSS. (_Crux ansata_). The Key of Life.]
The Tau cross (fig. 5), so called from its resemblance to the Greek letter
of that name, is of uncertain, though ancient, origin. In Scandinavian
mythology it passed under the name of "Thor's hammer," being therein
confounded with the Swastika. It was also called St. Anthony's cross for
the Egyptian hermit of that name, and was always colored blue. Clarkson
says this mark was received by the Mithracists on their foreheads at the
time of their initiation. C. W. King, in his work entitled "Early
Christian Numismatics" (p. 214), expresses the opinion that the Tau cross
was placed on the foreheads of men who cry after abominations. (Ezekiel
ix, 4.) It is spoken of as a phallic emblem.
Another variety of the cross appeared about the second century, composed
of a union of the St. Andrew's cross and the letter P (fig. 6), being the
first two letters of the Greek word [Greek: CHRISTOS] (Christus). This,
with another variety containing all the foregoing letters, passed as the
monogram of Christ (fig. 6).
[Illustration: Fig. 5. TAU CROSS, THOR'S HAMMER, OR ST. ANTHONY'S CROSS.]
[Illustration: Fig. 6. MONOGRAM OF CHRIST. Labarum of Constantine.]
[Illustration: Fig. 7. MALTESE CROSS.]
As an instrument of execution, the cross, besides being the intersection
of two beams with four projecting arms, was frequently of compound forms
as [Y], on which the convicted person was fastened by the feet and hung
head downward. Another form [symbol], whereon he was fastened by one foot
and one hand at each upper corner; still another form [symbol], whereon
his body was suspended on the central upright with his arms outstretched
upon the cross beams.
Fig. 7 represents the sign of the military order of the Knights of Malta.
It is of medieval origin.
Fig. 8 (_a_ and _b_) represents two styles of Celtic crosses. These belong
chiefly to Ireland and Scotland, are usually of stone, and frequently set
up at marked places on the road side.
Higgins, in his "Anacalypsis," a rare and costly work, almost an
encyclopedia of knowledge,[2] says, concerning the origin of the cross,
that the official name of the governor of Tibet, Lama, comes from the
ancient Tibetan word for the cross. The original spelling was L-a-m-h.
This is cited with approval in Davenport's "Aphrodisiacs" (p. 13).
[Illustration: Fig. 8. CELTIC CROSSES.]
[Illustration: Fig. 9. NORMAL SWASTIKA.]
[Illustration: Fig. 10. SUAVASTIKA.]
[Illustration: Fig. 11. SWASTIKA. Meander.]
Of the many forms of the cross, the Swastika is the most ancient. Despite
the theories and speculations of students, its origin is unknown. It began
before history, and is properly classed as prehistoric. Its description is
as follows: The bars of the normal Swastika (frontispiece and fig. 9) are
straight, of equal thickness throughout, and cross each other at right
angles, making four arms of equal size, length, and style. Their
peculiarity is that all the ends are bent at right angles and in the same
direction, right or left. Prof. Max Müller makes the symbol different
according as the arms are bent to the right or to the left. That bent to
the right he denominates the true Swastika, that bent to the left he calls
Suavastika (fig. 10), but he gives no authority for the statement, and the
author has been unable to find, except in Burnouf, any justification for a
difference of names. Professor Goodyear gives the title of "Meander" to
that form of Swastika which bends two or more times (fig. 11).
The Swastika is sometimes represented with dots or points in the corners
of the intersections (fig. 12_a_), and occasionally the same when without
bent ends (fig. 12_b_), to which Zmigrodzki gives the name of _Croix
Swasticale_. Some Swastikas have three dots placed equidistant around each
of the four ends (fig. 12_c_).
[Illustration: Fig. 12. CROIX SWASTICALE (ZMIGRODZKI).]
There are several varieties possibly related to the Swastika which have
been found in almost every part of the globe, and though the relation may
appear slight, and at first sight difficult to trace, yet it will appear
more or less intimate as the examination is pursued through its
ramifications. As this paper is an investigation into and report upon
facts rather than conclusions to be drawn from them, it is deemed wise to
give those forms bearing even possible relations to the Swastika. Certain
of them have been accepted by the author as related to the Swastika, while
others have been rejected; but this rejection has been confined to cases
where the known facts seemed to justify another origin for the symbol.
Speculation has been avoided.
[Illustration: PECULIAR FORMS OF SWASTIKA.
Fig. 13_a_. OGEE AND SPIRAL SWASTIKAS. Tetraskelion (four-armed).
Fig. 13_b_. SPIRAL AND VOLUTE. Triskelion (three-armed).
Fig. 13_c_. SPIRAL AND VOLUTE. (Five or many armed.)
Fig. 13_d_. OGEE SWASTIKA, WITH CIRCLE.]
NAMES AND DEFINITIONS OF THE SWASTIKA.
The Swastika has been called by different names in different countries,
though nearly all countries have in later years accepted the ancient
Sanskrit name of Swastika; and this name is recommended as the most
definite and certain, being now the most general and, indeed, almost
universal. It was formerly spelled s-v-a-s-t-i-c-a and s-u-a-s-t-i-k-a,
but the later spelling, both English and French, is s-w-a-s-t-i-k-a. The
definition and etymology of the word is thus given in Littre's French
Dictionary:
_Svastika_, or _Swastika_, a mystic figure used by several (East)
Indian sects. It was equally well known to the Brahmins as to the
Buddhists. Most of the rock inscriptions in the Buddhist caverns in
the west of India are preceded or followed by the holy
(_sacramentelle_) sign of the Swastika. (Eug. Burnouf, "Le Lotus de la
bonne loi." Paris, 1852, p. 625.) It was seen on the vases and pottery
of Rhodes (Cyprus) and Etruria. (F. Delaunay, Jour. Off., Nov. 18,
1873, p. 7024, 3d Col.)
Etymology: A Sanskrit word signifying happiness, pleasure, good luck.
It is composed of _Su_ (equivalent of Greek [Greek: eu]), "good," and
_asti_, "being," "good being," with the suffix _ka_ (Greek [Greek:
ka], Latin _co_).
In the "Revue d'Ethnographie" (IV, 1885, p. 329), Mr. Dumoutier gives the
following analysis of the Sanskrit _swastika_:
_Su_, radical, signifying _good_, _well_, _excellent_, or _suvidas_,
prosperity.
_Asti_, third person, singular, indicative present of the verb _as_,
to be, which is _sum_ in Latin.
_Ka_, suffix forming the substantive.
Professor Whitney in the Century Dictionary says, Swastika--[Sanskrit,
lit., "of good fortune." Svasti (_Su_, well, + _asti_, being), welfare.]
Same as fylfot. Compare _Crux ansata_ and _gammadion_.
In "Ilios" (p. 347), Max Müller says:
Ethnologically, _svastika_ is derived from _svasti_, and _svasti_ from
_su_, "well," and _as_, "to be." _Svasti_ occurs frequently in the
Veda, both as a noun in a sense of happiness, and as an adverb in the
sense of "well" or "hail!" It corresponds to the Greek [Greek:
euestô]. The derivation _Svasti-ka_ is of later date, and it always
means an auspicious sign, such as are found most frequently among
Buddhists and Jainas.
M. Eugene Burnouf[3] defines the mark Swastika as follows:
A monogrammatic sign of four branches, of which the ends are curved at
right angles, the name signifying, literally, the sign of benediction
or good augury.
The foregoing explanations relate only to the present accepted name
"Swastika." The _sign_ Swastika must have existed long before the _name_
was given to it. It must have been in existence long before the Buddhist
religion or the Sanskrit language.
In Great Britain the common name given to the Swastika, from Anglo-Saxon
times by those who apparently had no knowledge whence it came, or that it
came from any other than their own country, was Fylfot, said to have been
derived from the Anglo-Saxon _fower fot_, meaning four-footed, or
many-footed.[4]
George Waring, in his work entitled "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages" (p. 10),
says:
The word [Fylfot] is Scandinavian and is compounded of Old Norse
_fiël_, equivalent to the Anglo-Saxon _fela_, German _viel_, many, and
_fotr_, foot, the many-footed figure. * * * It is desirable to have
some settled name by which to describe it; we will take the simplest
and most descriptive, the "Fylfot."
He thus transgresses one of the oldest and soundest rules of scientific
nomenclature, and ignores the fact that the name Swastika has been
employed for this sign in the Sanskrit language (the etymology of the word
naturally gave it the name Svastika, _sv_--good or well, _asti_--to be or
being, or it is) and that two thousand and more years of use in Asia and
Europe had sanctioned and sanctified that as its name. The use of Fylfot
is confined to comparatively few persons in Great Britain and, possibly,
Scandinavia. Outside of these countries it is scarcely known, used, or
understood.
The Swastika was occasionally called in the French language, in earlier
times, _Croix gammée_ or _Gammadion_, from its resemblance to a
combination of four of the Greek letters of that name, and it is so named
by Count Goblet d'Alviella in his late work, "La Migration des Symboles."
It was also called _Croix cramponnée_, _Croix pattée_, _Croix à crochet_.
But the consensus even of French etymologists favors the name Swastika.
Some foreign authors have called it Thor's hammer, or Thor's hammer-mark,
but the correctness of this has been disputed.[5] Waring, in his elaborate
work, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,"[6] says:
The [Z] used to be vulgarly called in Scandinavia the hammer of Thor,
and Thor's hammer-mark, or the hammer-mark, but this name properly
belongs to the mark [Y].
Ludwig Müller gives it as his opinion that the Swastika has no connection
with the Thor hammer. The best Scandinavian authors report the "Thor
hammer" to be the same as the Greek tau (fig. 5), the same form as the
Roman and English capital T. The Scandinavian name is Miölner or Mjolner,
the crusher or mallet.
The Greek, Latin, and Tau crosses are represented in Egyptian
hieroglyphics by a hammer or mallet, giving the idea of crushing,
pounding, or striking, and so an instrument of justice, an avenger of
wrong,[7] hence standing for Horus and other gods.[8] Similar symbolic
meanings have been given to these crosses in ancient classic countries of
the Orient.[9]
SYMBOLISM AND INTERPRETATION.
Many theories have been presented concerning the symbolism of the
Swastika, its relation to ancient deities and its representation of
certain qualities. In the estimation of certain writers it has been
respectively the emblem of Zeus, of Baal, of the sun, of the sun-god, of
the sun-chariot of Agni the fire-god, of Indra the rain-god, of the sky,
the sky-god, and finally the deity of all deities, the great God, the
Maker and Ruler of the Universe. It has also been held to symbolize light
or the god of light, of the forked lightning, and of water. It is believed
by some to have been the oldest Aryan symbol. In the estimation of others
it represents Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, Creator, Preserver, Destroyer. It
appears in the footprints of Buddha, engraved upon the solid rock on the
mountains of India (fig. 32). It stood for the Jupiter Tonans and Pluvius
of the Latins, and the Thor of the Scandinavians. In the latter case it
has been considered--erroneously, however--a variety of the Thor hammer.
In the opinion of at least one author it had an intimate relation to the
Lotus sign of Egypt and Persia. Some authors have attributed a phallic
meaning to it. Others have recognized it as representing the generative
principle of mankind, making it the symbol of the female. Its appearance
on the person of certain goddesses, Artemis, Hera, Demeter, Astarte, and
the Chaldean Nana, the leaden goddess from Hissarlik (fig. 125), has
caused it to be claimed as a sign of fecundity.
In forming the foregoing theories their authors have been largely
controlled by the alleged fact of the substitution and permutation of the
Swastika sign on various objects with recognized symbols of these
different deities. The claims of these theorists are somewhat clouded in
obscurity and lost in the antiquity of the subject. What seems to have
been at all times an attribute of the Swastika is its character as a charm
or amulet, as a sign of benediction, blessing, long life, good fortune,
good luck. This character has continued into modern times, and while the
Swastika is recognized as a holy and sacred symbol by at least one
Buddhistic religious sect, it is still used by the common people of India,
China, and Japan as a sign of long life, good wishes, and good fortune.
Whatever else the sign Swastika may have stood for, and however many
meanings it may have had, it was always ornamental. It may have been used
with any or all the above significations, but it was always ornamental as
well.
The Swastika sign had great extension and spread itself practically over
the world, largely, if not entirely, in prehistoric times, though its use
in some countries has continued into modern times.
The elaboration of the meanings of the Swastika indicated above and its
dispersion or migrations form the subject of this paper.
Dr. Schliemann found many specimens of Swastika in his excavations at the
site of ancient Troy on the hill of Hissarlik. They were mostly on spindle
whorls, and will be described in due course. He appealed to Prof. Max
Müller for an explanation, who, in reply, wrote an elaborate description,
which Dr. Schliemann published in "Ilios.[10]"
He commences with a protest against the word Swastika being applied
generally to the sign Swastika, because it may prejudice the reader or the
public in favor of its Indian origin. He says:
I do not like the use of the _word svastika_ outside of India. It is a
_word_ of Indian origin and has its history and definite meaning in
India. * * * The occurrence of such crosses in different parts of the
world may or may not point to a common origin, but if they are once
called _Svastika_ the _vulgus profanum_ will at once jump to the
conclusion that they all come from India, and it will take some time
to weed out such prejudice.
Very little is known of Indian art before the third century B. C., the
period when the Buddhist sovereigns began their public buildings.[11]
The name Svastika, however, can be traced (in India) a little farther
back. It occurs as the name of a particular sign in the old grammar of
Pânani, about a century earlier. Certain compounds are mentioned there
in which the last word is _karna_, "ear." * * * One of the signs for
marking cattle was the Svastika [fig. 41], and what Pânani teaches in
his grammar is that when the compound is formed, _svastika-karna_, i.
e., "having the ear marked with the sign of a Svastika," the final _a_
of Svastika is not to be lengthened, while it is lengthened in other
compounds, such as _datra-karna_, i. e., "having the ear marked with
the sign of a sickle."
D'Alviella[12] reinforces Max Müller's statement that Panini lived during
the middle of the fourth century, B. C. Thus it is shown that the word
Swastika had been in use at that early period long enough to form an
integral part of the Sanskrit language and that it was employed to
illustrate the particular sounds of the letter _a_ in its grammar.
Max Müller continues his explanation:[13]
It [the Swastika] occurs often at the beginning of the Buddhist
inscriptions, on Buddhist coins, and in Buddhist manuscripts.
Historically, the Svastika is first attested on a coin of Krananda,
supposing Krananda to be the same king as Xandrames, the predecessor
of Sandrokyptos, whose reign came to an end in 315 B. C. (See Thomas
on the Identity of Xandrames and Krananda.) The paleographic evidence,
however, seems rather against so early a date. In the footprints of
Buddha the Buddhists recognize no less that sixty-five auspicious
signs, the first of them being the _Svastika_ [see fig. 32], (Eugene
Burnouf, "Lotus de la bonne loi," p. 625); the fourth is the
_Suavastika_, or that with the arms turned to the left [see fig. 10];
the third, the _Nandyâvarta_ [see fig. 14], is a mere development of
the _Svastika_. Among the Jainas the _Svastika_ was the sign of their
seventh Jina, Supârsva (Colebrooke "Miscellaneous Essays," II, p. 188;
Indian Antiquary, vol. 2, p. 135).
In the later Sanskrit literature, _Svastika_ retains the meaning of an
auspicious mark; thus we see in the Râmâyana (ed. Gorresio, II, p.
318) that Bharata selects a ship marked with the sign of the Svastika.
Varâhamihira in the Brihat-samhitâ (Mod. Sæc., VI, p. Ch.) mentions
certain buildings called Svastika and Nandyâvarta (53.34, seq.), but
their outline does not correspond very exactly with the form of the
signs. Some Sthûpas, however, are said to have been built on the plan
of the Svastika. * * * Originally, _svastika_ may have been intended
for no more than two lines crossing each other, or a cross. Thus we
find it used in later times referring to a woman covering her breast
with crossed arms (Bâlarâm, 75.16), _svahastas-vastika-stani_, and
likewise with reference to persons sitting crosslegged.
Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter[14] speaking of the Swastika position, either
of crossed legs or arms, among the Hindus,[15] suggests as a possible
explanation that these women bore the Swastikas upon their arms as did
the goddess Aphrodite, in fig. 8 of his writings, (see fig. 180 in the
present paper), and when they assumed the position of arms crossed over
their breast, the Swastikas being brought into prominent view, possibly
gave the name to the position as being a representative of the sign.
Max Müller continues:[16]
Quite another question is, why the sign [S] should have had an
auspicious meaning, and why in Sanskrit it should have been called
Svastika. The similarity between the group of letters _sv_ in the
ancient Indian alphabet and the sign of Svastika is not very striking,
and seems purely accidental.
A remark of yours [Schliemann] (Troy, p. 38.) that the Svastika
resembles a wheel in motion, the direction of the motion being
indicated by the crampons, contains a useful hint, which has been
confirmed by some important observations of Mr. Thomas, the
distinguished Oriental numismatist, who has called attention to the
fact that in the long list of the recognized devices of the
twenty-four Jaina Tirthankaras the sun is absent, but that while the
eighth Tirthankara has the sign of the half-moon, the seventh
Tirthankara is marked with the Svastika, i. e., the sun. Here, then,
we have clear indications that the Svastika, with the hands pointing
in the right direction, was originally a symbol of the sun, perhaps of
the vernal sun as opposed to the autumnal sun, the _Suavastika_, and,
therefore, a natural symbol of light, life, health, and wealth.
But, while from these indications we are justified in supposing that
among the Aryan nations the Svastika may have been an old emblem of
the sun, there are other indications to show that in other parts of
the world the same or a similar emblem was used to indicate the earth.
Mr. Beal * * * has shown * * * that the simple cross ([cross]) occurs
as a sign for earth in certain ideographic groups. It was probably
intended to indicate the four quarters--north, south, east, west--or,
it may be, more generally, extension in length and breadth.
That the cross is used as a sign for "four" in the Bactro-Pali
inscriptions (Max Müller, "Chips from a German Workshop," Vol. II, p.
298) is well known; but the fact that the same sign has the same power
elsewhere, as, for instance, in the Hieratic numerals, does not prove
by any means that the one figure was derived from the other. We forget
too easily that what was possible in one place was possible also in
other places; and the more we extend our researches, the more we shall
learn that the chapter of accidents is larger than we imagine.
The "Suavastika" which Max Müller names and believes was applied to the
Swastika sign, with the ends bent to the left (fig. 10), seems not to be
reported with that meaning by any other author except Burnouf.[17]
Therefore the normal Swastika would seem to be that with the ends bent to
the right. Burnouf says the word Suavastika may be a derivative or
development of the Svastikaya, and ought to signify "he who, or, that
which, bears or carries the Swastika or a species of Swastika." Greg,[18]
under the title Sôvastikaya, gives it as his opinion that there is no
difference between it and the Swastika. Colonel Low[19] mentions the word
Sawattheko, which, according to Burnouf[20] is only a variation of the
Pali word Sotthika or Suvatthika, the Pali translation of the Sanskrit
Swastika. Burnouf translates it as Svastikaya.
M. Eugene Burnouf[21] speaks of a third sign of the footprint of Çakya,
called Nandâvartaya, a good augury, the meaning being the "circle of
fortune," which is the Swastika inclosed within a square with avenues
radiating from the corners (fig. 14). Burnouf says the above sign has many
significations. It is a sacred temple or edifice, a species of labyrinth,
a garden of diamonds, a chain, a golden waist or shoulder belt, and a
conique with spires turning to the right.
Colonel Sykes[22] concludes that, according to the Chinese authorities
Fa-hian, Soung Young, Hiuan thsang, the "Doctors of reason," Tao-sse, or
followers of the mystic cross [S] were diffused in China and India before
the advent of Sakya in the sixth century B. C. (according to Chinese,
Japanese, and Buddhist authorities, the eleventh century B. C.),
continuing until Fa-hian's time; and that they were professors of a
qualified Buddhism, which, it is stated, was the universal religion of
Tibet before Sakya's advent,[23] and continued until the introduction of
orthodox Buddhism in the ninth century A. D.[24]
[Illustration: Fig. 14. NANDÂVARTAYA, A THIRD SIGN OF THE FOOTPRINT OF
BUDDHA. Burnouf, "Lotus de la Bonne Loi," Paris, 1852, p. 696.]
Klaproth[25] calls attention to the frequent mention by Fa-hian, of the
Tao-sse, sectaries of the mystic cross [S] (Sanskrit Swastika), and to
their existence in Central Asia and India; while he says they were
diffused over the countries to the west and southwest of China, and came
annually from all kingdoms and countries to adore Kassapo, Buddha's
predecessor.[26] Mr. James Burgess[27] mentions the Tirthankaras or Jainas
as being sectarians of the Mystic Cross, the Swastika.
The Cyclopædia of India (title Swastika), coinciding with Prof. Max
Müller, says:
The Swastika symbol is not to be confounded with the Swastika sect in
Tibet which took the symbol for its name as typical of the belief of
its members. They render the Sanskrit Swastika as composed of su
"well" and asti "it is," meaning, as Professor Wilson expresses it,
"so be it," and implying complete resignation under all circumstances.
They claimed the Swastika of Sanskrit as the _suti_ of Pali, and that
the Swastika cross was a combination of the two symbols _sutti-suti_.
They are rationalists, holding that contentment and peace of mind
should be the only objects of life. The sect has preserved its
existence in different localities and under different names,
Thirthankara, Tor, Musteg, Pon, the last name meaning purity, under
which a remnant are still in the farthest parts of the most eastern
province of Tibet.
General Cunningham[28] adds his assertion of the Swastika being the symbol
used by the Buddhist sect of that name. He says in a note:
The founder of this sect flourished about the year 604 to 523 B. C.,
and that the mystic cross is a symbol formed by the combination of the
two Sanskrit syllables _su_ and _ti-suti_.
Waring[29] proceeds to demolish these statements of a sect named Swastika
as pure inventions, and "consulting Professor Wilson's invaluable work on
the Hindoo religious sects in the 'Asiatic Researches,' we find no account
of any sect named Swastika."
Mr. V. R. Gandhi, a learned legal gentleman of Bombay, a representative of
the Jain sect of Buddhists to the World's Parliament of Religions at
Chicago, 1893, denies that there is in either India or Tibet a sect of
Buddhists named "Swastika." He suggests that these gentlemen probably mean
the sects of Jains (of which Mr. Gandhi is a member), because this sect
uses the Swastika as a sign of benediction and blessing. This will be
treated further on. (See p. 804.)
Zmigrodzki, commenting on the frequency of the Swastika on the objects
found by Dr. Schliemann at Hissarlik, gives it as his opinion[30] that
these representations of the Swastika have relation to a human cult
indicating a supreme being filled with goodness toward man. The sun,
stars, etc., indicate him as a god of light. This, in connection with the
idol of Venus, with its triangular shield engraved with a Swastika (fig.
125), and the growing trees and palms, with their increasing and
multiplying branches and leaves, represent to him the idea of fecundity,
multiplication, increase, and hence the god of life as well as of light.
The Swastika sign on funeral vases indicates to him a belief in a divine
spirit in man which lives after death, and hence he concludes that the
people of Hissarlik, in the "Burnt City" (the third of Schliemann), adored
a supreme being, the god of light and of life, and believed in the
immortality of the soul.
R. P. Greg says:[31]
Originally it [the Swastika] would appear to have been an early Aryan
atmospheric device or symbol indicative of both rain and lightning,
phenomena appertaining to the god Indra, subsequently or collaterally
developing, possibly, into the Suastika, or sacred fire churn in
India, and at a still later period in Greece, adopted rather as a
solar symbol, or converted about B. C. 650 into the meander or key
pattern.
Waring, while he testifies to the extension of the Swastika both in time
and area, says:[32]
But neither in the hideous jumble of Pantheism--the wild speculative
thought, mystic fables, and perverted philosophy of life among the
Buddhists--nor in the equally wild and false theosophy of the
Brahmins, to whom this symbol, as distinctive of the Vishnavas,
sectarian devotees of Vishnu, is ascribed by Moor in his "Indian
Pantheon," nor yet in the tenets of the Jains,[33] do we find any
decisive explanation of the meaning attached to this symbol, although
its allegorical intention is indubitable.
He mentions the Swastika of the Buddhists, the cross, the circle, their
combination, the three-foot [Y] and adds: "They exhibit forms of those
olden and widely spread pagan symbols of Deity and sanctity, eternal life
and blessing."
Professor Sayce says:[34]
The Cyprian vase figured in Di Cesnola's "Cyprus," pl. XLV, fig. 36
[see fig. 156], which associates the Swastika with the figure of an
animal, is a striking analogue of the Trojan whorls on which it is
associated with the figures of stags. The fact that it is drawn within
the vulva of the leaden image of the Asiatic goddess [see fig. 125]
seems to show that it was a symbol of generation. I believe that it is
identical with the Cyprian character [symbol] or [symbol] (ne), which
has the form [symbol] in the inscription of Golgi, and also with the
Hittite [symbol] or [symbol] which Dr. Hyde Clarke once suggested to
me was intended to represent the organs of generation.
Mr. Waller, in his work entitled "Monumental Crosses," describes the
Swastika as having been known in India as a sacred symbol many centuries
before our Lord, and used as the distinguishing badge of a religious sect
calling themselves "Followers of the Mystic Cross." Subsequently, he says,
it was adopted by the followers of Buddha and was still later used by
Christians at a very early period, being first introduced on Christian
monuments in the sixth century. But Mr. Waring says that in this he is not
correct, as it was found in some of the early paintings in the Roman
catacombs, particularly on the habit of a _Fossor_, or gravedigger, given
by D'Agincourt.
Pugin, in his "Glossary of Ornament," under the title "Fylfot," says that
in Tibet the Swastika was used as a representation of God crucified for
the human race, citing as his authority F. Augustini Antonii Georgii.[35]
He remarks:
From these accounts it would appear that the fylfot is a mystical
ornament, not only adopted among Christians from primitive times, but
used, as if prophetically, for centuries before the coming of our
Lord. To descend to later times, we find it constantly introduced in
ecclesiastical vestments, * * * till the end of the fifteenth century,
a period marked by great departure from traditional symbolism.
Its use was continued in Tibet into modern times, though its meaning is
not given.[36] (See p. 802.)
The Rev. G. Cox, in his "Aryan Mythology," says:
We recognize the male and the female symbol in the trident of
Poseidon, and in the fylfot or hammer of Thor, which assumes the form
of a cross-pattèe in the various legends which turn on the rings of
Freya, Holda, Venus, or Aphrodite.
Here again we find the fylfot and cross-pattèe spoken of as the same
symbol, and as being emblematic of the reproductive principles, in which
view of its meaning Dr. Inman, in his "Ancient Faiths Embodied in Ancient
Names," concurs.
Burnouf[37] recounts the myth of Agni (from which comes, through the Latin
_ignis_, the English word igneous), the god of Sacred Fire, as told in the
Veda:[38]
The young queen, the mother of Fire, carried the royal infant
mysteriously concealed in her bosom. She was a woman of the people,
whose common name was "Arani"--that is, the instrument of wood (the
Swastika) from which fire was made or brought by rubbing. * * * The
origin of the sign [Swastika] is now easy to recognize. It represents
the two pieces of wood which compose _l'arani_, of which the
extremities were bent to be retained by the four nails. At the
junction of the two pieces of wood was a fossette or cup-like hole,
and there they placed a piece of wood upright, in form of a lance (the
Pramantha), violent rotation of which, by whipping (after the fashion
of top-whipping), produced fire, as did Prometheus, the _porteur du
feu_, in Greece.
And this myth was made, as have been others, probably by the priests and
poets of succeeding times, to do duty for different philosophies. The
Swastika was made to represent Arani (the female principle); the Pramantha
or upright fire stake representing Agni, the fire god (the male); and so
the myth served its part to account for the birth of fire. Burnouf hints
that the myth grew out of the production of holy fire for the sacred
altars by the use of the Pramantha and Swastika, after the manner of
savages in all times. Zmigrodzki accepts this myth, and claims all
specimens with dots or points--supposed nail holes--as Swastikas.
The Count Goblet d'Alviella[39] argues in opposition to the theory
announced by Burnouf and by Zmigrodzki, that the Swastika or croix
swasticale, when presenting dots or points, had relation to fire making.
He denies that the points represent nails, or that nails were made or
necessary either for the Swastika or the Arani, and concludes that there
is no evidence to support the theory, and nothing to show the Swastika to
have been used as a fire-making apparatus, whether with or without the
dots or points.
Mr. Greg[40] opposes this entire theory, saying:
The difficulty about the Swastika and its supposed connection with
fire appears to me to be in not knowing precisely what the old fire
drill and chark were like. * * * I much doubt whether the Swastika had
originally any connection either with the fire-chark or with the sun.
* * * The best authorities consider Burnouf is in error as to the
earlier use of the two lower cross pieces of wood and the four nails
said to have been used to fix or steady the framework.
He quotes from Tylor's description[41] of the old fire drill used in
India for kindling the sacrificial fire by the process called "churning,"
as it resembles that in India by which butter is separated from milk. It
consists in drilling one piece of Arani wood by pulling a cord with one
hand while the other is slackened, and so, alternately (the strap drill),
till the wood takes fire. Mr. Greg states that the Eskimos use similar
means, and the ancient Greeks used the drill and cord, and he adds his
conclusions: "There is nothing of the Swastika and four nails in
connection with the fire-churn."
Burton[42] also criticises Burnouf's theory:
If used on sacrificial altars to reproduce the holy fire, the practice
is peculiar and not derived from everyday life; for as early as Pliny
they know that the savages used two, and never three, fire sticks.
Burnouf continues his discussion of myths concerning the origin of fire:
According to Hymnes, the discoverer of fire was Atharan, whoso name
signifies fire, but Bhrigon it was who made the sacred fire, producing
resplendent flames on the earthen altar. In theory of physics, Agni,
who was the fire residing within the "onction," (?) came from the milk
of the cow, which, in its turn, came from the plants that had
nourished her; and these plants in their turn grew by receiving and
appropriating the heat or fire of the sun. Therefore, the virtue of
the "onction" came from the god.
One of the Vedas says of Agni, the god of fire:[43]
Agni, thou art a sage, a priest, a king,
Protector, father of the sacrifice;
Commissioned by our men thou dost ascend
A messenger, conveying to the sky
Our hymns and offerings, though thy origin
Be three fold, now from air and now from water,
Now from the mystic double _Arani_.[44]
Count Goblet d'Alviella combats the hypothesis of Burnouf that the
Swastika when turned to right or left, passed, the one for the male and
the other for the female principle, and declares, on the authority of Sir
George Birdwood, that it is, in modern India, a popular custom to name
objects which appear in couples as having different sexes, so that to say
"the male Swastika" and the "female Swastika," indicating them by the
pronouns "he" or "she," would be expressed in the same manner when
speaking of the hammer and the anvil or of any other objects used in
pairs.[45]
Ludwig Müller, in his elaborate treatise, gives it as his opinion that the
Swastika had no connection with the Tau cross or with the _Crux ansata_,
or with the fire wheel, or with arani, or agni, or with the mystic or
alphabetic letters, nor with the so-called spokes of the solar wheel, nor
the forked lightning, nor the hammer of Thor. He considers that the
triskelion might throw light on its origin, as indicating perpetual
whirling or circular movement, which, in certain parts of southern Asia as
the emblem of Zeus, was assimilated to that of Baal, an inference which he
draws from certain Asiatic coins of 400 B. C.
Mr. R. P. Greg[46] opposes this theory and expresses the opinion that the
Swastika is far older and wider spread as a symbol than the triskelion, as
well as being a more purely Aryan symbol. Greg says that Ludwig Müller
attaches quite too much importance to the sun in connection with the early
Aryans, and lays too great stress upon the supposed relation of the
Swastika as a solar symbol. The Aryans, he says, were a race not given to
sun worship; and, while he may agree with Müller that the Swastika is an
emblem of Zeus and Jupiter merely as the Supreme God, yet he believes that
the origin of the Swastika had no reference to a movement of the sun
through the heavens; and he prefers his own theory that it was a device
suggested by the forked lightning as the chief weapon of the air god.
Mr. Greg's paper is of great elaboration, and highly complicated. He
devotes an entire page or plate (21) to a chart showing the older Aryan
fire, water, and sun gods, according to the Brahmin or Buddhist system.
The earliest was Dyaus, the bright sky or the air god; Adyti, the infinite
expanse, mother of bright gods; Varuna, the covering of the shining
firmament. Out of this trinity came another, Zeus, being the descendant of
Dyaus, the sky god; Agni, the fire; Sulya, the sun, and Indra, the rain
god. These in their turn formed the great Hindu trinity, Brahma, Vishnu,
and Siva--creator, preserver, and destroyer; and, in his opinion, the
Swastika was the symbol or ordinary device of Indra as well as of Zeus. He
continues his table of descent from these gods, with their accompanying
devices, to the sun, lightning, fire, and water, and makes almost a
complete scheme of the mythology of that period, into which it is not
possible to follow him. However, he declines to accept the theory of Max
Müller of any difference of form or meaning between the Suavastika and the
Swastika because the ends or arms turned to the right or to the left, and
he thinks the two symbols to be substantially the same. He considers it to
have been, in the first instance, exclusively of early Aryan origin and
use, and that down to about 600 B. C. it was the emblem or symbol of the
supreme Aryan god; that it so continued down through the various steps of
descent (according to the chart mentioned) until it became the device and
symbol of Brahma, and finally of Buddha. He thinks that it may have been
the origin of the Greek fret or meander pattern. Later still it was
adopted even by the early Christians as a suitable variety of their cross,
and became variously modified in form and was used as a charm.
D'Alviella[47] expresses his doubts concerning the theory advanced by
Greg[48] to the effect that the Swastika is to be interpreted as a symbol
of the air or of the god who dwells in the air, operating sometimes to
produce light, other times rain, then water, and so on, as is represented
by the god Indra among the Hindus, Thor among the Germans and
Scandinavians, Perkun among the Slavs, Zeus among the Pelasgi and Greeks,
Jupiter Tonans, and Pluvius among the Latins. He disputes the theory that
the association of the Swastika sign with various others on the same
object proves its relationship with that object or sign. That it appears
on vases or similar objects associated with what is evidently a solar disk
is no evidence to him that the Swastika belongs to the sun, or when
associated with the zigzags of lightning that it represents the god of
lightning, nor the same with the god of heaven. The fact of its appearing
either above or below any one of these is, in his opinion, of no
importance and has no signification, either general or special.
D'Alviella says[49] that the only example known to him of a Swastika upon
a monument consecrated to Zeus or Jupiter is on a Celto-Roman altar,
erected, according to all appearances, by the Daci during the time they
were garrisoned at Ambloganna, in Britain. The altar bears the letters I.
O. M., which have been thought to stand for Jupiter Optimus Maximus. The
Swastika thereon is flanked by two disks or rouelles, with four rays, a
sign which M. Gaidoz believes to have been a representative of the sun
among the Gaulois.[50]
Dr. Brinton[51] considers the Swastika as being related to the cross and
not to the circle, and asserts that the Ta Ki or Triskeles, the Swastika
and the Cross, were originally of the same signification, or at least
closely allied in meaning.
Waring,[52] after citing his authorities, sums up his opinion thus:
We have given remarks of the various writers on this symbol, and it
will be seen that, though they are more or less vague, uncertain, and
confused in their description of it, still, with one exception, they
all agree that it is a mystic symbol, peculiar to some deity or other,
bearing a special signification, and generally believed to have some
connection with one of the elements--water.
Burton says:[53]
The Svastika is apparently the simplest form of the Guilloche [scroll
pattern or spiral]. According to Wilkinson (11, Chap. IX), the most
complicated form of the Guilloche covered an Egyptian ceiling upward
of a thousand years older than the objects found at Nineveh. The
Svastika spread far and wide, everywhere assuming some fresh
mythological and mysterious significance. In the north of Europe it
became the Fylfot or Crutched cross.
Count Goblet d'Alviella is of the opinion (p. 57) that the Swastika was
"above all an amulet, talisman, or phylactere," while (p. 56) "it is
incontestable that a great number of the Swastikas were simply motifs of
ornamentation, of coin marks, and marks of fabrics," but he agrees (p. 57)
that there is no symbol that has given rise to so many interpretations,
not even the _tricula_ of the Buddhists, and "this is a great deal to
say." Ludwig Müller believes the Swastika to have been used as an ornament
and as a charm and amulet, as well as a sacred symbol.
Dr. H. Colley March, in his learned paper on the "Fylfot and the Futhore
Tir,"[54] thinks the Swastika had no relation to fire or fire making or
the fire god. His theory is that it symbolized axial motion and not merely
gyration; that it represented the celestial pole, the axis of the heavens
around which revolve the stars of the firmament. This appearance of
rotation is most impressive in the constellation of the Great Bear. About
four thousand years ago the apparent pivot of rotation was at [Greek: a]
_Draconis_, much nearer the Great Bear than now, and at that time the
rapid circular sweep must have been far more striking than at present. In
addition to the name Ursa Major the Latins called this constellation
_Septentriones_, "the seven plowing oxen," that dragged the stars around
the pole, and the Greeks called it [Greek: elikê], from its vast spiral
movement.[55] In the opinion of Dr. March all these are represented or
symbolized by the Swastika.
Prof. W. H. Goodyear, of New York, has lately (1891) published an
elaborate quarto work entitled "The Grammar of the Lotus: A New History of
Classic Ornament as a Development of Sun Worship."[56] It comprises 408
pages, with 76 plates, and nearly a thousand figures. His theory develops
the sun symbol from the lotus by a series of ingenious and complicated
evolutions passing through the Ionic style of architecture, the volutes
and spirals forming meanders or Greek frets, and from this to the
Swastika. The result is attained by the following line of argument and
illustrations:
The lotus was a "fetish of immemorial antiquity and has been worshiped in
many countries from Japan to the Straits of Gibraltar;" it was a symbol of
"fecundity," "life," "immortality," and of "resurrection," and has a
mortuary significance and use. But its elementary and most important
signification was as a solar symbol.[57]
He describes the Egyptian lotus and traces it through an innumerable
number of specimens and with great variety of form. He mentions many of
the sacred animals of Egypt and seeks to maintain their relationship by or
through the lotus, not only with each other but with solar circles and the
sun worship.[58] Direct association of the solar disk and lotus are,
according to him, common on the monuments and on Phenician and Assyrian
seals; while the lotus and the sacred animals, as in cases cited of the
goose representing Seb (solar god, and father of Osiris), also Osiris
himself and Horus, the hawk and lotus, bull and lotus, the asp and lotus,
the lion and lotus, the sphinx and lotus, the gryphon and lotus, the
serpent and lotus, the ram and lotus--all of which animals, and with them
the lotus, have, in his opinion, some related signification to the sun or
some of his deities.[59] He is of the opinion that the lotus motif was the
foundation of the Egyptian style of architecture, and that it appeared at
an early date, say, the fourteenth century B. C. By intercommunication
with the Greeks it formed the foundation of the Greek Ionic capital,
which, he says,[60] "offers no dated example of the earlier time than the
sixth century B. C." He supports this contention by authority, argument,
and illustration.
[Illustration: From figures in Goodyear's "Grammar of the Lotus," p. 27.
Fig. 15. TYPICAL LOTUS ON CYPRIAN VASES.
Fig. 16. TYPICAL LOTUS ON RHODIAN VASES.
Fig. 17. TYPICAL LOTUS ON MELIAN VASES.]
He shows[61] the transfer of the lotus motif to Greece, and its use as an
ornament on the painted vases and on those from Cyprus, Rhodes, and Melos
(figs. 15, 16, 17).
[Illustration: Fig. 18. DETAIL OF CYPRIAN VASE SHOWING LOTUSES WITH
CURLING SEPALS. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. Goodyear, "Grammar
of the Lotus," pl. 47, fig. 1.]
Chantre[62] notes the presence of spirals similar to those of fig. 17, in
the terramares of northern Italy and up and down the Danube, and his fig.
186 (fig. 17) he says represents the decorating motif, the most frequent
in all that part of prehistoric Europe. He cites "Notes sur les torques ou
ornaments spirals."[63]
That the lotus had a foundation deep and wide in Egyptian mythology is not
to be denied; that it was allied to and associated on the monuments and
other objects with many sacred and mythologic characters in Egypt and
afterwards in Greece is accepted. How far it extends in the direction
contended for by Professor Goodyear, is no part of this investigation. It
appears well established that in both countries it became highly
conventionalized, and it is quite sufficient for the purpose of this
argument that it became thus associated with the Swastika. Figs. 18 and
19 represent details of Cyprian vases and amphora belonging to the
Cesnola collection in the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art, showing the
lotus with curling sepals among which are interspersed Swastikas of
different forms.
[Illustration: Fig. 19. DETAIL OF CYPRIAN AMPHORA IN METROPOLITAN MUSEUM
OF ART, NEW YORK CITY. Lotus with curling sepals and different Swastikas.
Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 47, figs. 2, 3.]
[Illustration: Fig. 20. THEORY OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE SPIRAL SCROLL FROM
LOTUS. One Volute. Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," fig. 21.]
According to Professor Goodyear,[64] these bent sepals of the lotus were
exaggerated and finally became spirals,[65] which, being projected at a
tangent, made volutes, and, continuing one after the other, as shown in
fig. 20, formed bands of ornament; or,[66] being connected to right and
left, spread the ornament over an extended surface as in fig. 21. One of
his paths of evolution closed these volutes and dropped the connecting
tangent, when they formed the concentric rings of which we see so much.
Several forms of Egyptian scarabæi, showing the evolution of concentric
rings, are shown in figs. 22, 23, and 24.
[Illustration: Fig. 21. THEORY OF LOTUS RUDIMENTS IN SPIRAL. Tomb 33,
Abd-el Kourneh, Thebes. Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," p. 96.]
By another path of the evolution of his theory, one has only to square the
spiral volutes, and the result is the Greek fret shown in fig. 25.[67] The
Greek fret has only to be doubled, when it produces the Swastika shown in
fig. 26.[68] Thus we have, according to him, the origin of the Swastika,
as shown in figs. 27 and 28.[69]
Professor Goodyear is authority for the statement that the earliest dated
instances of the isolated scroll is in the fifth dynasty of Egypt, and of
the lotus and spiral is in the eleventh dynasty. The spiral of fig. 19
(above) belongs to the twelfth dynasty.[70]
[Illustration: EGYPTIAN SCARABÆI SHOWING EVOLUTION OF CONCENTRIC RINGS.
Fig. 22. CONCENTRIC RINGS CONNECTED BY TANGENTS. From a figure in Petrie's
"History of Scarabs."
Fig. 23. CONCENTRIC RINGS WITH DISCONNECTED TANGENTS. Barringer
collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Goodyear, "Grammar
of the Lotus," pl. 8, fig. 93.
Fig. 24. CONCENTRIC RINGS WITHOUT CONNECTION. Farman collection,
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Goodyear, "Grammar of the
Lotus," pl. 8, fig. 95.]
[Illustration: Fig. 25. SPECIAL EGYPTIAN MEANDER. An illustration of the
theory of derivation from the spiral. Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus,"
pl. 10, fig. 9.]
Professor Goodyear devotes an entire chapter to the Swastika. On pages
352, 353 he says:
There is no proposition in archæology which can be so easily
demonstrated as the assertion that the Swastika was originally a
fragment of the Egyptian meander, provided Greek geometric vases are
called in evidence. The connection between the meander and the
Swastika has been long since suggested by Prof. A. S. Murray.[71]
Hindu specialists have suggested that the Swastika produced the
meander. Birdwood[72] says: "I believe the Swastika to be the origin
of the key pattern ornament of Greek and Chinese decorative art."
Zmigrodzki, in a recent publication,[73] has not only reproposed this
derivation of the meander, but has even connected the Mycenæ spirals
with this supposed development, and has proposed to change the name of
the spiral ornament accordingly. * * * The equivalence of the Swastika
with the meander pattern is suggested, in the first instance, by its
appearance in the shape of the meander on the Rhodian (pl. 28, fig.
7), Melian (pl. 60, fig. 8), archæic Greek (pl. 60, fig. 9, and pl.
61, fig. 12), and Greek geometric vases (pl. 56). The appearance, in
shape of the meander may be verified in the British Museum on one
geometric vase of the oldest type, and it also occurs in the Louvre.
On page 354, Goodyear says:
The solar significance of the Swastika is proven by the Hindu coins of
the Jains. Its generative significance is proven by a leaden statuette
from Troy. It is an equivalent of the lotus (pl. 47, figs. 1, 2, 3),
of the solar diagram (pl. 57, fig. 12, and pl. 60, fig. 8), of the
rosette (pl. 20, fig. 8), of concentric rings (pl. 47, fig. 11), of
the spiral scroll (pl. 34, fig. 8, and pl. 39, fig. 2), of the
geometric boss (pl. 48, fig. 12), of the triangle (pl. 46, fig. 5),
and of the anthemion (pl. 28, fig. 7, and pl. 30, fig. 4). It appears
with the solar deer (pl. 60, figs. 1 and 2), with the solar antelope
(pl. 37, fig. 9), with the symbolic fish (pl. 42, fig. 1), with the
ibex (pl. 37, fig. 4), with the solar sphinx (pl. 34, fig. 8), with
the solar lion (pl. 30, fig. 4), the solar ram (pl. 28, fig. 7), and
the solar horse (pl. 61, figs. 1, 4, 5, and 12). Its most emphatic and
constant association is with the solar bird (pl. 60, fig. 15; fig.
173).
[Illustration: Fig. 26. DETAIL OF GREEK VASE. Meander and Swastika.
Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," fig. 171.]
[Illustration: Fig. 27. DETAIL OF GREEK GEOMETRIC VASE IN THE BRITISH
MUSEUM. Swastika, right, with solar geese. Goodyear, "Grammar of the
Lotus," pl. 353, fig. 173.]
[Illustration: Fig. 28. GREEK GEOMETRIC VASE. Swastika with solar geese.
Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 353, fig. 172.]
Count Goblet d'Alviella, following Ludwig Müller, Percy Gardner, S. Beal,
Edward Thomas, Max Müller, H. Gaidoz, and other authors, accepts their
theory that the Swastika was a symbolic representation of the sun or of a
sun god, and argues it fully.[74] He starts with the proposition that most
of the nations of the earth have represented the sun by a circle, although
some of them, notably the Assyrians, Hindus, Greeks, and Celts, have
represented it by signs more or less cruciform. Examining his fig. 2,
wherein signs of the various people are set forth, it is to be remarked
that there is no similarity or apparent relationship between the six
symbols given, either with themselves or with the sun. Only one of them,
that of Assyria, pretends to be a circle; and it may or may not stand for
the sun. It has no exterior rays. All the rest are crosses of different
kinds. Each of the six symbols is represented as being from a single
nation of people. They are prehistoric or of high antiquity, and most of
them appear to have no other evidence of their representation of the sun
than is contained in the sign itself, so that the first objection is to
the premises, to wit, that while his symbols may have sometimes
represented the sun, it is far from certain that they are used constantly
or steadily as such. An objection is made to the theory or hypothesis
presented by Count d'Alviella[75] that it is not the cross part of the
Swastika which represents the sun, but its bent arms, which show the
revolving motion, by which he says is evolved the tetraskelion or what in
this paper is named the "Ogee Swastika." The author is more in accord with
Dr. Brinton and others that the Swastika is derived from the cross and not
from the wheel, that the bent arms do not represent rotary or gyratory
motion, and that it had no association with, or relation to, the circle.
This, if true, relieves the Swastika from all relation with the circle as
a symbol of the sun. Besides, it is not believed that the symbol of the
sun is one which required rotary or gyratory motion or was represented by
it, but, as will be explained, in speaking of the Assyrian sun-god Shamash
(p. 789), it is rather by a circle with pointed rays extending outward.
D'Alviella[76] presents several figures in support of his contention. The
first (_a_) is on a fibula from Etruria (fig. 190 of this paper). His
explanation is that the small circle of rays, bent at right angles, on the
broad shield of the pin, represents graphically the rotary movement of the
sun, and that the bent arms in the Swastikas on the same object are taken
from them. It seems curious that so momentous a subject as the existence
of a symbol of a great god, the god of light, heat, and thus of life,
should be made to depend upon an object of so small importance. This
specimen (fig. 190) is a fibula or pin, one of the commonest objects of
Etruscan, Greek, or Roman dress. The decorations invoked are on the broad
end, which has been flattened to protect the point of the pin, where
appears a semicircle of so-called rays, the two Swastikas and two possible
crosses. There is nothing about this pin, nor indeed any of the other
objects, to indicate any holy or sacred character, nor that any of them
were used in any ceremony having relation to the sun, to any god, or to
anything holy or sacred. His fig. _b_ is fig. 88 in this paper. It shows a
quadrant of the sphere found by Schliemann at Hissarlik. There is a
slightly indefinite circle with rays from the outside, which are bent and
crooked in many directions. The sphere is of terra cotta; the marks that
have been made on it are rough and ill formed. They were made by incision
while the clay was soft and were done in the rudest manner. There are
dozens more marks upon the same sphere, none of which seem to have
received any consideration in this regard. There is a Swastika upon the
sphere, and it is the only mark or sign upon the entire object that seems
to have been made with care or precision. His third figure (_c_) is taken
from a reliquaire of the thirteenth century A. D. It has a greater
resemblance to the acanthus plant than it has to any solar disk
imaginable. The other two figures (_d_ and _e_) are tetraskelions or ogee
Swastikas from ancient coins.
D'Alviella's next argument[77] is that the triskelion, formed by the same
process as the tetraskelion, is an "incontestable" representation of
solar movement. No evidence is submitted in support of this assertion,
and the investigator of the present day is required, as in prehistoric
objects, to depend entirely upon the object itself. The bent arms contain
no innate evidence (even though they should be held to represent rotary or
gyratory motion) representing the sun or sun gods. It is respectfully
suggested that in times of antiquity, as in modern times, the sun is not
represented as having a rotary motion, but is rather represented by a
circle with diminishing rays projecting from the center or exterior. It
seems unjustifiable, almost ridiculous, to transform the three flexed
human legs, first appearing on the coins of Lycia, into a sun symbol, to
make it the reliable evidence of sun worship, and give it a holy or sacred
character as representing a god. It is surely pushing the argument too far
to say that this is an "incontestable" representation of the solar
movement. The illustrations by d'Alviella on his page 71 are practically
the same as figs. 224 to 226 of this paper.
Count d'Alviella's further argument[78] is that symbols of the sun god
being frequently associated, alternated with, and sometimes replaced by,
the Swastika, proves it to have been a sun symbol. But this is doubted,
and evidence to sustain the proposition is wanting. Undoubtedly the
Swastika was a symbol, was intentional, had a meaning and a degree of
importance, and, while it may have been intended to represent the sun and
have a higher and holier character, yet these mere associations are not
evidence of the fact.
D'Alviella's plate 2, page 80, while divided into sections _a_ and _b_, is
filled only with illustrations of Swastika associated with circles, dots,
etc., introduced for the purpose of showing the association of the
Swastika therewith, and that the permutation and replacing of these signs
by the Swastika is evidence that the Swastika represented the sun. Most of
the same illustrations are presented in this paper, and it is respectfully
submitted that the evidence does not bear out his conclusion. If it be
established that these other symbols are representatives of the sun, how
does that prove that the Swastika was itself a representative of the sun
or the sun god? D'Alviella himself argues[79] against the proposition of
equivalence of meaning because of association when applied to the _Crux
ansata_, the circle, the crescent, the triskelion, the lightning sign, and
other symbolic figures. He denies that because the Swastika is found on
objects associated with these signs therefore they became interchangeable
in meaning, or that the Swastika stood for any of them. The Count[79] says
that more likely the engraver added the Swastika to these in the character
of a talisman or phylactery. On page 56 he argues in the same line, that
because it is found on an object of sacred character does not necessarily
give it the signification of a sacred or holy symbol. He regards the
Swastika as a symbol of good fortune, and sees no reason why it may not
be employed as an invocation to a god of any name or kind on the
principle, "Good Lord, good devil," quoting the Neapolitan proverb, that
it will do no harm, and possibly may do good.
Prof. Max Müller[80] refers to the discovery by Prof. Percy Gardner of one
of the coins of Mesembria, whereon the Swastika replaces the last two
syllables of the word, and he regards this as decisive that in Greece the
meaning of the Swastika was equivalent to the sun. This word, Mesembria,
being translated _ville de midi_, means town or city of the south, or the
sun. He cites from Mr. Thomas's paper on the "Indian Swastika and its
Western Counterparts"[81] what he considers an equally decisive discovery
made some years ago, wherein it was shown that the wheel, the emblem of
the sun in motion, was replaced by the Swastika on certain coins; likewise
on some of the Andhra coins and some punched gold coins noted by Sir
Walter Elliott.[82] In these cases the circle or wheel alleged to
symbolize the sun was replaced by the Swastika. The Swastika has been
sometimes inscribed within the rings or normal circles representing what
is said to be the four suns on Ujain patterns or coins (fig. 230). Other
authorities have adopted the same view, and have extended it to include
the lightning, the storm, the fire wheel, the sun chariot, etc. (See
Ohnefalsch-Richter, p. 790.) This appears to be a _non sequitur_. All
these speculations may be correct, and all these meanings may have been
given to the Swastika, but the evidence submitted does not prove the fact.
There is in the case of the foregoing coins no evidence yet presented as
to which sign, the wheel or the Swastika, preceded and which followed in
point of time. The Swastika may have appeared first instead of last, and
may not have been a substitution for the disk, but an original design. The
disk employed, while possibly representing the sun in some places, may not
have done so always nor in this particular case. It assumes too much to
say that every time a small circle appears on an ancient object it
represented the sun, and the same observation can be made with regard to
symbols of the other elements. Until it shall have been satisfactorily
established that the symbols represented these elements with practical
unanimity, and that the Swastika actually and intentionally replaced it as
such, the theory remains undemonstrated, the burden rests on those who
take the affirmative side; and until these points shall have been settled
with some degree of probability the conclusion is not warranted.
As an illustration of the various significations possible, one has but to
turn to Chapter IV, on the various meanings given to the cross among
American Indians, where it is shown that among these Indians the cross
represented the four winds, the sun, stars, dwellings, the dragon fly,
mide' society, flocks of birds, human form, maidenhood, evil spirit, and
divers others.
Mr. Edward Thomas, in his work entitled "The Indian Swastika and its
Western Counterparts,"[83] says:
As far as I have been able to trace or connect the various
manifestations of this emblem [the Swastika], they one and all resolve
themselves into the primitive conception of solar motion, which was
intuitively associated with the rolling or wheel-like projection of
the sun through the upper or visible arc of the heavens, as understood
and accepted in the crude astronomy of the ancients. The earliest
phase of astronomical science we are at present in position to refer
to, with the still extant aid of indigenous diagrams, is the Chaldean.
The representation of the sun in this system commences with a simple
ring or outline circle, which is speedily advanced toward the
impression of onward revolving motion by the insertion of a cross or
four wheel-like spokes within the circumference of the normal ring. As
the original Chaldean emblem of the sun was typified by a single ring,
so the Indian mind adopted a similar definition, which remains to this
day as the ostensible device or cast-mark of the modern Sauras or sun
worshipers.
The same remarks are made in "Ilios" (pp. 353, 354).
The author will not presume to question, much less deny, the facts stated
by this learned gentleman, but it is to be remarked that, on the theory of
presumption, the circle might represent many other things than the sun,
and unless the evidence in favor of the foregoing statement is susceptible
of verification, the theory can hardly be accepted as conclusive. Why
should not the circle represent other things than the sun? In modern
astronomy the full moon is represented by the plain circle, while the sun,
at least in heraldry, is always represented as a circle with rays. It is
believed that the "cross or four wheel-like spokes" in the Chaldean emblem
of the sun will be found to be rays rather than cross or spokes. A cast is
in the U. S. National Museum (Cat. No. 154766) of an original specimen
from Niffer, now in the Royal Museum, Berlin, of Shamash, the Assyrian god
of the sun. He is represented on this monument by a solar disk, 4 inches
in diameter, with eight rays similar to those of stars, their bases on a
faint circle at the center, and tapering outwards to a point, the whole
surrounded by another faint circle. This is evidence that the sun symbol
of Assyria required rays as well as a circle. A similar representation of
the sun god is found on a tablet discovered in the temple of the Sun God
at Abu-Habba.[84]
Perrot and Chipiez[85] show a tablet from Sippara, of a king,
Nabu-abal-iddin, 900 B. C., doing homage to the sun god (identified by the
inscription), who is represented by bas-relief of a small circle in the
center, with rays and lightning zigzags extending to an outer circle.
In view of these authorities and others which might be cited, it is
questionable whether the plain circle was continuously a representation of
the sun in the Chaldean or Assyrian astronomy. It is also doubtful
whether, if the circle did represent the sun, the insertion of the cross
or the four wheel-like spokes necessarily gave the impression of "onward
revolving motion;" or whether any or all of the foregoing afford a
satisfactory basis for the origin of the Swastika or for its relation to,
or representation of, the sun or the sun god.
Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter[86] announces as his opinion that the Swastika
in Cyprus had nearly always a signification more or less religious and
sacred, though it may have been used as an ornament to fill empty spaces.
He attributes to the _Croix swasticale_--or, as he calls it, _Croix
cantonnée_--the equivalence of the solar disk, zigzag lightning, and
double hatchet; while to the Swastika proper he attributes the
signification of rain, storm, lightning, sun, light, seasons, and also
that it lends itself easily to the solar disk, the fire wheel, and the sun
chariot.
Greg[87] says:
Considered finally, it may be asked if the fylfot or gammadion was an
early symbol of the sun, or, if only an emblem of the solar
revolutions or in movements across the heavens, why it was drawn
square rather than curved: The [Z], even if used in a solar sense,
must have implied something more than, or something distinct from, the
sun, whose proper and almost universal symbol was the circle. It was
evidently more connected with the cross [cross] than with the circle
[circle] or solar disk.
Dr. Brinton[88] considers the Swastika as derived from the cross rather
than from the circle, and the author agrees that this is probable,
although it may be impossible of demonstration either way.
Several authors, among the rest d'Alviella, Greg, and Thomas, have
announced the theory of the evolution of the Swastika, beginning with the
triskelion, thence to the tetraskelion, and so to the Swastika. A slight
examination is sufficient to overturn this hypothesis. In the first place,
the triskelion, which is the foundation of this hypothesis, made its first
appearance on the coins of Lycia. But this appearance was within what is
called the first period of coinage, to wit, between 700 and 480 B. C., and
it did not become settled until the second, and even the third period, 280
to 240 B. C., when it migrated to Sicily. But the Swastika had already
appeared in Armenia, on the hill of Hissarlik, in the terramares of
northern Italy, and on the hut-urns of southern Italy many hundred,
possibly a thousand or more, years prior to that time. Count d'Alviella,
in his plate 3 (see Chart I, p. 794), assigns it to a period of the
fourteenth or thirteenth century B. C., with an unknown and indefinite
past behind it. It is impossible that a symbol which first appeared in 480
B. C. could have been the ancestor of one which appeared in 1400 or 1300
B. C., nearly a thousand years before.
William Simpson[89] makes observations upon the latest discoveries
regarding the Swastika and gives his conclusion:
* * * The finding of the Swastika in America gives a very wide
geographical space that is included by the problem connected with it,
but it is wider still, for the Swastika is found over the most of the
habitable world, almost literally "from China to Peru," and it can be
traced back to a very early period. The latest idea formed regarding
the Swastika is that it may be a form of the old wheel symbolism and
that it represents a solar movement, or perhaps, in a wider sense, the
whole celestial movement of the stars. The Dharmachakra, or Buddhist
wheel, of which the so-called "praying wheel" of the Lamas of Thibet
is only a variant, can now be shown to have represented the solar
motion. It did not originate with the Buddhists; they borrowed it from
the Brahminical system to the Veda, where it is called "the wheel of
the sun." I have lately collected a large amount of evidence on this
subject, being engaged in writing upon it, and the numerous passages
from the old Brahminical authorities leave no doubt in the matter. The
late Mr. Edward Thomas * * * and Prof. Percy Gardner * * * declared
that on some Andhra gold coins and one from Mesembria, Greece, the
part of the word which means day, or when the sun shines, is
represented by the Swastika. These details will be found in a letter
published in the "Athenæum" of August 20, 1892, written by Prof. Max
Müller, who affirms that it "is decisive" as to the meaning of the
symbol in Greece. This evidence may be "decisive" for India and
Greece, but it does not make us quite certain about other parts of the
world. Still it raises a strong presumption that its meaning is likely
to be somewhat similar wherever the symbol is found.
It is now assumed that the Triskelion or Three Legs of the Isle of Man
is only a variant of the Swastika. * * * There are many variants
besides this in which the legs, or limbs, differ in number, and they
may all be classed as whorls, and were possibly all, more or less,
forms intended originally to express circular motion. As the subject
is too extensive to be fully treated here, and many illustrations
would be necessary, to those wishing for further details I would
recommend a work just published entitled "The Migration of Symbols,"
by Count Goblet d'Alviella, with an introduction by Sir George
Birdwood. The frontispiece of the book is a representation of Apollo,
from a vase in the Kunsthistorisches Museum of Vienna, and on the
middle of Apollo's breast there is a large and prominent Swastika. In
this we have another instance going far to show its solar
significance. While accepting these new interpretations of the symbol,
I am still inclined to the notion that the Swastika may, at the same
time, have been looked upon in some cases as a cross--that is, a
pre-Christian cross, which now finds acceptance by some authorities as
representing the four cardinal points. The importance of the cardinal
points in primitive symbolism appears to me to have been very great,
and has not as yet been fully realized. This is too large a matter to
deal with here. All I can state is, that the wheel in India was
connected with the title of a _Chakravartin_--from _Chakra_, a
wheel--the title meaning a supreme ruler, or a universal monarch, who
ruled the four quarters of the world, and on his coronation he had to
drive his chariot, or wheel, to the four cardinal points to signify
his conquest of them. Evidence of other ceremonies of the same kind in
Europe can be produced. From instances such as these, I am inclined to
assume that the Swastika, as a cross, represented the four quarters
over which the solar power by its revolving motion carried its
influence.
ORIGIN AND HABITAT.
Prehistoric archæologists have found in Europe many specimens of
ornamental sculpture and engraving belonging to the Paleolithic age, but
the cross is not known in any form, Swastika or other. In the Neolithic
age, which spread itself over nearly the entire world, with many geometric
forms of decoration, no form of the cross appears in times of high
antiquity as a symbol or as indicating any other than an ornamental
purpose. In the age of bronze, however, the Swastika appears,
intentionally used, as a symbol as well as an ornament. Whether its first
appearance was in the Orient, and its spread thence throughout prehistoric
Europe, or whether the reverse was true, may not now be determined with
certainty. It is believed by some to be involved in that other warmly
disputed and much-discussed question as to the locality of origin and the
mode and routes of dispersion of Aryan peoples. There is evidence to show
that it belongs to an earlier epoch than this, and relates to the similar
problem concerning the locality of origin and the mode and routes of the
dispersion of bronze. Was bronze discovered in eastern Asia and was its
migration westward through Europe, or was it discovered on the
Mediterranean, and its spread thence? The Swastika spread through the same
countries as did the bronze, and there is every reason to believe them to
have proceeded contemporaneously--whether at their beginning or not, is
undeterminable.
The first appearance of the Swastika was apparently in the Orient,
precisely in what country it is impossible to say, but probably in central
and southeastern Asia among the forerunners or predecessors of the Bramins
and Buddhists. At all events, a religious and symbolic signification was
attributed to it by the earliest known peoples of these localities.
M. Michael Zmigrodzki, a Polish scholar, public librarian at Sucha, near
Cracow, prepared and sent to the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago a
manuscript chart in French, showing his opinion of the migration of the
Swastika, which was displayed in the Woman's Building. It was arranged in
groups: The prehistoric (or Pagan) and Christian. These were divided
geographically and with an attempt at chronology, as follows:
I. Prehistoric:
1. India and Bactria.
2. Cyprus, Rhodes.
3. North Europe.
4. Central Europe.
5. South Europe.
6. Asia Minor.
7. Greek and Roman epoch--Numismatics.
II. Christian:
8. Gaul--Numismatics.
9. Byzantine.
10. Merovingian and Carlovingian.
11. Germany.
12. Poland and Sweden.
13. Great Britain.
Lastly he introduces a group of the Swastika in the nineteenth century. He
presented figures of Swastikas from these localities and representing
these epochs. He had a similar display at the Paris Exposition of 1889,
which at its close was deposited in the St. Germain Prehistoric Museum. I
met M. Zmigrodzki at the Tenth International Congress of Anthropology and
Prehistoric Archæology in Paris, and heard him present the results of his
investigations on the Swastika. I have since corresponded with him, and he
has kindly sent me separates of his paper published in the Archives für
Ethnographie, with 266 illustrations of the Swastika; but on asking his
permission to use some of the information in the chart at Chicago, he
informed me he had already given the manuscript chart and the right to
reproduce it to the Chicago Folk-Lore Society. The secretary of this
society declined to permit it to pass out of its possession, though
proffering inspection of it in Chicago.
In his elaborate dissertation Count Goblet d'Alviella[90] shows an earlier
and prehistoric existence of the Swastika before its appearance on the
hill of Hissarlik. From this earlier place of origin it, according to him,
spread to the Bronze age terramares of northern Italy. All this was prior
to the thirteenth century B. C. From the hill of Hissarlik it spread east
and west; to the east into Lycaonia and Caucasus, to the west into Mycenæ
and Greece; first on the pottery and then on the coins. From Greece it
also spread east and west; east to Asia Minor and west to Thrace and
Macedonia. From the terramares he follows it through the Villanova epoch,
through Etruria and Grand Greece, to Sicily, Gaul, Britain, Germany,
Scandinavia, to all of which migration he assigns various dates down to
the second century B. C. It developed westward from Asia Minor to northern
Africa and to Rome, with evidence in the Catacombs; on the eastward it
goes into India, Persia, China, Tibet, and Japan. All this can be made
apparent upon examination of the plate itself. It is introduced as Chart
I, p. 794.
The author enters into no discussion with Count d'Alviella over the
correctness or completeness of the migrations set forth in his chart. It
will be conceded, even by its author, to be largely theoretical and
impossible to verify by positive proof. He will only contend that there is
a probability of its correctness. It is doubted whether he can maintain
his proposition of the constant presence or continued appearance of the
Swastika on altars, idols, priestly vestments, and sepulchral urns, and
that this demonstrates the Swastika to have always possessed the
attributes of a religious symbol. It appears to have been used more
frequently upon the smaller and more insignificant things of everyday
life--the household utensils, the arms, weapons, the dress, the fibulæ,
and the pottery; and while this may be consonant with the attributes of
the talisman or amulet or charm, it is still compatible with the theory of
the Swastika being a sign or symbol for benediction, blessing, good
fortune, or good luck; and that it was rather this than a religious
symbol.
[Illustration: CHART I.--_Probable introduction of the Swastika into
different countries, according to Count Goblet d'Alviella._
["La Migration des Symboles," pl. 3.]]
Count Goblet d'Alviella, in the fourth section of the second chapter[91]
relating to the country of its origin, argues that the Swastika sign was
employed by all the Aryans except the Persians. This omission he explains
by showing that the Swastika in all other lands stood for the sun or for
the sun-god, while the Aryans of Persia had other signs for the same
thing--the _Crux ansata_ and the winged globe. His conclusion is[92] that
there were two zones occupied with different symbols, the frontier between
them being from Persia, through Cyprus, Rhodes, and Asia Minor, to Libya;
that the first belonged to the Greek civilization, which employed the
Swastika as a sun symbol; the second to the Egypto-Babylonian, which
employed the _Crux ansata_ and the winged globe as sun symbols.
Professor Sayce, in his preface to "Troja," says:[93]
The same symbol [the Swastika], as is well known, occurs on the
Archaic pottery of Cyprus * * * as well as upon the prehistoric
antiquities of Athens and Mykênæ [same, "Ilios," p. 353], but it was
entirely unknown to Babylonia, to Assyria, to Phoenicia, and to Egypt.
It must therefore either have originated in Europe and spread eastward
through Asia Minor or have been disseminated westward from the
primitive home of the Hittites. The latter alternative is the more
probable; but whether it is so or not, the presence of the symbol in
the land of the Ægean indicates a particular epoch and the influence
of a pre-Phoenician culture.
Dr. Schliemann[94] reports that "Rev. W. Brown Keer observed the Swastika
innumerable times in the most ancient Hindu temples, especially those of
the Jainas."
Max Müller cites the following paragraph by Professor Sayce:[95]
It is evident to me that the sign found at Hissarlik is identical with
that found at Mycenæ and Athens, as well as on the prehistoric pottery
of Cyprus (Di Cesnola, Cyprus, pls. 44 and 47), since the general
artistic character of the objects with which this sign is associated
in Cyprus and Greece agrees with that of the objects discovered in
Troy. The Cyprian vase [fig. 156, this paper] figured in Di Cesnola's
"Cyprus," pl. 45, which associates the Swastika with the figure of an
animal, is a striking analogue of the Trojan whorls, on which it is
associated with the figure of the stags. The fact that it is drawn
within the vulva of the leaden image on the Asiatic goddess shown in
fig. 226 ("Ilios," fig. 125 this paper) seems to show that it was a
symbol of generation.
Count Goblet d'Alviella,[96] citing Albert Dumont[97] and Perrot and
Chipiez,[98] says:
The Swastika appears in Greece, as well as in Cyprus and Rhodes, first
on the pottery, with geometric decorations, which form the second
period in Greek ceramics. From that it passes to a later period, where
the decoration is more artistic and the appearance of which coincides
with the development of the Phoenician influences on the coasts of
Greece.
Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter, in a paper devoted to the consideration of the
Swastika in Cyprus,[99] expresses the opinion that the emigrant or
commercial Phenicians traveling in far eastern countries brought the
Swastika by the sea route of the Persian Gulf to Asia Minor and Cyprus,
while, possibly, other people, brought it by the overland route from
central Asia, Asia Minor, and Hissarlik, and afterwards by migration to
Cyprus, Carthage, and the north of Africa.
Professor Goodyear says:[100]
The true home of the Swastika is the Greek geometric style, as will be
immediately obvious to every expert who examines the question through
the study of that style. In seeking the home of a symbol, we should
consider where it appears in the largest dimension and where it
appears in the most formal and prominent way. The Greek geometric
vases are the only monuments on which the Swastika systematically
appears in panels exclusively assigned to it (pl. 60, fig. 13; and pl.
56, fig. 4). There are no other monuments on which the Swastika can be
found in a dimension taking up one-half the height of the entire
object (pl. 56, fig. 4). The ordinary size of the Swastika, in very
primitive times, is under a third of an inch in diameter. They are
found in Greek geometric pottery 2 or 3 inches in diameter, but they
also appear in the informal scattering way (pl. 61, fig. 4) which
characterizes the Swastika in other styles.
* * * * *
The Swastika dates from the earliest diffusion of the Egyptian meander
in the basin of the Mediterranean, and it is a profound remark of De
Morgan (Mission Scientifique au Caucase) that the area of the Swastika
appears to be coextensive with the area of bronze. In northern
prehistoric Europe, where the Swastika has attracted considerable
attention, it is distinctly connected with the bronze culture derived
from the south. When found on prehistoric pottery of the north, the
southern home of its beginnings is equally clear.
In seeking the home of a symbol, we should consider not only the
nature of its appearance, but also where it is found in the largest
amount, for this shows the center of vogue and power--that is to say,
the center of diffusion. The vogue of the Swastika at Troy is not as
great as its vogue in Cyprian Greek pottery (pl. 60, fig. 15) and
Rhodian pottery (pl. 60, fig. 2). * * * It is well known to Melian
vases (pl. 60, fig. 8) and to archaic Greek vases (pl. 61, fig. 12),
but its greatest prominence is on the pottery of the Greek geometric
style (pl. 60, fig. 13; pl. 56, fig. 4; pl. 61, figs. 1 and 4; and
figs. 173 and 171). * * *
Aside from the Greek geometric style, our earliest reference for the
Swastika, and very possibly an earlier reference than the first, is
its appearance on the "hut urns" of Italy. On such it appears rather
as a fragment of the more complicated meander patterns, from which it
is derived. My precise view is that the earliest and, consequently,
imperfect, forms of the Swastika are on the hut urns of Italy, but
that, as an independent and definitely shaped pattern, it first
belongs to the Greek geometric style. I do not assert that the
Swastika is very common on hut urns, which are often undecorated. * *
* Our present intermediate link with India for the Swastika lies in
the Caucasus and in the adjacent territory of Koban. This last ancient
center of the arts in metal has lately attracted attention through the
publication of Virchow (Das Gräberfeld von Koban). In the original
Coban bronzes of the Prehistoric Museum of St. Germain there is
abundant matter for study (p. 351).
Mr. R. P. Greg, in "Fret or Key Ornamentation in Mexico and Peru,"[101]
says:
Both the Greek fret and the fylfot appear to have been unknown to the
Semitic nations as an ornament or as a symbol.
In Egypt the fylfot does not occur. It is, I believe, generally
admitted or supposed that the fylfot is of early Aryan origin.
Eastward toward India, Tibet, and China it was adopted, in all
probability, as a sacred symbol of Buddha; westward it may have spread
in one form or another to Greece, Asia Minor, and even to North
Germany.
Cartailhac says:[102]
Modern Christian archæologists have obstinately contended that the
Swastika was composed of four gamma, and so have called it the Croix
Gammée. But the Ramâyana placed it on the boat of the Rama long before
they had any knowledge of Greek. It is found on a number of Buddhist
edifices; the Sectarians of Vishnu placed it as a sign upon their
foreheads. Burnouf says it is the Aryan sign par excellence. It was
surely a religious emblem in use in India fifteen centuries before the
Christian era, and thence it spread to every part. In Europe it
appeared about the middle of the civilization of the bronze age, and
we find it, pure or transformed into a cross, on a mass of objects in
metal or pottery during the first age of iron. Sometimes its lines
were rounded and given a graceful curve instead of straight and square
at its ends and angles. [See letter by Gandhi, pp. 803, 805.]
M. Cartailhac notes[103] several facts concerning the associations of the
Swastika found by him in Spain and Portugal and belonging to the first
(prehistoric) age of iron: (1) The Swastika was associated with the
silhouettes of the duck, or bird, similar to those in Greece, noted by
Goodyear; (2) the association (in his fig. 41) on a slab from the lake
dwellings, of the Maltese cross and reproduction of the triskelion; (3) a
tetraskelion, which he calls a Swastika "flamboyant," being the
triskelion, but with four arms, the same shown on Lycian coins as being
ancestors of the true triskelion (his fig. 412); (4) those objects were
principally found in the ancient lake dwellings of Sambroso and Briteiros,
supposedly dating from the eighth and ninth centuries B. C. With them were
found many ornaments, borders representing cords, spirals, meanders, etc.,
which had the same appearance as those found by Schliemann at Mycenæ.
Cartailhac says:[104]
Without doubt Asiatic influences are evident in both cases; first
appearing in the Troad, then in Greece, they were spread through
Iberia and, possibly, who can tell, finally planted in a far-away
Occident.
A writer in the Edinburgh Review, in an extended discussion on "The
pre-Christian cross," treats of the Swastika under the local name of
"Fylfot," but in such an enigmatical and uncertain manner that it is
difficult to distinguish it from other and commoner forms of the cross.
Mr. Waring[105] criticises him somewhat severely for his errors:
He states that it is found * * * in the sculptured stones of Scotland
(but after careful search we can find only one or two imperfect
representations of it, putting aside the Newton stone inscription,
where it is probably a letter or numeral only); that it is carved on
the temples and other edifices of Mexico and Central America (where
again we have sought for it in vain); that it is found on the cinerary
urns of the terramare of Parma and Vicenza, the date of which has been
assigned by Italian antiquaries to 1000 B. C. (but there again we have
found only the plain cross, and not the fylfot), and, finally, he
asserts that "it was the emblem of Libitina or Persephone, the awful
Queen of the Shades, and is therefore commonly found on the dress of
the tumulorum fossor in the Roman catacombs," but we have only found
one such example. "It is noteworthy, too," he continues, "in reference
to its extreme popularity, or the superstitious veneration in which it
has been also universally held, that the cross pattée, or cruciform
hammer (but we shall show these are different symbols), was among the
very last of purely pagan symbols which was religiously preserved in
Europe long after the establishment of Christianity (not in Europe,
but in Scandinavia and wherever the Scandinavians had penetrated). * *
* It may be seen upon the bells of many of our parish churches, as at
Appleby, Mexborough, Haythersaye, Waddington, Bishop's Norton, West
Barkwith, and other places, where it was placed as a magical sign to
subdue the vicious spirit of the tempest;" and he subsequently points
out its constant use in relation to water or rain.
Mr. Waring continues:
The Rev. C. Boutell, in "Notes and Queries," points out that it is to
be found on many mediæval monuments and bells, and occurs--e. g., at
Appleby in Lincolnshire (peopled by Northmen)--as an initial cross to
the formula on the bell "Sta. Maria, o. p. n. and c." In these cases
it has clearly been adopted as a Christian symbol. In the same
author's "Heraldry," he merely describes it as a mystic cross.
Mr. Waring makes one statement which, being within his jurisdiction,
should be given full credit. He says, on page 15:
It [the Swastika] appears in Scotland and England only in those parts
where Scandinavians penetrated and settled, but is not once found in
any works of purely Irish or Franco-Celtic art.
He qualifies this, however, by a note:
I believe it occurs twice on an "Ogam" stone in the Museum of the
Royal Irish Academy, figured in Wilde's Catalogue (p. 136), but the
fylfots are omitted in the wood cut. [See fig. 215.]
Dr. Brinton,[106] describing the normal Swastika, "with four arms of equal
length, the hook usually pointing from left to right," says: "In this form
it occurs in India and on very early (Neolithic) Grecian, Italic, and
Iberian remains." Dr. Brinton is the only author who, writing at length or
in a critical manner, attributes the Swastika to the Neolithic period in
Europe, and in this, more than likely, he is correct. Professor Virchow's
opinion as to the antiquity of the hill of Hissarlik, wherein Dr.
Schliemann found so many Swastikas, should be considered in this
connection. (See p. 832, 833 of this paper.) Of course, its appearance
among the aborigines of America, we can imagine, must have been within the
Neolithic period.
II.--DISPERSION OF THE SWASTIKA.
EXTREME ORIENT.
JAPAN.
[Illustration: Fig. 29. BRONZE STATUE OF BUDDHA. Japan. Eight swastikas on
pedestal. Cane tintinnabulum with six movable rings or bells.
One-fifteenth natural size.]
The Swastika was in use in Japan in ancient as well as modern times. Fig.
29 represents a bronze statue of Buddha, one-fifteenth natural size, from
Japan, in the collection of M. Cernuschi, Paris. It has eight Swastikas on
the pedestal, the ends all turned at right angles to the right. This
specimen is shown by De Mortillet[107] because it relates to prehistoric
man. The image or statue holds a cane in the form of a "tintinnabulum,"
with movable rings arranged to make a jingling noise, and De Mortillet
inserted it in his volume to show the likeness of this work in Japan with
a number of similar objects found in the Swiss lake dwellings in the
prehistoric age of bronze (p. 806).
The Swastika mark was employed by the Japanese on their porcelain. Sir
Augustus W. Franks[108] shows one of these marks, a small Swastika turned
to the left and inclosed in a circle (fig. 30). Fig. 9 also represents a
mark on Japanese bronzes.[109]
[Illustration: Fig. 30. JAPANESE POTTER'S MARK ON PORCELAIN. De Mortillet,
"Musée Préhistorique," Fig. 1248.]
KOREA.
The U. S. National Museum has a ladies' sedan or carrying chair from
Korea. It bears eight Swastika marks, cut by stencil in the brass-bound
corners, two on each corner, one looking each way. The Swastika is normal,
with arms crossing at right angles, the ends bent at right angles and to
the right. It is quite plain; the lines are all straight, heavy, of equal
thickness, and the angles all at 90 degrees. In appearance it resembles
the Swastika in fig. 9.
CHINA.
In the Chinese language the sign of the Swastika is pronounced _wan_ (p.
801), and stands for "many," "a great number," "ten thousand," "infinity,"
and by a synecdoche is construed to mean "long life, a multitude of
blessings, great happiness," etc.; as is said in French, "mille pardons,"
"mille remercîments," a thousand thanks, etc. During a visit to the
Chinese legation in the city of Washington, while this paper was in
progress, the author met one of the attachés, Mr. Chung, dressed in his
robes of state; his outer garment was of moiré silk. The pattern woven in
the fabric consisted of a large circle with certain marks therein,
prominent among which were two Swastikas, one turned to the right, the
other to the left. The name given to the sign was as reported above, wan,
and the signification was "longevity," "long life," "many years." Thus was
shown that in far as well as near countries, in modern as well as ancient
times, this sign stood for blessing, good wishes, and, by a slight
extension, for good luck.
The author conferred with the Chinese minister, Yang Yu, with the request
that he should furnish any appropriate information concerning the Swastika
in China. In due course the author received the following letter and
accompanying notes with drawings:
* * * I have the pleasure to submit abstracts from historical and
literary works on the origin of the Swastika in China and the
circumstances connected with it in Chinese ancient history. I have had
this paper translated into English and illustrated by india-ink
drawings. The Chinese copy is made by Mr. Ho Yen-Shing, the first
secretary of the legation, translation by Mr. Chung, and drawings by
Mr. Li.
With assurance of my high esteem, I am,
Very cordially,
YANG YU.
Buddhist philosophers consider simple characters as half or incomplete
characters and compound characters as complete characters, while the
Swastika [Z] is regarded as a natural formation. A Buddhist priest of
the Tang Dynasty, Tao Shih by name, in a chapter of his work entitled
Fa Yuen Chu Lin, on the original Buddha, describes him as having this
[Z] mark on his breast and sitting on a high lily of innumerable
petals. [Pl. 1.]
Empress Wu (684-704 A. D.), of the Tang Dynasty, invented a number of
new forms for characters already in existence, amongst which [Z
circle] was the word for sun, [symbol] for moon, [circle] for star,
and so on. These characters were once very extensively used in
ornamental writing, and even now the word [Z circle] sun may be found
in many of the famous stone inscriptions of that age, which have been
preserved to us up to the present day. [Pl. 2.]
The history of the Tang Dynasty (620-906 A. D.), by Lui Hsu and others
of the Tsin Dynasty, records a decree issued by Emperor Tai Tsung
(763-779 A. D.) forbidding the use of the Swastika on silk fabrics
manufactured for any purpose. [Pl. 3.]
Fung Tse, of the Tang Dynasty, records a practice among the people of
Loh-yang to endeavor, on the 7th of the 7th month of each year, to
obtain spiders to weave the Swastika on their web. Kung Ping-Chung, of
the Sung Dynasty, says that the people of Loh-yang believe it to be
good luck to find the Swastika woven by spiders over fruits or melons.
[Pl. 4.]
Sung Pai, of the Sung Dynasty, records an offering made to the Emperor
by Li Yuen-su, a high official of the Tang Dynasty, of a buffalo with
a Swastika on the forehead, in return for which offering he was given
a horse by the Emperor. [Pl. 5.]
The Ts'ing-I-Luh, by Tao Kuh, of the Sung Dynasty, records that an
Empress in the time of the South Tang Dynasty had an incense burner
the external decoration of which had the Swastika design on it. [Pl.
6.]
Chu I-Tsu, in his work entitled Ming Shih Tsung, says Wu Tsung-Chih, a
learned man of Sin Shui, built a residence outside of the north gate
of that town, which he named "Wan-Chai," from the Swastika decoration
of the railings about the exterior of the house. [Pl. 7.]
An anonymous work, entitled the Tung Hsi Yang K'ao, described a fruit
called shan-tsao-tse (mountain or wild date), whose leaves resemble
those of the plum. The seed resembles the lichee, and the fruit, which
ripens in the ninth month of the year, suggests a resemblance to the
Swastika. [Pl. 8.]
[Illustration: PLATE 1. ORIGIN OF BUDDHA ACCORDING TO TAO SHIH, WITH
SWASTIKA SIGN. From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. National
Museum by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.]
[Illustration: PLATE 2. SWASTIKA DECREED BY EMPRESS WU (684-704 A. D.) AS
A SIGN FOR SUN IN CHINA. From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S.
National Museum by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.]
[Illustration: PLATE 3. SWASTIKA DESIGN ON SILK FABRICS. This use of the
Swastika was forbidden in China by Emperor Tai Tsung (763-779 A. D.). From
a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. National Museum by Mr. Yang
Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.]
[Illustration: PLATE 4. SWASTIKA IN SPIDER WEB OVER FRUIT. (A good omen in
China.) From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. National Museum
by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.]
[Illustration: PLATE 5. BUFFALO WITH SWASTIKA ON FOREHEAD. Presented to
Emperor of Sung Dynasty. From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S.
National Museum by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.]
[Illustration: PLATE 6. INCENSE BURNER WITH SWASTIKA DECORATION. South
Tang Dynasty. From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S National
Museum Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.]
[Illustration: PLATE 7. HOUSE OF WU TSUNG-CHIH OF SIN SHUI, WITH SWASTIKA
IN RAILING. From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. National
Museum by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.]
[Illustration: PLATE 8. MOUNTAIN OR WILD DATE.--FRUIT RESEMBLING THE
SWASTIKA. From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. National Museum
by Mr. Yang Yü, Chinese Minister, Washington, D. C.]
[Illustration: Fig. 31. POTTER'S MARK ON PORCELAIN. China. Tablet of
honor, with Swastika. Prime, "Pottery and Porcelain," p. 254.]
The Swastika is one of the symbolic marks of the Chinese porcelain.
Prime[110] shows what he calls a "tablet of honor," which represents a
Swastika inclosed in a lozenge with loops at the corners (fig. 31). This
mark on a piece of porcelain signifies that it is an imperial gift.
Major-General Gordon, controller of the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich,
England, writes to Dr. Schliemann:[111] "The Swastika is Chinese. On the
breech chasing of a large gun lying outside my office, captured in the
Taku fort, you will find this same sign." But Dumoutier[112] says this
sign is nothing else than the ancient Chinese character _c h e_, which,
according to D'Alviella,[113] carries the idea of perfection or
excellence, and signifies the renewal and perpetuity of life. And
again,[111] "Dr. Lockyer, formerly medical missionary to China, says the
sign [Z] is thoroughly Chinese."
The Swastika is found on Chinese musical instruments. The U. S. National
Museum possesses a Hu-Ch'in, a violin with four strings, the body of which
is a section of bamboo about 3-1/2 inches in diameter. The septum of the
joint has been cut away so as to leave a Swastika of normal form, the four
arms of which are connected with the outer walls of the bamboo. Another, a
Ti-Ch'in, a two-stringed violin, with a body of cocoanut, has a carving
which is believed to have been a Swastika; but the central part has been
broken out, so that the actual form is undetermined.
Prof. George Frederick Wright, in an article entitled "Swastika,"[114]
quotes Rev. F. H. Chalfont, missionary at Chanting, China, as saying:
"Same symbol in Chinese characters 'ouan,' or 'wan,' and is a favorite
ornament with the Chinese."
TIBET.
Mr. William Woodville Rockhill,[115] speaking of the fair at Kumbum, says:
I found there a number of Lh'asa Tibetans (they call them Gopa here)
selling pulo, beads of various colors, saffron, medicines, peacock
feathers, incense sticks, etc. I had a talk with these traders,
several of whom I had met here before in 1889. * * * One of them had a
Swastika (yung-drung) tattooed on his hand, and I learned from this
man that this is not an uncommon mode of ornamentation in his
country.
Count D'Alviella says that the Swastika is continued among the Buddhists
of Tibet; that the women ornament their petticoats with it, and that it is
also placed upon the breasts of their dead.[116]
He also reports[117] a Buddhist statue at the Musée Guimet with Swastikas
about the base. He does not state to what country it belongs, so the
author has no means of determining if it is the same statue as is
represented in fig. 29.
INDIA.
Burnouf[118] says approvingly of the Swastika:
Christian archæologists believe this was the most ancient sign of the
cross. * * * It was used among the Brahmins from all antiquity. (Voyez
mot "Swastika" dans notre dictionnaire sanskrit.) Swastika, or Swasta,
in India corresponds to "benediction" among Christians.
[Illustration: Fig. 32. FOOTPRINT OF BUDDHA WITH SWASTIKA, FROM AMARAVATI
TOPE. From a figure by Fergusson and Schliemann.]
The same author, in his translation of the "Lotus de la Bonne Loi," one of
the nine Dharmas or Canonical books of the Buddhists of the North, of 280
pages, adds an appendix of his own writing of 583 pages; and in one (No.
8) devoted to an enumeration and description of the sixty-five figures
traced on the footprint of Çakya (fig. 32) commences as follows:
1. _Svastikaya_: This is the familiar mystic figure of many Indian
sects, represented thus, [S], and whose name signifies, literally,
"sign of benediction or of good augury." (Rgya tch'er rol pa, Vol. 11,
p. 110.)
* * * The sign of the Swastika was not less known to the Brahmins than
to the Buddhists. "Ramayana," Vol. II, p. 348, ed. Gor., Chap. XCVII,
st. 17, tells of vessels on the sea bearing this sign of fortune. This
mark, of which the name and usage are certainly ancient, because it is
found on the oldest Buddhist medals, may have been used as frequently
among the Brahmins as among the Buddhists. Most of the inscriptions on
the Buddhist caverns in western India are either preceded or followed
by the holy (_sacramentelle_) sign of the Swastika. It appears less
common on the Brahmin monuments.
Mr. W. Crooke (Bengal Civil Service, director of Eth. Survey, Northwest
Provinces and Oudh), says:[119]
The mystical emblem of the Swastika, which appears to represent the
sun in his journey through the heavens, is of constant occurrence. The
trader paints it on the flyleaf of his ledger, he who has young
children or animals liable to the evil eye makes a representation of
it on the wall beside his doorpost. It holds first place among the
lucky marks of the Jainas. It is drawn on the shaven heads of children
on the marriage day in Gujarat. A red circle with Swastika in the
center is depicted on the place where the family gods are kept
(Campbell, Notes, p. 70). In the Meerut division the worshiper of the
village god Bhumiya constructs a rude model of it in the shrine by
fixing up two crossed straws with a daub of plaster. It often occurs
in folklore. In the drama of the Toy Cart the thief hesitates whether
he shall make a hole in the wall of Charudatta's house in the form of
a Swastika or of a water jar (Manning, Ancient India, 11, 100).
_Village shrines._--The outside (of the shrines) is often covered with
rude representations of the mystical Swastika.
On page 250 he continues thus:
_Charms._--The bazar merchant writes the words "Ram Ram" over his
door, or makes an image of Genesa, the god of luck, or draws the
mystical Swastika. The jand tree is reverenced as sacred by Khattris
and Brahmins to avoid the evil eye in children. The child is brought
at 3 years of age before a jand tree; a bough is cut with a sickle and
planted at the foot of the tree. A Swastika symbol is made before it
with the rice flour and sugar brought as an offering to the tree.
Threads of string, used by women to tie up their hair, are cut in
lengths and some deposited on the Swastika.
Mr. Virchand R. Gandhi, a Hindu and Jain disciple from Bombay, India, a
delegate to the World's Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893,
remained for some time in Washington, D. C., proselyting among the
Christians. He is a cultivated gentleman, devoted to the spread of his
religion. I asked his advice and assistance, which he kindly gave,
supervising my manuscript for the Swastika in the extreme Orient, and
furnishing me the following additional information relative to the
Swastika in India, and especially among the Jains:
The Swastika is misinterpreted by so-called Western expounders of our
ancient Jain philosophy. The original idea was very high, but later on
some persons thought the cross represented only the combination of the
male and the female principles. While we are on the physical plane and
our propensities on the material line, we think it necessary to unite
these (sexual) principles for our spiritual growth. On the higher
plane the soul is sexless, and those who wish to rise higher than the
physical plane must eliminate the idea of sex.
I explain the Jain Swastika by the following illustration [fig. 33]:
The horizontal and vertical lines crossing each other at right angles
form the Greek cross. They represent spirit and matter. We add four
other lines by bending to the right each arm of the cross, then three
circles and the crescent, and a circle within the crescent. The idea
thus symbolized is that there are four grades of existence of souls in
the material universe. The first is the lowest state--Archaic or
protoplasmic life. The soul evolves from that state to the next--the
earth with its plant and animal life. Then follows the third
stage--the human; then the fourth stage--the celestial. The word
"celestial" is here held to mean life in other worlds than our own.
All these graduations are combinations of matter and soul on different
scales. The spiritual plane is that in which the soul is entirely
freed from the bonds of matter. In order to reach that plane, one must
strive to possess the three jewels (represented by the three circles),
right belief, right knowledge, right conduct. When a person has those,
he will certainly go higher until he reaches the state of liberation,
which is represented by the crescent. The crescent has the form of the
rising moon and is always growing larger. The circle in the crescent
represents the omniscient state of the soul when it has attained full
consciousness, is liberated, and lives apart from matter.
The interpretation, according to the Jain view of the cross, has
nothing to do with the combination of the male and female principle.
Worship of the male and female principles, ideas based upon sex,
lowest even of the emotional plane, can never rise higher than the
male and female.
The Jains make the Swastika sign when we enter our temple of worship.
This sign reminds us of the great principles represented by the three
jewels and by which we are to reach the ultimate good. Those symbols
intensify our thoughts and make them more permanent.
[Illustration: Fig. 33. EXPLANATION OF THE JAIN SWASTIKA, ACCORDING TO
GANDHI. (1) Archaic or protoplasmic life; (2) Plant and animal life; (3)
Human life; (4) Celestial life.]
[Illustration: Fig. 34_a_. THE FORMATION OF THE JAIN SWASTIKA--FIRST
STAGE. Handful of rice or meal, in circular form, thinner in center.]
[Illustration: Fig. 34_b_. THE FORMATION OF THE JAIN SWASTIKA--SECOND
STAGE. Rice or meal, as shown in preceding figure, with finger marks,
indicated at 1, 2, 3, 4.]
[Illustration: Fig. 34_c_. THE FORMATION OF THE JAIN SWASTIKA--THIRD
STAGE. Ends turned out, typifying animal, human, and celestial life, as
shown in fig. 33.]
Mr. Gandhi says the Jains make the sign of the Swastika as frequently and
deftly as the Roman Catholics make the sign of the cross. It is not
confined to the temple nor to the priests or monks. Whenever or wherever a
benediction or blessing is given, the Swastika is used. Figs. 34 _a_, _b_,
_c_ form a series showing how it is made. A handful of rice, meal, flour,
sugar, salt, or any similar substance, is spread over a circular space,
say, 3 inches in diameter and one-eighth of an inch deep (fig. 34_a_),
then commence at the outside of the circle (fig. 34_b_), on its upper or
farther left-hand corner, and draw the finger through the meal just to the
left of the center, halfway or more to the opposite or near edge of the
circle (1), then again to the right (2), then upward (3), finally to the
left where it joins with the first mark (4). The ends are swept outward,
the dots and crescent put in above, and the sign is complete (fig. 34_c_).
The sign of the Swastika is reported in great numbers, by hundreds if not
by thousands, in the inscriptions on the rock walls of the Buddhist caves
in India. It is needless to copy them, but is enough to say that they are
the same size as the letters forming the inscription; that they all have
four arms and the ends turn at right angles, or nearly so, indifferently
to the right or to the left. The following list of inscriptions,
containing the Swastikas, is taken from the first book coming to hand--the
"Report of Dr. James Burgess on the Buddhist Cave Temples and their
Inscriptions, Being a Part of the Result of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth
Seasons' Operations of the Archæological Survey of Western India, 1876,
1877, 1878, 1879:"[120]
+--------------------------------------------------+
| | |Inscription| Direction |
| | Plate. | number. |in which ends|
| | | | are bent. |
|--------|---------------|-----------|-------------|
| Bhaja | XLIV | 2 | To right. |
| Kuda | XLVI | 26 | Do. |
| Do | XLVI | 27 | To left. |
| Kol | XLVI | 5 | To right. |
| Karle | XLVII | 1 | Do. |
| Do | XLVII | 3 | Do. |
| Junnar | XLIX | 5 | Do. |
| Do | XLIX | 6 | To left. |
| Do | XLIX | 7 | To right. |
| Do | XLIX | 8 | To left. |
| Do | XLIX | 9 | To right. |
| Do | XLIX | 10 | Do. |
| Do | XLIX | 11 (?) | Do. |
| Do | XLIX | 12 | Do. |
| Do | XLIX | 13 (?) | Do. |
| Do | XLIX | 13 (?) | To left. |
| Do | XLIX | 14 | Do. |
| Do | L | 17 | To right. |
| Do | L | 19 | Do. |
| Nasik | LII | 5 | Do. |
| Do | LV (Nasik 21) | 5 (?) | Do. |
| Do | LV (Nasik 24) | 8 (?) | Do. |
+--------------------------------------------------+
Chantre[121] says:
I remind you that the (East) Indians, Chinese, and Japanese employ the
Swastika, not only as a religious emblem but as a simple ornament in
painting on pottery and elsewhere, the same as we employ the Greek
fret, lozenges, and similar motifs in our ornamentation. _Sistres_
[the staff with jingling bells, held in the hand of Buddha, on whose
base is engraved a row of Swastikas, fig. 29 of present paper] of
similar form and style have been found in prehistoric Swiss lake
dwellings of the bronze age. Thus the _sistres_ and the Swastika are
brought into relation with each other. The _sistres_ possibly relate
to an ancient religion, as they did in the Orient; the Swastika may
have had a similar distinction.
De Mortillet and others hold the same opinion.[122]
CLASSICAL ORIENT.
BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA, CHALDEA, AND PERSIA.
Waring[123] says, "In Babylonian and Assyrian remains we search for it
[the Swastika] in vain." Max Müller and Count Goblet d'Alviella are of the
same opinion.[124]
Of Persia, D'Alviella (p. 51), citing Ludwig Müller,[125] says that the
Swastika is manifested only by its presence on certain coins of the
Arsacides and the Sassanides.
PHENICIA.
It is reported by various authors that the Swastika has never been found
in Phenicia, e. g. Max Müller, J. B. Waring, Count Goblet d'Alviella.[126]
Ohnefalsch-Richter[127] says that the Swastika is not found in Phenicia,
yet he is of the opinion that their emigrant and commercial travelers
brought it from the far east and introduced it into Cyprus, Carthage, and
the north of Africa. (See p. 796.)
LYCAONIA.
Lempriere, in his Classical Dictionary, under the above title, gives the
following:
A district of Asia Minor forming the southwestern quarter of Phrygia.
The origin of its name and inhabitants, the Lycaones, is lost in
obscurity. * * * Our first acquaintance with this region is in the
relation of the expedition of the younger Cyprus. Its limits varied at
different times. At first it extended eastward from Iconium 23
geographical miles, and was separated from Cilicia on the south by the
range of Mount Taurus, comprehending a large portion of what in later
times was termed Cataonia.
Count Goblet d'Alviella,[128] quoting Perrot and Chipiez,[129] states that
the Hittites introduced the Swastika on a bas-relief of Ibriz, Lycaonia,
where it forms a border of the robe of a king or priest offering a
sacrifice to a god.
ARMENIA.
[Illustration: Fig. 35. BRONZE PIN-HEAD FROM CHEITHAN-THAGH. De Morgan,
"Au Caucase," fig. 177.]
M. J. de Morgan (the present director of the Gizeh Museum at Cairo), under
the direction of the French Government, made extensive excavations and
studies into the prehistoric antiquities and archæology of Russian
Armenia. His report is entitled "Le Premier Âge de Métaux dans l'Arménie
Russe."[130] He excavated a number of prehistoric cemeteries, and found
therein various forms of crosses engraved on ceintures, vases, and
medallions. The Swastika, though present, was more rare. He found it on
the heads of two large bronze pins (figs. 35 and 36) and on one piece of
pottery (fig. 37) from the prehistoric tombs. The bent arms are all turned
to the left, and would be the Suavastika of Prof. Max Müller.
CAUCASUS.
[Illustration: Fig. 36. BRONZE PIN-HEAD FROM AKTHALA. De Morgan, "Au
Caucase," fig. 178.]
[Illustration: Fig. 37. SWASTIKA MARK ON BLACK POTTERY. Cheithan-thagh. De
Morgan, "Au Caucase," fig. 179.]
[Illustration: Fig. 38. FRAGMENT OF BRONZE CEINTURE. Swastika repoussé.
Necropolis of Koban, Caucasus. Chantre, "Le Caucase," pl. 11, fig. 3.]
In Caucasus, M. E. Chantre[131] found the Swastika in great purity of
form. Fig. 38 represents portions of a bronze plaque from that country,
used on a ceinture or belt. Another of slightly different style, but with
square cross and arms bent at right angles, is represented in his pl. 8,
fig. 5. These belonged to the first age of iron, and much of the art was
intricate.[132] It represented animals as well as all geometric forms,
crosses, circles (concentric and otherwise), spirals, meanders, chevrons,
herring bone, lozenges, etc. These were sometimes cast in the metal, at
other times repoussé, and again were engraved, and occasionally these
methods were employed together. Fig. 39 shows another form, frequently
employed and suggested as a possible evolution of the Swastika, from the
same locality and same plate. Fig. 40 represents signs reported by
Waring[133] as from Asia Minor, which he credits, without explanation, to
Ellis's "Antiquities of Heraldry."
The specimen shown in fig. 41 is reported by Waring,[134] quoting
Rzewusky,[135] as one of the several branding marks used on Circassian
horses for identification.
[Illustration: Fig. 39. BRONZE AGRAFE OR BELT PLATE. Triskelion in spiral.
Koban, Caucasus. Chantre, "Le Caucase," pl. 11, fig. 4.]
Mr. Frederick Remington, the celebrated artist and literateur, has an
article, "Cracker Cowboy in Florida,"[136] wherein he discourses of the
forgery of brands on cattle in that country. One of his genuine brands is
a circle with a small cross in the center. The forgery consists
in elongating each arm of the cross and turning it with a scroll,
forming an ogee Swastika (fig. 13_d_), which, curiously enough, is
practically the same brand used on Circassian horses (fig. 41). Max
Ohnefalsch-Richter[137] says that instruments of copper (_audumbaroasih_)
are recommended in the Atharva-Veda to make the Swastika, which represents
the figure 8; and thus he attempts to account for the use of that mark
branded on the cows in India (supra, p. 772), on the horses in Circassia
(fig. 41), and said to have been used in Arabia.
[Illustration: Fig. 40. SWASTIKA SIGNS FROM ASIA MINOR. Waring, "Ceramic
Art in Remote Ages," pl. 41, figs. 5 and 6.]
[Illustration: Fig. 41. BRAND FOR HORSES IN CIRCASSIA. Ogee Swastika,
tetraskelion. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 42, fig. 20_c_.]
ASIA MINOR--TROY (HISSARLIK).
Many specimens of the Swastika were found by Dr. Schliemann in the ruins
of Troy, principally on spindle whorls, vases, and bijoux of precious
metal. Zmigrodzki[138] made from Dr. Schliemann's great atlas the
following classification of the objects found at Troy, ornamented with the
Swastika and its related forms:
Fifty-five of pure form; 114 crosses with the four dots, points or alleged
nail holes (_Croix swasticale_); 102 with three branches or arms
(triskelion); 86 with five branches or arms; 63 with six branches or arms;
total, 420.
Zmigrodzki continues his classification by adding those which have
relation to the Swastika thus: Eighty-two representing stars; 70
representing suns; 42 representing branches of trees or palms; 15 animals
non-ferocious, deer, antelope, hare, swan, etc.; total, 209 objects. Many
of these were spindle whorls.
Dr. Schliemann, in his works, "Troja" and "Ilios," describes at length his
excavations of these cities and his discoveries of the Swastika on many
objects. His reports are grouped under titles of the various cities,
first, second, third, etc., up to the seventh city, counting always from
the bottom, the first being deepest and oldest. The same system will be
here pursued. The first and second cities were 45 to 52 feet (13 to 16
meters) deep; the third, 23 to 33 feet (7 to 10 meters) deep; the fourth
city, 13 to 17.6 feet (4 to 5-1/2 meters) deep; the fifth city, 7 to 13
feet (2 to 4 meters) deep; the sixth was the Lydian city of Troy, and the
seventh city, the Greek Ilium, approached the surface.
[Illustration: Fig. 42. FRAGMENT OF LUSTROUS BLACK POTTERY. Swastika,
right. Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 247.]
_First and Second Cities._--But few whorls were found in the first and
second cities[139] and none of these bore the Swastika mark, while
thousands were found in the third, fourth, and fifth cities, many of which
bore the Swastika mark. Those of the first city, if unornamented, have a
uniform lustrous black color and are the shape of a cone (fig. 55) or of
two cones joined at the base (figs. 52 and 71). Both kinds were found at
33 feet and deeper. Others from the same city were ornamented by incised
lines rubbed in with white chalk, in which case they were flat.[140] In
the second city the whorls were smaller than in the first. They were all
of a black color and their incised ornamentation was practically the same
as those from the upper cities.[141]
Zmigrodzki congratulated himself on having discovered among Schliemann's
finds what he believed to be the oldest representation of the Swastika of
which we had reliable knowledge. It was a fragment of a vase (fig. 42) of
the lustrous black pottery peculiar to the whorls of the first and second
cities. But Zmigrodzki was compelled to recede, which he did regretfully,
when Schliemann, in a later edition, inserted the footnote (p. 350)
saying, that while he had found this (with a companion piece) at a great
depth in his excavations, and had attributed them to the first city, yet,
on subsequent examination, he had become convinced that they belonged to
the third city.
The Swastika, turned both ways [S] and [Z], was frequent in the third,
fourth, and fifth cities.
The following specimens bearing the Swastika mark are chosen, out of the
many specimens in Schliemann's great album, in order to make a fair
representation of the various kinds, both of whorls and of Swastikas.
They are arranged in the order of cities, the depth being indicated in
feet.
[Illustration: Fig. 43. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS AND TWO CROSSES.
Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1858.]
[Illustration: Fig. 44. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS. Depth, 23 feet.
Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1874.]
[Illustration: Fig. 45. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS. Depth, 23 feet.
Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1919.]
[Illustration: Fig. 46. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS. Depth, 28 feet.
Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1826.]
[Illustration: Fig. 47. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH THREE SWASTIKAS. Depth, 23
feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1851.]
_The Third, or Burnt, City_ (23 to 33 feet deep).--The spindle-whorl shown
in fig. 43 contains two Swastikas and two crosses.[142] Of the one
Swastika, two arms are bent to the right at right angles, while the other
two are bent to the right in curves. The other Swastika has but two bends,
one at right angles, the other curved, both to the right. The specimen
shown in fig. 44 has two Swastikas, in one of which the four arms are bent
at right angles to the left. The entire figure is traced in double lines,
one heavy and one light, as though to represent edges or shadows. The
second Swastika has its ends bent at an obtuse angle to the left, and at
the extremities the lines taper to a point. The whorl shown in fig. 45 is
nearly spherical, with two Swastikas in the upper part. The ends of the
four arms in both are bent at right angles, one to the right, the other to
the left. Fig. 46 represents a spindle-whorl with two irregular Swastikas;
but one arm is bent at right angles and all the arms and points are
uncertain and of unequal lengths. The rest of the field is covered with
indefinite and inexplicable marks, of which the only ones noteworthy are
points or dots, seven in number. In fig. 47 the top is surrounded by a
line of zigzag or dog-tooth ornaments. Within this field, on the upper
part and equidistant from the central hole, are three Swastikas, the ends
of all of which turn to the left, and but one at right angles. All three
have one or more ends bent, not at any angle, but in a curve or hook,
making an ogee. Fig. 48 shows a large whorl with two or three Swastikas on
its upper surface in connection with several indefinite marks apparently
without meaning. The dots are interspersed over the field, the Swastikas
all bent to the right, but with uncertain lines and at indefinite angles.
In one of them the main line forming the cross is curved toward the
central hole; in another, the ends are both bent in the same
direction--that is, pointing to the periphery of the whorl. Fig. 49 shows
a sphere or globe (see figs. 75, 88) divided by longitudinal lines into
four segments, which are again divided by an equatorial line. These
segments contain marks or dots and circles, while one segment contains a
normal Swastika turned to the left. This terra-cotta ball has figured in a
peculiar degree in the symbolic representation of the Swastika. Greg says
of it:[143]
We see on one hemisphere the [Z] standing for Zeus (= Indra) the sky
god, and on the other side a rude representation of a sacred (_somma_)
tree; a very interesting and curious western perpetuation of the
original idea and a strong indirect proof of the [Z] standing for the
emblem of the sky god.
[Illustration: Fig. 48. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SWASTIKAS. Depth, 23 feet.
Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1982.]
[Illustration: Fig. 49. SPHERE DIVIDED INTO EIGHT SEGMENTS, ONE OF WHICH
CONTAINS A SWASTIKA. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1999.]
[Illustration: Fig. 50. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SWASTIKA. Schliemann,
"Ilios," Fig. 1949.]
Fig. 50 represents one of the biconical spindle-whorls with various
decorations on the two sides, longitudinal lines interspersed with dots,
arcs of concentric circles arranged in three parallels, etc. On one of
these sides is a normal Swastika, the arms crossing at right angles, the
ends bent at right angles to the left. The specimen shown in fig. 51
contains four perfect Swastikas and two inchoate and uncertain. Both of
the latter have been damaged by breaking the surface. The four Swastikas
all have their arms bent to the right; some are greater than at right
angles, and one arm is curved. Several ends are tapered to a point. Fig.
52 shows a whorl of biconical form. It contains two Swastikas, the main
arms of which are ogee forms, crossing each other at the center at nearly
right angles, the ogee ends curving to the right. In fig. 53 the entire
field of the upper surface is filled with, or occupied by, a Greek cross,
in the center of which is the central hole of the whorl, while on each of
the four arms is represented a Swastika, the main arms all crossing at
right angles, the ends all bent to the right at a slightly obtuse angle.
Each of these bent ends tapers to a point, some with slight curves and a
small flourish. (See figs. 33 and 34 for reference to this flourish.) The
specimen shown in fig. 54 has a center field in its upper part, of which
the decoration consists of incised parallel lines forming segments of
circles, repeated in each one of the four quarters of the field. The
center hole is surrounded by two concentric rings of incised lines. In one
of these spaces is a single Swastika; its main arms crossing at right
angles, two of its ends bent to the left at right angles, the other two in
the same direction and curved.
[Illustration: Fig. 51. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SIX SWASTIKAS. Depth,
33 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1859.]
[Illustration: Fig. 52. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO OGEE SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 33 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1876.]
[Illustration: Fig. 53. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH FOUR SWASTIKAS. Depth, 33 feet.
De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1240.]
[Illustration: Fig. 54. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH ONE SWASTIKA. Depth, 33 feet.
De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1241.]
_The Fourth City_ (13.2 to 17.6 feet deep).--Schliemann says:[144]
We find among the successors of the burnt city the same triangular
idols; the same primitive bronze battle-axes; the same terra-cotta
vases, with or without tripod feet; the same double-handled goblets
([Greek: sepa amphikupella]); the same battle-axes of jade, porphyry,
and diorite; the same rude stone hammers, and saddle querns of
trachyte. * * * The number of rude stone hammers and polished stone
axes are fully thrice as large as in the third city, while the masses
of shells and cockles accumulated in the débris of the houses are so
stupendous that they baffle all description. The pottery is coarser
and of a ruder fabric than in the third city. * * * There were also
found in the fourth city many needles of bone for female handiwork,
boar tusks, spit rests of mica schist, whetstones of slate, porphyry,
etc., of the usual form, hundreds of small silex saws, and some knives
of obsidian. Stone whorls, which are so abundant at Mycenæ, are but
rarely found here; all of those which occur are, according to Mr.
Davis, of steatite. On the other hand, terra-cotta whorls, with or
without incised ornamentation, are found by thousands; their forms
hardly vary from those in the third (the burnt) city, and the same may
be generally said of their incised ornamentation. * * * The same
representation of specimens of whorls are given as in the third city,
and the same observations apply.
[Illustration: Fig. 55. CONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH THREE OGEE SWASTIKAS.
Depth 13-1/2 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1850.]
[Illustration: Fig. 56. CONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH FOUR SWASTIKAS OF
VARIOUS KINDS. Depth 13-1/2 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1879.]
[Illustration: Fig. 57. CONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SWASTIKAS. Depth.
13-1/3 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1894.]
[Illustration: Fig. 58. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH ONE SWASTIKA. Depth,
13-1/2 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1983.]
[Illustration: Fig. 59. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH THREE OGEE SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 13-1/2 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1990.]
[Illustration: Fig. 60. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS. Depth,
16-1/2 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1863.]
Fig. 55 shows a simple cone, the upper surface being flat and without
other decoration than three Swastikas equidistant from the hole and from
each other, all made by the two crossed ogee lines with ends curved to the
right. This specimen is much like that of Fig. 71 (Madam Schliemann
collection in the U. S. National Museum, Cat. No. 149704). Fig. 56 shows a
remarkable spindle-whorl. Its marks greatly excited the interest of Dr.
Schliemann, and he devoted much space to the discussion of these and
similar characters. The whorl is in the form of a cone. It bears upon its
conical surface four Swastikas, the ends of three of which bend to the
right and one to the left. There are but two of these ends which bend at
right angles. Most of them are at an obtuse angle, while the ends of two
are curved. Some taper to a point and finish with a slight flourish. The
other marks which so interested Dr. Schliemann were the chevron ornament
(zigzag), drawn in parallel lines, which, he strongly argued, and
fortified with many authorities, represented lightning. The second series
of marks he called a "burning altar." This assertion he also fortified
with authorities and with illustrations of a similar sign from different
countries. (See fig. 101.) The third series of marks represented an
animal, name and character unknown, with a head or tusks with two large
branching horns or ears, a straight back, a stiff but drooping tail, four
legs, and two rows of the remarkable dots--seven in one, six in the
other--placed over the back of the animal. (See figs. 99 and 100.) Fig. 57
represents another cone-shaped whorl, the flat surface of which is
engraved with one perfect Swastika, the two arms crossing each other at
right angles and the two ends bending at right angles to the right; the
other two are curved, also to the right. Two of the other figures Dr.
Schliemann calls Swastikas, although they are uncertain in some of their
arms and angles. The fourth character he imagined to be an inchoate or
attempted Swastika. Fig. 58 shows a biconical whorl with curious and
inexplicable characters. One of them forms a crude Swastika, which, while
the main arms cross at right angles the ends are bent at uncertain angles,
three to the left and one to the right. These characters are so
undetermined that it is doubtful if they could have had any signification,
either ornamental or otherwise. Fig. 59 is almost conical, the flat
surface thereof being only slightly raised at the center. It is much the
same form as the whorls shown in figs. 55 and 71. The nearly flat surface
is the top, and on it, equidistant from the center hole and from each
other, are three ogee Swastikas of double lines, with their ends all
curved to the right. In the alternate spaces are small incised circles,
with dots in the centers. In fig. 60 a biconical whorl is shown. It has
three of the circle segments marked in equilateral positions, with three
or four parallel lines, after the style shown in Fig. 54. In the spaces
are two Swastikas, in both of which the two main arms cross at right
angles. Some of the ends bend at a right, and others at an obtuse, angle.
In one of the Swastikas the bent ends turn toward each other, forming a
rude figure 8. The specimen shown in fig. 61 is biconical, but much
flattened; it contains five ogee Swastikas, of which the ends of four bend
to the right and one to the left. In an interval between them is one of
the burning altars. Fig. 62 shows three Swastikas with double parallel
lines. The main arms cross each other at right angles; the ends are bent
at nearly right angles, one to the left, one to the right, and the other
both ways. Fig. 63 represents a spindle-whorl with a cup-shaped depression
around the central hole, which is surrounded by three lines in concentric
circles, while on the field, at 90 degrees from each other, are four ogee
Swastikas (tetraskelions), the arms all turning to the left and spirally
each upon itself. The specimen shown in fig. 64 is biconical, though, as
usual, the upper cone is the smallest. There are parallel lines, three in
a set, forming the segments of three circles, in one space of which
appears a Swastika of a curious and unique form, similar to that shown in
fig. 60. The two main arms cross each other at very nearly right angles
and the ends also bend at right angles toward and approaching each other,
so that if continued slightly farther they would close and form a
decorative figure 8. The specimen shown in fig. 65 is decorated with
parallel lines, three in number, arranged in segments of three circles,
the periphery of which is toward the center, as in figs. 60 and 64. In one
of the spaces is a Swastika of curious form; the main arms cross each
other at right angles, but the four ends represent different styles--two
are bent square to the left, one square to the right, and the fourth
curves to the left at no angle. Fig. 66 shows a biconical whorl, and its
top is decorated to represent three Swastikas and three burning altars.
The ends of the arms of the Swastikas all bend to the left, some are at
right angles and some at obtuse angles, while two or three are curved; two
of them show corrections, the marks at the ends having been changed in one
case at a different angle and in another from a straight line to a curve.
Fig. 67 shows four specimens of Swastika, the main arms of all of which
cross at right angles. The ends all bend to the right, at nearly right
angles, tapering to a point and finishing with the slight flourish noted
in the Jain Swastika (fig. 34_c_). They are alternated with a chevron
decoration. Fig. 68 shows three Swastikas, the ends of the arms of which
are all bent to the left. One Swastika is composed of two ogee lines. Two
arms of another are curved, but all others are bent at right angles, some
of them tapering to points, finishing with a little flourish (figs. 67
and 34_c_). One of these ends, like that in fig. 66, has been corrected by
the maker. Fig. 69 represents one Swastika in which the main arms cross at
nearly right angles. Both ends of one arm turn to the left and those of
the other arm turn to the right in figure 8 style. One of the ends is
curved, the others bent at different angles. Fig. 70 shows the parallel
lines representing segments of a circle similar to figs. 60, 64, 65, and
69, except that it has four instead of three. It has one Swastika; the
main arms (of double lines) cross at right angles, the ends all curving to
the left with a slight ogee.
[Illustration: Fig. 61. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH FIVE OGEE SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 18 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1905.]
[Illustration: Fig. 62. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH THREE SWASTIKAS. Depth, 19.8
feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1855.]
[Illustration: Fig. 63. SPINDLE-WHORL HAVING FOUR OGEE SWASTIKAS WITH
SPIRAL VOLUTES. Depth, 18 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1868.]
[Illustration: Fig. 64. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH ONE SWASTIKA. Depth,
19.8 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1865.]
[Illustration: Fig. 65. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH ONE SWASTIKA. Depth,
19.8 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios", fig. 1866.]
[Illustration: Fig. 66. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH THREE SWASTIKAS AND
THREE BURNING ALTARS. Depth, 19.8 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios", fig. 1872.]
[Illustration: Fig. 67. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH FOUR SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 19.8 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1873.]
[Illustration: Fig. 68. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH THREE SWASTIKAS OF
DIFFERENT STYLES. Depth, 19.8 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1911.]
[Illustration: Fig. 69. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH ONE SWASTIKA OF THE
FIGURE-8 STYLE. Depth, 19.8 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1861.]
[Illustration: Fig. 70. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH ONE SWASTIKA, SLIGHT
OGEE. Depth, 19.8 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1864.]
[Illustration: Fig. 71. CONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH THREE OGEE SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 13.5 feet. Gift of Madame Schliemann, Cat. No. 149704, U. S. N. M.]
The U. S. National Museum was, during 1893, the fortunate recipient of a
collection of objects from Madame Schliemann, which her husband, before
his death, had signified should be given to the United States as a token
of his remembrance of and regard for his adopted country. He never forgot
that he was an American citizen, and, preparing for death, made his
acknowledgments in the manner mentioned. The collection consisted of 178
objects, all from ancient Troy, and they made a fair representation of his
general finds. This collection is in the Department of Prehistoric
Anthropology. In this collection is a spindle-whorl, found at 13-1/2 feet
(4 meters) depth and belonging to the fourth city. It had three Swastikas
upon its face, and is here shown as fig. 71.[145]
_The Fifth City._--Schliemann says:[146]
The rude stone hammers found in enormous quantities in the fourth city
are no longer found in this stratum, nor did the stone axes, which are
so very abundant there, occur again here. Instead of the hundreds of
axes I gathered in the fourth city, I collected in all only two here.
* * * The forms of the terra-cotta whorls, too, are in innumerable
instances different here. These objects are of a much inferior fabric,
and become elongated and pointed. Forms of whorls like Nos. 1801,
1802, and 1803 [see figs. 72, 73, and 74], which were never found
before, are here plentiful.
_The Sixth and Seventh Cities._--The sixth city is described in "Ilios,"
page 587, and the seventh on pages 608 and 618. Both cities contained
occasional whorls of clay, all thoroughly baked, without incised or
painted ornamentation, and shed no further light on the Swastika.
[Illustration: Figs. 72, 73, 74. FORMS OF WHORLS FROM THE FIFTH BURIED
CITY OF HISSARLIK, FOR COMPARISON. Schliemann, "Ilios," figs. 1801, 1802,
1803.]
[Illustration: Fig. 75. TERRA-COTTA SPHERE WITH THIRTEEN SWASTIKAS. Third
city. Depth, 26 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," figs. 245, 246.]
Fig. 75 represents the opposite hemispheres of a terra-cotta ball, found
at a depth of 26 feet, divided by incised lines into fifteen zones, of
which two are ornamented with points and the middle zone, the largest of
all, with thirteen specimens of [S] and [Z].
Zmigrodzki says[147] that there were found by Schliemann, at Hissarlik,
fifty-five specimens of the Swastika "pure and simple" (pp. 809, 826). It
will be perceived by examination that the Swastika "pure and simple"
comprised Swastikas of several forms; those in which the four arms of the
cross were at other angles besides right angles; those in which the ends
bent at square and other angles to the right; then those to the left
(Burnouf and Max Müller's Suavastika); those in which the bends were, some
to the right and some to the left, in the same design; where the points
tapered off and turned outward with a flourish; where the arms bent at no
angle, but were in spirals each upon itself, and turned, some to the
right, some to the left. We shall see other related forms, as where the
arms turn spirally upon each other instead of upon themselves. These will
sometimes have three, five, six, or more arms, instead of four (p. 768).
The cross and the circle will also appear in connection with the Swastika;
and other designs, as zigzags (lightning), burning altars, men, animals,
and similar representations will be found associated with the Swastika,
and are only related to it by the association of similar objects from the
same locality. A description of their patterns will include those already
figured, together with Schliemann's comments as to signification and
frequency. They become more important because these related forms will be
found in distant countries and among distant peoples, notably among the
prehistoric peoples of America. Possibly these designs have a
signification, possibly not. Dr. Schliemann thought that in many cases
they had. Professor Sayce supported him, strongly inclining toward an
alphabetic or linguistic, perhaps ideographic, signification. No opinion
is advanced by the author on these theories, but the designs are given in
considerable numbers, to the end that the evidence may be fully reported,
and future investigators, radical and conservative, imaginative and
unimaginative, theorists and agnostics, may have a fair knowledge of this
mysterious sign, and an opportunity to indulge their respective talents at
length. Possibly these associated designs may throw some light upon the
origin or history of the Swastika or of some of its related forms.
[Illustration: Fig. 76. TERRA-COTTA DISK WITH ONE SWASTIKA. Schliemann,
"Ilios," fig. 1849.]
[Illustration: Fig. 77. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH OGEE SWASTIKA. Third city.
Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1822.]
[Illustration: Fig. 78. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH IRREGULAR SWASTIKAS
AND CROSSES. Fourth city. Depth, 13.6 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig.
1871.]
[Illustration: Fig. 79. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH UNCERTAIN AND
MALFORMED SWASTIKAS. Third city. Depth, 33 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig.
1870.]
[Illustration: Fig. 80. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH IRREGULAR AND PARTLY
FORMED SWASTIKAS HAVING LARGE DOT IN CENTER. Fourth city. Depth, 23 feet.
Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1875.]
[Illustration: Fig. 81. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL, FLATTENED, WITH TWO
SWASTIKAS AND INDEFINITE DECORATION. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1947.]
[Illustration: Fig. 82. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH ONE SWASTIKA AND FOUR
SEGMENTS OF CIRCLES. Third city. Depth, 33 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig.
1989.]
The specimen represented in fig. 76 is not a spindle-whorl, as shown by
the number and location of the holes. It bears a good representation of a
Swastika the form of which has been noticed several times. The two main
arms cross each other at nearly right angles. The ends of the arms all
bend to the right at a slightly obtuse angle and turn outward with a
flourish somewhat after the style of the Jain Swastika (fig. 34_c_). Fig.
77 represents a spindle-whorl with a Swastika of the ogee style curved to
the right. The center hole of the whorl forms the center of the sign. The
figure is of double lines, and in the interspaces are four dots, similar
to those in figs. 96-98, and others which Dr. Schliemann reports as
common, and to which he attributes some special but unknown meaning.
Swastikas and crosses of irregular shape and style are shown in the field
of fig. 78. Two fairly well formed Swastikas appear, both of the ogee
style, with the ends curved to the right. One is of the style resembling
the figure 8 (see figs. 60 and 64). Two others are crudely and irregularly
formed, and would scarcely be recognized as Swastikas except for their
association. Fig. 79 represents uncertain and malformed Swastikas. The
arms are bent in different directions in the same line. Two of the main
arms are not bent. The inexplicable dots are present, and the field is
more or less covered with unmeaning or, at least, unexplained marks. Fig.
80 also illustrates the indefinite and inchoate style of decoration. One
unfinished Swastika appears which, unlike anything we have yet seen, has a
circle with a dot in the center for the body of the Swastika at the
crossing of the main arms. Fig. 81 shows two Swastikas, both crossing
their main arms at right angles and the ends bending also at right
angles--one to the right, the other to the left. This specimen is inserted
here because of the numerous decorations of apparently unmeaning, or, at
least, unexplained, lines. Fig. 82 shows four segmented circles with an
indefinite Swastika in one of the spaces. The ends are not well turned,
only one being well attached to the main arms. One of the ends is not
joined, one overruns and forms a sort of cross; the other has no bend.
Fig. 83 contains an unmistakable Swastika, the main arms of which cross at
right angles, turning to the left with an ogee curve. The peculiarity of
this specimen is that the center of the sign is inclosed in a circle, thus
showing the indifference of the Swastika sign to other signs, whether
cross or circle. The outer parts of the field are occupied with the
parallel lines of the circle segment, as shown in many other specimens.
The specimen shown in fig. 84 is similar in style to the last. The bodies
of six Swastikas are formed by a circle and dot, while the arms of the
cross start from the outside of the circle, extending themselves in
curves, all of them to the right. (See fig. 13_d_.) It has no other
ornamentation. The same remark is to be made about the indifferent use of
the Swastika in association with cross or circle. We have seen many
Swastikas composed of the crossed ogee lines or curves. Figs. 85 and 86
show the same ogee lines and curves not crossed; and thus, while it may be
that neither of them are Swastikas, yet they show a relationship of form
from which the derivation of a Swastika would be easy.
[Illustration: Fig. 83. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL, FLATTENED. Ogee Swastika
with central circle. Third city. Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig.
1987.]
[Illustration: Fig. 84. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SIX OGEE SWASTIKAS
HAVING CENTRAL CIRCLE AND DOT. Third city. Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann,
"Ilios," fig. 1862.]
[Illustration: Fig. 85. SPHERICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH FLATTENED TOP AND
OGEE LINES WHICH DO NOT FORM SWASTIKAS. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1890.]
[Illustration: Fig. 86. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH OGEE CURVES WHICH ARE
NOT CROSSED TO FORM SWASTIKAS. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1889.]
Attention has been called to decorations comprising segments of the
circles incised in these whorls, the periphery of which is toward their
centers (figs. 60, 64, 65, 69, 70, 82 and 83). Also to the mysterious dots
(figs. 46, 56, 75, 76, 77, 79, 84, 92, 96 and 97). Fig. 87 shows a
combination of the segments of three circles, the dots within each, and
two Swastikas. Of the Swastikas, one is normal, turning to the right; the
other turns to the right, but at an obtuse angle, with one end straight
and the other irregularly curved. Fig. 88 represents two sections of a
terra-cotta sphere divided similar to fig. 49. Each of these sections
contains a figure like unto a Swastika and which may be related to it. It
is a circle with arms springing from the periphery, which arms turn all to
the left, as they do in the ogee Swastika. One has seven, the other nine,
arms. One has regular, the other irregular, lines and intervals. Fig. 89
represents a spindle-whorl of terra cotta nearly spherical, with
decoration of a large central dot and lines springing thereout, almost
like the spokes of a wheel, then all turning to the left as volutes. In
some countries this has been called the sun symbol, but there is nothing
to indicate that it had any signification at Hissarlik. One of the marks
resembles the long-backed, four-legged animal (figs. 99 and 100).[148]
Figs. 90, 91, 92, and 93 show a further adaptation of the ogee curve
developed into a Swastika, in which many arms start from the center circle
around the central hole in the whorl, finally taking a spiral form. The
relation of this to a sun symbol is only mentioned and not specified or
declared. The inexplicable and constantly recurring dots are seen in fig.
90.
[Illustration: Fig. 87. SPHERICAL SPINDLE-WHORL, FLATTENED. Two Swastikas
combined with segments and dots. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1988.]
[Illustration: Fig. 88. SECTIONS OF TERRA-COTTA SPHERE.[149] Central
circles with extended arms turning to the left, ogee and zigzag.
Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1993.]
[Illustration: Fig. 89. SPHERICAL SPINDLE-WHORL. Large central dot with
twelve arms, similar in form to the ogee Swastika. Schliemann, "Ilios,"
fig. 1946.]
It is not contended that these are necessarily evolutions of the Swastika.
We will see farther on many lines and forms of decoration by incised lines
on these Trojan whorls, which may have had no relation to the Swastika,
but are inserted here because persons rich in theories and brilliant in
imagination have declared that they could see a resemblance, a relation,
in this or some other decoration. As objects belonging to the same
culture, from the same locality, and intimately associated with
unmistakable Swastikas, they were part of the _res gestæ_, and as such
entitled to admission as evidence in the case. The effect of their
evidence is a legitimate subject for discussion and argument. To refuse
these figures admission would be to decide the case against this
contention without giving the opposing party an opportunity to see the
evidence or to be heard in argument. Therefore the objects are inserted.
[Illustration: Fig. 90. SPINDLE-WHORL. Central dot with ogee arms
radiating therefrom in different directions, but in the form of a
Swastika. Third City. Depth, 29 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1830.]
[Illustration: Fig. 91. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH CENTRAL HOLE AND RADIATING
ARMS. Third city. Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1842.]
Specimens of other crosses are presented because the Swastika is
considered to be a form of the cross. There may have been no evolution or
relationship between them; but no person is competent to decide from a
mere inspection or by reason of dissimilarity that there was not. We have
to plead _ignoramus_ as to the growth and evolution of both cross and
Swastika, because the origin of both is lost in antiquity. But all are
fair subjects for discussion. There certainly is nothing improbable in the
relationship and evolution between the Swastika and the cross. It may be
almost assumed.
[Illustration: Fig. 92. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH CENTRAL CIRCLE AND MANY ARMS.
Fourth city. Depth, 19.8 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1837.]
[Illustration: Fig. 93. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH CENTRAL HOLE, LARGE CIRCLE, AND
MANY CURVED ARMS. Third city. Depth, 29 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig.
1833.]
Evidence leading to conviction may be found in associated contemporaneous
specimens. M. Montelius, an archæologist of repute in the National Museum
at Stockholm, discovered eight stages of culture in the bronze age of that
country, which discovery was based solely upon the foregoing principle
applied to the fibulæ found in prehistoric graves. In assorting his stock
of fibulæ, he was enabled to lay out a series of eight styles, each
different, but with many presentations. He arranged them seriatim,
according to certain differences in size, style, elegance of workmanship,
etc., No. 1 being the smallest, and No. 8 the largest and most elaborate.
They were then classified according to locality and association, and he
discovered that Nos. 1 and 2 belonged together, on the same body or in the
same grave, and the same with Nos. 2 and 3, 3 and 4, and so on to No. 8,
but that there was no general or indefinite intermixture; Nos. 1 and 3 or
2 and 4 were not found together and were not associated, and so on. Nos. 7
and 8 were associated, but not 6 and 8, nor 5 and 7, nor was there any
association beyond adjoining numbers in the series. Thus Montelius was
able to determine that each one or each two of the series formed a stage
in the culture of these peoples. While the numbers of the series
separated from each other, as 1, 5, 8, were never found associated, yet
it was conclusively shown that they were related, were the same object,
all served a similar purpose, and together formed an evolutionary series
showing their common origin, derivative growth and continuous improvement
in art, always by communication between their makers or owners.
[Illustration: Fig. 94. LARGE BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL. Four crosses with
bifurcated arms. Third city. Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig.
1855.]
[Illustration: Fig. 95. SPINDLE-WHORL. Hole and large circle in center
with broad arms of Greek cross. Third city. Depth, 26.4 feet. Schliemann,
"Ilios," fig. 1820.]
[Illustration: Fig. 96. SPINDLE-WHORL. Hole and large circle in center.
Extended parallel arms with dots, forming a Greek Cross. Third city.
Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1817.]
[Illustration: Fig. 97. SPINDLE-WHORL. Greek cross. Tapering arms with
dots. Third city. Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1818.]
Thus it may be with the other forms of crosses, and thus it appears to be
with the circle and spiral Swastikas and those with ends bent in opposite
and different directions. Just what their relations are and at which end
of the series the evolution began, is not argued. This is left for the
theorists and imaginists, protesting, however, that they must not run wild
nor push their theories beyond bounds. Fig. 94 represents four crosses,
the main arms of which are at right angles, and each and all ends, instead
of being turned at an angle which would make them Swastikas, are
bifurcated and turn both ways, thus forming a foliated cross similar to
the Maya cross, the "Tree of life." Figs. 95, 96, and 97 show Greek
crosses. The centers of the crosses are occupied by the central hole of
the whorl, while the arms extend to the periphery. In the centers of the
respective arms are the ubiquitous dots. The question might here be asked
whether these holes, which represented circles, stood for the sun symbol
or solar disk. The question carries its own answer and is a refutation of
those who fancy they can see mythology in everything. Fig. 98 is the same
style of figure with the same dots, save that it has three instead of four
arms. Figs. 99 and 100 each show four of the curious animals heretofore
represented (fig. 56) in connection with the Swastika. They are here
inserted for comparison. They are all of the same form, and one
description will serve. Back straight, tail drooping, four legs, round
head showing eye on one side, and long ears resembling those of a rabbit
or hare, which, in fig. 56, are called horns. The general remarks in
respect to the propriety of inserting crosses and burning altars (p. 824)
apply with equal pertinency to these animals and to the unexplained dots
seen on so many specimens. Fig. 101 shows both ends of a spindle-whorl,
and is here inserted because it represents one of the "burning altars" of
Dr. Schliemann, associated with a Swastika, as in figs. 61, 66, and 68,
and even those of figure-8 style (figs. 64 and 69).
[Illustration: Fig. 98. SPINDLE-WHORL. Central hole and three arms with
dots. Third city. Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1819.]
[Illustration: Fig. 99. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL. Four animals are shown
similar to those found associated with the Swastika. Third city. Depth, 33
feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1877.]
[Illustration: Fig. 100. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL. Four animals are shown
similar to those found associated with the Swastika. Fourth city. Depth,
19.6 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 1867.]
[Illustration: Fig. 101. SPINDLE-WHORL WITH FIGURE-8 SWASTIKA (?) AND SIX
"BURNING ALTARS." Fourth city. Depth, 19.6 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig.
1838.]
Dr. Schliemann found, during his excavations on the hill of Hissarlik, no
less than 1,800 spindle-whorls. A few were from the first and second
cities; they were of somewhat peculiar form (figs. 72 and 74), but the
greatest number were from the third city, thence upward in decreasing
numbers. The Swastika pure and simple was found on 55 specimens, while its
related or suggested forms were on 420 (pp. 809, 819). Many of the other
whorls were decorated with almost every imaginable form of dot, dash,
circle, star, lozenge, zigzag, with many indefinite and undescribable
forms. In presenting the claims of the Swastika as an intentional sign,
with intentional, though perhaps different, meanings, it might be
unsatisfactory to the student to omit descriptions of these associated
decorative forms. This description is impossible in words; therefore the
author has deemed it wiser to insert figures of these decorations as they
appeared on the spindle-whorls found at Troy, and associated with those
heretofore given with the Swastika. It is not decided, however, that these
have any relation to the Swastika, or that they had any connection with
its manufacture or existence, either by evolution or otherwise, but they
are here inserted to the end that the student and reader may take due
account of the association and make such comparison as will satisfy him.
(Figs. 102 to 124.)
[Illustration: Figs. 102-113. TROJAN SPINDLE-WHORLS. Schliemann, "Ilios."]
[Illustration: Figs. 114-124. TROJAN SPINDLE-WHORLS. Schliemann, "Ilios."]
_Leaden idol of Hissarlik._--Dr. Schliemann, in his explorations on the
hill of Hissarlik, at a depth of 23 feet, in the third, the burnt city,
found a metal idol (fig. 125), which was determined on an analysis to be
lead.[150] It was submitted to Professor Sayce who made the following
report:[151]
It is the Artemis Nana of Chaldea, who became the chief deity of
Carchemish, the Hittite capital, and passed through Asia Minor to the
shores and islands of the Ægean Sea. Characteristic figures of the
goddess have been discovered at Mycenæ as well as in Cyprus.
In "Troja" Professor Sayce says:
Precisely the same figure, with ringlets on either side of the head,
but with a different ornament (dots instead of Swastika) sculptured on
a piece of serpentine was recently found in Mæonia, and published by
M. Salmon Reinach in Revue Archæologique. By the side of the goddess
stands the Babylonian Bel, and among the Babylonian symbols that
surround them is the representation of one of the terra-cotta whorls,
of which Dr. Schliemann found such multitudes at Troy.
The chief interest to us of Dr. Schliemann's description of the idol lies
in the last paragraph:[152]
The vulva is represented by a large triangle, in the upper side of
which we see three globular dots; we also see two lines of dots to the
right and left of the vulva. The most curious ornament of the figure
is a Swastika, which we see in the middle of the vulva. * * * So far
as we know, the only figures to which the idol before us has any
resemblance are the female figures of white marble found in tombs in
Attica and in the Cyclades. Six of them, which are in the museum at
Athens, * * * represent naked women. * * * The vulva is represented on
the six figures by a large triangle. * * * Similar white Parian marble
figures, found in the Cyclades, whereon the vulva is represented by a
decorated triangle, are preserved in the British Museum. Lenorment, in
"Les Antiquités de la Troade" (p. 46), says: "The statuettes of the
Cyclades, in the form of a naked woman, appear to be rude copies made
by the natives, at the dawn of their civilization, from the images of
the Asiatic goddess which had been brought by Phoenician merchants.
They were found in the most ancient sepulchers of the Cyclades, in
company with stone weapons, principally arrowheads of obsidian from
Milo, and with polished pottery without paintings. We recognize in
them the figures of the Asiatic Venus found in such large numbers from
the banks of the Tigris to the island of Cyprus, through the whole
extent of the Chaldeo-Assyrian, Aramæan, and Phoenician world. Their
prototype is the Babylonian Zarpanit, or Zirbanit, so frequently
represented on the cylinders and by terra-cotta idols, the fabrication
of which begins in the most primitive time of Chaldea and continues
among the Assyrians.
[Illustration: Fig. 125. LEADEN IDOL OF ARTEMIS NANA OF CHALDEA, WITH
SWASTIKA.[153] Third city. Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 126.
1-1/3 natural size.]
It is to be remarked that this mark is not on the vulva, as declared by
Schliemann, but rather on a triangle shield which covers the _mons
veneris_.
Professor Sayce is of the opinion, from the evidence of this leaden idol,
that the Swastika was, among the Trojans, a symbol of the generative power
of man.
An added interest centers in these specimens from the fact that
terra-cotta shields of similar triangular form, fitted to the curvature of
the body, were worn in the same way in prehistoric times by the aboriginal
women of Brazil. These pieces have small holes at the angles, apparently
for suspension by cords. The U. S. National Museum has some of these, and
they will be figured in the chapter relating to Brazil. The similarity
between these distant objects is remarkable, whether they were related or
not, and whether the knowledge or custom came over by migration or not.
[Illustration: Fig. 126. TERRA-COTTA VASE WITH MAMELON. Fourth city.
Depth, 16.5 feet. Cat. No. 149676, U. S. N. M. 1/3 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 127. TERRA-COTTA VASE WITH CIRCLE OR RING. Fourth
city. Depth, 20 feet. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 988. 1/3 natural size.]
_Owl-shaped vases._--It is also remarkable to note in this connection the
series of owl-shaped terra-cotta vases of the ruined cities of Hissarlik
and their relation to the Swastika as a possible symbol of the generative
power. These vases have rounded bottoms, wide bellies, high shoulders (the
height of which is emphasized by the form and position of the handles),
the mouth narrow and somewhat bottle-shaped, but not entirely so. What
would be the neck is much larger than usual for a bottle, and more like
the neck of a human figure, which the object in its entirety represents in
a rude, but, nevertheless, definite, manner. At the top of the vase are
the eyes, eyebrows, and the nose. It is true that the round eyes, the
arched eyebrows, and the pointed nose give it somewhat an owlish face, but
if we look at fig. 127, the human appearance of which is emphasized by the
cover of the vase, which serves as a cap for the head and has the effect
of enlarging it to respectable dimensions, we will see how nearly it
represents a human being. The U. S. National Museum possesses one of these
vases in the Schliemann collection (fig. 126). It has the face as
described, while the other human organs are only indicated by small knobs.
It and the three figures, 127, 128, and 129, form a series of which the
one in the Museum would be the first, the others following in the order
named. No. 2 in the series has the female attributes indefinitely and
rudely indicated, the lower organ being represented by a concentric ring.
In No. 3 the mammæ are well shown, while the other organ has the
concentric ring, the center of which is filled with a Greek cross with
four dots, one in each angle, the _Croix swasticale_ of Zmigrodzki (fig.
12). No. 4 of the series is more perfect as a human, for the mouth is
represented by a circle, the mammæ are present, while in the other
locality appears a well-defined Swastika. The first three of these were
found in the fourth city at 20 to 22 feet depth, respectively; the last
was found in the fifth city at a depth of 10 feet. The leaden idol (fig.
125), with its Swastika mark on the triangle covering the private parts,
may properly be considered as part of the series. When to this series is
added the _folium vitus_ of Brazil (pl. 18), the similarity becomes
significant, if not mysterious. But, with all this significance and
mystery, it appears to the author that this sign, in its peculiar
position, has an equal claim as a symbol of blessing, happiness, good
fortune, as that it represents the generative power.
[Illustration: Fig. 128. TERRA-COTTA VASE WITH CIRCLE OR RING AND CROIX
SWASTICALE. Schliemann, "Ilios," fig. 986. 1/6 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 129. TERRA-COTTA VASE WITH CIRCLE OR RING INCLOSING
SWASTIKA. Schliemann, "Troja," fig. 101. 2/5 natural size.]
From the earliest time of which we have knowledge of the thoughts or
desires of man we know that the raising up "heirs of his body" constituted
his greatest blessing and happiness, and their failure his greatest
misery. The first and greatest command of God to man, as set forth in the
Holy Bible, is to "Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth."[154] This was repeated after the Deluge,[155] and when He
pronounced the curse in the Garden, that upon the woman[156] was, "In
sorrow thou shalt bring forth children." God's greatest blessing to
Abraham, when He gave to him and his seed the land as far as he could see,
was that his seed should be as the dust of the earth, "so that if a man
can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be
numbered."[157] "Tell the stars, if thou be able to number them * * * so
shall thy seed be. * * * As the father of many nations," etc. We all know
the story of Sarai, how, when she and Abraham had all riches and power on
earth, it was as naught while they were childless, and how their greatest
blessing was the Divine promise of an heir, and that their greatest
happiness was over the birth of Isaac. This may be no proof of the
symbolism of the Swastika, but it shows how, in high antiquity, man's
happiness in his children was such as makes the Swastika mark, in the
position indicated, equally a symbol of good fortune and blessing as it
was when put on the spindle-whorls of Hissarlik, the vases of Greece, or
the fibulæ of Etruria.
_The age of the Trojan cities._--It may be well to consider for a moment
the age or epoch of these prehistoric Trojan cities on the hill of
Hissarlik. Professor Virchow was appealed to by Schliemann for his
opinion. He says:[158]
Other scholars have been inclined to ascribe the oldest cities of
Hissarlik to the Neolithic age, because remarkable weapons and
utensils of polished stone are found in them. * * * This conception is
unjustified and inadmissible. To the third century A. D. belongs the
surface of the fortress hill of Hissarlik, which still lies above the
Macedonian wall; and the oldest "cities"--although not only polished
stones but also chipped flakes of chalcedony and obsidian occur in
them--nevertheless fall within the age of metals, for even in the
first city utensils of copper, gold, and even silver were dug up. No
stone people, properly so called, dwelt upon the fortress hill of
Hissarlik, so far as it has been uncovered.
Virchow's opinion that none of the cities of Hissarlik were in the stone
age may be correct, but the reason he gave is certainly doubtful. He says
they come within the age of metals, for, or because, "_utensils of copper,
gold, and even silver were dug up among the ruins of the first city_."
That the metals, gold, silver, or copper, were used by the aborigines, is
no evidence that they were in a metal age, as it has been assigned and
understood by prehistoric archæologists. The great principle upon which
the names of the respective prehistoric ages--stone, bronze, and
iron--were given, was that these materials were used for cutting and
similar implements. The use of gold and silver or any metal for ornamental
purposes has never been considered by archæologists as synchronous with a
metal age. Indeed, in the United States there are great numbers of
aboriginal cutting implements of copper, of which the U. S. National
Museum possesses a collection of five or six hundred; yet they were not in
sufficient number to, and they did not, supersede the use of stone as the
principal material for cutting implements, and so do not establish a
copper age in America. In Paleolithic times bone was largely used as
material for utensils and ornaments. Bone was habitually in use for one
purpose or another, yet no one ever pretended that this establishes a bone
age. In countries and localities where stone is scarce and shell abundant,
cutting implements were, in prehistoric times, made of shell; and chisels
or hatchets of shell, corresponding to the polished stone hatchet, were
prevalent wherever the conditions were favorable, yet nobody ever called
it an age of shell. So, in the ruined cities of Hissarlik, the first five
of them abounded in stone implements peculiar to the Neolithic age, and
while there may have been large numbers of implements and utensils of
other materials, yet this did not change it from the polished stone age.
In any event, the reason given by Virchow--i. e., that the use,
undisputed, of copper, gold, and silver by the inhabitants of these
cities--is not evidence to change their culture status from that
denominated as the polished stone age or period.
Professor Virchow subsequently does sufficient justice to the antiquity of
Schliemann's discoveries and says[159] while "it is impossible to assign
these strata to the stone age, yet they are indications of what is the
oldest known settlement in Asia Minor of a people of prehistoric times of
some advance in civilization," and[160] that "no place in Europe is known
which could be put in direct connection with any one of the six lower
cities of Hissarlik."
Professor Sayce also gives his opinion on the age of these ruins:[161]
The antiquities, therefore, unearthed by Dr. Schliemann at Troy,
acquire for us a double interest. They carry us back to the later
stone ages of the Aryan race.
AFRICA.
EGYPT.
A consensus of the opinions of antiquarians is that the Swastika had no
foothold among the Egyptians. Prof. Max Müller is of this opinion, as is
also Count Goblet d'Alviella.[162]
Waring[163] says:
The only sign approaching the fylfot in Egyptian hieroglyphics that we
have met is shown in fig. 3, pl. 41, where it forms one of the
hieroglyphs of Isis, but is not very similar to our fylfot.
Mr. Greg says:[164] "In Egypt the fylfot does not occur." Many other
authors say the same. Yet many specimens of the Swastika have been found
in Egypt (figs. 130 to 136). Professor Goodyear[165] says:
The earliest dated Swastikas are of the third millenium B. C., and
occur on the foreign Cyprian and Carian (?) pottery fragments of the
time of the twelfth dynasty (in Egypt), discovered by Mr. Flinders
Petrie in 1889. (Kahun, Gurob, and Hawara, pl. 27, Nos. 162 and 173.)
[Illustration: Fig. 130. GREEK VASE SHOWING DEER, GEESE, AND SWASTIKAS.
Naukratis, Ancient Egypt. Sixth and fifth centuries, B. C. Petrie, Third
Memoir, Egypt Exploration Fund, part 1, pl. 4, fig. 3, and Goodyear,
"Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 60, fig. 2.]
[Illustration: Fig. 130_a_. DETAIL OF VASE SHOWN IN THE PRECEDING FIGURE.]
_Naukratis._--Figs. 130 to 135, made after illustrations in Mr. W.
Flinders Petrie's Third Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund (Pt. 1),
found by him in Naukratis, all show unmistakable Swastikas. It should be
explained that these are said to be Greek vases which have been imported
into Egypt. So that, while found in Egypt and so classed geographically,
they are not Egyptian, but Greek.
_Coptos (Achmim-Panopolis)._--Within the past few years great
discoveries have been made in Upper Egypt, in Sakkarah, Fayum, and Achmim,
the last of which was the ancient city of Panopolis. The inhabitants of
Coptos and the surrounding or neighboring cities were Christian Greeks,
who migrated from their country during the first centuries of our era and
settled in this land of Egypt. Strabo mentions these people and their
ability as weavers and embroiderers. Discoveries have been made of their
cemeteries, winding sheets, and grave clothes. These clothes have been
subjected to analytic investigation, and it is the conclusion of M.
Gerspach, the administrator of the national manufactory of the Gobelin
tapestry, Paris,[166] that they were woven in the same way as the
Gobelins, and that, except being smaller, they did not differ essentially
from them. He adds:
These Egyptian tapestries and those of the Gobelins are the result of
work which is identical except in some secondary details, so that I
have been able, without difficulty, to reproduce these Coptic
tapestries in the Gobelin manufactory.
[Illustration: Fig. 131. POTTERY FRAGMENTS WITH TWO MEANDER SWASTIKAS.
Naukratis, Ancient Egypt. Petrie, Third Memoir of the Egyptian Exploration
Fund, part 1, pl. 5, figs. 15, 24.]
[Illustration: Fig. 132. FRAGMENT OF GREEK VASE WITH LION AND THREE
MEANDER SWASTIKAS. Naukratis, Ancient Egypt. Petrie, Sixth Memoir of the
Egypt Exploration Fund, part 2, fig. 7, and Goodyear, "Grammar of the
Lotus," pl. 30, fig. 2.]
On one of these Coptic cloths, made of linen, reproduced in "Die
Gräber- und Textilfunde von Achmim-Panopolis," by R. Forrer, occurs a
normal Swastika embroidered or woven, tapestry fashion, with woolen thread
(fig. 136). It belongs to the first epoch, which includes portions of the
first and second centuries A. D. There were on these cloths an enormous
amount of decoration, representing many figures, both natural and
geometric. Among them was the Swastika variously applied and in different
sizes, sometimes inserted in borders, and sometimes adorning the corners
of the tunics and togas as a large medallion, as shown in the figure.[167]
[Illustration: Fig. 133. FRAGMENT OF GREEK VASE DECORATED WITH FIGURES OF
SACRED ANIMALS AND SWASTIKAS, ASSOCIATED WITH GREEK FRET. Naukratis,
Ancient Egypt. Petrie, Sixth Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund, part 2,
pl. 6, fig. 1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 134. FRAGMENT OF GREEK VASE WITH FIGURES OF ANIMALS,
TWO MEANDER SWASTIKAS, AND GREEK FRET. Naukratis, Ancient Egypt. Petrie,
Sixth Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund, part 2, pl. 8, fig. 1, and
Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 30, fig. 10.]
[Illustration: Fig. 135. GREEK VASE WITH DEER, AND MEANDER AND FIGURE-8
SWASTIKAS. Naukratis, Ancient Egypt. Petrie, Sixth Memoir of the Egypt
Exploration Fund, part 2, pl. 5, fig. 1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 136. GREEK TAPESTRY. Coptos, Egypt. First and second
centuries, A. D. Forrer, "Die Gräber- und Textilfunde von
Achmin-Panopolis."]
ALGERIA.
[Illustration: Fig. 137. TORUS OF COLUMN WITH SWASTIKAS. Roman ruins,
Algeria. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 43, fig. 2, quoting
from Delamare.]
Waring, in his "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," discoursing upon the
Swastika, which he calls fylfot, shows in pl. 43, fig. 2 (quoting from
Delamare), the base of a column from a ruined Roman building in Algeria
(fig. 137), on the torus of which are engraved two Swastikas, the arms
crossing at right angles, all ends bent at right angles to the left. There
are other figures (five and six on the same plate) of Swastikas from a
Roman mosaic pavement in Algeria. Instead of being square, however, or at
right angles, as might ordinarily be expected from mosaic, they are ogee.
In one of the specimens the ogee ends finish in a point; in the other they
finish in a spiral volute turning upon itself. The Swastika has been found
on a tombstone in Algeria.[168]
ASHANTEE.
[Illustration: Fig. 138. BRONZE INGOTS BEARING SWASTIKAS. Coomassee,
Ashantee.]
Mr. R. B. Æneas McLeod, of Invergordon Castle, Ross-shire, Scotland,
reported[169] that, on looking over some curious bronze ingots captured at
Coomassee in 1874, during the late Ashantee war, by Captain Eden, in whose
possession they were at Inverness, he had found some marked with the
Swastika sign (fig. 138). These specimens were claimed to be aboriginal,
but whether the marks were cast or stamped in the ingot is not stated.
CLASSICAL OCCIDENT--MEDITERRANEAN.
GREECE AND THE ISLANDS OF CYPRUS, RHODES, MELOS, AND THERA.
The Swastika has been discovered in Greece and in the islands of the
Archipelago on objects of bronze and gold, but the principal vehicle was
pottery; and of these the greatest number were the painted vases. It is
remarkable that the vases on which the Swastika appears in the largest
proportion should be the oldest, those belonging to the Archaic period.
Those already shown as having been found at Naukratis, in Egypt, are
assigned by Mr. Flinders Petrie to the sixth and fifth centuries B. C.,
and their presence is accounted for by migrations from Greece.
[Illustration: Fig. 139. VARIATION OF THE GREEK FRET. Continuous lines
crossing each other at right angles forming figures resembling the
Swastikas.]
[Illustration: Fig. 140. GREEK GEOMETRIC VASE IN THE LEYDEN MUSEUM, WITH
FIGURES OF GEESE AND SWASTIKA IN PANEL.[170] Smyrna. Conze, "Anfänge,"
etc., Vienna, 1870, and Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 56, fig. 4.]
[Illustration: Fig. 141. GREEK VASE WITH FIGURES OF HORSES, GEOMETRIC
ORNAMENTS AND SWASTIKAS IN PANELS. Athens. Dennis, "Etruria," 1, p.
cxiii.]
[Illustration: Fig. 142. GREEK VASE WITH SWASTIKAS IN PANELS. Conze,
"Anfänge," etc., and Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 60, fig. 13.]
_The Greek fret and Egyptian meander not the same as the
Swastika._--Professor Goodyear says:[171] "There is no proposition in
archæology which can be so easily demonstrated as the assertion that the
Swastika is originally a fragment of the Egyptian meander, provided Greek
geometric vases are called in evidence."
Egyptian meander here means the Greek fret. Despite the ease with which he
says it can be demonstrated that the Swastika was originally a fragment of
the Egyptian meander, and with all respect for the opinion of so profound
a student of classic ornament, doubts must arise as to the existence of
the evidence necessary to prove his proposition.
[Illustration: Fig. 143. DETAIL OF ARCHAIC GREEK VASE WITH FIGURE OF SOLAR
GOOSE AND SWASTIKAS IN PANELS. British Museum. Waring, "Ceramic Art in
Remote Ages," pl. 41, fig. 15.]
[Illustration: Fig. 144. CYPRIAN POTTERY PLAQUE WITH SWASTIKA IN PANEL.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Cesnola, "Cyprus, its Ancient
Cities, Tombs, and Temples," pl. 47, fig. 40.]
[Illustration: Fig. 145. DETAIL OF CYPRIAN VASE WITH SWASTIKAS IN
TRIANGLES. Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 1, fig. 11.]
[Illustration: Fig. 146. DETAIL OF ATTIC VASE WITH FIGURE OF ANTELOPE (?)
AND SWASTIKA. British Museum. Böhlau, Jahrbuch, 1885, p. 50, and Goodyear,
"Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 37, fig. 9.]
[Illustration: Fig. 147. CYPRIAN VASE WITH SWASTIKAS. Cesnola, "Cyprus,
its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples," appendix by Murray, p. 404, fig.
15.]
[Illustration: Fig. 148. TERRA COTTA FIGURINE WITH SWASTIKAS IN PANELS.
Cesnola, "Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples," p. 300, and
Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 691.]
[Illustration: Fig. 149. TERRA COTTA VASE WITH SWASTIKA AND FIGURE OF
HORSE.[172]]
[Illustration: Fig. 150. BRONZE FIBULA WITH SWASTIKA AND REPRESENTATIONS
OF A GOOSE AND A FISH. Boeotia, Greece. De Mortillet, "Musée
Préhistorique," fig. 1265.]
Professor Goodyear, and possibly others, ascribe the origin of the
Swastika to the Greek fret; but this is doubtful and surely has not been
proved. It is difficult, if not impossible, to procure direct evidence on
the proposition. Comparisons may be made between the two signs; but this
is secondary or indirect evidence, and depends largely on argument. No man
is so poor in expedients that he may not argue. Goldsmith's schoolmaster
"e'en tho' vanquished, he could argue still." The Greek fret, once
established, might easily be doubled or crossed in some of its members,
thus forming a figure similar to the Swastika (fig. 139), which would
serve as an ornament, but is without any of the characteristics of the
Swastika as a symbol. The crossed lines in the Greek fret seem to have
been altogether fortuitous. They gave it no symbolic character. It was
simply a variation of the fret, and at best was rarely used, and like it,
was employed only for ornament and not with any signification--not a sign
of benediction, blessing, or good luck, as was the Swastika. The
foundation principle of the Greek fret, so far as we can see its use, is
its adaptability to form an extended ornamental band, consisting of
doubled, bent, and sometimes crossed or interlaced lines, always
continuous and never ending, and running between two parallel border
lines. Two interlacing lines can be used, crossing each other at certain
places, both making continuous meanders and together forming the
ornamental band (fig. 139). In the Greek fret the two lines meandered
between the two borders back and forth, up and down, but always forming a
continuous line. This seems to be the foundation principle of the Greek
fret. In all this requirement or foundation principle the Swastika fails.
A row or band of Swastikas can not be made by continuous lines; each one
is and must be separated from its fellows. The Swastika has four arms,
each made by a single line which comes to an end in each quarter. This is
more imperative with the meander Swastika than with the normal. If the
lines be doubled on each other to be carried along to form another
Swastika adjoining, in the attempt to make a band, it will be found
impossible. The four lines from each of the four arms can be projected,
but each will be in a different direction, and no band can be made. It is
somewhat difficult to describe this, and possibly not of great need. An
attempt to carry out the project of making a band of Swastikas, to be
connected with each other, or to make them travel in any given direction
with continuous lines, will be found impossible. Professor Goodyear
attempts to show how this is done by his figure on page 96, in connection
with pl. 10, fig. 9, also figs. 173 and 174 (pp. 353 and 354). These
figures are given in this paper and are, respectively, Nos. 21, 25, 26,
and 27. Exception is taken to the pretended line of evolution in these
figures: (1) There is nothing to show any actual relationship between
them. There is no evidence that they agreed either in locality or time, or
that there was any unity of thought or design in the minds of their
respective artists. (2) Single specimens are no evidence of custom. This
is a principle of the common law which has still a good foundation, and
was as applicable in those days as it is now. The transition from the
spiral to the Greek fret and from the Greek fret to the Swastika can be
shown only by the existence of the custom or habit of the artist to make
them both in the same or adjoining epochs of time, and this is not proved
by showing a single specimen. (3) If a greater number of specimens were
produced, the chain of evidence would still be incomplete, for the
meander of the Greek fret will, as has just been said, be found impossible
of transition into the meander Swastika. It (the Swastika) does not extend
itself into a band, but if spread at all, it spreads in each of the four
directions (figs. 21 and 25). The transition will be found much easier
from the Greek meander fret to the normal Swastika and from that to the
meander Swastika than to proceed in the opposite direction. Anyone who
doubts this has but to try to make the Swastika in a continuous or
extended band or line (fig. 26), similar to the Greek fret.
[Illustration: Fig. 151. DETAIL OF GREEK VASE WITH SWASTIKAS AND FIGURES
OF BIRDS. Waring, "Ceramic Art In Remote Ages," pl. 33, fig. 24, and
Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 46, fig. 5.]
[Illustration: Fig. 152. DETAIL OF CYPRIAN VASE. Sunhawk, lotus, solar
disk, and Swastikas. Böhlau, Jahrbuch, 1886, pl. 8; Reinach, Revue
Archæologique, 1885, II, p. 360; Perrot and Chipiez, "History of Art in
Phenicia and Cyprus," II; Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 45, fig.
3.]
[Illustration: Fig. 153. DETAIL OF GREEK GEOMETRIC VASE WITH SWASTIKAS AND
FIGURES OF HORSES. Thera. Leyden Museum. Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus,"
pl. 61, fig. 4.]
[Illustration: Fig. 154. BRONZE FIBULA WITH LARGE SWASTIKA ON SHIELD.
Greece. Musée St. Germain. De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1264.
1/2 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 155. GREEK VASE, OINOCHOË, WITH TWO PAINTED SWASTIKAS.
De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1244. 1/4 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 156. CYPRIAN VASE WITH SWASTIKAS AND FIGURE OF
ANIMAL.[173] Cesnola, "Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples,"
pl. 45, fig. 36.]
[Illustration: Fig. 157. ARCHAIC GREEK POTTERY FRAGMENT. Santorin, Ancient
Thera. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 42 fig. 2.]
Figs. 133 and 134, from Naukratis, afford palpable evidence of the
different origin of the Swastika and the Greek fret. Evidently Grecian
vases, though found in Egypt, these specimens bear side by side examples
of the fret and the Swastika, used contemporaneously, and both of them
complete and perfect. If one had been parent of the other, they would have
belonged to different generations and would not have appeared
simultaneously on the same specimen. Another illustration of simultaneous
use is in fig. 194, which represents an Etruscan vase[174] ornamented with
bronze nail heads in the form of Swastikas, but associated with it is the
design of the Greek fret, showing them to be of contemporaneous use, and
therefore not, as Professor Goodyear believes, an evolution of one from
the other. The specimen is in the Museum at Este, Italy.
[Illustration: Fig. 158. CYPRIAN VASE WITH LOTUS AND SWASTIKAS AND FIGURE
OF BIRD. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Goodyear, "Grammar of
the Lotus," pl. 60, fig. 15.]
[Illustration: Fig. 159. CYPRIAN VASE WITH TWO SWASTIKAS. Cesnola
Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City. Goodyear, "Grammar
of the Lotus," fig. 151.]
The Greek fret has been in common use in all ages and all countries
adopting the Grecian civilization. Equally in all ages and countries has
appeared the crossed lines which have been employed by every architect and
decorator, most or many of whom had no knowledge of the Swastika, either
as an ornament or as a symbol.[175]
[Illustration: Fig. 160. FRAGMENT OF TERRA COTTA VASE WITH SWASTIKAS, FROM
RUINS OF TEMPLE AT PALEO-PAPHOS. Depth, 40 feet. Cesnola, "Cyprus, its
Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples," p. 210.]
[Illustration: Fig. 161. WOODEN BUTTON, CLASP, OR FIBULA COVERED WITH
PLATES OF GOLD. Ogee Swastika, tetraskelion in center. Schliemann,
"Mycenæ," fig. 385.]
[Illustration: Fig. 162. DETAIL OF GREEK VASE WITH FIGURE OF GOOSE,
HONEYSUCKLE (ANTHEMION), AND SPIRAL SWASTIKA. Thera. "Monumenti Inedite,"
LXV, p. 2, and Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 46, fig. 7.]
_Swastika in panels._--Professor Goodyear, in another place,[176] argues
in a manner which tacitly admits the foregoing proposition, where, in his
endeavor to establish the true home of the Swastika to be in the Greek
geometric style, he says we should seek it where it appears in "the
largest dimension" and in "the most prominent way." In verification of
this declaration, he says that in this style the Swastika systematically
appears in panels exclusively assigned to it. But he gives only two
illustrations of the Swastika in panels. These have been copied, and are
shown in figs. 140 and 142. The author has added other specimens, figs.
141 to 148, from Dennis's "Etruria," from Waring's "Ceramic Art," and from
Cesnola and Ohnefalsch-Richter. It might be too much to say that these are
the only Swastikas in Greece appearing in panels, but it is certain that
the great majority of them do not thus appear. Therefore, Professor
Goodyear's theory is not sustained, for no one will pretend that four
specimens found in panels will form a rule for the great number which did
not thus appear. This argument of Professor Goodyear is destructive of his
other proposition that the Swastika sign originated by evolution from the
meander or Greek fret, for we have seen that the latter was always used in
a band and never in panels. Although the Swastika and the Greek fret have
a certain similarity of appearance in that they consist of straight lines
bent at right angles, and this continued many times, yet the similarity is
more apparent than real; for an analysis of the motifs of both show them
to have been essentially different in their use, and so in their
foundation and origin.
[Illustration: Fig. 163. DETAIL OF GREEK VASE. Sphinx with spiral scrolls,
and two meander Swastikas (right). Melos. Böhlau, Jahrbuch, 1887, XII, and
Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 34, fig. 8.]
[Illustration: Fig. 164. DETAIL OF GREEK VASE. Ibex, scroll, and meander
Swastika (right). Melos. Böhlau, Jahrbuch, 1887, XII, p. 121, and
Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 39, fig. 2.]
[Illustration: Fig. 165. DETAIL OF A GREEK VASE IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM.
Ram, meander Swastika (left), circles, dots, and crosses. Salzmann,
"Necropole de Camire," LI, and Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 28,
fig. 7.]
_Swastikas with four arms, crossing at right angles, with ends bent to the
right._--The author has called this the normal Swastika. He has been at
some trouble to gather such Swastikas from Greek vases as was possible,
and has divided them according to forms and peculiarities. The first group
(figs. 140, 143, 146, 147, 148, and 150) shows the normal Swastika with
four arms, all bent at right angles and to the right. In the aforesaid
division no distinction has been made between specimens from different
parts of Greece and the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, and these,
with such specimens as have been found in Smyrna, have for this purpose
all been treated as Greek.
[Illustration: Fig. 166. CYPRIAN VASE WITH SWASTIKAS AND FIGURES OF BIRDS.
Perrot and Chipiez, "History of Art in Phenicia and Cyprus," II, p. 300,
fig. 237; Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 48, figs. 6, 12; Cesnola,
"Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples," Appendix by Murray, p.
412, pl. 44, fig. 34.]
[Illustration: Fig. 167. CYPRIAN VASE WITH LOTUS, BOSSES, BUDS, SEPALS,
AND DIFFERENT SWASTIKAS. Cesnola Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York City. Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 48, fig. 3.]
_Swastikas with four arms crossing at right angles, ends bent to the
left._--Figs. 141, 142, 144, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 156, and 157
represent the normal Swastika with four arms, all bending at right angles,
but to the left. The vases on which they have been found are not described
as to color or form. It would be difficult to do so correctly; besides,
these descriptions are not important in our study of the Swastika. Fig.
155 represents a vase or pitcher (oinochoë, Greek--[Greek: oinos], wine,
and [Greek: cheô], to pour) with painted Swastika, ends turned to the
left. It is in the Museum of St. Germain, and is figured by M. De
Mortillet in "Musée Préhistorique." Fig. 156 represents a Cyprian vase
from Ormidia, in the New York Museum. It is described by Cesnola[177] and
by Perrot and Chipiez.[178] Fig. 157 is taken from a fragment of archaic
Greek pottery found in Santorin (Ancient Thera), an island in the Greek
Archipelago. This island was first inhabited by the Phenicians, afterwards
by the Greeks, a colony of whom founded Cyrene in Africa. This specimen is
cited by Rochette and figured by Waring.[179]
[Illustration: Fig. 168. CYPRIAN VASE WITH BOSSES, LOTUS BUDS, AND
DIFFERENT SWASTIKAS. Cesnola Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York City. Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 48, fig. 15.]
_Swastikas with four arms crossing at other than right angles, the ends
ogee and to the left._--Figs. 158, 159, and 160 show Swastikas with four
arms crossing at other than right angles, many of them ogee, but turned to
the left. Fig. 161 is a representation of a wooden button or clasp, much
resembling the later gold brooch of Sweden, classified by Montelius (p.
867), covered with plates of gold, from Sepulcher IV, Mycenæ (Schliemann,
Mycenæ, fig. 385, p. 259). The ornament in its center is one of the ogee
Swastikas with four arms (tetraskelion) curved to the left. It shows a dot
in each of the four angles of the cross similar to the Suavastika of Max
Müller and the _Croix swasticale_ of Zmigrodzki, which Burnouf attributed
to the four nails which fastened the cross _Arani_ (the female principle),
while the _Pramantha_ (the male), produced, by rotation, the holy fire
from the sacred cross. An almost exact reproduction of this Swastika will
be found on the shield of the Pima Indians of New Mexico (fig. 258).
Dr. Schliemann reports that the Swastika in its spiral form is represented
innumerable times in the sculptured ceiling of the Thalamos in the
treasury at Orchomenos. (See figs. 21 and 25.)
[Illustration: Fig. 169. DETAIL OF EARLY BOEOTIAN VASE. Figure of horse,
solar diagram, Artemis with geese, and Swastikas (normal and meander,
right and left). Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 61, fig. 12.]
He also reports[180] that Swastikas (turned both ways) may be seen in the
Royal Museum at Berlin incised on a balustrade relief of the hall which
surrounded the temple of Athene at Pergamos. Fig. 162 represents a spiral
Swastika with four arms crossing at right angles, the ends all turned to
the left and each one forming a spiral.
Waring[181] figures and describes a Grecian oinochoë from Camirus, Rhodes,
dating, as he says, from 700 to 500 B. C., on which is a band of
decoration similar to fig. 130. It is about 10 inches high, of cream
color, with ornamentation of dark brown. Two ibexes follow each other with
an ogee spiral Swastika between the forelegs of one.
_Meander pattern, with ends bent to right and left._--Figs. 163, 164, and
165 show the Swastika in meander pattern. Fig. 163 shows two Swastikas,
the arms of both bent to the right, one six, the other nine times. The
Swastika shown in fig. 164 is bent to the right eight times. That shown in
fig. 165 bends to the left eight times.
_Swastikas of different kinds on the same object._--The next group (figs.
167 to 176) is of importance in that it represents objects which, bearing
the normal Swastika, also show on the same object other styles of
Swastika, those turned to the left at right angles, those at other than
right angles, and those which are spiral or meander. The presence on a
single object of different forms of Swastika is considered as evidence of
their chronologic identity and their consequent relation to each other,
showing them to be all the same sign--that is, they were all Swastikas,
whether the arms were bent to the right or to the left, ogee or in curves,
at right angles or at other than right angles, in spirals or meanders.
[Illustration: Fig. 170. DETAIL OF RHODIAN VASE. Figures of geese, circles
and dots, and Swastikas (right and left). British Museum. Waring, "Ceramic
Art in Remote Ages," pl. 27, fig. 9.]
[Illustration: Fig. 171. DETAIL OF RHODIAN VASE. Geese, lotus circles, and
two Swastikas (right and left). Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," p. 271,
fig. 145.]
Many examples of vases similar to fig. 172 are shown in the London, Paris,
and New York museums, and in other collections. (See figs. 149, 159.) Fig.
174 shows an Attic painted vase (_Lebes_) of the Archaic period, from
Athens. It is a pale yellowish ground, probably the natural color, with
figures in maroon. It belongs to the British Museum. It bears on the front
side five Swastikas, all of different styles; three turn to the right, two
to the left. The main arms cross at right angles, but the ends of four are
bent at right angles, while one is curved (ogee). Three have the ends bent
(at right angles) four times, making a meander form, while two make only
one bend. They seem not to be placed with any reference to each other, or
to any other object, and are scattered over the field as chance or luck
might determine. A specimen of Swastika interesting to prehistoric
archæologists is that on a vase from Cyprus (Musée St. Germain, No.
21537), on which is represented an arrowhead, stemmed, barbed, and
suspended by its points between the Swastika.[182]
[Illustration: Fig. 172. GREEK VASE OF TYPICAL RHODIAN STYLE. Ibex, lotus,
geese, and six Swastikas (normal, meander, and ogee, all left). Goodyear,
"Grammar of the Lotus," p. 251, pl. 39.[183]]
[Illustration: Fig. 173. DETAIL OF GREEK VASE. Deer, solar diagrams, and
three Swastikas (single, double, and meander, right). Melos. Conze,
"Meliosche Thongefässe," and Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 60,
fig. 8.]
Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter presented a paper before the Société
d'Anthropologie in Paris, December 6, 1888, reported in the Bulletin of
that year (pp. 668-681). It was entitled "La Croix gammée et la Croix
cantonnée en Chypre." (The _Croix gammée_ is the Swastika, while the
_Croix cantonnée_ is the cross with dots, the _Croix swasticale_ of
Zmigrodzki.) In this paper the author describes his finding the Swastika
during his excavations into prehistoric Cyprus. On the first page of his
paper the following statement appears:
The Swastika comes from India as an ornament in form of a cone
(_conique_) of metal, gold, silver, or bronze gilt, worn on the ears
(see G. Perrot: "Histoire de l'Art," III, p. 562 et fig. 384), and
nose-rings (see S. Reinach: "Chronique d'Orient," 3{e} série, t. IV,
1886). I was the first to make known the nose-ring worn by the goddess
Aphrodite-Astarte, even at Cyprus. In the Indies the women still wear
these ornaments in their nostrils and ears. The fellahin of Egypt also
wear similar jewelry; but as Egyptian art gives us no example of the
usage of these ornaments in antiquity, it is only from the Indies that
the Phenicians could have borrowed them. The nose-ring is unknown in
the antiquity of all countries which surrounded the island of Cyprus.
[Illustration: Fig. 174. ARCHAIC GREEK VASE WITH FIVE SWASTIKAS OF FOUR
DIFFERENT FORMS. Athens. Birch, "History of Ancient Pottery," quoted by
Waring in "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 41, fig. 15; Dennis, "The
Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria," I, p. 91.]
[Illustration: Fig. 175. DETAIL OF ARCHAIC BOEOTIAN VASE. Serpents,
crosses, and Swastikas (normal, right, left, and meander). Goodyear,
"Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 60, fig. 9.]
The first pages of his memoir are employed in demonstrating that the
specimens of the Swastika found in Cyprus, the most of which are set forth
in this paper (figs. 177-182), show a Phenician influence; and according
to his theory demonstrate their migration or importation. He does not
specify the evidence on which he bases his assertion of Phenician
influence in Cyprus, except in one or two particulars. Speaking of the
specimen shown in fig. 177 of the present paper, he says:
It represents the sacred palm under which Apollo, the god of light,
was born. * * * At Cyprus the palm did not appear only with the
Phenicians; it was not known prior to that time (p. 674).
[Illustration: Fig. 176. ATTIC VASE FOR PERFUME, WITH CROIX SWASTICALE AND
TWO FORMS OF SWASTIKAS. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris,
1888, p. 673, fig. 4.]
[Illustration: Fig. 177. DETAIL OF CYPRIAN VASE. Swastikas with palm tree,
sacred to Apollo. Citium, Cyprus. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc.
d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 673, fig. 3.]
The design shown in fig. 178 he describes as representing two birds in the
attitude of adoration before a Swastika, all being figured on a Greek cup
of the style Dipylon.[184]
Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter adds:
On the vases of Dipylon the Swastikas are generally transformed into
other ornaments, mostly meanders. But this is not the rule in Cyprus.
The Swastika disappeared from there as it came, in its sacred form,
with the Phenician influence, with the Phenician inscriptions on the
vases, with the concentric circles without central points or tangents.
He says[185] that the Swastika as well as the "Croix cantonnée" (with
points or dots), while possibly not always the equivalent of the solar
disk, zigzag lightning, or the double hatchet, yet are employed together
and are given the same signification, and frequently replace each other.
It is his opinion[186] that the Swastika in Cyprus had nearly always a
signification more or less religious, although it may have been used as an
ornament to fill empty spaces. His interpretation of the Swastika in
Cyprus is that it will signify _tour à tour_ the storm, the lightning, the
sun, the light, the seasons--sometimes one, sometimes another of these
significations--and that its form lends itself easily (_facilement_) to
the solar disk, to the fire wheel, and to the sun chariot. In support of
this, he cites a figure (fig. 179) taken from Cesnola,[187] in which the
wheels of the chariot are decorated with four Swastikas displayed in each
of the four quarters. The chief personage on the car he identifies as the
god of Apollo-Resef, and the decoration on his shield represents the solar
disk. He is at once the god of war and also the god of light, which
identifies him with Helios. The other personage is Herakles-Mecquars, the
right hand of Apollo, both of them heroes of the sun.
[Illustration: Fig. 178. CYPRIAN VASE WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS AND SWASTIKA
IN PANEL. Musée St. Germain. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.,
Paris, 1888, p. 674, fig. 6.]
[Illustration: Fig. 179. CHARIOT OF APOLLO-RESEF. Sun symbol(?) on shield
and four Swastikas (two right and two left) on quadrants of chariot
wheels. Cesnola, "Salaminia," p. 240, fig. 226, and Ohnefalsch-Richter,
Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 675, fig. 7.]
The supreme goddess of the Isle of Cyprus was Aphrodite-Astarte,[188]
whose presence with a preponderating Phenician influence can be traced
back to the period of the age of iron, her images bearing signs of the
Swastika, being, according to Dr. Ohnefalsch-Richter, found in Cyprus. In
fig. 180 the statue of this goddess is shown, which he says was found by
himself in 1884 at Curium. It bears four Swastikas, two on the shoulders
and two on the forearms. Fig. 181 represents a centaur found by him at the
same time, on the right arm of which is a Swastika painted in black, as in
the foregoing statue.
[Illustration: Fig. 180. TERRA-COTTA STATUE OF THE GODDESS
APHRODITE-ASTARTE WITH FOUR SWASTIKAS.[189] Curium, Cyprus.
Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 676, fig. 8.]
[Illustration: Fig. 181. CYPRIAN CENTAUR WITH ONE SWASTIKA. Cesnola,
"Salaminia," p. 243, fig. 230; Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop.,
Paris, 1888, p. 676, fig. 9.]
We have found, in the course of this paper, many statues of human figures
bearing the mark of the Swastika on some portion of their garments. M.
Ohnefalsch-Richter, on page 677, gives the following explanation thereof:
It appears to me that the priests and priestesses, also the boys who
performed the services in the sacred places, were in the habit of
burning or tattooing Swastikas upon their arms. * * * In 1885, among
the votive offerings found in one of the sacred places dedicated to
Aphrodite-Astoret, near Idalium, was a stone statuette, representing
the young Adonis Kinyras in a squatting posture, with the Swastika
tattooed or painted in red color upon his naked arm.
[Illustration: Fig. 182. GREEK STATUE OF APHRODITE-ARIADNE. Six Swastikas
(four right and two left). Polistis Chrysokon. Ohnefalsch-Richter, Bull.
Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 677, fig. 10.]
And, says Richter, when, later on, the custom of tattooing had
disappeared, they placed the Swastika on the sacerdotal garments. He has
found in a Greek tomb in 1885, near Polistis Chrysokon, two statuettes
representing female dancers in the service of Aphrodite-Ariadne, one of
which (fig. 182) bore six or more Swastikas. In other cases, says he (p.
678), the _Croix cantonnée_ (the _Croix swasticale_ of Zmigrodzki)
replaced the Swastika on the garments, and he cites the statue of Hercules
strangling the lion in the presence of Athena, whose robe is ornamented
with the _Croix cantonnée_. He repeats that the two signs of the cross
represent the idea of light, sun, sacrifice, rain, storm, and the seasons.
EUROPE.
BRONZE AGE.
Prehistoric archæologists claim that bronze was introduced into Europe in
prehistoric times from the extreme Orient. The tin mines of the peninsula
of Burma and Siam, with their extension into China on the north, Malacca
and the islands of the archipelago on the south, are known to have been
worked in extremely ancient times and are believed to have furnished the
tin for the first making of bronze. The latter may not be susceptible of
proof, but everything is consistent therewith. After it became known that
copper and tin would make bronze, the discovery of tin would be greatly
extended, and in the course of time the tin mines of Spain, Britain, and
Germany might be opened. A hundred and more prehistoric bronze foundries
have been discovered in western Europe and tens of thousands of
prehistoric bronze implements. If bronze came originally from the extreme
Orient, and the Swastika belonged there also, and as objects of bronze
belonging to prehistoric times and showing connection with the Orient,
like the tintinnabulum (fig. 29) have been found in the Swiss lake
dwellings of prehistoric times, it is a fair inference that the Swastika
mark found on the same objects came also from the Orient. This inference
is strengthened by the manufacture and continuous use of the Swastika on
both bronze and pottery, until it practically covered, and is to be found
over, all Europe wherever the culture of bronze prevailed. Nearly all
varieties of the Swastika came into use during the Bronze Age. The objects
on which it was placed may have been different in different localities,
and so also another variety of form may have prevailed in a given
locality; but, subject to these exceptions, the Swastika came into general
use throughout the countries wherein the Bronze Age prevailed. As we have
seen, on the hill of Hissarlik the Swastika is found principally on the
spindle-whorl; in Greece and Cyprus, on the pottery vases; in Germany, on
the ceintures of bronze; in Scandinavia, on weapons and on toilet and
dress ornaments. In Scotland and Ireland it was mostly on sculptured
stones, which are many times themselves ancient Celtic crosses. In
England, France, and Etruria, the Swastika appears on small bronze
ornaments, principally fibulæ. Different forms of the Swastika, i. e.,
those to the right, left, square, ogee, curved, spiral and meander,
triskelion and tetraskelion, have been found on the same object, thereby
showing their inter-relationship. No distinction is apparent between the
arms bent to the right or to the left. This difference, noted by Prof. Max
Müller, seems to fail altogether.
Greg says:[190]
About 500 to 600 B. C., the fylfot, (Swastika) curiously enough begins
to disappear as a favorite device of early Greek art, and is rarely,
if ever, seen on the regular Etruscan vase.
This indicates that the period of the use of the Swastika during the
Bronze Age in Europe lay back of the period of its disappearance in the
time of early Greek art, and that it was of higher antiquity than would
otherwise be suspected.
Dr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter says:[191]
The Swastika makes absolute default in Cyprus during all the age of
bronze and in all its separate divisions according as the vases were
decorated with intaglio or relief, or were painted.
_Etruria and Italy._--The Etruscans were a prehistoric people. The country
was occupied during the two ages of stone, Paleolithic and Neolithic, and
during the Bronze Age. The Etruscans were probably the descendants of the
Bronze Age people. The longest continued geographical discussion the world
has heard was as to _who were_ the Etruscans, and _whence_ or _by what_
route did they come to their country? It was opened by Herodotus and
Dionysius Halicarnassus in the fourth century B. C.; while Dr. Brinton and
the late President Welling have made the latest contributions thereto. The
culture of the Etruscans was somewhat similar to that of the Bronze Age
peoples, and many of the implements had great resemblance, but with
sufficient divergence to mark the difference between them. There were
different stages of culture among the Etruscans, as can be easily and
certainly determined from their tombs, modes of burial, pottery, etc.
The Swastika appears to have been employed in all these epochs or stages.
It was undoubtedly used during the Bronze Age, and in Italy it continued
throughout the Etruscan and into the Roman and Christian periods.
[Illustration: Fig. 183. HUT URN IN THE VATICAN MUSEUM. "Burning altar"
mark associated with Swastikas. Etruria (Bronze Age).]
While it may be doubtful if any specimen of Swastika can be identified as
having belonged to the Neolithic Age in Europe, there can be no doubt that
it was in common use during the Bronze Age. Professor Goodyear gives it as
his opinion, and in this he may be correct, that the earliest specimens of
Swastika of which identification can be made are on the hut urns of
central Italy. These have been considered as belonging definitely to the
Bronze Age in that country. Fig. 183 is a representation of one of these
hut urns. It shows upon its roof several specimens of Swastika, as will be
apparent from examination. There are other figures, incised and in relief.
One of them is the celebrated "burning altar" mark of Dr. Schliemann. This
specimen was found in the Via Appia near Rome, and is exhibited in the
Vatican Museum. Similar specimens have been found in other parts of
Etruria. The author saw in the Municipal Museum at Corneto many of them,
which had been excavated from the neighboring cemetery of the prehistoric
city of Corneto-Tarquinii. They were of pottery, but made as if to
represent rude huts of skin, stretched on cross poles, in general
appearance not unlike the cane and rush conical cabins used to this day by
the peasants around Rome. They belonged to the Bronze Age, and antedated
the Etruscan civilization. This was demonstrated by the finds at
Corneto-Tarquinii. Tombs to the number of about 300, containing them, were
found, mostly in 1880-81, at a lower level than, and were superseded by,
the Etruscan tombs. They contained the weapons, tools, and ornaments
peculiar to the Bronze Age--swords, hatchets, pins, fibulæ, bronze and
pottery vases, etc., the characteristics of which were different from
Etruscan objects of similar purpose, so they could be satisfactorily
identified and segregated. The hut urns were receptacles for the ashes of
the cremated dead, which, undisturbed, are to be seen in the museum. The
vases forming part of this grave furniture bore the Swastika mark; three
have two Swastikas, one three, one four, and another no less than eight.
Dennis figures a hut urn from Alba Longa,[192] and another from the Alban
Mount.[193] He says (note 1):
These remarkable urns were first found in 1817 at Montecucco, near
Marino, and at Monte Crescenzio, near the Lago de Castello, beneath a
stratum of _peperino_ (tufa) 18 inches thick. They were embedded in a
yellowish volcanic ash and rested on a lower and earlier stratum of
_peperino_.[194]
Curiously enough, the three or four pronged mark, called "burning altar"
by Dr. Schliemann, is on both hut urns in Dennis's "Cities and Cemeteries
of Etruria." Dr. Schliemann argues strongly in favor of the relationship
between Swastika and the "burning altar" sign, but assigns no other reason
than the similarity of the marks on the two objects. He appears unable, in
"Ilios," to cite any instance of the Swastika being found on the hut urns
in connection with the "burning altar" sign, but he mentions the Swastika
five times repeated on one of the hut urns in the Etruscan collection in
the museum of the Vatican at Rome.[195] The photograph of the hut urn from
the Vatican (fig. 183) supplies the missing link in Schliemann's evidence.
The roof of the hut urn bears the "burning altar" mark (if it be a burning
altar, as claimed), which is in high relief (as it is in the Dennis
specimens), and was wrought in the clay by the molder when the hut was
made. Such of the other portions of the roof as are in sight show sundry
incised lines which, being deciphered, are found to be Swastikas or parts
of them. The parallelogram in the front contains a cross and has the
appearance of a labyrinth, but it is not. The other signs or marks,
however, represent Swastikas, either in whole or in part. This specimen
completes the proof cited by Schliemann, and associates the Swastika with
the "burning altar" sign in the Etruscan country, as well as on the hill
of Hissarlik and in other localities.
Dennis supposes the earliest Etruscan vases, called by many different
names, to date from the twelfth century B. C. to 540 B. C.,[196] the
latter being the epoch of Theodoros of Samos, whose improvements marked an
epoch in the culture of the country. He says:
These vases were adorned with annular bands, zigzag, waves, meanders,
concentric circles, hatched lines, Swastikas, and other geometric
patterns.
A fragment of Archaic Greek pottery is reported by Rochette from the
necropolis of Cumæ, in the campagna of Italy, and is shown in fig. 184.
Rochette reports it as an example of a very early period, believed by him
to have been Phenician. When we consider the rarity of Phenician pottery
in Italy compared with the great amount of Greek pottery found there, and
that the Phenicians are not known to have employed the Swastika, this,
combined with the difficulty of determining the place of origin of such a
fragment, renders it more likely to have been Greek than Phenician. A
reason apparently moving Rochette to this decision was the zigzag
ornamentation, which he translated to be a Phenician sign for water; but
this pattern was used many times and in many places without having any
such meaning, and is no proof of his proposition.
[Illustration: Fig. 184. FRAGMENT OF ARCHAIC GREEK POTTERY WITH THREE
SWASTIKAS. Cumæ, Italy. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 42, fig.
1.]
[Illustration: Fig. 185. CINERARY URN WITH SWASTIKAS IN PANELS. San
Marino, near Albano, Italy. Vatican Museum.]
[Illustration: Fig. 186. CINERARY URN WITH SWASTIKAS INCLOSED BY INCISED
LINES IN INTAGLIO. Cervetri, Italy. "Conestabile due Dischi in Bronzo,"
pl. 5, fig. 2. 1/6 natural size.]
Figs. 185 and 186 represent the one-handled cinerary urns peculiar to the
Bronze Age in Italy. They are believed to have been contemporaneous with
or immediately succeeding the hut urns just shown. The cinerary urn shown
in fig. 185 was found at Marino, near Albano, in the same locality and
under the same condition as the hut urns. The original is in the Vatican
Museum and was figured by Pigorini in "Archæologia," 1869. Fig. 186 shows
a one-handled urn of pottery with Swastika (left) in intaglio, placed in a
band of incised squares around the body of the vessel below the shoulder.
A small though good example of Etruscan work is shown in the gold fibula
(fig. 187). It is ornamented on the outside with the fine gold filigree
work peculiar to the best Etruscan art. On the inside are two Swastikas.
It is in the Vatican Museum of Etruscan antiquities. Fig. 188 represents
another specimen of Etruscan gold filigree work with a circle and
Swastika. It is a "bulla," an ornament said to indicate the rank of the
wearer among the Etruscan people. It is decorated with a circle and
Swastika inside. The figure is taken from "L'Art pour Tous," and is
reproduced by Waring.
[Illustration: Fig. 187. GOLD FIBULA WITH SWASTIKAS (LEFT). Etruscan
Museum, Vatican. Catalogue of the Etruscan Museum, part 1, pl. 26, fig. 6.
1/2 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 188. ETRUSCAN GOLD BULLA WITH SWASTIKA ON BOTTOM.
Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 42, fig. 4_a_.]
[Illustration: Fig. 189. ORNAMENTAL SWASTIKA ON ETRUSCAN SILVER BOWL.
Cervetri (Cære), Etruria. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 41,
fig. 13.]
An ornamental Swastika (fig. 189) is found on a silver bowl from Cervetri
(Cære), Etruria. It is furnished by Grifi, and reproduced by Waring. This
specimen is to be remarked as having a small outward flourish from the
extreme end of each arm, somewhat similar to that made by the Jains (fig.
33), or on the "Tablet of honor" of Chinese porcelain (fig. 31). Fig. 190
shows an Etruscan bronze fibula with two Swastikas and two Maltese crosses
in the pin shield. It is in the Museum of Copenhagen, and is taken from
the report of the Congrés Internationale d'Anthropologie et d'Archæologie
Préhistorique, Copenhagen, 1875, page 486. This specimen, by its rays or
crotchets around the junction of the pin with the shield, furnishes the
basis of the argument by Goblet d'Alviella[197] that the Swastika was
evolved from the circle and was a symbol of the sun or sun-god. (See p.
785.)
[Illustration: Fig. 190. BRONZE FIBULA WITH TWO SWASTIKAS AND SUPPOSED
RAYS Of SUN.[198] Etruria. Copenhagen Museum. Goblet d'Alviella, fig.
19_a_, De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1263. 1/4 natural size.]
Bologna was the site of the Roman city Bononia, and is supposed to have
been that of Etruscan Felsina. Its Etruscan cemetery is extensive.
Different names have been given to the excavations, sometimes from the
owner of the land and at other times from the names of excavators. The
first cemetery opened was called Villanova. The culture was different from
that of the other parts of Etruria. By some it is believed to be older, by
others younger, than the rest of Etruria. The Swastika is found throughout
the entire Villanova epoch. Fig. 191 shows a pottery vase from the
excavation Arnoaldi. It is peculiar in shape and decoration, but is
typical of that epoch. The decoration was by stamps in the clay (intaglio)
of a given subject repeated in the narrow bands around the body of the
vase. Two of these bands were of small Swastikas with the ends all turned
to the right. Fig. 192 shows a fragment of pottery from the Felsina
necropolis, Bologna, ornamented with a row of Swastikas stamped into the
clay in a manner peculiar to the locality.
[Illustration: Fig. 191. POTTERY URN ORNAMENTED WITH SUCCESSIVE BANDS IN
INTAGLIO, TWO OF WHICH ARE COMPOSED OF SWASTIKAS. Necropolis Arnoaldi,
Bologna. Museum of Bologna. Gozzadini, "Scavi Archæologici," etc., pl. 4,
fig. 8.]
[Illustration: Fig. 192. FRAGMENT OF POTTERY WITH ROW OF SWASTIKAS IN
INTAGLIO. Necropole Felsinea, Italy. Museo Bologna. Gozzadini, "Due
Sepolcri," etc., p. 7. 1/2 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 193. SWASTIKA SIGN ON CLAY BOBBIN. Type Villanova,
Bologna. De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1239.]
Fig. 193 shows the end view of one of the bobbins from Bologna, Italy, in
the possession of Count Gozzadini by whom it was collected. The decoration
on the end, as shown by the figure, is the Swastika. The main arms are
made up of three parallel lines, which intersect each other at right
angles, and which all turn to the right at right angles. The lines are not
incised, as is usual, but, like much of the decoration belonging to this
culture, are made by little points consecutively placed, so as to give the
appearance of a continuous line.
Swastikas turning both ways are on one or both extremities of many
terra-cotta cylinders found in the terramare at Coazze, province of
Verona, deposited in the National (Kircheriano) Museum at Rome. (See figs.
380 and 381 for similar bobbins.)
The museum at Este, Italy, contains an elegant pottery vase of large
dimensions, represented in fig. 194, the decoration of which is the Greek
fret around the neck and the Swastika around the body, done with small
nail heads or similar disks inserted in the clay in the forms indicated.
This association of the Swastika and the Greek fret on the same object is
satisfactory evidence of their contemporaneous existence, and is thus far
evidence that the one was not derived from the other, especially as the
authorities who claim this derivation are at variance as to which was
parent and which, child. (See fig. 133.)
A Swastika of the curious half-spiral form turned to the left, such as
has been found in Scandinavia and also among the Pueblo Indians of the
United States, is in the museum at Este.
[Illustration: Fig. 194. POTTERY VASE ORNAMENTED WITH BRONZED NAIL HEADS
IN FORM OF SWASTIKA. Este, Italy. Matériaux pour l'Histoire Primitive et
Naturelle de l'Homme, 1884, p. 14.]
[Illustration: Fig. 195. FRAGMENT OF POTTERY WITH SWASTIKA STAMPED IN
RELIEF.]
[Illustration: Fig. 196. STAMP FOR MAKING SWASTIKA SIGN ON POTTERY. Swiss
lake dwelling of Bourget, Savoy. Musée de Chambéry. Chantre, "Age du
Bronze," figs. 53, 55, and Keller, "Lake Dwellings of Europe," pl. 161,
fig. 3.]
When in the early centuries of the Christian era the Huns made their
irruption into Europe, they apparently possessed a knowledge of the
Swastika. They settled in certain towns of northern Italy, drove off the
inhabitants, and occupied the territory for themselves. On the death of
Attila and the repulse of the Huns and their general return to their
native country, many small tribes remained and gradually became
assimilated with the population. They have remained in northern Italy
under the title of Longobards. In this Longobardian civilization or
barbarism, whichever we may call it, and in their style of architecture
and ornament, the Swastika found a prominent place, and is spoken of as
Longobardian.
It is needless to multiply citations of the Swastika in Roman and
Christian times. It would appear as though the sign had descended from the
Etruscans and Samnites along the coast and had continued in use during
Roman times. Schliemann says[199] that it is found frequently in the wall
paintings at Pompeii; even more than a hundred times in a house in the
recently excavated street of Vesuvius. It may have contested with the
Latin cross for the honor of being the Christian cross, for we know that
the St. Andrew's cross in connection with the Greek letter P (fig. 6) did
so, and for a long time stood as the monogram of Christ and was the
Labarum of Constantine. All three of these are on the base of the
Archiepiscopal chair in the cathedral at Milan.[200]
_Swiss lake dwellings._--Figs. 195 and 196 are interesting as giving an
insight into the method of making the sign of the Swastika. Fig. 195 shows
a fragment of pottery bearing a stamped intaglio Swastika (right), while
fig. 196 represents the stamp, also in pottery, with which the imprint was
made. They are figured by Keller,[201] and are described on page 339, and
by Chantre.[202] They were found in the Swiss lake dwelling of Bourget
(Savoy) by the Duc de Chaulnes, and are credited to his Museum of
Chambéry.
[Illustration: Fig. 197. FRAGMENT OF CEINTURE FROM A TUMULUS IN ALSACE.
Thin bronze repoussé with Swastikas of various kinds. Bronze Age,
Halstattien epoch. De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1255.]
[Illustration: Fig. 198. FRAGMENT OF A CEINTURE FROM THE TUMULUS OF
METZSTETTEN, WÜRTEMBERG. Thin bronze open-work with intricate Swastikas.
Halstattien epoch. De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1257, and
Chantre, "Le Caucase," II, p. 50, fig. 25.]
[Illustration: Fig. 199. BRONZE FIBULA, THE BODY OF WHICH FORMS A
SWASTIKA. Museum of Mayence. De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig.
1266.]
[Illustration: Fig. 200. SEPULCHRAL URN WITH SWASTIKA. North Germany.
Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 7, fig. 94.]
_Germany and Austria._--Fig. 197 represents a fragment of a ceinture of
thin bronze of the Halstattien epoch of the Bronze Age from a tumulus in
Alsace. It is made after the style common to that period; the work is
repoussé and the design is laid off by diagonal lines which divide the
field into lozenges, wherein the Swastika is represented in various forms,
some turned square to the right, others to the left, while one is in
spiral and is turned to the left. Other forms of the cross also appear
with dots in or about the corners, which Burnouf associates with the myth
of Agni and fire making, and which Zmigrodzki calls the _Croix
swasticale_. This specimen is in the collection Nessel at Haguenau.
Another ceinture was found at the same place and is displayed with it. It
bears representations of the cross of different forms, one of which might
be a Swastika with dotted cross lines, with the arms turned spirally to
the left. Fig. 198 represents another fragment of a bronze ceinture from
the same country and belonging to the same epoch. It is from the tumulus
of Metzstetten, Würtemberg, and is in the Museum of Stuttgart. It is not
repoussé, but is cut in openwork of intricate pattern in which the
Swastika is the principal motif. A bronze fibula (fig. 199) is in the
museum at Mayence, the body of which has the form of the normal Swastika.
The arms are turned to the right and the lower one is broken off. The
hinge for the pin was attached at one side or arm of the Swastika and the
retaining clasp for the point at the other. Fig. 200 represents a
prehistoric sepulchral urn with a large Swastika, the arms being indicated
by three parallel lines, after the same manner as the Swastika on the clay
bobbin from Bologna (fig. 193). It is reported by Lisch and Schröter,
though the locality is not given. It is figured by Waring. The form,
appearance, and decoration are of the type Villanova, thus identifying it
with northern Italy.
[Illustration: Fig. 201. SPEARHEAD WITH SWASTIKA (CROIX SWASTICALE) AND
TRISKELION. Brandenburg, Germany. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,"
pl. 44, fig. 21, and "Viking Age," I, fig. 336.]
[Illustration: Fig. 202. BRONZE PIN WITH SWASTIKA, POINTILLÉ, FROM MOUND
IN BAVARIA. Chantre, Matériaux pour l'Histoire Primitive et Naturelle de
l'Homme, 1854, pp. 14, 120.]
The Swastika sign is on one of the three pottery vases found on Bishops
Island, near Königswalde, on the right bank of the Oder, and on a vase
from Reichersdorf, near Guben;[203] on a vase in the county of Lipto,
Hungary,[204] and on pottery from the Cavern of Barathegy, Hungary.[205]
Fig. 201 represents a spearhead of iron from Brandenburg, North Germany.
It bears the mark of the Swastika with the ends turned to the left, all
being at right angles, the ends ornamented with three dots recalling
Zmigrodzki's _Croix swasticale_ (figs. 12 and 13). By the side of this
Swastika is a triskelion, or three-armed ogee sign, with its ends also
decorated with the same three dots.
What relation there is between all these marks or signs and others similar
to them, but separated by great distances of both time and space, it would
be mere speculation to divine.
M. E. Chantre reports his investigations in certain Halstattien cemeteries
in Italy and Austria.[206] At San Margarethen, on the road between
Rudolfswerth and Kronau, Bavaria, he encountered a group of tumuli. Many
objects of the "bel age du bronze" were found; among others, a bronze pin
(fig. 202) with a short stem, but large, square, flat head, was found,
with a normal Swastika engraved with small dots, pointillé, such as has
been seen in Italy, Austria, and Armenia.
_Belgium._--The Museum of Namur, Belgium, possesses a small object of
bone, both points of which have been broken; its use is somewhat
indeterminable, but it is believed by the curator of that museum and
others to have been an arrowhead or spearhead. In form it belongs to Class
A of stemmed implements, is lozenge-shaped, without shoulder or barb. It
is a little more than two inches long, five-eighths of an inch wide, is
flat and thin. On one side it bears two oblique or St. Andrew's crosses
scratched in the bone; on the other, a figure resembling the Swastika. It
is not the normal Swastika, but a variation therefrom. It is a cross about
three-eighths of an inch square. The main stem lines cross each other at
right angles; the ends of each of these arms are joined by two incised
lines, which gives it the appearance of two turns to the right, but the
junction is not well made, for the lines of the cross extend in every case
slightly farther than the bent end. The variation from the normal Swastika
consists of the variation produced by this second line. This object was
lately found by M. Dupont, of Brussels, in the prehistoric cavern of
Sinsin, near Namur. Most, or many, of these caverns belong to Paleolithic
times, and one, the Grotte de Spy, has furnished the most celebrated
specimens of the skeletons of Paleolithic man. But the cavern of Sinsin
was determined, from the objects found therein, to belong to the Bronze
Age.
_Scandinavia._--The evidences of prehistoric culture have great
resemblance throughout Denmark, Sweden, and Norway; so it is believed that
during the prehistoric ages their peoples had the same culture, and the
countries have been classed together as Scandinavia.
[Illustration: Fig. 203. RUNIC INSCRIPTION CONTAINING A SWASTIKA. Inlaid
with silver on a bronze sword. Saebo, Norway.]
[Illustration: Du Chaillu, "Viking Age," I, fig. 335.
Fig. 204_a_. SWASTIKA WITH DOTS. Torcello, Italy.
Fig. 204_b_. RUNIC INSCRIPTION ON SPEARHEAD. Torcello, Italy.]
[Illustration: Fig. 205. REDDING COMB WITH SWASTIKA. Scandinavia.]
A bronze sword is reported by Mr. George Stephens[207] as having been
found at Sæbo, Norway, with runes and a Swastika inlaid with silver. This
specimen (fig. 203) was the subject of discussion before the International
Congress of Anthropology and Prehistoric Archæology,[208] at Budapest,
1876. Its runes were translated by Stephens, and being read from right to
left, "OH THURMUTH," or "owns me Thurmuth." But on the same page he gives
another sign for Thu and renders [S] as Odin or (W)oden. In the discussion
before the congress it seems to have been agreed that the sign [S] stood
for "blessing," "good luck," or some beneficent charm or benediction. A
spearhead has been for years displayed in the museum at Torcello, near
Venice, Italy, with a Swastika sign (fig. 204_a_) prominent as an engraved
sign.[209] Associated with it, but not a part of it, was an inscription
(fig. 204_b_), which has always been attributed to the Etruscans. Mr. I.
Undset, an archæologist in the museum of Christiania, made an extended
visit through Italy in 1883, and on seeing this spearhead recognized the
inscription as runic and belonging to Scandinavia. The arms of the
Swastika turned to the left, and the ends were finished with three dots of
the same style as those described employed in the _Croix swasticale_ (fig.
12). Figs. 205 and 206 represent articles of dress or toilet, and bear the
Swastika. The first shows a redding comb, the Swastika on which turns to
the right. It was probably of bone or horn, as are those of modern times.
Fig. 206 shows a brooch, the interior decoration of which is a combination
of Swastikas more or less interlaced. It is of bronze and was used as a
dress ornament. Fig. 207 shows a large brooch, the bodies and bar of which
are almost covered with the tetraskelion style of Swastika. There are six
of the four-armed Swastikas, four of which turn to the left and two to the
right. Another is a triskelion, the arms of which turn to the right.
[Illustration: Fig. 206. BRONZE BROOCH OR FIBULA WITH COMBINATION OF
SWASTIKAS. Scandinavia.]
[Illustration: Fig. 207. BRONZE BROOCH WITH SWASTIKAS. Tetraskelions
(right and left), triskelion (left). Scandinavia.]
[Illustration: Fig. 208. PLACQUE FOR CEINTURE, WITH BUCKLE. Two ogee
Swastikas (tetraskelions).]
[Illustration: Fig. 209. SCANDINAVIAN SWORD SCABBARD. Two ogee Swastikas
(tetraskelions), right and left.]
[Illustration: Fig. 210. SCANDINAVIAN SWORD SCABBARD. Ogee Swastika.]
[Illustration: Fig. 211. SCANDINAVIAN SWORD SCABBARD. Two triskelions,
right and left.]
In Scandinavia more than in other countries the Swastika took the form of
a rectangular body with arms projecting from each corner and bending in a
spiral form, sometimes to the right, sometimes to the left. These are
found more frequently on fibulæ or brooches and on swords and scabbards.
In fig. 208 is shown a placque for a ceinture or belt, with a buckle to
receive the thong. It contains two ogee Swastikas (tetraskelions). In this
and fig. 207 the border and accessory decoration consist largely of ogee
curves, which, here represented separate, would, if placed together as a
cross, form the same style of Swastika as those mentioned. Figs. 209 and
210 show sword scabbards, with Swastikas turned both ways. Fig. 211 shows
two triskelions. Fig. 212 represents a gold brooch from a grave at Fyen,
reported by Worsaae and figured by Waring.[210] The brooch with ogee
Swastika bears internal evidence of Scandinavian workmanship. There are
other Swastikas of the same general form and style in distant localities,
and this specimen serves to emphasize the extent of possible communication
between distant peoples in prehistoric times. Fig. 213 represents a piece
of horse-gear of bronze, silver plated and ornamented with Swastikas. Two
of these are normal, the ends bent at right angles to the left, while the
other is fancifully made, the only specimen yet found of that
pattern.[211] It is not seen that these fanciful additions serve any
purpose other than decoration. They do not appear to have changed the
symbolic meaning of the Swastika. Fig. 214 represents a sword scabbard
belonging to the Vimose find, with a normal Swastika. Ludwig Müller
reproduces a Swastika cross from a runic stone in Sweden. In an ancient
church in Denmark, the baptismal font is decorated with Swastikas, showing
its use in early Christian times. (See p. 878 for continuation of Swastika
on Scandinavian or Danish gold bracteates.)
[Illustration: Fig. 212. GOLD BROOCH WITH OGEE SWASTIKA. Island of Fyen.
Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 43, fig. 11.]
[Illustration: Fig. 213. SCANDINAVIAN HORSE-GEAR. Silver plated on bronze.
Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 44, fig. 16; Du Chaillu, "Viking
Age," I, fig. 379.]
Mr. Paul du Chaillu, in his "Viking Age," mentions many specimens of
Scandinavian and Norse antiquities bearing Swastika marks of divers
styles: Bronze vessels (vol. 1, p. 100, note 1); iron spear point with
runes and Swastika inlaid with silver, discovered in a tumulus with burnt
bones, Muncheburg, fig. 336; another of the same, Volhynia, Russia, fig.
337; pottery vessel containing burnt bones, pointed iron knife, bronze
needle, and melted glass beads, Bornholm, fig. 210; iron spearhead, Vimose
bog find, (p. 207); border of finely woven silk cloth with gold and silver
threads, from a mound (vol. 2, p. 289, fig. 1150).
_Scotland and Ireland._--Specimens of the Swastika have been found on the
Ogam stones in Scotland and Ireland (p. 797). In the churchyard of Aglish,
county Kerry, Ireland, stand two stones bearing Ogam inscriptions. At the
top of one is an ancient Celtic cross inclosed in a circle similar to fig.
7; immediately under it are two Swastika marks of four arms crossing at
right angles, each arm bent to the right also at right angles. On two
corners of the stone are inscriptions of the usual Ogam characters. The
translation may be given, but seems to be unimportant and without apparent
bearing upon this question. They are somewhat obliterated and their
reading difficult. So far as made out, they are as follows: Maqimaqa and
Apiloggo.
[Illustration: Fig. 214. SCANDINAVIAN SWORD SCABBARD WITH NORMAL SWASTIKA.
Vimose bog find.]
In Scotland, the Newton stone, in the grounds of the Newton House, bears
an Ogam inscription, the meaning of which has no bearing upon the
subject. But on the upper part of one of its faces appears an inscription,
boldly and deeply incised, of forty-four characters arranged horizontally
in six lines. These are of so remarkable a type as to have puzzled every
philologist and paleographer who has attempted their decipherment. The
late Alexander Thomson, esq., of Banchory, Scotland, circulated a
photograph and description of this monument among antiquarians with a
request for their decipherment of it. Various readings have been given by
the learned gentlemen, who have reported it to be Hebrew, Phenician,
Greek, Latin, Aryan, Irish, and Anglo-Saxon respectively. Brash[212] gives
his opinion that the inscription is in debased Roman letters of a type
frequently found in ancient inscriptions, its peculiarities being much
influenced by the hardness of the stone at the time of cutting and of the
subsequent weather wear of ages. The interest of this monument to us is
that the third character in the fourth line is a Swastika. It is
indifferently made, the lines do not cross at right angles, two of the
ends are curved, and the two others bent at a wider than right angle.
There are four characters in the line closely following each other, (see
p. 797.)
[Illustration: Fig. 215. SCULPTURED STONE. Greek cross in circle, normal
Swastika in square, and ogee Swastika in quatrefoil. Ireland.]
[Illustration: Fig. 216. FRAGMENT OF THIN BRONZE REPOUSSÉ. Ogee Swastika.
Ireland. Munro, "Lake Dwellings of Europe," pl. 124, figs. 20-22.]
[Illustration: Fig. 217. FRAGMENT OF THIN BRONZE. Triskelion. Ireland.
Munro, "Lake Dwellings of Europe," p. 384, pl. 124, figs. 20-22.]
[Illustration: Fig. 218. BRONZE PIN WITH SMALL NORMAL SWASTIKA ON HEAD.
Crannog of Lochlee, Tarbolton, Scotland. Munro, "Lake Dwellings of
Europe," p. 417.]
The Logie stone, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, bearing Ogam characters,
contains a figure or mark reported by George M. Atkinson as a
Swastika.[213]
On the Celtic crosses of Scotland certain marks appear which are elsewhere
found associated with Swastika, and consequently have some relation
therewith. The "Annam Stone" bears the mark of a Swastika (left) within
three concentric circles, around the outside of which is a circle of
dots.[214]
Ludwig Müller reports the Swastika in Scotland and Ireland on Christian
tombs, associated with Latin crosses.[215]
A sculptured stone in Ireland (fig. 215) shows on the face three varieties
of the cross, a Greek cross in a circle, a Swastika with square ends
turned to the right, within a rectangle, and an ogee (tetraskelion) turned
to the right, inclosed in a quatrefoil.[216]
[Illustration: Fig. 219. CARVED TRISKELION FOUND ON FRAGMENT OF ASH WOOD.
Crannog of Lochlee, Tarbolton, Scotland. Munro, "Lake Dwellings of
Europe," p. 415.]
An Irish bowl showed a Swastika thus [symbol]. Dr. R. Munro[217] reports
from the Crannog of Lesnacroghera country, Antrim, Ireland, two pieces or
disks of thin bronze, repoussés (fig. 216), bearing the sign of the
Swastika and having the four arms of the spirals turned to the left. The
similarity of this figure with those shown on the shields of the Pima
Indians of New Mexico and Arizona (figs. 257 and 258) is to be remarked.
Fig. 217 shows a triskelion of symmetric spirals turned to the right. In
the Crannog of Lochlee, near Tarbolton, a bronze pin was found (fig. 218),
the head of which was inclosed in a ring. On one side of the head was
engraved a Greek cross, on the other was a normal Swastika turned to the
right. The same crannog furnished a piece of ash wood five inches square,
which had been preserved, as were all the other objects, by the peat, on
which was carved a triskelion (fig. 219) after the form and style of those
on the Missouri mound pottery.
GALLO ROMAN PERIOD.
_France._--The employment of the Swastika in France did not cease with the
Bronze or Iron ages, but continued into the occupation of Gaul by the
Romans.
[Illustration: Fig. 220. STONE ALTAR WITH SWASTIKA ON PEDESTAL. France.
Museum of Toulouse. De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1267.]
Fig. 220 represents a stone altar erected in the south of France among the
Pyrenees about the time of the advent of the Romans. It has a Swastika
engraved on its pedestal. The upper arm has been carried beyond the body
of the sign, whether by intention is not apparent. Fig. 221 represents a
pottery bottle with another specimen of Swastika belonging to the same
(Gallo-Roman) epoch, but coming from the extreme north of Gaul, the
neighborhood of Rouen. It is to be remarked that the ends of this Swastika
give the outward curve or flourish similar to that noticed by Dr.
Schliemann on the spindle-whorl of Troy, and is yet employed in making the
Jain Swastika (fig. 33).
[Illustration: Fig. 221. POTTERY BOTTLE OF DARK GRAY WITH SWASTIKA AND
DECORATION IN WHITE BARBOTINE. Gallo-Roman Epoch. Museum of Rouen. De
Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1246.]
M. Alexander Bertrand[218] speaks of the discovery at Velaux, in the
department of Bouches-du-Rhône, of the headless statue of a crouching or
squatting guard which has a row of Swastikas across his breast, while
beneath is a range of crosses, Greek or Latin. The newest examples of the
Swastika, belonging to this epoch have been found at Estinnes, Hainaut,
and at Anthée, Namur, Belgium, on pieces of Roman tile; also on a
tombstone in the Roman or Belgo-Roman cemetery of Juslenville near
Pepinster.[219] This is a Pagan tomb, as evidenced by the inscriptions
commenced "D. M." (_Diis Manibus_).[220]
ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD.
[Illustration: Fig. 222. ANGLO-SAXON BRONZE GILT FIBULA.[221] Simulation
of Swastika. Long Wittenham, Berkshire, England.]
[Illustration: Fig. 223. POTTERY URN. Band of twenty hand-made Swastikas,
white, on blackish ground. Shropham, Norfolk, England. British Museum.
Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 3, fig. 50.]
_Britain._--Greg reports[222] a silver disk 1-1/2 inches in diameter, with
a triskelion made by punched dots, in the same style as the pin heads from
Armenia (figs. 35 and 36). This was from grave 95 in an Anglo-Saxon
cemetery at Sleafors, England, excavated by George W. Thomas and sold at
Boston; bought by A. W. Franks and given to the British Museum. Grave 143
had a large cruciform fibula of bronze, partly gilt, similar to those from
Scandinavia, with a Swastika on the central ornament thus [symbol]. The
slight curve or flourish on the outer end of the bent arm of this specimen
resembles the Jain Swastika (fig. 33), though this bends to the left,
while the Jain Swastikas bend to the right. Fig. 222 shows an Anglo-Saxon
bronze gilt fibula with a peculiar form of Swastika leaving a square with
dot and circle in its center. It was found in Long Wittenham, Berkshire,
was reported in Archæologia,[223] and is figured by Waring.[224] A figure
having great similarity to this, even in its peculiarities and called a
Swastika, was found on a shell in Toco Mound, Tennessee (fig. 238). Fig.
223 represents an Anglo-Saxon urn from Shropham, Norfolk. Its decorations
consist of isolated figures like crosses, etc., arranged in horizontal
bands around the vessel, and separated by moldings. The lower row consists
of Swastikas of small size stamped into the clay and arranged in isolated
squares. There are twenty Swastikas in the band; though they all turn to
the right, they are not repetitions. They were made by hand and not with
the stamp. They are white on a blackish ground. The original, which is in
the British Museum, is cited by Kemble and figured by Waring.[225]
THE SWASTIKA ON ANCIENT COINS.
There has been much ink and imagination used, most of which has been
wasted, in the discussion of this branch of this subject. The opinion has
been expressed by many persons that the triskelion which formed the
armorial emblem of the island of Sicily, and also of the Isle of Man, is
but an evolution from or modification of the Swastika. In the judgment of
the author this is based rather upon the similarity of the designs than
upon any likeness in their origin and history. The acceptance by modern
writers of this theory as a fact is only justified from its long-continued
repetition.
[Illustration: Fig. 224.[226] LYCIAN COIN. Triskelion with three arms
representing cocks' heads and necks.]
[Illustration: Figs. 225 and 226.[226] LYCIAN COINS. Triskelions with
central dots and circles. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 42,
figs. 12, 13.]
_Triskelion, Lycia._--The triskelion on ancient coins first appears on the
coins of Lycia, in Asia Minor, about B. C. 480. It was adopted for Sicily
by Agathocles, B. C. 317 to 307. The coins of Lycia were first three
cocks' heads and necks joined together equidistant in the center of the
field, as shown in fig. 224, while figs. 225 and 226 bear a center dot and
circle. This forms a hub and axle. Out of this hub spring three arms or
rays, practically equidistant, the outer ends being bent to the left. They
increase in size as they progress outward and are largest at the outer
ends. In fig. 226 there is a mint mark or counter mark of the same design
as the triskelion, except that it has but two arms or rays (diskelion).
Perrot and Chipiez,[227] speaking of Lycia, say:
The device of many of her coins is the "triskelis" or so-called
"triquetra" (literally, three-cornered, triangular), a name derived
from three serpents' heads, which usually figure in the field, much
after the fashion of those supporting the famous tripod at
Delphi,[228] consecrated by the Greeks to Apollo after the battle of
Platæa. The number of heads is not constant, some coins having as many
as four, "tetraskelis," while others have but two, "diskelis."[229]
The Greeks connected the symbol with the cult of Apollo, which they
represented as very popular and of hoary antiquity in Lycia. The
three-rayed design appears to have gained the victory over the others, and
came into commoner use. It is found on Assyrian coins, and also as a
countermark on coins of Alexander, B. C. 333 to 323. A comparison of these
designs with the Swastika will, it is believed, show their dissimilarity,
and the non-existence of relationship. In the Lycian designs, whether with
two, three, or four rays, there is a central hub out of which the spokes
spring. In the center of the hub is the small circle and dot which might
represent the axle on which the machine revolved. In fact, the Lycian
design is a fair representation of the modern screw propeller, and gives
the idea of a whirling motion.
Compare these peculiarities with the Swastika. The Swastika is almost
always square, is always a cross at right angles or near it, and whatever
may become of the ends or arms of the cross, whether they be left
straight, bent at right angles, or in a curve, it still gives the idea of
a cross. There is no center except such as is made by the crossing of the
two arms. There is not, as in these triskelions, a central hub. There is
no dot or point around which the design or machine could be made to
revolve, as in these Lycian triskelions; nothing of the central boss, cup,
or nave, which forms what the Germans call the "Rad-Kreuz," wheel cross,
as distinguished from the square cross.
In this regard Greg says:
If R. Brown's lunar and Semitic or Asiatic origin of the triquetra,
however, should be established, then the entire argument of the
triquetra being derived from the fylfot, or vice versa, falls to the
ground. * * * That the device arose out of the triskele and triquetra
I do not think can be proved. It is clear the [S] was a far older and
more widely spread symbol than the triskele, as well as a more purely
Aryan one.
Waring, explaining the tetraskelion (four-armed), declares it to have
preceded the triskelion (three-armed), and he explains its meaning,[230]
citing Sir Charles Fellows, as being a harpago, a grappling iron, a
canting sign for Harpagus, who conquered Lycia for Cyrus, circa, 564 B. C.
This, with the statement of Perrot and Chipiez (p. 872 of this paper), is
a step in explanation of the adoption of the triskelion, and together they
suggest strongly that it had no relation to the Swastika. At the date of
the appearance of the triskelion on the Lycian coins the Swastika was well
known throughout the Trojan peninsula and the Ægean Sea, and the
difference between them was so well recognized that one could not possibly
have been mistaken for the other.
[Illustration: Fig. 227. SICILIAN COIN WITH QUADRIGA AND TRISKELION.
British Museum. Barclay Head, "Coins of the Ancients," etc., pl. 35, fig.
28.]
[Illustration: Fig. 228. WARRIOR'S SHIELD. From a Greek vase, representing
Achilles and Hector. Agrigentum, Sicily. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote
Ages," pl. 42, fig. 24.]
_Triskelion, Sicily._--Now we pass to the consideration of the triskelion
of Sicily. Fig. 227 represents a coin of Sicily. On the obverse the head
of Persephone, on the reverse the quadriga, and above, the triskelion.
Other specimens of the same kind, bearing the same triskelion, are seen in
Barclay Head's work on the "Coinage of Syracuse" and his "Guide to the
Ancient Coins in the British Museum." They belong to the early part of the
reign of Agathocles, B. C. 317 to 310. In these specimens the triskelion
is quite small; but as the coins belong to the period of the finest
engraving and die-sinking of Greece, the representation, however minute,
is capable of decipherment. Fig. 228 is taken from the shield of a warrior
on a Greek vase representing Achilles and Hector, in which the armorial
emblem of Sicily, the triskelion, occupies the entire field,[231] and
represents plainly that it is three human legs, conjoined at the thigh,
bent sharply at the knee, with the foot and toes turned out. Some of these
have been represented covered with mail armor and the foot and leg booted
and spurred. It is evident that these are human legs, and so were not
taken from the screw propeller of Lycia, while they have no possible
relation to the crossed arms of the Swastika, and all this despite their
similarity of appearance. This is rendered clearer by Waring,[232] where
the armorial emblem on a warrior's shield is a single human leg, bent in
the same manner, instead of three. Apropos of Swastikas on warriors'
shields, reference is made to figs. 257 and 258, which represent two
shields of Pima Indians, New Mexico, both of which have been in battle and
both have the four-armed Swastika or tetraskelion. There is not in the
Swastika, nor was there ever, any central part, any hub, any axis, any
revolution. It is asserted that originally the triskelion of Sicily,
possibly of Lycia, was a symbol of the sun, morning, midday, and
afternoon, respectively. But this was purely theoretical and without other
foundation than the imagination of man, and it accordingly gave way in due
course. Pliny denies this theory and attributes the origin of the
triskelion of Sicily to the triangular form of the island, ancient
Trinacria, which consisted of three large capes equidistant from each
other, pointing in their respective directions, the names of which were
Pelorus, Pachynus, and Lilybæum. This statement, dating to so early a
period, accounting for the triskelion emblem of Sicily, is much more
reasonable and ought to receive greater credit than that of its devolution
from the Swastika, which theory is of later date and has none of these
corroborations in its favor. We should not forget in this argument that
the Swastika in its normal form had been for a long time known in Greece
and in the islands and countries about Sicily.
Among hundreds of patterns of the Swastika belonging to both hemispheres
and to all ages, none of them have sought to represent anything else than
just what they appear to be, plain marks or lines. There is no likeness
between the plain lines of the Swastika and the bent form of the human
leg, with the foot turned outward, incased in chain armor and armed with
spurs.
Whenever or however the triskelion occurred, by whom it was invented, what
it represented, how it comes to have been perpetuated, is all lost in
antiquity and may never be known; but there does not seem to be any reason
for believing it to have been an evolution from the Swastika.
_Triskelion, Isle of Man._--The triskelion of Sicily is also the armorial
emblem of the Isle of Man, and the same contention has been made for it,
i. e., that it was a modification of the Swastika. But its migration
direct from Sicily to the Isle of Man can be traced through the pages of
history, and Mr. John Newton,[233] citing the Manx Note Book for January,
1886, has given this history at length, of which the following is a
résumé:
Prior to the thirteenth century the Isle of Man was under dominion of the
Norse Vikings, and its armorial emblems were theirs; usually a ship under
full sail. Two charters of Harold, King of Man (1245, 1246 in the Cotton
MSS.), bear seals with this device. Twenty years later, after the conquest
of the island by, and its cession to, Alexander III of Scotland, A. D.
1266, the Norse emblems disappeared entirely, and are replaced by the
symbol of the three legs covered with chain armor and without spurs. "It
appears then," says Newton, "almost certain, though we possess no literary
document recording the fact, that to Alexander III of Scotland is due the
introduction of the 'Tre Cassyn' as the distinguishing arms of the Isle of
Man." He then explains how this probably came about: Frederick II (A. D.
1197-1250), the Norman King of Sicily, married Isabella, the daughter of
Henry III of England. A quarrel between the King of Sicily and the Pope
led the latter to offer the crown to Henry III of England, who accepted it
for his son Edmund (the Hunchback), who thereupon took the title of King
of Sicily and quartered the Sicilian arms with the Royal arms of England.
The negotiations between Henry and the Pope progressed for several years
(1255 to 1259), when Henry, finding that he could no longer make it an
excuse for raising money, allowed it to pass into the limbo of forgotten
objects.
Alexander III of Scotland had married Margaret, the youngest daughter of
Henry III, and thus was brother-in-law to Edmund as well as to Frederick.
In 1256, and while these negotiations between Henry and the Pope
concerning Sicily were in progress, Alexander visited, at London, his
royal father-in-law, the King of England, and his royal brother-in-law,
the King of Sicily, and was received with great honors. About that time
Haco, the Norse king of the Isle of Man, was defeated by Alexander III of
Scotland, and killed, soon after which event (1266) the Isle of Man was
ceded to the latter. The Norse coat of arms disappeared from the
escutcheon of the Isle of Man, and, being replaced by the three legs of
Sicily, Mr. Newton inquires:
What more likely than that the King (Alexander III), when he struck
the Norwegian flag, should replace it by one bearing the picturesque
and striking device of Sicily, an island having so many points of
resemblance with that of Man, and over which his sister ruled as Queen
and her brother had been appointed as King?
However little we may know concerning the method of transfer of the coat
of arms from Sicily to the Isle of Man, we are not left at all in doubt as
to the fact of its accomplishment; and the triskelion of Sicily became
then and has been ever since, and is now, the armorial emblem of the Isle
of Man.
The Duke of Athol, the last proprietary of the Isle of Man, and who, in
1765, sold his rights to the Crown of England, still bears the arms of Man
as the fifth quartering, "The three human legs in armor, conjoined at the
upper part of the thigh and flexed in triangle, proper garnished," being a
perpetuation of the triskelion or triquetrum of Sicily.[234]
The arms of the Isle of Man afford an excellent illustration of the
migration of symbols as maintained in the work of Count Goblet d'Alviella;
but the attempt made by others to show it to be an evolution from and
migration of the Swastika is a failure.
_Punch marks on Corinthian coins mistaken for Swastikas._--But is the
Swastika really found on ancient coins? The use of precious metals as
money dates to an unknown time in antiquity. Gold was used in early Bible
times (1500 B. C.) among nearly every people as money, but it was by
weight as a talent, and not as minted coin. The coinage of money began
about 700 B. C. in Lydia. Lydia was a province on the western side of the
peninsula of Asia Minor looking out toward Greece, while Lycia, its
neighbor, was a province on the southern side looking toward the island of
Rhodes. The Lydians began coinage by stamping with a punch each ingot or
nugget of gold or silver, or a mixture of them called "Electrum." In the
beginning these ingots were marked upon but one side, the reverse showing
plainly the fiber of the anvil on which the ingot was laid when struck
with the punch. But in a short time, it may have been two hundred years,
this system was changed so as to use a die which would be reproduced on
the coin when it was struck with a punch. The lion, bull, boar, dolphin,
and many other figures were employed as designs for these dies. Athens
used an owl; Corinth, Pegasus; Metapontine, a sheaf of wheat; Naples, a
human-headed bull. The head and, occasionally, the entire form of the gods
were employed. During almost the entire first period of nigh three hundred
years the punch was used, and the punch marks show on the reverse side of
the coins. These punch marks were as various as the dies for the obverse
of the coins, but most of them took a variety of the square, as it would
present the greatest surface of resistance to the punch. Even the
triskelion of the Lycian coins is within an indented square (figs. 225 and
226). A series of these punch marks is given for demonstration on pl. 9. A
favorite design was a square punch with a cross of two arms passing
through the center, dividing the field into four quarters. Most of the
punch marks on the coins of that period were of this kind. These punch
marks and the method and machinery with which they were made are described
in standard numismatic works.[235]
[Illustration: Fig. 229. CORINTHIAN COINS. Obverse and reverse. Punch mark
resembling Swastika.]
It is believed by the author that the assertions as to the presence of the
Swastika on these ancient coins is based upon an erroneous interpretation
of these punch marks. Fig. 229 shows the obverse and reverse of a coin
from Corinth. It belonged to the first half of the sixth century B. C. The
obverse represents a Pegasus standing, while the reverse is a punch mark,
said to have been a Swastika; but, examining closely, we will find there
is no Swastika in this punch mark. The arms of the normal Swastika consist
of straight lines crossing each other. In this case they do not cross. The
design consists of four gammas, and each gamma is separated from its
fellows, all forming together very nearly the same design as hundreds of
other punch marks of the same period. If each outer arm of this mark is
made slightly longer, the Swastika form disappears and the entire design
resolves itself into the square habitually employed for that purpose. If
the punch mark on this Corinthian coin be a Swastika, it depends upon the
failure to make the extreme end of the bent arm an eighth of an inch
longer. This is too fine a point to be relied upon. If this punch mark had
these arms lengthened an eighth of an inch, it would confessedly become a
square.
[Illustration: PLATE 9. PUNCH MARKS ON REVERSE OF ANCIENT COINS.]
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 9.
1 2 3
4 5 6
7 8 9
10 11 12
PUNCH MARKS ON REVERSE OF ANCIENT COINS.
Fig. 1. COIN OF LYDIA. Electrum. Oblong sinking between two squares.
Babylonian stater. The earliest known coinage. Circa 700 B. C.
2. PHENICIAN HALF STATER. Electrum. Incuse square with cruciform
ornament.
3. SILVER COIN OF TEOS. Incuse square. Circa 544 B. C.
4. SILVER COIN OF ACANTHUS. Incuse square.
5. SILVER COIN OF MENDE. Incuse triangles.
6. SILVER COIN OF TERONE. Incuse square.
7. COIN OF BISALTÆ.[236] Incuse square. Octadrachm.
8. SILVER COIN OF ORRESCII.[236] Incuse square. Octadrachm.
9. CORINTHIAN SILVER COIN. Incuse square divided into eight
triangular compartments. The earliest coin of Corinth, dating
B. C. 625 to 585.
10. SILVER COIN OF ABDERA. Incuse square.
11. SILVER COIN OF BYZANTIUM. Incuse square, granulated.
12. SILVER COIN OF THRASOS (THRACE). Incuse square.
_Swastika on ancient Hindu coins._--It is not to be inferred from this
opposition that the Swastika never appeared on ancient coins. It did
appear, but seems to have been of a later date and to have belonged
farther east among the Hindus. Fig. 230 shows an ancient (Hindu?) coin
reported by Waring, who cites Cunningham as authority for its having been
found at Ujain. The design consists of a cross with independent circles on
the outer end of each of the four arms, the circles being large enough to
intersect each other. The field of each of these circles bears a Swastika
of normal form. Other coins are cited of the same style, with small center
dots and concentric circles in the stead of the Swastika. What meaning the
Swastika has here, beyond the possible one of being a lucky penny, is not
suggested.
[Illustration: Fig. 230. ANCIENT HINDU COIN IN THE FORM OF A CROSS WITH A
SWASTIKA ON THE EXTREMITY OF EACH ARM.[237] Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote
Ages," pl. 41, fig. 13.]
[Illustration: Figs. 231, 232, 233, and 234. ANCIENT HINDU COINS WITH
SWASTIKAS, NORMAL AND OGEE. Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 41,
figs. 20-24.]
Other ancient Hindu coins bearing the Swastika (figs. 231-234) are
attributed to Cunningham by Waring.[238] These are said by Waring to be
Buddhist coins found at Behat near Scharaupur. Mr. E. Thomas, in his
article on the "Earliest Indian Coinage,"[239] ascribes them to the reign
of Krananda, a Buddhist Indian king contemporary with or prior to
Alexander, about 330 B. C.
The coins of Krananda,[240] contemporary of Alexander the Great,[241] bear
the Swastika mark, associated with the principal Buddhist marks, the
trisula, the stupha, sacred tree, sacred cone, etc. Waring says[242] that
according to Prinsep's "Engravings of Hindu Coins," the Swastika seems to
disappear from them about 200 B. C., nor is it found on the
Indo-Bactrian, the Indo-Sassanian, or the later Hindu or subsequent
Mohammedan, and he gives in a note the approximate dates of these
dynasties: Early native Buddhist monarchs from about 500 B. C. to the
conquest of Alexander, about 330 B. C.; the Indo-Bactrian or Greek
successors of Alexander from about 300 to 126 B. C.; the Indo-Parthian or
Scythic from about 126 B. C.; the second Hindu dynasty from about 56 B.
C.; the Indo-Sassanian from A. D. 200 to 636, and subsequent to that the
Indo-Mohammedan from the eleventh to the close of the thirteenth century;
the Afghan dynasty from A. D. 1290 to 1526, and the Mongol dynasty to the
eighteenth century, when it was destroyed by Nadir Shah. (See p. 772.)
[Illustration: Fig. 235. ANCIENT COIN WITH SWASTIKA. Gaza, Palestine.
Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 42, fig. 6.]
_Swastika on coins in Mesembria and Gaza._--Mr. Percy Gardner, in his
article, "Ares as a Sun-god,"[243] finds the Swastika on a coin of
Mesembria in Thrace. He explains that "Mesembria is simply the Greek word
for noon, midday ([Greek: mesêmbria])." The coins of this city bear the
inscription [Greek: MES][S], which Greg[244] believes refers by a kind of
pun to the name of the city, and so to noon, or the sun or solar light.
The answer to this is the same given throughout this paper, that it may be
true, but there is no evidence in support of it. Max Müller[245] argues
that this specimen is decisive of the meaning of the sign Swastika. Both
these gentlemen place great stress upon the position which the Swastika
held in the field relative to other objects, and so determine it to have
represented the sun or sunlight; but all this seems _non sequitur_. A coin
from Gaza, Palestine, ancient, but date not given, is attributed to R.
Rochette, and by him to Munter (fig. 235). The Swastika sign is not
perfect, only two arms of the cross being turned, and not all four.
[Illustration: Fig. 236. GOLD BRACTEATE WITH JAIN SWASTIKA. Denmark.
Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 1, fig. 9.]
_Swastika on Danish gold bracteates._--Fig. 236 represents a Danish gold
bracteate with a portrait head, two serpents, and a Swastika with the
outer ends finished with a curve or flourish similar to that of the Jains
(fig. 33).
There are other bracteates with the Swastika mark, which belong to the
Scandinavian countries.[246] Some of them bear signs referring to
Christian civilization, such as raising hands in prayer; and from a
determination of the dates afforded by the coins and other objects the
Swastika can be identified as having continued into the Christian era.
The coinage of the ancient world is not a prolific field for the
discovery of the Swastika. Other specimens may possibly be found than
those here given. This search is not intended to be exhaustive. Their
negative information is, however, valuable. It shows, first, that some of
the early stamps or designs on coins which have been claimed as Swastikas
were naught but the usual punch marks; second, it shows a limited use of
the Swastika on the coinage and that it came to an end in very early
times. Numismatics afford great aid to archæology from the facility and
certainty with which it fixes dates. Using the dates furnished by the
coinage of antiquity, it is gravely to be questioned whether the prolific
use of the Swastika in Asia Minor (of which we have such notable examples
on specimens of pottery from the hill of Hissarlik, in Greece) did not
terminate before coinage began, or before 480 B. C., when the period of
finer engraving began, and it became the custom to employ on coins the
figures of gods, of tutelary deities, and of sacred animals. Thus the use
of the Swastika became relegated to objects of commoner use, or those
having greater relation to superstition and folklore wherein the possible
value of the Swastika as an amulet or sign with power to bring good luck
could be better employed; or, as suggested by Mr. Greg, that the great
gods which, according to him, had the Swastika for a symbol, fell into
disrepute and it became changed to represent something else.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
PRE-COLUMBIAN TIMES.
_Fains Island and Toco Mounds, Tennessee._--That the Swastika found its
way to the Western Hemisphere in prehistoric times can not be doubted. A
specimen (fig. 237) was taken by Dr. Edward Palmer in the year 1881 from
an ancient mound opened by him on Fains Island, 3 miles from Bainbridge,
Jefferson County, Tenn. It is figured and described in the Third Annual
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,[247] as follows:
A shell ornament, on the convex surface of which a very curious
ornamental design has been engraved. The design, inclosed by a circle,
represents a cross such as would be formed by two rectangular tablets
or slips slit longitudinally and interlaced at right angles to each
other. The lines are neatly and deeply incised. The edge of the
ornament has been broken away nearly all around.
The incised lines of this design (fig. 237) represent the Swastika turned
to the left (though the description does not recognize it as such). It has
small circles with dots in the center, a style of work that may become of
peculiar value on further investigation, but not to be confounded with the
dots or points in what M. Zmigrodzki calls the _Croix swasticale_. The
mound from which this specimen came, and the objects associated with it,
show its antiquity and its manufacture by the aborigines untainted by
contact with the whites. The mound is on the east end of Fains Island. It
was 10 feet in height and about 100 feet in circumference at the base. In
the bed of clay 4 feet beneath the surface were found the remains of 32
human skeletons; of these, only 17 skulls could be preserved. There had
been no regularity in placing the bodies.
[Illustration: Fig. 237. SHELL GORGET WITH ENGRAVED SWASTIKA, CIRCLES, AND
DOTS. Fains Island, Tennessee. Cat. No. 62928, U. S. N. M.]
The peculiar form of this Swastika is duplicated by a Runic Swastika in
Sweden, cited by Ludwig Müller and by Count d'Alviella.[248]
The following objects were found in the mound on Fains Island associated
with the Swastika shell (fig. 237) and described, and many of them
figured:[249] A gorget of the same _Fulgur_ shell (fig. 239); a second
gorget of _Fulgur_ shell with an engraved spider (fig. 278); a pottery
vase with a figure of a frog; three rude axes from four to seven inches in
length, of diorite and quartzite; a pierced tablet of slate; a disk of
translucent quartz 1-3/4 inches in diameter and three-quarters of an inch
in thickness; a mass of pottery, much of it in fragments, and a number of
bone implements, including needles and paddle-shaped objects. The shell
objects (in addition to the disks and gorgets mentioned) were pins made
from the columellæ of Fulgur (_Busycon perversum_?) of the usual form and
about four inches in length. There were also found shell beads,
cylindrical in form, an inch in length and upward of an inch in diameter,
with other beads of various sizes and shapes made from marine shells, and
natural specimens of _Io spinosa_, _Unio probatus_.
[Illustration: Fig. 238. ENGRAVED SHELL WITH SWASTIKA, CIRCLES, AND DOTS.
Toco Mound, Monroe County, Tenn. Cat. No. 115624, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: PLATE 10. ENGRAVED FULGUR(?) SHELL, RESEMBLING STATUE OF
BUDDHA. Toco Mound, Tennessee. Cat. No. 115560, U. S. N. M.]
The specimen represented in fig. 238 is a small shell from the Big Toco
mound, Monroe County, Tenn., found by Mr. Emmert with skeleton No. 49 and
is fig. 262, Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91,
page 383, although it is not described. This is a circular disk of
_Fulgur_ shell, much damaged around the edge, 1-1/2 inches in diameter,
on which has been engraved a Swastika. It has a small circle and a dot in
the center, around which circle the arms of the Swastika are interlaced.
There are also circles and central dots at each turn of the four arms. The
hatch work in the arc identifies this work with that of other crosses and
a triskelion from the same general locality--figs. 302, 305, and 306, the
former being part of the same find by Mr. Emmert. Fig. 222, a bronze gilt
fibula from Berkshire, England, bears a Swastika of the same style as fig.
238 from Tennessee. The circles and central dots of fig. 238 have a
similarity to Peruvian ornamentation. The form and style, the broad arms,
the circles and central dots, the lines of engravings, show such
similarity of form and work as mark this specimen as a congener of the
Swastika from Fains Island (fig. 237). The other objects found in the
mound associated with this Swastika will be described farther on.
There can be no doubt of these figures being the genuine Swastika, and
that they were of aboriginal workmanship. Their discovery immediately
suggests investigation as to evidences of communication with the Eastern
Hemisphere, and naturally the first question would be, Are there any
evidences of Buddhism in the Western Hemisphere? When I found, a few days
ago, the two before-described representations of Swastikas, it was my
belief that no reliable trace of Buddha or the Buddhist religion had ever
been found among the aboriginal or prehistoric Americans. This statement
was made, as almost all other statements concerning prehistoric man should
be, with reserve, and subject to future discoveries, but without idea that
a discovery of evidence on the subject was so near. In searching the U. S.
National Museum for the objects described in the Second Annual Report of
the Bureau of Ethnology under the title of "Art in Shell among the Ancient
Americans," the writer discovered a neglected specimen of a mutilated and
damaged shell (pl. 10), marked as shown on the back, found by Mr. Emmert,
an employé of the Bureau of Ethnology, in the year 1882. Its original
field number was 267, Professor Thomas's 6542, the Museum number 115562,
and it was found in the Big Toco mound, Monroe County, Tenn. It is not
figured nor mentioned in any of the Bureau reports. It is greatly to be
regretted that this shell is so mutilated. In its present condition no one
can say positively what it is, whether a statue of Buddha or not; but to
all appearances it represents one of the Buddhist divinities. Its
material, similar to the hundred others found in the neighborhood, shows
it to have been indigenous, yet parts of its style are different from
other aboriginal North American images. Attention is called to the slim
waist, the winged arms, the crossed legs, the long feet, breadth of toes,
the many dots and circles shown over the body, with triple lines of
garters or anklets. All these show a different dress from the ancient
North American. The girdle about the waist, and the triangular dress
which, with its decorations and arrangement of dots and circles, cover
the lower part of the body, are to be remarked. While there are several
specimens of aboriginal art from this part of the country which bear these
peculiarities of costumes, positions, appearance, and manner of work,
showing them to have been in use among a portion of the people, yet they
are not part of the usual art products. There is a manifest difference
between this and the ordinary statue of the Indian or of the mound builder
of that neighborhood or epoch.
It is not claimed that this shell proves the migration of Buddhism from
Asia, nor its presence among North American Indians. "One swallow does not
make a summer." But this figure, taken in connection with the Swastika,
presents a set of circumstances corresponding with that possibility which
goes a long distance in forming circumstantial evidence in its favor.
M. Gustave d'Eichthal wrote a series of essays in the Revue Archæologique,
1864-65, in which he collated the evidence and favored the theory of
Buddhist influence in ancient America. Other writers have taken the same
or similar views and have attributed all manner of foreign influence, like
the Lost Tribes of Israel, etc., to the North American Indian,[250] but
all these theories have properly had but slight influence in turning
public opinion in their direction. Mr. V. R. Gandhi, in a recent letter to
the author, says of this specimen (pl. 10):
While Swastika technically means the cross with the arms bent to the
right, later on it came to signify anything which had the form of a
cross; for instance, the posture in which a persons sits with his legs
crossed is called the Swastika posture;[251] also when a person keeps
his arms crosswise over his chest, or a woman covers her breast with
her arms crossed, that particular attitude, is called the Swastika
attitude, which has no connection, however, with the symbolic meaning
of the Swastika with four arms. The figure [pl. 10], a photograph of
which you gave me the other day, has the same Swastika posture. In
matters of concentration and meditation, Swastika posture is
oftentimes prescribed, which is also called Sukhasana, meaning a
posture of ease and comfort. In higher forms of concentration, the
posture is changed from Sukhasana to Padmasana, the posture which is
generally found in Jain and Buddhist images. The band around the
waist, which goes from the navel lower on till it reaches the back
part, has a peculiar significance in the Jain philosophy. The
Shvetamber division of the Jain community have always this kind of
band in their images. The object is twofold: The first is that the
generative parts ought not to be visible; the second is that this band
is considered a symbol of perfect chastity.
There can be no doubt of the authenticity of these objects, nor any
suspicion against their having been found as stated in the labels
attached. They are in the Museum collection, as are other specimens. They
come unheralded and with their peculiar character unknown. They were
obtained by excavations made by a competent and reliable investigator who
had been engaged in mound exploration, a regular employé of the Bureau of
Ethnology, under the direction of Prof. Cyrus Thomas during several
years, and always of good reputation and unblemished integrity. They come
with other objects, labeled in the same way and forming one of a series of
numbers among thousands. Its resemblance to Buddhist statues was
apparently undiscovered or unrecognized, at least unmentioned, by all
those having charge of it, and in its mutilated condition it was laid away
among a score of other specimens of insufficient value to justify notice
or publication, and is now brought to light through accident, no one
having charge of it recognizing it as being different from any other of
the half hundred engraved shells theretofore described. The excavation of
Toco mound is described by Professor Thomas in the Twelfth Annual Report
of the Bureau of Ethnology, pages 379-384.
We can now be governed only by the record as to the objects associated
with this shell (pl. 10), which shows it to have been found with skeleton
No. 8, in Big Toco mound, Monroe County, Tenn., while the Swastika of
figure 238 was found with skeleton No. 49. Toco mound contained fifty-two
skeletons, or, rather, it contained buried objects reported as from that
many skeletons. Those reported as with skeleton No. 8 were, in addition to
this gorget: One polished stone hatchet, one stone pipe, and one bowl with
scalloped rim. Toco mound seems to have been exceedingly rich, having
furnished 198 objects of considerable importance. Association of
discovered objects is one of the important means of furnishing evidence in
prehistoric archæology. It is deemed of sufficient importance in the
present case to note objects from Toco mound associated with the Buddha
statue. They are given in list form, segregated by skeletons:
Skeleton No.
4. Two polished stone hatchets, one discoidal stone.
5. One polished stone hatchet.
7. Two large seashells.
8. One stone pipe, one polished stone hatchet, one ornamented shell
gorget (the Buddha statue, pl. 10), one ornamented bowl, with
scalloped rim.
9. Two polished stone hatchets.
12. A lot of small shell beads.
13. Four bone implements (one ornamented), one stone pipe, two shell
gorgets (one ornamented), one bear tooth.
17. One polished stone hatchet.
18. Two polished stone hatchets, one stone pipe, one boat-shaped bowl
(ornamented), one shell gorget (ornamented), one shell mask, one shell
pin, one shell gorget, one bear tooth, lot of shell beads.
22. Two polished stone chisels, one stone disk.
24. One polished stone hatchet.
26. Two polished stone hatchets, one waterworn stone, two hammer
stones.
27. One polished stone hatchet.
28. Two polished stone hatchets, one ornamented bowl.
31. One polished stone hatchet, one polished stone chisel.
33. Two polished stone hatchets, one two-eared pot, one small shell
gorget, three shell pins, fragments of pottery.
34. Three polished stone hatchets.
36. One discoidal stone.
37. One polished stone chisel, one stone pipe, one shell mask
(ornamented).
41. One polished stone hatchet, one stone pipe, pottery vase with ears
(ornamented), one shell mask, one shell pin, four arrowheads (two with
serrated edges), two stone perforators.
43. Lot of shell beads.
49. One polished stone hatchet, one spade-shaped stone ornament
(perforated), one spear-head, one stone pipe, one pottery bowl with
two handles, two shell masks (ornamented), twenty-seven bone needles,
two beaver teeth, one bone implement (raccoon), piece of mica, lot of
red paint, two shell gorgets (one ornamented with Swastika, fig. 238),
thirty-six arrow-heads, lot of flint chips, fragment of animal jaw and
bones, lot of large shells, one image pot.
51. One shell pin, one shell mask, one arrow-head, two small shell
beads.
52. One shell mask, one shell gorget, one shell ornament.
These objects are now in the U. S. National Museum and in my department.
The list is taken from the official catalogue, and they number from 115505
to 115684. I have had the opportunity of comparing the objects with this
description and find their general agreement. Dr. Palmer, the finder, was
an employé of the Bureau of Ethnology, is a man of the highest character,
of great zeal as an archæologist and naturalist, and has been for many
years, and is now, in the employ of the Bureau or Museum, always with
satisfaction and confidence. Mr. Emmert was also an employé of the Bureau
for many years, and equally reliable.
The specimens of shell in this and several other mounds, some of which are
herein figured, were in an advanced stage of decay, pitted, discolored,
and crumbling, requiring to be handled with the utmost care to prevent
disintegration. They were dried by the collector, immersed in a weak
solution of glue, and forwarded immediately (in 1885), with other relics
from the neighborhood, to the Bureau of Ethnology and National Museum at
Washington, where they have remained ever since. There is not the
slightest suspicion concerning the genuineness or antiquity of this
specimen or of those bearing the Swastika as belonging to the
mound-building epoch in the valley of the Tennessee.
[Illustration: Fig. 239. SHELL GORGET. Two fighting figures with
triangular breech-clout, garters and anklets, and dots and circles. Fains
Island, Tennessee. Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, p. 452,
fig. 128. Cat. No. 62930, U. S. N. M.]
Other figures of sufficient similarity to the Swastika have been found
among the aborigines of North America to show that these do not stand
alone; and there are also other human figures which show a style of work
so similar and such resemblance in detail of design as to establish the
practical identity of their art. One of these was a remarkable specimen of
engraved shell found in the same mound, Fains Island, which contained the
first Swastika (fig. 237). It is described in the Second Annual Report of
the Bureau of Ethnology, page 301, under the name of McMahon's mound. It
is a large polished Fulgur shell disk which, when entire, has been nearly
5 inches in diameter (fig. 239). A little more than one-third has crumbled
away, and the remaining portion has been preserved only by careful
handling and immediate immersion in a solution of glue. It had been
engraved on the concave side. The design represents two human figures
plumed and winged, armed with eagles' talons and engaged in mortal
combat. The design apparently covered the entire shell, leaving no space
for encircling lines. The two figures are in profile and face each other
in a fierce onset. Of the right-hand figure, only the body, one arm, and
one leg remain. The left-hand figure is almost complete. The outline of
the face, one arm, and one foot is all that is affected. The right hand is
raised above the head in the act of brandishing a long knife pointed at
both ends. The other combatant, clutching in his right hand a
savage-looking blade with its point curved, seems delivering a blow in the
face of his antagonist. Of the visible portions of the figures, the hands
are vigorously drawn, the thumbs press down upon the outside of the
forefingers in a natural effort to tighten the grasp. The body, arms, and
legs are well defined and in proper proportion, the joints are correctly
placed, the left knee is bent forward, and the foot planted firmly on the
ground, while the right is thrown gracefully back against the rim at the
left, and the legs terminate in well-drawn eagles' feet armed with curved
talons. The head is decorated with a single plume which springs from a
circular ornament placed over the ear; an angular figure extends forward
from the base of this plume, and probably represents what is left of the
headdress proper. In front of this--on the very edge of the crumbling
shell--is one-half of the lozenge-shaped eye, the dot representing the
pupil being almost obliterated. The ankles and legs just below the knee
and the wrists each have three lines representing bracelets or anklets. It
is uncertain whether the leg is covered or naked; but between the
waistband and the leggings, over the abdomen, is represented on both
figures a highly decorated triangular garment, or, possibly coat of mail,
to which particular attention is called.[252] In the center, at the top,
just under the waistband, are four circles with dots in the center
arranged in a square; outside of this, still at the top, are two
triangular pieces, and outside of them are two more circles and dots;
while the lower part of the triangle, with certain decorations of incised
lines, completes the garment. This decoration is the same on both figures,
and corresponds exactly with the Buddha figure. An ornament is suspended
on the breast which shows three more of the circles and dots. The earring
is still another. The right-hand figure, so far as it can be seen, is a
duplicate of the left, and in the drawing it has, where destroyed, been
indicated by dotted lines. It is remarkable that the peculiar clothing or
decoration of these two figures should be almost an exact reproduction of
the Buddha figure (pl. 10). Another interesting feature of the design is
the highly conventionalized wing which fills the space beneath the
uplifted arm. This wing is unlike the usual specimens of aboriginal art
which have been found in such profusion in that neighborhood. But it is
again remarkable that this conventionalized wing and the bracelets,
anklets, and garters should correspond in all their peculiarities of
construction and design with the wings on the copper and shell figures
from the Etowah mound, Georgia (figs. 240, 241, and 242)[253]. Behind the
left-hand figure is an ornament resembling the spreading tail of an eagle
which, with its feather arrangement and the detail of their mechanism,
correspond to a high degree with the eagle effigies in repoussé copper
(fig. 243) from the mound in Union County, Ill., shown in the Fifth
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (p. 105) and in the Twelfth
Annual Report (p. 309).
[Illustration: Fig. 240. COPPER PLATE. Entowah Mound, Georgia. Fifth
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 42. Cat. No. 91113, U. S.
N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 241. COPPER PLATE. Repoussé work. Entowah Mound,
Georgia. Cat. No. 91117, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 242. ENGRAVED SHELL. Triangular breech-clout with dots
and circles. Entowah Mound, Georgia. Cat. No. 91443, U. S. N. M.]
_Hopewell Mound, Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio._--A later discovery of
the Swastika belonging to the same period and the same general
locality--that is, to the Ohio Valley--was that of Prof. Warren K.
Moorehead, in the fall and winter of 1891-92, in his excavations of the
Hopewell mound, seven miles northwest of Chillicothe, Ross County,
Ohio.[254] The locality of this mound is well shown in Squier and Davis's
work on the "Monuments of the Mississippi Valley" (pl. 10, p. 26), under
the name of "Clark's Works," here reproduced as pl. 11. It is the large
irregular unnumbered triple mound just within the arc of the circle shown
in the center of the plan. The excavation contemplated the destruction of
the mound by cutting it down to the surrounding level and scattering the
earth of which it was made over the surface; and this was done.
Preparatory to this, a survey and ground plan was made (pl. 12). I
assisted at this survey and can vouch for the general correctness. The
mound was surrounded by parallel lines laid out at right angles and marked
by stakes 50 feet apart. The mound was found to be 530 feet long and 250
feet wide. Squier and Davis reported its height at 32 feet, but the
excavation of the trenches required but 18 and 16 feet to the original
surface on which the mound was built. It was too large to be cut down as a
whole, and for convenience it was decided by Mr. Moorehead to cut it down
in trenches, commencing on the northeast. Nothing was found until, in
opening trench 3, about five feet above the base of the mound, they struck
a mass of thin worked copper objects, laid flat one atop the other, in a
rectangular space, say three by four feet square. These objects are unique
in American prehistoric archæology. Some of them bore a resemblance in
form to the scalloped mica pieces found by Squier and Davis, and described
by them in their "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley" (p.
240), and also those of the same material found by Professor Putnam in the
Turner group of mounds in the valley of the Little Miami. They had been
apparently laid between two layers of bark, whether for preservation or
mere convenience of deposit, can only be guessed.
[Illustration: PLATE 11. PLAN OF NORTH FORK (HOPEWELL) WORKS. Ross County,
Ohio. Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. I, Pl. X.]
[Illustration: PLATE 12. PLAN OF HOPEWELL MOUND, IN WHICH ABORIGINAL
COPPER SWASTIKAS WERE FOUND. Ross County, Ohio. Moorehead, "Primitive Man
in Ohio," Pl. XXXIV.]
[Illustration: Fig. 243. COPPER PLATE SHOWING FIGURE OF EAGLE. Repoussé
work. Union County, Ill. Cat. No. 91507, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 244. SWASTIKA CROSS OF THIN COPPER. Hopewell Mound,
Ross County, Ohio. 1/4 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 245. FLAT RING OF THIN COPPER. Hopewell Mound, Ross
County, Ohio. 1/5 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 246. STENCIL ORNAMENT OF THIN COPPER. Hopewell Mound,
Ross County, Ohio. 1/8 natural size.]
The following list of objects is given, to the end that the reader may see
what was associated with these newly found copper Swastikas: Five Swastika
crosses (fig. 244); a long mass of copper covered with wood on one side
and with squares and five similar designs traceable on the reverse;
smaller mass of copper; eighteen single copper rings; a number of double
copper rings, one set of three and one set of two; five pan lids or
hat-shaped rings; ten circular disks with holes in center, represented in
fig. 245, originally placed in a pile and now oxidized together; also
large circular, stencil-like ornaments, one (fig. 246) 7-1/2 inches in
diameter; another (fig. 247) somewhat in the shape of a St. Andrew's
cross, the extreme length over the arms being 8-3/4 inches.
About five feet below the deposit of sheet copper and 10 or 12 feet to the
west, two skeletons lay together. They were covered with copper plates and
fragments, copper hatchets, and pearl beads, shown in the list below, laid
in rectangular form about seven feet in length and five feet in width, and
so close as to frequently overlap.
[Illustration: Fig. 247. STENCIL ORNAMENT OF THIN COPPER. Hopewell Mound,
Ross County, Ohio. 1/4 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 248. FISH ORNAMENT OF THIN COPPER. Hopewell Mound,
Ross County, Ohio. 1/6 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 249. LOZENGE-SHAPED STENCIL OF THIN COPPER. Hopewell
Mound, Ross County, Ohio. 1/4 natural size.]
There were also found sixty-six copper hatchets, ranging from 1-1/2 to
22-1/2 inches in length; twenty-three copper plates and fragments; one
copper eagle; eleven semicircles, bars, etc.; two spool-shaped objects;
four comb-shaped effigies; one wheel with peculiar circles and bars of
copper; three long plates of copper; pearl and shell beads and teeth; a
lot of extra fine pearls; a lot of wood, beads, and an unknown metal; a
lot of bones; a human jaw, very large; a fragmentary fish resembling a
sucker (fig. 248); one stool of copper with two legs; broken copper
plates; one broken shell; bear and panther tusks; mica plates; forty
fragmentary and entire copper stencils of squares, circles, diamonds,
hearts, etc.; copper objects, saw-shaped; twenty ceremonial objects,
rusted or oxidized copper; two diamond-shaped stencils, copper (fig. 249);
four peculiar spool-shaped copper ornaments, perforated, showing repoussé
work (fig. 250).
I made sketches of two or three of the bone carvings, for the purpose of
showing the art of the people who constructed this monument, so that by
comparison with that of other known peoples some knowledge may be
obtained, or theory advanced, concerning the race or tribe to which they
belonged and the epoch in which they lived. Fig. 251 shows an exquisite
bone carving of a paroquet which belongs much farther south and not found
in that locality in modern times. The design shown in fig. 252 suggests a
Mississippi Kite, but the zoologists of the Museum, while unable to
determine with exactitude its intended representation, chiefly from the
mutilated condition of the fragment, report it more likely to be the
head of the "leather-back" turtle. Fig. 253 probably represents an otter
with a fish in his mouth.
[Illustration: PLATE 13. HUMAN SKULL WITH COPPER-COVERED HORNS. Hopewell
Mound, Ross County, Ohio. Moorehead, "Primitive Man in Ohio,"
frontispiece.]
[Illustration: PLATE 14. PREHISTORIC ALTAR. Hopewell Mound, Ross County,
Ohio. Found near the copper Swastika shown in fig. 244. Moorehead,
"Primitive Man in Ohio," Fig. XXXVII. Cat. No. 148662, U. S. N. M.]
In trench No. 3, 15 skeletons (numbered 264 to 278, inclusive), were found
on the base line, all extended. Objects of coal, bone, shell, or stone,
had been placed with nearly all of them. Nos. 265 and 266 were laid on
blocks of burnt earth 3 inches higher than the base of the mound. One of
the skeletons in this mound (No. 248) is shown in pl. 13. It was a most
remarkable specimen, and forms the frontispiece of Prof. W. K. Moorehead's
volume "Primitive Man in Ohio," where it is described (p. 195) as follows:
At his head were imitation elk horns, neatly made of wood and covered
with sheet copper rolled into cylindrical forms over the prongs. The
antlers were 22 inches high and 19 inches across from prong to prong.
They fitted into a crown of copper bent to fit the head from occipital
to upper jaw. Copper plates were upon the breast and stomach, also on
the back. The copper preserved the bones and a few of the sinews. It
also preserved traces of cloth similar to coffee sacking in texture,
interwoven among the threads of which were 900 beautiful pearl beads,
bear teeth split and cut, and hundreds of other beads, both pearl and
shell. Copper spool-shaped objects and other implements covered the
remains. A pipe of granite and a spearhead of agate were near the
right shoulder. The pipe was of very fine workmanship and highly
polished.
[Illustration: Fig. 250. SPOOL-SHAPED OBJECT OF COPPER. Repoussé and
intaglio decoration. Hopewell Mound, Ross County, Ohio. Natural size.]
While digging out skeletons 280 to 284, Professor Moorehead says they
touched the edge of an altar (pl. 14). It was on the base line and 15 feet
north of the copper find before described. On the 5th of January, 1892,
the altar was uncovered, and the earth, charcoal, and objects within it
put into five soap boxes and transported to headquarters, where the
material was assorted in my presence and with my aid. The mass on the
altar had been charred throughout. It contained, in part, mica ornaments,
beads, spool-shaped objects, whale, bear, and panther teeth, flint knives,
carved effigies of bone and stone, some of which were broken, while others
were whole. There were stone tablets, slate ornaments, copper balls,
fragments of cloth, rings of chlorite, quartz crystals perforated and
grooved, and a few pieces of flint and obsidian, with several thousand
pearls drilled for suspension. These objects were heaped in the cavity of
the altar without any regularity. All were affected by heat, the copper
being fused in many cases. The teeth and tusks were charred, split, and
calcined. There were no ashes. All the fuel was charcoal, and from the
appearance of the débris, especially the wood, earth, and bone, one might
suppose that after the fire had started it had not been allowed to burn to
ashes as if in the open air, but had been covered with earth, and so had
smoldered out as in a charcoal pit.
[Illustration: Fig. 251. FRAGMENT OF ENGRAVED BONE REPRESENTING A
PAROQUET. Hopewell Mound, Ross County, Ohio. Natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 252. FRAGMENT OF ENGRAVED BONE PROBABLY REPRESENTING A
MISSISSIPPI KITE OR LEATHER-BACK TURTLE. Hopewell Mound, Ross County,
Ohio. Natural size.]
Evidence was found of an extended commerce with distant localities, so
that if the Swastika existed in America it might be expected here. The
principal objects were as follows: A number of large seashells (_Fulgur_)
native to the southern Atlantic Coast 600 miles distant, many of them
carved; several thousand pieces of mica from the mountains of Virginia or
North Carolina, 200 or more miles distant; a thousand large blades of
beautifully chipped objects in obsidian, which could not have been found
nearer than the Rocky Mountains, 1,000 or 1,200 miles distant; four
hundred pieces of wrought copper, believed to be from the Lake Superior
region, 150 miles distant; fifty-three skeletons, the copper headdress
(pl. 13) made in semblance of elk horns, 16 inches high, and other
wonderful things. Those not described have no relation to the Swastika.
[Illustration: Fig. 253. FRAGMENT OF ENGRAVED BONE PROBABLY REPRESENTING
AN OTTER WITH A FISH IN ITS MOUTH. Natural size.]
These objects were all prehistoric. None of them bore the slightest
evidence of contact with white civilization. The commoner objects would
compare favorably with those found in other mounds by the same and other
investigators. Much of it may be undetermined. It is strange to find so
many objects brought such long distances, and we may not be able to
explain the problem presented; but there is no authority for injecting any
modern or European influence into it. By what people were these made? In
what epoch? For what purpose? What did they represent? How did this
ancient, curious, and widespread sign, a recognized symbol of religion of
the Orient, find its way to the bottom of one of the mounds of antiquity
in the Scioto Valley? These are questions easy to ask but difficult to
answer. They form some of the riddles of the science of prehistoric
anthropology.
[Illustration: Fig. 254. WATER JUG WITH FIGURE OF SWASTIKA. Decoration,
red on yellow ground. Poinsett County, Ark. Cat. No. 91230, U. S. N. M.]
_Mounds in Arkansas._--A water jug in the collection of the U. S. National
Museum (fig. 254) was obtained in 1883 by P. W. Norris, of the Bureau of
Ethnology, from a mound in Poinsett County, Ark. It is of yellow ground,
natural color of clay, and decorated with light red paint. The paint is
represented in the cut by the darkened surfaces. The four quarters of the
jug are decorated alike, one side of which is shown in the cut. The center
of the design is the Swastika with the arm crossing at right angles, the
ends turned to the right, the effect being produced by an enlargement on
the right side of each arm until they all join the circle. A similar water
jug with a Swastika mark of the same type as the foregoing decorates Major
Powell's desk in the Bureau of Ethnology.
Marquis Nadaillac[255] describes and figures a grooved ax from Pemberton,
N. J., on which some persons have recognized a Swastika, but which the
Marquis doubts, while Dr. Abbott[256] denounces the inscription as a
fraud.
NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
[Illustration: Fig. 255. KANSA INDIAN WAR CHART. Swastika sign for winds
and wind songs. J. Owen Dorsey, American Naturalist, July, 1885, p. 670.]
_The Kansas._--The Rev. J. Owen Dorsey[257] describes the mourning customs
of the Kansas Indians. In the course of his description he tells of a
council of ceremony held among these Indians to decide if they should go
on the warpath. Certain sacred songs were sung which had been arranged
according to a chart, which Mr. Dorsey introduces as pl. 20, page 676. The
outside edge of this chart bore twenty-seven ideographs, which suggest or
determine the song or speech required. No. 1 was the sacred pipe; No. 2,
the maker of all songs; No. 3, song of another old man who gives success
to the hunters; No. 4 (fig. 255 in the present paper) is the Swastika
sign, consisting of two ogee lines intersecting each other, the ends
curved to the left. Of it, Mr. Dorsey says only the following:
Fig. 4. Tadje wayun, wind songs. The winds are deities; they are
Bazanta (at the pines), the east wind; Ak'a, the south wind; A'k'a
jiñga or A'k'uya, the west wind; and Hnia (toward the cold), the north
wind. The warriors used to remove the hearts of slain foes, putting
them in the fire as a sacrifice to the winds.
In the Eleventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology (p. 525) Mr.
Dorsey repeats this statement concerning the names of the winds, and shows
how, in their invocations, the Kansas began with the east wind and went
around to the right in the order here given. His fig. 195 illustrates
this, but the cross has straight arms. In response to my personal inquiry,
Mr. Dorsey says the war chart[258] was drawn for him, with the Swastika as
represented, by Pahanle-gaqle, the war captain, who had official charge
of it and who copied it from one he had inherited from his father and his
"father's fathers"; and Mr. Dorsey assured me that there can be no mistake
or misapprehension about this Indian's intention to make the sign as there
represented. Asked if the sign was common and to be seen in other cases or
places, Mr. Dorsey replied that the Osage have a similar chart with the
same and many other signs or pictographs--over a hundred--but except
these, he knows of no similar signs. They are not in common use, but the
chart and all it contains are sacred objects, the property of the two
Kansas gentes, Black Eagle and Chicken Hawk, and not to be talked of nor
shown outside of the gentes of the council lodge.[259]
[Illustration: PLATE 15. CEREMONIAL BEAD NECKLACE WITH SWASTIKA
ORNAMENTATION. Sac Indians, Cook County (Kansas) Reservation.]
_The Sac Indians._--Miss Mary A. Owen, of St. Joseph, Mo., sending some
specimens of beadwork of the Indians (pl. 15) from the Kansas Reservation,
two of which were garters and the third a necklace 13 inches long and 1
inch wide, in which the Swastikas represented are an inch square, writes,
February 2, 1895, as follows:
The Indians call it [the Swastika] the "luck," or "good luck." It is
used in necklaces and garters by the sun worshippers among the
Kickapoos, Sacs, Pottawatomies, Iowas, and (I have been told) by the
Winnebagoes. I have never seen it on a Winnebago. The women use the
real Swastika and the Greek key pattern, in the silk patchwork of
which they make sashes and skirt trimmings. As for their thinking it
an emblem of fire or deity, I do not believe they entertain any such
ideas, as some Swastika hunters have suggested to me. They call it
"luck," and say it is the same thing as two other patterns which I
send in the mail with this. They say they "always" made that pattern.
They must have made it for a long time, for you can not get such beads
as compose it, in the stores of a city or in the supplies of the
traders who import French beads for the red folk. Another thing.
Beadwork is very strong, and this is beginning to look tattered, a
sure sign that it has seen long service.
These sun worshippers--or, if you please, Swastika wearers--believe in
the Great Spirit, who lives in the sun, who creates all things, and is
the source of all power and beneficence. The ancestors are a sort of
company of animal saints, who intercede for the people. There are many
malicious little demons who thwart the ancestors and lead away the
people at times and fill them with diseases, but no head devil. Black
Wolf and certain ghosts of the unburied are the worst. Everybody has a
secret fetish or "medicine," besides such general "lucks" as
Swastikas, bear skins, and otter and squirrel tails.
Of the other cult of the peoples I have mentioned, those who worship
the sun as the deity and not the habitation, I know nothing. They are
secret, suspicious, and gloomy, and do not wear the "luck." I have
never seen old people wear the "luck."
Now, I have told you all I know, except that it [the Swastika] used in
ancient times to be made in quill embroidery on herb bags.
Miss Owen spoke of other garters with Swastikas on them, but she said they
were sacred, were used only during certain ceremonies, and she knew not if
she could be able to get or even see them. During the prolongation of the
preparation of this paper she wrote two or three times, telling of the
promises made to her by the two Sac women who were the owners of these
sacred garters, and how each time they had failed. Yet she did not give
up hope. Accordingly, in the winter of 1896, the little box containing the
sacred garters arrived. Miss Owen says the husbands of these two Sac women
are Pottawatomies on the Cook County (Kans.) Reservation. They are sun
worshippers. These garters have been sketched and figured in pl. 16.
_The Pueblos._--The Pueblo country in Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and
Arizona, as is well known, is inhabited by various tribes of Indians
speaking different languages, separated from one another and from all
other tribes by differences of language, customs, and habit, but somewhat
akin to each other in culture, and many things different from other tribes
are peculiar to them. These have been called the "Pueblo Indians" because
they live in pueblos or towns. Their present country includes the regions
of the ancient cliff dwellers, of whom they are supposed to be the
descendants. In those manifestations of culture wherein they are peculiar
and different from other tribes they have come to be considered something
superior. Any search for the Swastika in America which omitted these
Indians would be fatally defective, and so here it is found. Without
speculating how the knowledge of the Swastika came to them, whether by
independent invention or brought from distant lands, it will be enough to
show its knowledge among and its use by the peoples of this country.
[Illustration: Fig. 256. DANCE RATTLE MADE OF A SMALL GOURD DECORATED IN
BLACK, WHITE, AND RED. Ogee Swastika on each side. Second Annual Report of
the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 526. Cat. No. 42042, U. S. N. M.]
In the Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology for the year 1880-81 (p.
394, fig. 562) is described a dance rattle made from a small gourd,
ornamented in black, white, and red (fig. 256). The gourd has a Swastika
on each side, with the ends bent, not square, but ogee (the tetraskelion).
The U. S. National Museum possesses a large number of these dance rattles
with Swastikas on their sides, obtained from the Pueblo Indians of New
Mexico and Arizona. Some of them have the natural neck for a handle, as
shown in the cut; others are without neck, and have a wooden stick
inserted and passed through for a handle. Beans, pebbles, or similar
objects are inside, and the shaking of the machine makes a rattling noise
which marks time for the dance.
The Museum possesses a large series of pottery from the various pueblos of
the Southwest; these are of the painted and decorated kind common to that
civilization and country. Some of these pieces bear the Swastika mark;
occasionally it is found outside, occasionally inside. It is more
frequently of the ogee form, similar to that on the rattle from the same
country (fig. 256). The larger proportion of these specimens comes from
the pueblos of Santa Clara and St. Ildefonso.
[Illustration: PLATE 16. CEREMONIAL BEAD GARTERS WITH SWASTIKAS. Sac
Indians, Cook County (Kansas) Reservation.]
Dr. Schliemann reports:[260]
We also see a Swastika (turned to the left) scratched on two terra
cotta bowls of the Pueblo Indians of New Mexico, preserved in the
ethnological section of the Royal Museum at Berlin.
G. Nordenskiöld,[261] in the report of his excavations among the ruined
pueblos of the Mesa Verde, made in southwestern Colorado during the summer
of 1891, tells of the finding of numerous specimens of the Swastika. In
pl. 23, fig. 1, he represents a large, shallow bowl in the refuse heap at
the "Step House." It was 50 centimeters in diameter, of rough execution,
gray in color, and different in form and design from other vessels from
the cliff houses. The Swastika sign (to the right) was in its center, and
made by lines of small dots. His pl. 27, fig. 6, represents a bowl found
in a grave (_g_ on the plan) at "Step House." Its decoration inside was of
the usual type, but the only decoration on the outside consisted of a
Swastika, with arms crossing at right angles and ends bent at the right,
similar to fig. 9. His pl. 18, fig. 1, represented a large bowl found in
Mug House. Its decoration consisted in part of a Swastika similar in form
and style to the Etruscan gold "bulla," fig. 188 in this paper. Certain
specimens of pottery from the pueblos of Santa Clara and St. Ildefonso,
deposited in the U. S. National Museum (Department of Ethnology), bear
Swastika marks, chiefly of the ogee form.[262]
_The Navajoes._--Dr. Washington Matthews, U. S. A., than whom no one has
done better, more original, nor more accurate anthropologic work in
America, whether historic or prehistoric, has kindly referred me to his
memoir in the Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, comprising
82 pages, with 9 plates and 9 figures, entitled "The Mountain Chant; a
Navajo ceremony." It is descriptive of one of a number of ceremonies
practiced by the shamans or medicine men of the Navajo Indians, New
Mexico. The ceremony is public, although it takes place during the night.
It lasts for nine days and is called by the Indians "_dsilyídje
qaçàl_"--literally, "chant toward (a place) within the mountains." The
word "_dsilyi_" may allude to mountains in general, to the Carrizo
Mountains in particular, to the place in the mountains where the prophet
(originator of these ceremonies) dwelt, or to his name, or to all of these
combined. "_Qaçàl_" means a sacred song or a collection of sacred songs.
Dr. Matthews describes at length the myth which is the foundation of this
ceremony, which must be read to be appreciated, but may be summarized
thus: An Indian family, consisting of father, mother, two sons, and two
daughters, dwelt in ancient times near the Carrizo Mountains. They lived
by hunting and trapping; but the place was desert, game scarce, and they
moved up the river farther into the mountains. The father made
incantations to enable his two sons to capture and kill game; he sent them
hunting each day, directing them to go to the east, west, or north, but
with the injunction not to the south. The elder son disobeyed this
injunction, went to the south, was captured by a war party of Utes and
taken to their home far to the south. He escaped by the aid of _Yàybichy_
(_Qastcèëlçi_) and divers supernatural beings. His adventures in returning
home form the body of the ceremony wherein these adventures are, in some
degree, reproduced. Extensive preparations are made for the performance of
the ceremony. Lodges are built and corrals made for the use of the
performers and the convenience of their audience. The fête being
organized, stories are told, speeches made, and sacred songs are sung (the
latter are given by Dr. Matthews as "songs of sequence," because they must
be sung in a progressive series on four certain days of the ceremony).
Mythological charts of dry sand of divers colors are made on the earth
within the corrals after the manner of the Navajo and Pueblo Indians.
These dry sand paintings are made after a given formula and intended to be
repeated from year to year, although no copy is preserved, the artists
depending only upon the memory of their shaman. One of these pictures or
charts represents the fugitive's escape from the Utes, his captors, down a
precipice into a den or cave in which burnt a fire "on which was no wood."
Four pebbles lay on the ground together--a black pebble in the east, a
blue one in the south, a yellow one in the west, and a white one in the
north. From these flames issued. Around the fire lay four bears, colored
and placed to correspond with the pebbles. When the strangers (Qastcèëlçi
and the Navajo) approached the fire the bears asked them for tobacco, and
when they replied they had none, the bears became angry and thrice more
demanded it. When the Navajo fled from the Ute camp, he had furtively
helped himself from one of the four bags of tobacco which the council was
using. These, with a pipe, he had tied up in his skin robe; so when the
fourth demand was made he filled the pipe and lighted it at the fire. He
handed the pipe to the black bear, who, taking but one whiff, passed it to
the blue bear and immediately fell senseless. The blue bear took two
whiffs and passed the pipe, when he too fell over unconscious. The yellow
bear succumbed after the third whiff, and the white bear in the north
after the fourth whiff. Now the Navajo knocked the ashes and tobacco out
of his pipe and rubbed the latter on the feet, legs, abdomen, chest,
shoulders, forehead, and mouth of each of the bears in turn, and they were
at once resuscitated. He replaced the pipe in the corner of his robe. When
the bears recovered, they assigned to the Navajo a place on the east side
of the fire where he might lie all night, and they brought out their
stores of corn meal, _tciltcin_, and other berries, offering them to him
to eat; but Qastcèëlçi warned him not to touch the food, and disappeared.
So, hungry as he was, the Indian lay down supperless to sleep. When he
awoke in the morning, the bears again offered food, which he again
declined, saying he was not hungry. Then they showed him how to make the
bear _kethàwns_, or sticks, to be sacrificed to the bear gods, and they
drew from one corner of the cave a great sheet of cloud, which they
unrolled, and on it were painted the forms of the "yays" of the cultivated
plants.
[Illustration: PLATE 17. NAVAJO DRY PAINTING CONTAINING SWASTIKAS. Dr.
Washington Matthews, "The Mountain Chant: A Navajo Ceremony," Fifth Annual
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1883-84, Pl. XVII.]
In Dr. Matthews's memoir (marked third, but described on p. 447 as the
second picture), is a representation of the painting which the prophet was
believed to have seen at the home of the bears in the Carrizo Mountains.
This is here reproduced as pl. 17. In the center of the figure is a bowl
of water covered with black powder; the edge of the bowl is garnished with
sunbeams, while outside of it and forming a rectangle are the four
_ca'bitlol_ of sunbeam rafts on which seem to stand four gods, or "yays,"
with the plants under their special protection, which are painted the same
color as the gods to which they belong. These plants are represented on
their left hand, the hand being open and extended toward them. The body of
the eastern god is white, so is the stalk of corn at his left in the
southeast; the body of the southern god is blue, so is the beanstalk
beside him in the southwest; the body of the western god is yellow, so is
his pumpkin vine in the northwest; the body of the north god is black, so
is the tobacco plant in the northeast. Each of the sacred plants grows
from five white roots in the central waters and spreads outward to the
periphery of the picture. The figures of the gods form a cross, the arms
of which are directed to the four cardinal points; the plants form another
cross, having a common center with the first, the arms extending to the
intermediate points of the compass. The gods are shaped alike, but colored
differently; they lie with their feet to the center and heads extended
outward, one to each of the four cardinal points of the compass, the faces
look forward, the arms half extended on either side, the hands raised to a
level with the shoulders. They wear around their loins skirts of red
sunlight adorned with sunbeams. They have ear pendants, bracelets, and
armlets, blue and red, representing turquoise and coral, the prehistoric
and emblematic jewels of the Navajo Indians. Their forearms and legs are
black, showing in each a zigzag mark representing lightning on the black
rain clouds. In the north god these colors are, for artistic reasons,
reversed. The gods have, respectively, a rattle, a charm, and a basket,
each attached to his right hand by strings. This basket, represented by
concentric lines with a Greek cross in the center, all of the proper color
corresponding with the god to whom each belongs, has extending from each
of its quarters, arranged perpendicularly at right angles to each other,
in the form of a cross, four white plumes of equal length, which at equal
distances from the center are bent, all to the left, and all of the same
length. Thus are formed in this chart four specimens of the Swastika, with
the cross and circle at the intersection of the arms. The plumes have a
small black spot at the tip end of each.
[Illustration: Fig. 257. WAR SHIELD USED BY THE PIMA INDIANS. Ogee
Swastika (tetraskelion) in three colors: (1) blue, (2) red, (3) white.
Cat. No. 27829, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 258. WAR SHIELD WITH OGEE SWASTIKA IN CENTER. Pima
Indians. The hole near the lower arm of the Swastika was made by an arrow.
Property of Mr. F. W. Hodge.]
Dr. Matthews informs me that he has no knowledge of any peculiar meaning
attributed by these Indians to this Swastika symbol, and we know not
whether it is intended as a religious symbol, a charm of blessing, or good
luck, or whether it is only an ornament. We do not know whether it has any
hidden, mysterious, or symbolic meaning; but there it is, a prehistoric or
Oriental Swastika in all its purity and simplicity, appearing in one of
the mystic ceremonies of the aborigines in the great American desert in
the interior of the North American Continent.
_The Pimas._--The U. S. National Museum possesses a shield (Cat. No.
27829) of bull hide, made by the Pima Indians. It is about 20 inches in
diameter, and bears upon its face an ogee Swastika (tetraskelion), the
ends bent to the right. The body and each arm is divided longitudinally
into three stripes or bands indicated by colors, blue, red, and white,
arranged alternately. The exterior part of the shield has a white ground,
while the interior or center has a blue ground. This shield (fig. 257) is
almost an exact reproduction of the Swastika from Mycenæ (fig. 161), from
Ireland (fig. 216), and from Scandinavia (figs. 209 and 210). Fig. 258
shows another Pima shield of the same type. Its Swastika is, however,
painted with a single color or possibly a mixture of two, red and white.
It is ogee, and the ends bend to the left. This shield is the property of
Mr. F. W. Hodge, of the Bureau of Ethnology. He obtained it from a Pima
Indian in Arizona, who assured him that the hole at the end of the lower
arm of the Swastika was made by an arrow shot at him by an Indian enemy.
COLONIAL PATCHWORK.
[Illustration: Fig. 259. COLONIAL PATCHWORK WITH FIGURES RESEMBLING
SWASTIKAS. Scribner's Magazine, September, 1894.]
In Scribner's Magazine for September, 1894, under the title of "Tapestry
in the New World," one of our popular writers has described, with many
illustrations, the bedquilt patterns of our grandmothers' time. One of
these she interprets as the Swastika. This is, however, believed to be
forced. The pattern in question is made of patches in the form of
rhomboids and right-angled triangles sewed and grouped somewhat in the
form of the Swastika (fig. 259). It is an invented combination of
patchwork which formed a new pattern, and while it bears a slight
resemblance to the Swastika, lacks its essential elements. It was not a
symbol, and represents no idea beyond that of a pretty pattern. It stood
for nothing sacred, nor for benediction, blessing, nor good luck. It was
but an ornamental pattern which fortuitously had the resemblance of
Swastika. It was not even in the form of a cross. The difference between
it and the Swastika is about the same there would be between the idle and
thoughtless boy who sporadically draws the cross on his slate, meaning
nothing by it, or at most only to make an ornament, and the devout
Christian who makes the same sign on entering the church, or the Indian
who thus represents the four winds of heaven. He who made the Swastika
recognizes an occult power for good and against evil, and he thereby
invokes the power to secure prosperity. She who made the quilt pattern
apparently knew nothing of the old-time Swastika, and was not endeavoring
to reproduce it or anything like it. She only sought to make such an
arrangement of rhomboidal and triangular quilt patches as would produce a
new ornamental pattern.
CENTRAL AMERICA.
NICARAGUA.
The specimen shown in fig. 260 (Cat. No. 23726, U. S. N. M.) is a
fragment, the foot of a large stone metate from Zapatero, Granada,
Nicaragua. The metate was chiseled or pecked out of the solid. A sunken
panel is surrounded by moldings, in the center of which appears, from its
outline, also by raised moldings, a figure, the outline of which is a
Greek cross, but whose exterior is a Swastika. Its form as such is
perfect, except that one bent arm is separated from its stem by a shallow
groove.
[Illustration: Fig. 260. FRAGMENT OF THE FOOT OF A STONE METATE WITH
FIGURE OF SWASTIKA. Nicaragua. Cat. No. 23726, U. S. N. M.]
"The Cross, Ancient and Modern," by W. W. Blake, shows, in its fig. 57, a
Swastika pure and simple, and is cited by its author as representing a
cross found by Squier in Central America. The Mexican enthusiast, Orozco y
Perra, claims at first glance that it shows Buddhist origin, but I have
not been able as yet to verify the quotation.
YUCATAN.
Dr. Schliemann reports, in the Ethnological Museum at Berlin, a pottery
bowl from Yucatan ornamented with a Swastika, the two main arms crossing
at right angles, and he adds,[263] citing Le Plongeon, "Fouilles au
Yucatan," that "during the last excavations in Yucatan this sign was found
several times on ancient pottery."
Le Plongeon discovered a fragment of a stone slab in the ancient Maya city
of Mayapan, of which he published a description in the Proceedings of the
American Antiquarian Society. It contains an ogee Swastika (tetraskelion),
with ends curved to the left and an inverted [U] with a wheel (fig. 261).
Le Plongeon believed it to be an Egyptian inscription, which he translated
thus: The character, inverted [U], stood for _Ch_ or _K_; the wheel for
the sun, _Aa_ or _Ra_, and the Swastika for _Ch_ or _K_, making the whole
to be _Chach_ or _Kak_, which, he says, is the word _fire_ in the Maya
language.[264]
[Illustration: Fig. 261. FRAGMENT OF STONE SLAB FROM THE ANCIENT MAYA CITY
OF MAYAPAN. Ogee Swastika (tetraskelion). Proceedings of the American
Antiquarian Society, April 21, 1881.]
COSTA RICA.
A fragment of a metate (Cat. No. 9693, U. S. N. M.) found on Lempa River,
Costa Rica, by Capt. J. M. Dow, has on its bottom a Swastika similar to
that on the metate from Nicaragua. Specimen No. 59182, U. S. M. N., is a
fragment of a pottery vase from Las Huacas, Costa Rica, collected by Dr.
J. F. Bransford. It is natural maroon body color, decorated with black
paint. A band two inches wide is around the belly of the vase divided into
panels of solid black alternated with fanciful geometric figures, crosses,
circles, etc. One of these panels contains a partial Swastika figure. The
two main arms cross at right angles in Greek form. It is a partial
Swastika in that, while the two perpendicular arms bend at right angles,
turning six times to the right; the two horizontal arms are solid black in
color, as though the lines and spaces had run together.
SOUTH AMERICA.
BRAZIL.
The leaden idol (fig. 125) (Artemis Nana[265] of Chaldea, Sayce;
statuettes of the Cyclades, Lenormant) found by Dr. Schliemann in the
third, the burnt city of Hissarlik, Troy, was described (p. 829) with its
Swastika on the triangular shield covering the pudendum, with the
statement that it would be recalled in the chapter on Brazil.
The aboriginal women of Brazil wore a triangular shield or plaque over
their private parts. These shields are made of terra cotta, quite thin,
the edges rounded, and the whole piece rubbed smooth and polished. It is
supported in place by cords around the body, which are attached by small
holes in each angle of the triangle. The U. S. National Museum possesses
several of these plaques from Brazil, and several were shown at the
Chicago Exposition.
The consideration of the leaden idol of Hissarlik, with a Swastika, as
though for good luck, recalled to the author similar plaques in his
department from Brazil. Some are of common yellow ware, others were finer,
were colored red and rubbed smooth and hard, but were without decoration.
The specimen shown in pl. 18 (upper figure) was from Marajo, Brazil,
collected by Mr. E. M. Brigham. It is of light gray, slip washed, and
decorated with pale red or yellow paint in bands, lines, parallels,
geometric figures. The specimen shown in the lower figure of the same
plate, from the Caneotires River, Brazil, was collected by Prof. J. B.
Steere. The body color, clay, and the decoration paint are much the same
as the former. The ornamentation is principally by two light lines laid
parallel and close so as to form a single line, and is of the same
geometric character as the incised decoration ornament on other pieces
from Marajo Island. Midway from top to bottom, near the outside edges, are
two Swastikas. They are about five-eighths of an inch in size, are turned
at right angles, one to the right and the other to the left. These may
have been a charm signifying good fortune in bearing children. (See pp.
830-832.)
These specimens were submitted by the author to the Brazilian minister,
Señor Mendonça, himself an archæologist and philologist of no small
capacity, who recognized these objects as in use in ancient times among
the aborigines of his country. The name by which they are known in the
aboriginal language is _Tambeao_ or _Tamatiatang_, according to the
dialects of different provinces. The later dialect name for apron is
reported as _tunga_, and the minister makes two remarks having a possible
bearing on the migration of the race: (1) The similarity of _tunga_ with
the last syllable of the longer word, _atang_, and (2) that _tunga_ is
essentially an African word from the west coast. Whether this piece of
dress so thoroughly savage, with a possible ceremonial meaning relating to
sex or condition, with its wonderful similarity of names, might not have
migrated in time of antiquity from the west coast of Africa to the
promontory of Brazil on the east coast of America where the passage is
narrowest, is one of those conundrums which the prehistoric anthropologist
is constantly encountering and which he is usually unable to solve.
The purpose of these objects, beyond covering the private parts of the
female sex, is not known. They may have been ceremonial, relating, under
certain circumstances, to particular conditions of the sex, or they may
have been only variations of the somewhat similar covers used by the male
aborigine. They bear some resemblance to the _Ceintures de Chasteté_,
specimens of which are privately shown at the Musée de Cluny at Paris.
These are said to have been invented by Françoise de Carara, viguier
imperial (provost) of Padua, Italy, near the end of the fourteenth
century. He applied it to all the women of his seraglio. He was beheaded
A. D. 1405, by a decree of the Senate of Venice, for his many acts of
cruelty. The palace of St. Mark contained for a long time a box or case of
these ceintures with their locks attached, which were represented as
_des pieces de conviction_ of this monster.[266] Voltaire describes his
hero "_qui tient sous la clef, la vertu de sa femme_."
[Illustration: PLATE 18. FOLIUM VITUS ("FIG LEAVES"). Terra-cotta covers,
"tunga." Aborigines of Brazil. Cat. Nos. 59089 and 36542, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF THE SWASTIKA.]
PARAGUAY.
Dr. Schliemann reports that a traveler of the Berlin Ethnological Museum
obtained a pumpkin bottle from the tribe of Lenguas in Paraguay which bore
the imprint of the Swastika scratched upon its surface, and that he had
recently sent it to the Royal Museum at Berlin.
III.--FORMS ALLIED TO THE SWASTIKA.
MEANDERS, OGEES, AND SPIRALS, BENT TO THE LEFT AS WELL AS TO THE RIGHT.
There are certain forms related to the normal Swastika and greatly
resembling it--meanders, ogees, the triskelion, tetraskelion, and five and
six armed spirals or volutes. This has been mentioned above (page 768),
and some of the varieties are shown in fig. 13. These related forms have
been found in considerable numbers in America, and this investigation
would be incomplete if they were omitted. It has been argued (p. 839) that
the Swastika was not evolved from the meander, and this need not be
reargued.
The cross with the arms bent or twisted in a spiral is one of these
related forms. It is certain that in ancient, if not prehistoric, times
the cross with extended spiral arms was frequently employed. This form
appeared in intimate association with the square Swastikas which were
turned indifferently to the right and left. This association of different
yet related forms was so intimate, and they were used so indiscriminately
as to justify the contention that the maker or designer recognized or
admitted no perceptible or substantial difference between the square and
spiral forms, whether they turned to the right or left, or whether they
made a single or many turns, and that he classed them as the same sign or
its equivalent. A Greek vase (fig. 174) shows five Swastikas, four of
which are of different form (fig. 262). Curiously enough, the design of
this Greek vase is painted maroon on a yellow ground, the style generally
adopted in the vases from the mounds of Missouri and Arkansas, which
mostly represent the spiral Swastika.
[Illustration: Fig. 262. DIFFERENT FORMS OF SWASTIKA FOR COMPARISON.]
In Ireland a standing stone (fig. 215) has two forms of Swastika side by
side. In one the arms are bent square at the corners, the other has curved
or spiral arms, both turned to the right. These examples are so numerous
that they would seem convincing in the absence of any other evidence
(figs. 166 to 176).
ABORIGINAL AMERICAN ENGRAVINGS AND PAINTINGS.
These allied forms of Swastika appear on prehistoric objects from mounds
and Indian graves in different parts of the country and in times of high
antiquity as well as among modern tribes. This paper contains the results
of the investigations in this direction.
DESIGNS ON SHELL.
[Illustration: Fig. 263. SHELL GORGET. Cross, circle, sun's rays(?), and
heads of four ivory-billed woodpeckers(?) arranged to form a Swastika.
Mississippi.]
The Department of Prehistoric Anthropology in the U. S. National Museum,
contains a considerable number of large shells of aboriginal workmanship.
The shell most employed was that of the genus _Fulgur_, a marine shell
found on the coast from Florida to the capes. The _Unio_ was employed, as
well as others. These marine shells were transported long distances
inland. They have been found in mounds and Indian graves a thousand miles
from their original habitat. They served as utensils as well as ornaments.
In many specimens the whorl was cut out, the shells otherwise left entire,
and they served as vessels for holding or carrying liquids. When intended
for ornaments, they were cut into the desired form and engraved with the
design; if to be used as gorgets, holes were drilled for suspension.
Frequently they were smoothed on the outside and the design engraved
thereon. The preference of the aborigines for the _Fulgur_ shell may have
been by reason of its larger size. Among the patterns employed for the
decoration of these shells, the Swastika, in the form of spirals, volutes,
or otherwise, appeared, although many others, such as the rattlesnake,
birds, spiders, and human masks were employed. No detailed description of
the patterns of this shellwork will be attempted, because figures will be
required to give the needed information for the interpretation of the
Swastika. Many of the cuts and some of the descriptions are taken from the
annual reports of the Bureau of Ethnology and, so far as relates to shell,
mostly from Mr. Holmes's paper on "Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans."
I desire to express my thanks for all cuts obtained from the Bureau
publications.
[Illustration: Fig. 264. SHELL GORGET FROM TENNESSEE. Square figure with
ornamental corners and heads of ivory-billed woodpecker arranged to form a
figure resembling the Swastika.]
[Illustration: Fig. 265. SHELL GORGET FROM TENNESSEE. Square figure with
ornamental corners and heads of ivory-billed woodpecker arranged to form a
figure resembling the Swastika.]
_Ivory-billed woodpecker._--A series of gorgets in shell have been found
ornamented with designs resembling the Swastika, which should be noticed.
They combine the square and the cross, while the head and bill of the
bird form the _gamma_ indicative of the Swastika. Fig. 263, taken from the
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81 (pl. 58), shows
one of these shell gorgets from Mississippi, which "was, in all
probability, obtained from one of the multitude of ancient sepulchres that
abound in the State of Mississippi." The design is engraved on the convex
side, the perforations are placed near the margin, and show much wear by
the cord of suspension. In the center is a nearly symmetrical Greek cross
inclosed in a circle of 1-1/4 inches. The spaces between the arms are
emblazoned with radiating lines. Outside this circle are twelve small
pointed or pyramidal rays. A square framework of four continuous parallel
lines looped at the corners incloses this symbol; projecting from the
center of each side of this square, opposite the arms of the cross, are
four heads of birds representing the ivory-billed woodpecker, the heron,
or the swan. The long, slender, and straight mandibles give the Swastika
form to the object. Mr. Holmes says (p. 282) that he has been able to find
six of these specimens, all of the type described, varying only in detail,
workmanship, and finish.
[Illustration: Fig. 266. SHELL GORGET FROM TENNESSEE. Square figure with
ornamental corners and heads of ivory-billed woodpecker arranged to form a
figure resembling the Swastika.]
Figs. 264, 265, and 266,[267] represent three of these shell gorgets. The
first was obtained by Professor Putnam from a stone grave, Cumberland
River, Tennessee. It is about 2-1/2 inches in diameter and, like the
former, it has a Greek cross in the center. The second was obtained by Mr.
Cross from a stone grave near Nashville, Tenn. The third is from a stone
grave near Oldtown, Tenn. All these have been drilled for suspension and
are much worn.
_The triskele, triskelion, or triquetrum._--These are Greek and Latin
terms for the spiral volute with three branches or arms. The coins of
Lycia were in this form, made originally by the junction of three cocks'
heads and necks. The armorial bearings of the island of Sicily, in ancient
times, consisted of three human legs joined at the thigh and flexed,
sometimes booted and spurred (p. 873).
Aboriginal shell gorgets have been found in the mounds of Tennessee and
the adjoining country, which were engraved with this design, though always
in spiral form. There seems to have been no distinction in the direction
of the volutes, they turning indifferently to the right or to the left.
Because of their possible relation to the Swastika it has been deemed
proper to introduce them.
[Illustration: Fig. 267. SCALLOPED SHELL DISK (FULGUR) FROM A MOUND NEAR
NASHVILLE, TENN. Three spiral volutes (triskelion).]
Fig. 267[268] shows a _Fulgur_ shell specimen obtained by Major Powell
from a mound near Nashville, Tenn. It was found near the head of a
skeleton. Its substance is well preserved; the surface was once highly
polished, but now is pitted by erosion and discolored by age. The design
is engraved on the concave surface as usual, and the lines are accurately
drawn and clearly cut. The central circle is three-eighths of an inch in
diameter and is surrounded by a zone one-half an inch in width, which
contains a triskelion or triquetrum of three voluted lines beginning near
the center of the shell on the circumference of the inner circle of three
small equidistant perforations, and sweeping outward spirally to the left
as shown in the figure, making upward of half a revolution. These lines
are somewhat wider and more deeply engraved than the other lines of the
design. In some specimens they are so deeply cut as to penetrate the disk,
producing crescent-shaped perforations. Two medium-sized perforations for
suspension have been made near the inner margin of one of the bosses next
the dotted zone; these show abrasion by the cord of suspension. These
perforations, as well as the three near the center, have been bored mainly
from the convex side of the disk.
[Illustration: Fig. 268. SCALLOPED SHELL DISK FROM A MOUND NEAR NASHVILLE,
TENN. Circles and dots and four spiral volutes (tetraskelion).]
[Illustration: Fig. 269. SHELL DISK FROM BRAKEBILL MOUND, NEAR KNOXVILLE,
TENN. Dot and circle in center and ogee Swastika (tetraskelion) marked but
not completed.]
[Illustration: Figs. 270 and 271. ENGRAVED SHELL DISK. Obverse and
reverse. Three-armed volute (triskelion).]
Fig. 268[269] represents a well-preserved disk with four volute arms
forming the tetraskelion, and thus allied to the Swastika. The volutes (to
the right) are deeply cut and for about one-third their length penetrate
the shell, producing four crescent-shaped perforations which show on the
opposite side. This specimen is from a stone grave near Nashville, Tenn.,
and the original is in the Peabody Museum. Fig. 269[270] shows a specimen
from the Brakebill mound, near Knoxville, Tenn. It has a dot in the
center, with a circle five-eighths of an inch in diameter. There are four
volute arms which start from the opposite sides of this circle, and in
their spiral form extend to the right across the field, increasing in size
as they approach the periphery. This is an interesting specimen of the
tetraskelion or spiral Swastika, in that it is unfinished, the outline
having been cut in the shell sufficient to indicate the form, but not
perfected. Figs. 270 and 271 show obverse and reverse sides of the same
shell. It comes from one of the stone graves of Tennessee, and is thus
described by Dr. Joseph Jones, of New Orleans,[271] as a specimen of the
deposit and original condition of these objects:
In a carefully constructed stone sarcophagus in which the face of the
skeleton was looking toward the setting sun, a beautiful shell
ornament was found resting upon the breastbone of the skeleton. This
shell ornament is 4.4 inches in diameter, and it is ornamented on its
concave surface with a small circle in the center and four concentric
bands, differently figured, in relief. The first band is filled up by
a triple volute; the second is plain, while the third is dotted and
has nine small round bosses carved at unequal distances upon it. The
outer band is made up of fourteen small elliptical bosses, the outer
edges of which give to the object a scalloped rim. This ornament, on
its concave figured surface, has been covered with red paint, much of
which is still visible. The convex smooth surface is highly polished
and plain, with the exception of the three concentric marks. The
material out of which it is formed was evidently derived from a large
flat seashell. * * * The form of the circles or "suns" carved upon the
concave surface is similar to that of the paintings on the high rocky
cliffs on the banks of the Cumberland and Harpeth rivers. * * * This
ornament when found lay upon the breastbone with the concave surface
uppermost, as if it had been worn in this position suspended around
the neck, as the two holes for the thong or string were in that
portion of the border which pointed directly to the chin or central
portion of the jaw of the skeleton. The marks of the thong by which it
was suspended are manifest upon both the anterior and posterior
surfaces, and, in addition to this, the paint is worn off from the
circular space bounded below by the two holes.
[Illustration: Fig. 272. ENGRAVED SHELL DISK. Tennessee. Three-armed
volute (triskelion).]
[Illustration: Fig. 273. ENGRAVED SHELL DISK. Tennessee. Three-armed
volute (triskelion).]
Fig. 271 represents the back or convex side of the disk shown in fig. 270.
The long curved lines indicate the laminations of the shell, and the three
crescent-shaped figures near the center are perforations resulting from
the deep engraving of the three lines of the volute on the concave side.
The stone grave in which this ornament was found occupied the summit of a
mound on the banks of the Cumberland River, opposite Nashville, Tenn.
[Illustration: Fig. 274. ENGRAVED SHELL DISK. Tennessee. Three-armed
volute (triskelion).]
Figs. 272, 273, and 274 are other representations of shell carved in
spirals, and may have greater or less relation to the Swastika.[272] They
are inserted for comparison and without any expression of opinion. They
are drawn in outline, and the spiral form is thus more easily seen.
Mr. Holmes[273] makes some observations upon these designs and gives his
theory concerning their use:
I do not assume to interpret these designs; they are not to be
interpreted. All I desire is to elevate these works from the category
of trinkets to what I believe is their rightful place--the serious art
of a people with great capacity for loftier works. What the gorgets
themselves were, or of what particular value to their possessor, aside
from simple ornaments, must be, in a measure, a matter of conjecture.
They were hardly less than the totems of clans, the insignia of
rulers, or the potent charms of the priesthood.
[Illustration: Fig. 275. ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET. Figure representing a
spider; circles and Greek crosses.]
_The spider._--The spider was represented on the shell gorgets. Figs. 275
to 278[274] present four of these gorgets, of which figs. 275 to 277
display the Greek cross in the center, surrounded by two concentric
incised lines forming a circle which is the body of a spider. Fig. 276
shows the same spider and circle, and inside of it a cross much
resembling the Swastika, in that the arms are turned at their extremities
to the right and form, in an inchoate manner, the gamma. Fig. 278
represents the shell with the spider, and, though it contains no cross nor
semblance of the Swastika, derives its value from having been taken from
the same mound on Fains Island, Tennessee, as was the true Swastika. (See
fig. 237.)
[Illustration: Fig. 276. ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET.]
_The rattlesnake._--The rattlesnake was a favorite design on these
gorgets, affording, as it did, an opportunity for the aborigines to make a
display of elegance of design, and of accuracy and fineness in execution.
Fig. 279 is a specimen in which the snake is represented coiled, the head
in the center, the mouth [V]-shaped in strong lines, the body in volute
fashion; on the outside of the circle the tail is shown by its rattle.
This specimen is represented three-fourths size, and comes from McMahon
mound, Tennessee. Four others of similar design are also from Tennessee
and the adjoining States, but the locality is more restricted than is the
case with other shell disk ornaments.
[Illustration: Fig. 277. ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET.]
_The human face and form._--These were also carved and wrought upon shells
in the same general locality. The engraving is always on the convex side
of the shell which has been reduced to a pear-shaped form.[275]
[Illustration: Fig. 278. ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET. Fains Island, Tennessee.]
[Illustration: Fig. 279. ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET REPRESENTING A RATTLESNAKE.
McMahon Mound, Tennessee. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
pl. LXIII.]
[Illustration: Figs. 280 and 281. ENGRAVED SHELLS WITH REPRESENTATIONS OF
THE HUMAN FACE. McMahon Mound, Tennessee. Second Annual Report of the
Bureau of Ethnology, pl. LXIX.]
[Illustration: Figs. 282 and 283. ENGRAVED SHELLS WITH REPRESENTATIONS OF
THE HUMAN FACE. Tennessee. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, pl. LXIX.]
[Illustration: Figs. 284 and 285. ENGRAVED SHELLS WITH REPRESENTATIONS OF
THE HUMAN FACE. Virginia. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
pl. LXIX.]
[Illustration: Fig. 286. ENGRAVED SHELL WITH REPRESENTATION OF A HUMAN
FIGURE. McMahon Mound, Tennessee. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, pl. LXXI.]
[Illustration: Fig. 287. ENGRAVED SHELL WITH REPRESENTATION OF A HUMAN
FIGURE. Tennessee. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pl.
LXXII.]
These human faces and forms (figs. 280-288), as well as the others, belong
to the mound builders, and are found with their remains in the mounds. The
figures are inserted, as is the rattlesnake, for comparison with the shell
designs and work shown in the Buddha figure (pl. 10) and its associates.
Slight inspection will show two styles, differing materially. To decide
which was foreign and which domestic, which was imported and which
indigenous, would be to decide the entire question of migration, and if
done off-hand, would be presumptuous. To make a satisfactory decision will
require a marshaling and consideration of evidence which belongs to the
future. The specimens shown in figs. 280 to 285 are from Tennessee and
Virginia. They are all masks, bearing representations of the human face.
The first two are from the McMahon mound, Tennessee; that in fig. 282 from
Brakebill mound, Tennessee, and that represented in fig. 283 from Lick
Creek mound, Tennessee. The shell shown in fig. 284 is from Aquia Creek,
Virginia, and that in fig. 285 is from a mound in Ely County, Va. The
workmanship on these has no resemblance to that on the Buddha figure (pl.
10), nor does its style compare in any manner therewith.
[Illustration: Fig. 288. ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET WITH REPRESENTATION OF A
HUMAN FIGURE. Missouri. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
pl. LXXIII.]
On the contrary, figs. 286 to 288, representing sketches (unfinished) of
the human figure, from mounds in Tennessee and Missouri, have some
resemblance in style of work, though not in design, to that of the Buddha
and Swastika figures. The first step in execution, after the drawing by
incised lines, seems to have been to drill holes through the shell at each
corner and intersection. The work on the specimen shown in fig. 286 has
progressed further than that on the specimens shown in figs. 287 and 288.
It has twenty-eight holes drilled, all at corners or intersections. This
is similar to the procedure in the Buddha statue (pl. 10). In fig. 287 the
holes have not been drilled, but each member of the figure has been marked
out and indicated by dots in the center, and circles or half circles
incised around them in precisely the same manner as in both Swastikas
(figs. 237 and 238), while fig. 288 continues the resemblance in style of
drawing. It has the same peculiar garters or bracelets as the Buddha, the
hand is the same as in the fighting figures (fig. 239), and the implement
he holds resembles closely those in the copper figures (figs. 240 and
241).
DESIGNS ON POTTERY.
[Illustration: Fig. 289. POTTERY VESSEL. Four-armed volute, ogee Swastika
(tetraskelion). Arkansas. 1/3 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 290. POTTERY VESSEL. Four volutes resembling Swastika.
Pecan Point, Ark. 1/3 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 291. POTTERY VESSEL MADE IN THE FORM OF AN ANIMAL.
Spiral volutes, nine arms. Pecan Point, Ark. 1/3 natural size.]
Spiral-volute designs resembling the Swastika in general effect are found
on aboriginal mound pottery from the Mississippi Valley. The Fourth Annual
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1882-83,[276] shows many of these. Fig.
289 represents a teapot-shaped vessel from Arkansas, on the side of which,
in incised lines, is shown the small circle which we saw on the shell
disks, and springing from the four opposite sides are three incised lines,
twisting spirally to the right, forming the four volutes of the Swastika
(tetraskelion) and covering the entire side of the vessel. The same spiral
form of the Swastika is given in fig. 290, a vessel of eccentric shape
from Pecan Point, Ark. The decoration is in the form of two lines crossing
each other and each arm then twisting to the right, forming volutes, the
incised lines of which, though drawn close together and at equal
distances, gradually expand until the ornament covers the entire side of
the vase. It is questionable whether this or any of its kindred were ever
intended to represent either the Swastika or any other specific form of
the cross. One evidence of this is that these ornaments shade off
indefinitely until they arrive at a form which was surely not intended to
represent any form of the cross, whether Swastika or not. The line of
separation is not now suggested by the author. An elaboration of the
preceding forms, both of the vessel and its ornamentation, is shown by the
vessel represented in fig. 291, which is fashioned to represent some
grotesque beast with horns, expanding nostrils, and grinning mouth, yet
which might serve as a teapot as well as the former two vessels. The
decoration upon its side has six incised lines crossing each other in the
center and expanding in volutes until they cover the entire side of the
vessel, as in the other specimens. Fig. 292 shows a pot from Arkansas. Its
body is decorated with incised lines arranged in much the same form as
fig. 291, except that the lines make no attempt to form a cross. There are
nine arms which spring from the central point and twist spirally about as
volutes until they cover the field, which is one-third the body of the
bowl. Two other designs of the same kind complete the circuit of the pot
and form the decoration all around. Fig. 293[277] represents these volutes
in incised lines of considerable fineness, close together, and in great
numbers, forming a decoration on each of the sides of the vase, separated
by three nearly perpendicular lines.
[Illustration: Fig. 292. POTTERY BOWL ORNAMENTED WITH MANY-ARMED VOLUTES.
Arkansas. 1/3 natural size.]
[Illustration: Fig. 293. POTTERY VASE ORNAMENTED WITH VOLUTES. Arkansas.]
[Illustration: Fig. 294. TRIPOD POTTERY VASE. Four-armed volutes making
spiral Swastika. Arkansas. 1/3 natural size.]
The spiral Swastika form appears painted upon the pottery from Arkansas.
The specimen shown in fig. 294[278] is a tripod bottle. The decoration
upon the side of the body consists of two lines forming the cross, and the
four arms expand in volutes until the ornament covers one-third of the
vessel, which, with the other two similar ornaments, extend around the
circumference. This decoration is painted in red and white colors on a
gray or yellowish ground. Fig. 295 shows a bowl from mound No. 2, Thorn's
farm, Taylor Shanty group, Mark Tree, Poinsett County, Ark. It is ten
inches wide and six inches high. The clay of which it is made forms the
body color--light gray. It has been painted red or maroon on the outside
without any decoration, while on the inside is painted with the same color
a five-armed cross, spirally arranged in volutes turning to the right. The
center of the cross is at the bottom of the bowl, and the painted spiral
lines extend over the bottom and up the sides to the rim of the bowl, the
interior being entirely covered with the design. Another example of the
same style of decoration is seen on the upper surface of an ancient vase
from the province of Cibola.[279]
[Illustration: Fig. 295. POTTERY BOWL WITH FIVE-ARMED SPIRAL SWASTIKA ON
THE BOTTOM. Poinsett County, Ark. Cat. No. 114035, U. S. N. M.]
The specimen shown in fig. 296 is from the mound at Arkansas Post, in the
county and State of Arkansas.[280] It represents a vase of black ware,
painted a yellowish ground, with a red spiral scroll. Its diameter is
5-1/2 inches. These spiral figures are not uncommon in the localities
heretofore indicated as showing the normal Swastika. Figs. 297 and
298[281] show parallel incised lines of the same style as those forming
the square in the bird gorgets already noted (figs. 263-267). Fig. 297
shows a bowl nine inches in diameter; its rim is ornamented with the heart
and tail of a conventional bird, which probably served as handles. On the
outside, just below the rim, are the four incised parallel lines
mentioned. In the center of the side is represented a rolling under or
twisting of the lines, as though it represented a ribbon. There are three
on each quarter of the bowl, that next the head being plain. Fig. 298
represents a bottle 6-1/2 inches in diameter, with parallel incised lines,
three in number, with the same twisting or folding of the ribbon-like
decoration. This twists to the left, while that of fig. 297 twists in the
opposite direction. Both specimens are from the vicinity of Charleston,
Mo.
[Illustration: Fig. 296. VESSEL OF BLACK WARE. Spiral scroll. Arkansas.]
[Illustration: Fig. 297. BIRD-SHAPED POTTERY BOWL. Three parallel incised
lines with ribbon fold. Charleston, Mo.]
DESIGNS ON BASKETRY.
The volute form is particularly adapted to the decoration of basketry, of
which fig. 299 is a specimen. These motifs were favorites with the Pueblo
Indians of New Mexico and Arizona.
[Illustration: Fig. 298. POTTERY BOWL. Three parallel incised lines with
ribbon fold. Charleston, Mo.]
[Illustration: Fig. 299. BASKETWORK WITH MANY-ARMED VOLUTES. Fourth Annual
Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 485.]
IV.--THE CROSS AMONG THE AMERICAN INDIANS.
DIFFERENT FORMS.
The foregoing specimens are sufficient evidence of the existence of the
Swastika among the aboriginal North Americans during the mound-building
period, and although there may be other specimens of the Swastika to be
reported, yet we might properly continue this investigation for the
purpose of determining if there be any related forms of the cross among
the same peoples. This is done without any argument as to the use of these
designs beyond that attributed to them. The illustrations and descriptions
are mainly collected from objects in and reports of the U. S. National
Museum and the Bureau of Ethnology.
THE CROSS ON OBJECTS OF SHELL AND COPPER.
[Illustration: Fig. 300. ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET. Greek cross with incised
lines resembling a Swastika. Union County, Ill.]
The shell gorget presented in fig. 300 belongs to the collection of Mr. F.
M. Perrine, and was obtained from a mound in Union County, Ill. It is a
little more than three inches in diameter and has been ground to a uniform
thickness of about one-twelfth of an inch. The surfaces are smooth and the
margin carefully rounded and polished. Near the upper edge are two
perforations, both well worn with cord-marks indicating suspension. The
cross in the center of the concave face of the disk is quite simple and is
made by four triangular perforations which separate the arms. The face of
the cross is ornamented with six carelessly drawn incised lines
interlacing in the center as shown in the figure, three extending along
the arm to the right and three passing down the lower arm to the inclosing
line. Nothing has been learned of the character of the interments with
which this specimen was associated.[282] The incised lines of the specimen
indicate the possible intention of the artist to make the Swastika. The
design is evidently a cross and apparently unfinished.
[Illustration: Fig. 301. ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET. Greek cross. Charleston,
Mo. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pl. LI, fig. 2.]
The National Museum possesses a large shell cross (fig. 301) which, while
quite plain as a cross, has been much damaged, the rim that formerly
encircled it, as in the foregoing figure, having been broken away and
lost. The perforations are still in evidence. The specimen is much
decayed and came to the National Museum with a skull from a grave at
Charleston, Mo.; beyond this there is no record. The specimen shown in
fig. 302 is quoted as a "typical example of the cross of the
mound-builder." It was obtained from a mound on Lick Creek, Tennessee, and
is in the Peabody Museum, Cambridge, Mass. While an elaborate description
is given of it and figures are mentioned as "devices probably
significant," and "elementary or unfinished," and more of the same, yet
nowhere is suggested any relationship to the Swastika, nor even the
possibility of its existence in America.
[Illustration: Fig. 302. SHELL GORGET WITH ENGRAVING OF GREEK CROSS AND
INCHOATE SWASTIKA. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pl.
LII, fig. 3.]
[Illustration: Fig. 303. FRAGMENT OF COPPER DISK WITH GREEK CROSS IN INNER
CIRCLE. Ohio. American Museum of Natural History, New York City. Second
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pl. LII, fig. 4.]
A large copper disk from an Ohio mound is represented in fig. 303. It is
in the Natural History Museum of New York. It is eight inches in diameter,
is very thin, and had suffered greatly from corrosion. A symmetrical
cross, the arms of which are five inches in length, has been cut out of
the center. Two concentric lines have been impressed in the plate, one
near the margin and the other touching the ends of the cross. Fig. 304
shows a shell gorget from a mound on Lick Creek, Tennessee. It is much
corroded and broken, yet it shows the cross plainly. There are sundry pits
or dots made irregularly over the surface, some of which have perforated
the shell. Pl. 19 represents a recapitulation of specimens of crosses,
thirteen in number, "most of which have been obtained from the mounds or
from ancient graves within the district occupied by the mound-builders.
Eight are engraved upon shell gorgets, one is cut in stone, three are
painted upon pottery, and four are executed upon copper. With two
exceptions, they are inclosed in circles, and hence are symmetrical Greek
crosses, the ends being rounded to conform to a circle."[283] Figs. 7 and
9 of pl. 19 represent forms of the Latin cross, and are modern, having
doubtless been introduced by European priests. Figs. 10 to 13 are
representatives of the Swastika in some of its forms.
[Illustration: PLATE 19. VARIOUS FORMS OF CROSSES IN USE AMONG NORTH
AMERICAN INDIANS, FROM GREEK CROSS TO SWASTIKA. Second Annual Report of
the Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, Pl. LIII.]
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 19.
1 2 3
4 5
6
7 9
8
10 11 12 13
VARIOUS FORMS OF CROSSES IN USE AMONG NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS, FROM GREEK
CROSS TO SWASTIKA.
Fig. 1. GREEK CROSS.
2. GREEK CROSS.
3. CROSS ON COPPER.
4. CROSS ON SHELL.
5. GREEK CROSS.
6. GREEK CROSS.
7. LATIN CROSS (Copper).
8. GREEK CROSS.
9. LATIN CROSS (Copper).
10. SWASTIKA ON SHELL.
11. SWASTIKA ON SHELL.
12. SWASTIKA ON POTTERY.
13. SWASTIKA ON POTTERY.
[Illustration: Fig. 304. ENGRAVED SHELL DISK GORGET. Rude cross with many
dots. Lick Creek, Tenn. Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
pl. 52, fig. 2.]
[Illustration: Fig. 305. ENGRAVED SHELL WITH FIGURE OF GREEK CROSS.
Caldwell County, N. C. Cat. No. 33169, U. S. N. M.]
The U. S. National Museum possesses a small shell ornament (fig. 305) in
the form of a cross, from Lenoir's burial place, Fort Defiance, Caldwell
County, N. C., collected by Dr. Spainhour and Mr. Rogan, the latter being
an employé of the Bureau of Ethnology. It is in the form of a Greek cross,
the four arms crossing at right angles and being of equal length. The arms
are of the plain shell, while they are brought to view by the field being
cross-hatched. The specimen has, unfortunately, been broken, and being
fragile has been secured in a bed of plaster.
[Illustration: Fig. 306. ENGRAVED SHELL WITH THREE-ARMED CROSS
(TRISKELION). Lick Creek, Tenn. Cat. No. 83170, U. S. N. M.]
This and the foregoing specimens have been introduced into this paper that
the facts of their existence may be presented for consideration, and to
aid in the determination whether the cross had any peculiar or particular
meaning. The questions involuntarily arise, Was it a symbol with a hidden
meaning, religious or otherwise; was it the totem of a clan, the insignia
of a ruler, the charm of a priesthood, or did it, with all the associated
shell engravings, belong to the category of trinkets? Those questions may
be partially answered in the section on the meanings given to the cross by
the North American Indians (p. 933).
[Illustration: Fig. 307. DRILLED AND ENGRAVED SHELL OR "RUNTEE." Dotted
Greek cross and circle. Arizona.]
[Illustration: Fig. 308. DRILLED AND ENGRAVED SHELL OR "RUNTEE." Dots and
rings forming circle and Greek cross. Ohio.]
There is also introduced, as bearing on the question, another shell
ornament (fig. 306), the style, design, and workmanship of which has such
resemblance to the foregoing that if they had not been (as they were)
found together we would be compelled to admit their identity of origin,
yet the latter specimen has but three arms instead of four. This might
take it out of the category of crosses as a symbol of any religion of
which we have knowledge. Many of the art objects in shell heretofore cited
were more or less closely associated; they came from the same neighborhood
and were the results of the same excavations, conducted by the same
excavators. In determining the culture status of their makers, they must
be taken together.
[Illustration: Fig. 309. DRILLED AND ENGRAVED SHELL OR "RUNTEE." Dots and
rings forming circle and Greek cross. New York.]
When we consider the variety of the designs which were apparently without
meaning except for ornamentation, like the circles, meanders, zigzags,
chevrons, herringbones, ogees, frets, etc., and the representations of
animals such as were used to decorate the pipes of the aborigines, not
alone the bear, wolf, eagle, and others which might be a totem and
represent a given clan, but others which, according to our knowledge and
imagination, have never served for such a purpose, as the manatee, beaver,
wildcat, heron, finch, sparrow, crow, raven, cormorant, duck, toucan,
goose, turkey, buzzard, cardinal, parroquet, conies, lizard; when we
further consider that the cross, whether Greek, Latin, or Swastika form,
is utterly unlike any known or possible totem of clan, insignia of ruler,
or potent charm of priesthood; when we consider these things, why should
we feel ourselves compelled to accept those signs as symbols of a hidden
meaning, simply because religious sects in different parts of the world
and at different epochs of history have chosen them or some of them to
represent their peculiar religious ideas? This question covers much space
in geography and in time, as well as on paper. It is not answered here,
because no answer can be given which would be accepted as satisfactory,
but it may serve as a track or indication along which students and
thinkers might pursue their investigations.
The U. S. National Museum possesses a necklace consisting of three shell
ornaments, interspersed at regular intervals with about fifty small
porcelain beads (fig. 307).[284] It was obtained by Capt. George M.
Whipple from the Indians of New Mexico. These shell ornaments are similar
to objects described by Beverly in his work on the "History of Virginia,"
page 145, as "runtees" and "made of the conch shell; only the shape is
flat as a cheese and drilled edgewise." It is to be remarked that on its
face as well as on figs. 308 and 309[284] appears a cross of the Greek
form indicated by these peculiar indentations or drillings inclosed in a
small circle. The specimen shown in fig. 308 is from an ancient grave in
Upper Sandusky, Ohio, and that shown in fig. 309 from an Indian cemetery
at Onondaga, N. Y. Similar specimens have been found in the same
localities.
THE CROSS ON POTTERY.
[Illustration: Fig. 310. POTTERY JAR WITH CROSSES, ENCIRCLING RAYS AND
SCALLOPS. Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 188.]
Fig. 310 shows a small globular cup of dark ware from the vicinity of
Charleston, Mo.; height, 2-1/2 inches; width, 3-1/2 inches. It has four
large nodes or projections, and between them, painted red, are four
ornamental circles, the outside one of which is scalloped or rayed, while
the inside one bears the figure of a Greek cross. The specimen shown in
fig. 311 (Cat. No. 47197, U. S. N. M.) is a medium-sized decorated olla
with scalloped margin, from New Mexico, collected by Colonel Stevenson. It
has two crosses--one Greek, the other Maltese--both inclosed in circles
and forming centers of an elaborate, fanciful, shield-like decoration. In
fig. 312 (Cat. No. 39518, U. S. N. M.) is shown a Cochiti painted water
vessel, same collection, showing a Maltese cross.
[Illustration: Fig. 311. OLLA DECORATED WITH GREEK AND MALTESE CROSSES.
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 708.]
[Illustration: Fig. 312. POTTERY WATER VESSEL. Maltese cross. Second
Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 642.]
[Illustration: PLATE 20. PALENQUE CROSS, FOLIATED. Smithsonian
Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. XXII, fig. 7.]
Dozens of other specimens are in the collections of the U. S. National
Museum which would serve to illustrate the extended and extensive use
of the cross in great variety of forms, so that no argument as to either
the meaning or the extent of the cross can be based on the supposition
that these are the only specimens. Fig. 313 (Cat. No. 132975, U. S. N. M.)
shows a vase from Mexico, about 8 inches high, of fine red ware, highly
polished, with an elaborate decoration. Its interest here is the Maltese
cross represented on each side, with a point and concentric circles, from
the outside of which are projecting rays. This may be the symbol of the
sun, and if so, is shown in connection with the cross. This style of
cross, with or without the sun symbol, is found in great numbers in
Mexico--as, for example, the great cross, pl. 20, from the temple at
Palenque.[285]
SYMBOLIC MEANINGS OF THE CROSS.
It would be an excellent thing to dissect and analyze the Swastika
material we have found; to generalize and deduce from it a possible theory
as to the origin, spread, and meaning of the Swastika and its related
forms, and endeavor, by examination of its associated works, to discover
if these were religious symbols or charms or mere decorations; and,
following this, determine if possible whether the spread of these objects,
whatever their meaning, was the result of migration, contact, or
communication. Were they the result of similar, but independent,
operations of the human mind, or were they but duplicate inventions, the
result of parallelism in human thought? This investigation must
necessarily be theoretical and speculative. The most that the author
proposes is to suggest probabilities and point the way for further
investigation. He may theorize and speculate, but recognizes what many
persons seem not able to do--that speculation and theory are not to be
substituted for cold facts. He may do no more than propound questions from
which other men, by study, experience, philosophy, or psychology, may
possibly evolve some general principle, or a theory pointing to a general
principle, concerning the mode of extension and spread of culture among
separate and independent peoples. When the facts shall have been gathered,
marshaled, arranged side by side, and each aggregation of facts shall have
been weighed, _pro_ and _con_, and its fair value given "without
prejudice or preconceived opinion," then will be time enough to announce
the final conclusion, and even then not dogmatically, but tentatively and
subject to future discoveries.
[Illustration: Fig. 313. POTTERY VASE FINELY DECORATED IN RED AND WHITE
GLAZE. Maltese cross with sun symbol (?). Cat. No. 132975, U. S. N. M.]
Throughout this paper the author has sought but little more than to
prepare material on the Swastika which can be utilized by those who come
after him in the determination of the difficult and abstruse problems
presented.
[Illustration: Fig. 314. GREEK CROSS REPRESENTING WINDS FROM CARDINAL
POINTS. Dakota Indians. Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
fig. 1255.]
It is rare in the study of archæology and, indeed, in any science, that a
person is able to assert a negative and say what does not exist. The
present investigations are rendered much more comprehensive by the
appearance of the extensive and valuable work of Col. Garrick Mallery in
the Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, on the subject of
"Picture Writing of the American Indians." It is a work of about 800
pages, with 1,300 illustrations, and is the result of many years of
laborious study. It purports to be a history, more or less complete, of
the picture writing, signs, symbols, totems, marks, and messages of the
American Indian, whether pictographs or petroglyphs. A large portion of
his work is devoted to ideography, conventional signs, syllabaries and
alphabets, homorophs and symmorophs, and their respective means of
interpretation. Among these he deals, not specifically with the Swastika,
but in general terms with the cross. Therefore, by looking at Colonel
Mallery's work upon this chapter (p. 724), one is able to say negatively
what has not been found.
_Apropos_ of the meanings of the cross among the North American Indians
Count Goblet d'Alviella says:[286]
It is nevertheless incontestable that the pre-Columbian cross of
America is a "_rose des vents_," representing the four directions
whence comes the rain, or the cardinal points of the compass, etc.,
etc.
Colonel Mallery's volume shows that it meant many other things as well.
_The four winds._--The Greek cross is the form found by Colonel Mallery to
be most common among the North American aborigines, possibly because it is
the simplest. In this the four arms are equal in length, and the sign
placed upright so that it stands on one foot and not on two, as does the
St. Andrew's cross. The Greek cross (fig. 314) represents, among the
Dakotas, the four winds issuing out of the four caverns in which souls of
men existed before the incarnation of the human body. All the medicine
men--that is, conjurors and magicians--recollect their previous dreamy
life in these places, and the instructions then received from the gods,
demons, and sages; they recollect and describe their preexistent life, but
only dream and speculate as to the future life beyond the grave. The top
of the cross is the cold, all-conquering giant, the North Wind, most
powerful of all. It is worn on the body nearest the head, the seat of
intelligence and conquering devices. The left arm covers the heart; it is
the East Wind, coming from the seat of life and love. The foot is the
melting, burning South Wind, indicating, as it is worn, the seat of fiery
passion. The right arm is the gentle West Wind, blowing from the spirit
land, covering the lungs, from which the breath at last goes out gently,
but into unknown night. The center of the cross is the earth and man,
moved by the conflicting influences of gods and winds.
[Illustration: Fig. 315. THE CROSS IN CONNECTION WITH THE CIRCLE. Sun
symbols (?). Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 1118,
1120, 1126.]
[Illustration: Fig. 316. FIGURES OF CIRCLES AND RAYS PROBABLY REPRESENTING
SUN SYMBOLS. Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, figs.
1118-1121, 1123.]
Rev. John McLain, in his work on the "Blackfoot Sun-dance," says:
On the sacred pole of the sun lodge of the Blood Indian is a bundle of
small brushwood taken from the birch tree, which is placed in the form
of a cross. This was an ancient symbol evidently referring to the four
winds.
[Illustration: Fig. 317. FIGURES OF CROSSES AND CIRCLES REPRESENTING STAR
SYMBOLS. Oakley Springs, Ariz. Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, fig. 1129.]
[Illustration: Fig. 318. STAR SYMBOL. Circle and rays without cross.
Oakley Springs, Ariz. Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig.
1129.]
[Illustration: Fig. 319. FIGURES OF CROSSES, CIRCLES, AND SQUARES
REPRESENTING LODGES. Dakota Indians. Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, fig. 1203.]
_Sun and star symbols._--Great speculation has been made, both in Europe
and America, over the relation between the Swastika and the sun, because
the two signs have been associated by primitive peoples. Colonel Mallery
gives the Indian signs for the sun, stars, and light.[287] These have been
segregated, and it will be seen that the cross and circle are used
indiscriminately for one and the other, and the fact of the two being
found associated is no evidence of relationship in religious ideas (figs.
315-319).
_Dwellings._--Among the Hidatsa, the cross and the circle represent
neither the sun nor any religious ideas, but merely lodges, houses, or
dwellings. The crosses in fig. 319 represent Dakota lodges; the small
circles signify earth lodges, the points representing the supporting
poles. Buildings erected by civilized people were represented by small
rectangular figures, while the circles with dots in a square represent
earth lodges, the home of the Hidatsa.
[Illustration: Fig. 320. LATIN CROSSES REPRESENTING THE DRAGON FLY. Dakota
Indians.]
_Dragon fly (Susbeca)._--Among some of the Indian tribes, the Dakotas
among others, the Latin cross is found, i. e., upright with three members
of equal length, and the fourth, the foot, much longer. The use of this
symbol antedates the discovery of America, and is carried back in
tradition and myth. This sign signifies the mosquito hawk or the dragon
fly (fig. 320). It is called in that language the "Susbeca," and is a
supernatural being gifted with speech, warning man of danger, approaching
his ear silently and at right angles, saying, "Tci," "tci," "tci," an
interjection equivalent to "Look out!" "You are surely going to
destruction!" "Look out!" "Tci," "tci," "tci!" The adoption of the dragon
fly as a mysterious and supernatural being is on account of its sudden
appearance in numbers. In the still of the evening, when the shades of
darkness come, then is heard in the meadows a sound as of crickets or
frogs, but indistinct and prolonged; on the morrow the Susbeca will be
hovering over it. It is the sound of their coming, but whence no one
knows. The cross not only represents the shape of the insect, but also the
angle of its approach. It is variously drawn, but usually as in fig. 320
_a_ or _b_, and, in painting or embroidery, _c_, and sometimes _d_.
[Illustration: Fig. 321. DOUBLE CROSS OF SIX ARMS REPRESENTING THE DRAGON
FLY. Moki Indians, Arizona. Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, fig. 1165.]
Fig. 321 is described in Keam's MS. as follows:
This is a conventional design of dragon flies, and is often found
among rock etchings throughout the plateau [Arizona]. The dragon flies
have always been held in great veneration by the Mokis and their
ancestors, as they have been often sent by Oman to reopen springs
which Muingwa had destroyed and to confer other benefits upon the
people.
This form of the figure, with little vertical lines added to the
transverse lines, connects the Batolatci with the Ho-bo-bo emblems.
The youth who was sacrificed and translated by Ho-bo-bo reappeared a
long time afterwards, during a season of great drought, in the form of
a gigantic dragon fly, who led the rain clouds over the lands of
Ho-pi-tu, bringing plenteous rains.
[Illustration: Fig. 322. FIGURES OF CROSSES AS USED BY THE ESKIMO TO
REPRESENT FLOCKS OF BIRDS. Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
fig. 1228. Cat Nos. 44211 and 45020, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 323. PETROGLYPH FROM TULARE VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. Large
white Greek cross. Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig.
1229.]
_Mide' or Shamans._--Colonel Mallery (or Dr. Hoffman) tells us (p. 726)
that among the Ojibways of northern Minnesota the cross is one of the
sacred symbols of the Society of Mide' or Shamans and has special
reference to the fourth degree. The building in which the initiation is
carried on has its opening toward the four cardinal points. The cross is
made of saplings, the upright poles approaching the height of four to six
feet, the transverse arms being somewhat shorter, each being of the same
length as the top; the upper parts are painted white or besmeared with
white clay, over which are spread small spots of red, the latter
suggesting the sacred shell of Mide', the symbol of the order. The lower
arm of the pole is square, the side toward the east being painted white to
denote the source of light and warmth; the face on the south is green,
denoting the source of the thunder bird which brings the rains and
vegetation; the surface toward the west is covered with vermilion,
relating to the land of the setting sun, the abode of the dead; the north
is painted black, as the direction from which comes affliction, cold, and
hunger.
_Flocks of birds._--Groups of small crosses on the sides of Eskimo bow
drills represent flocks of birds (Cat. Nos. 45020 and 44211, U. S. N. M.).
They are reproduced in fig. 322. Colonel Mallery's fig. 28, page 67,
represents a cross copied from the Najowe Valley group of colored
pictographs, 40 miles west of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, Cal.
The cross measured 20 inches in length, the interior being painted black
while the border is of a dark red tint. This design, as well as others in
close connection, is painted on the walls of a shallow cave or rock
shelter in the limestone formation. Fourteen miles west of Santa Barbara,
on the summit of the Santa Ynez Mountains, is a cavern having a large
opening west and north, in which are crosses of the Greek type, the
interior portion being painted a dull earthy red, while the outside line
is a faded-black tint. The cross measures nearly a foot in extent. At the
Tulare Indian Agency, Cal., is an immense bowlder of granite. It has been
split, and one of the lower quarters has been moved sufficiently to leave
a passageway six feet wide and nearly ten feet high. The interior walls
are well covered with large painted figures, while upon the ceilings are
numerous forms of animals, birds, and insects. Among this latter group is
a white cross about 18 inches in length (fig. 323), presenting a unique
appearance, for the reason that it is the only petroglyph in that region
to which the white coloring matter has been applied.
[Illustration: Fig. 324. PETROGLYPHS FROM OWEN'S VALLEY, CALIFORNIA. (_a_,
_b_) Greek crosses, (_c_) double Latin cross, (_d-f_) Latin crosses
representing human figures. Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, fig. 1230.]
An interesting example of rock sculpturing in groups is in Owens Valley,
south of Benton, Cal. Among them are various forms of crosses, and circles
containing crosses of simple and complex types. The most interesting in
this connection are the groups in fig. 324, _a_ and _b_. The larger one,
_a_, occurs upon a large bowlder of tracite 16 miles south of Benton, at
the "Chalk grave." The circle is a depression about one inch in depth, the
cross being in high relief. The small cross _b_, found three miles north
from this is almost identical, the arms of the cross, however, extending
to the rim of the circle. In this locality occurs also the cross, _c_,
same figure, and some examples having more than two cross arms.
[Illustration: Fig. 325. CROSS IN ZIGZAG LINES REPRESENTING THE HUMAN
FORM. Navajo Indians.]
_Human forms._--Other simple crosses represent the human form. Some of
these are engraved or cut on the rocks of Owens Valley and are similar to
those above described (fig. 324), but they have been eroded, so that
beyond the mere cross they show slight relation to the human body (fig.
324, _d_, _e_, _f_). Col. James Stevenson, describing the Hasjelti
ceremony of the Navajoes,[288] shows the form of a man drawn in the sand
(fig. 325). Describing the character shown in fig. 326, Keam says: "The
figure represents a woman. The breath is displayed in the interior."[289]
[Illustration: Fig. 326. MALTESE CROSS(?) REPRESENTING A WOMAN. The figure
in the center is intended to indicate the breath.]
[Illustration: Fig. 327. MALTESE AND SAINT ANDREW'S CROSSES. Emblems of
maidenhood. Moki Indians.]
_Maidenhood._--Concerning fig. 327 Keam, in his manuscript, says the
Maltese cross was the emblem of a virgin, and is still so recognized by
the Moki. It is a conventional development of the common emblem of
maidenhood, wherein the maidens wear their hair arranged as in a disk
three or four inches in diameter on each side of the head (fig. 327_b_).
This discoidal arrangement of the hair is typical of the emblem of
fructification worn by the virgin in the Muingwa festival. Sometimes the
hair, instead of being worn in the complete discoidal form, is dressed
upon two curving twigs, and presents the form of two semicircles upon each
side of the head. The partition of these is sometimes horizontal,
sometimes vertical. The combination of these styles (fig. 327 _a_ and _b_)
present the forms from which the Maltese cross was conventionalized.[290]
[Illustration: Fig. 328. CROSS WITH BIFURCATED FOOT. Used by the Innuits
to represent a shaman or evil spirit.]
_Shaman's spirit._--Among the Kiatéxamut and Innuit tribes, a cross placed
on the head, as in fig. 328, signified a shaman's evil spirit or demon.
This is an imaginary being under the control of the shaman to execute his
wishes.[291]
_Divers significations._--The figure of the cross among the North American
Indians, says Colonel Mallery,[292] has many differing significations. It
appears "as the tribal sign for Cheyenne" (p. 383); "as Dakota lodges" (p.
582); "as a symbol for trade or exchange" (p. 613); "as a conventional
sign for prisoners" (p. 227); "for personal exploits while elsewhere it is
used in simple enumeration" (p. 348). Although this device is used for a
variety of meanings when it is employed ceremonially or in elaborate
pictographs of the Indians both of North and South America, it represents
the four winds. This view long ago was suggested as being the
signification of many Mexican crosses, and it is sustained by Prof. Cyrus
Thomas in his "Notes on Mayan Mexican Manuscript,"[293] where strong
confirmatory evidence is produced by the arms of the crosses having the
appearance of conventionalized wings similar to some representations of
the thunder bird of the northern tribes; yet the same author, in his paper
on the study of the "Troano Manuscript,"[294] gives fig. 329 as a symbol
for wood, thus further showing the manifold concepts attached to the
general form of the cross. Bandelier thinks that the cross so frequently
used by the aborigines of Mexico and Central America were merely ornaments
and not objects of worship, while the so-called crucifixes, like that on
the Palenque tablet, were only the symbol of the "new fire," or the close
of the period of fifty-two years. He believes them to be representations
of the fire drills more or less ornamented. Zamacois[295] says that the
cross was used in the religion of various tribes of the peninsula of
Yucatan, and that it represented the god of rain.
[Illustration: Fig. 329. ST. ANDREW'S CROSSES, USED AS A SYMBOL FOR WOOD.
Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 1233.]
It is a favorite theory with Major Powell, Director of the Bureau of
Ethnology, that the cross was an original invention of the North American
Indian, possibly a sign common to all savages; that it represented, first,
the four cardinal points, north, south, east, and west; and afterwards by
accretion, seven points, north, south, east, west, zenith, nadir, and
here.
Capt. John G. Bourke, in his paper on the "Medicine Men of the
Apache"[296] discourses on their symbolism of the cross. He says it is
related to the cardinal points, to the four winds, and is painted by
warriors on their moccasins when going through a strange district to keep
them from getting on a wrong trail. He notes how he saw, in October, 1884,
a procession of Apache men and women bearing two crosses, 4 feet 10 inches
long, appropriately decorated "in honor of Guzanutlí to induce her to send
rain."
Dr. Brinton[297] tells of the rain maker of the Lenni Lenape who first
drew on the earth the figure of a cross. Captain Bourke quotes from Father
Le Clerq[298] as to the veneration in which the cross was held by the
Gaspesian Indians, also from Herrara to the same effect. Professor
Holmes[299] makes some pertinent observations with regard to the meanings
of the cross given by the American Indians:
Some very ingenious theories have been elaborated in attempting to
account for the cross among American symbols. Brinton believes that
the great importance attached to the points of the compass--the four
quarters of the heavens--by savage peoples, has given rise to the
sign of the cross. With others, the cross is a phallic symbol derived,
by some obscure process of evolution, from the veneration accorded to
the procreative principle in nature. It is also frequently associated
with sun worship, and is recognized as a symbol of the sun--the four
arms being remaining rays after a gradual process of elimination.
Whatever is finally determined in reference to the origin of the cross
as a religious symbol in America will probably result from exhaustive
study of the history, language, and art of the ancient peoples,
combined with a thorough knowledge of the religious conceptions of
modern tribes, and when these sources of information are all exhausted
it is probable that the writer who asserts more than a probability
will overreach his proofs. * * * A study of the designs associated
with the cross in these gorgets [figs. 302-304] is instructive, but
does not lead to any definite result; in one case the cross is
inscribed on the back of a great spider [figs. 275-278]; in another it
is surrounded by a rectangular framework of lines, looped at the
corners and guarded by four mysterious birds [figs. 263-266], while in
others it is without attendant characters, but the workmanship is
purely aboriginal. I have not seen a single example of engraving upon
the shell that suggested a foreign hand, or a design, with the
exception of this one [a cross], that could claim a European
derivation. * * * Such delineations of the cross as we find embodied
in ancient aboriginal art, represent only the final stages of its
evolution, and it is not to be expected that its origin can be traced
through them.
[Illustration: Fig. 330. GRAPHIC DELINEATION OF ALLIGATOR. From a vase of
the lost color group. Chiriqui. Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, fig. 257.]
[Illustration: Fig. 331. GRAPHIC DELINEATION OF ALLIGATOR. From a vase of
the lost color group. Chiriqui. Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, fig. 258.]
Continuing in his "Ancient Art in Chiriqui,"[300] presenting his "Series
showing stages in the simplification of animal characters," and
"derivation of the alligator," Professor Holmes elaborates the theory how
the alligator was the original, and out of it, by evolution, grew the
cross. His language and accompanying figures are quoted:
Of all the animal forms utilized by the Chiriquians, the alligator is
the best suited to the purpose of this study, as it is presented most
frequently and in the most varied forms. In figs. 257 and 258 [figs.
330 and 331 in the present paper] I reproduce drawings from the outer
surface of a tripod bowl of the lost color group. Simple and formal as
these figures are, the characteristic features of the creature--the
sinuous body, the strong jaws, the upturned snout, the feet, and the
scales--are forcibly expressed. It is not to be assumed that these
examples represent the best delineative skill of the Chiriquian
artist. The native painter must have executed very much superior work
upon the more usual delineating surfaces, such as bark and skins. The
examples here shown have already experienced decided changes through
the constraints of the ceramic art, but are the most graphic
delineations preserved to us. They are free-hand products, executed by
mere decorators, perhaps by women, who were servile copyists of the
forms employed by those skilled in sacred art.
A third illustration from the same group of ware, given in fig. 259
[fig. 332 of the present paper] shows, in some respects, a higher
degree of convention. * * *
I shall now call attention to some important individualized or
well-defined agencies of convention. First, and most potent, may be
mentioned the enforced limits of the spaces to be decorated, which
spaces take shape independently of the subject to be inserted. When
the figures must occupy a narrow zone, they are elongated; when they
must occupy a square, they are restricted longitudinally, and when
they occupy a circle, they are of necessity coiled up. Fig. 265 [fig.
333 of the present paper] illustrates the effect produced by crowding
the oblong figure into a short rectangular space. The head is turned
back over the body and the tail is thrown down along the side of the
space. In fig. 266 [fig. 334 of the present paper] the figure occupies
a circle and is, in consequence, closely coiled up, giving the effect
of a serpent rather than an alligator. * * *
[Illustration: Fig. 332. CONVENTIONAL FIGURE OF ALLIGATOR. From a vessel
of the lost color group. Chiriqui. Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, fig. 259.]
[Illustration: Fig. 333. CONVENTIONAL FIGURE OF ALLIGATOR CROWDED INTO A
SMALL GEOMETRICAL FIGURE. Chiriqui. Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, fig. 265.]
I present five series of figures designed to illustrate the stages
through which life forms pass in descending from the realistic to
highly specialized conventional shapes. In the first series (fig. 277)
[fig. 335 of the present paper] we begin with _a_, a meager but
graphic sketch of the alligator; the second figure, _b_, is hardly
less characteristic, but is much simplified; in the third, _c_, we
have still three leading features of the creature--the body line, the
spots, and the stroke at the back of the head; and in the fourth, _d_,
nothing remains but a compound yoke-like curve, standing for the body
of the creature, and a single dot.
[Illustration: Fig. 334. CONVENTIONAL FIGURE OF ALLIGATOR CROWDED INTO A
CIRCLE. Chiriqui. Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig.
266.]
The figures of the second series (fig. 278) [fig. 336 of the present
paper] are nearly all painted upon low, round nodes placed about the
body of the alligator vases, and hence are inclosed in circles. The
animal figure in the first example is coiled up like a serpent [fig.
334], but still preserves some of the well-known characters of the
alligator. In the second example [fig. 336_b_] we have a double hook
near the center of the space which takes the place of the body, but
the dotted triangles are placed separately against the encircling
line. In the next figure the body symbol is omitted and the three
triangles remain to represent the animal. In the fourth there are four
triangles, and the body device being restored in red takes the form of
a cross. In the fifth two of the inclosing triangles are omitted and
the idea is preserved by the simple dots. In the sixth the dots are
placed within the bars of the cross, the triangles becoming mere
interspaces, and in the seventh the dots form a line between the two
encircling lines. This series could be filled up by other examples,
thus showing by what infinitesimal steps the transformations take
place. * * *
We learn by the series of steps illustrated in the annexed cuts that
the alligator radical, under peculiar restraints and influences,
assumes conventional forms that merge imperceptibly into these classic
devices.
[Illustration: Fig. 335. SERIES OF FIGURES OF ALLIGATORS SHOWING STAGES OF
SIMPLIFICATION. Chiriqui. Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
fig. 277.]
[Illustration: Fig. 336. SERIES SHOWING STAGES IN THE SIMPLIFICATION OF
ANIMAL CHARACTERS, BEGINNING WITH THE ALLIGATOR AND ENDING WITH THE GREEK
CROSS. Chiriqui. Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig.
278.]
Professor Holmes's theory of the evolution of the cross from the alligator
and its location in Chiriqui is opposed to that of Professor Goodyear,
who, in his "Grammar of the Lotus," ascribes the origin of the cross to
the lotus and locates it in Egypt. I file what in law would be an
"interpleader"--I admit my want of knowledge of the subject under
discussion, and leave the question to these gentlemen.
INTRODUCTION OF THE CROSS INTO AMERICA.
Professor Holmes is, in the judgment of the author, correct when he
insists upon the aboriginal character of the cross in America. We all
understand how it is stated that the Spanish missionaries sought to deny
this and to connect the apparition of St. Thomas with the appearance of
the cross. Professor Holmes[301] says:
The first explorers were accompanied by Christian zealots who spared
no effort to root out the native superstition and introduce a foreign
religion of which the cross was the all-important symbol. This emblem
was generally accepted by the savages as the only tangible feature of
a new system of belief that was filled with subtleties too profound
for their comprehension. As a result, the cross was at once introduced
into the regalia of the natives, at first probably in a European form
and material, attached to a string of beads in precisely the manner
they had been accustomed to suspend their own trinkets and gorgets;
but soon, no doubt, delineated or carved by their own hands upon
tablets of stone and copper and shell in the place of their own
peculiar conceptions.
There is sufficient evidence, and to spare, of the aboriginal use of the
cross in some of its forms, without resorting to the uncertain and forced
explanation of its introduction by Christian missionaries. It is possible
that the priests and explorers were, like Colonel Mallery's missionary,
mistaken as to the interpretation given to the cross by the Indians. Dr.
Hoffman, in his paper on the "Mide'wiwin or Grand Medicine Society of the
Ojibwa,"[302] states the myth of the re-creation of the world "as thrown
together in a mangled form by Hennepin." Dr. Hoffman observes:
It is evident that the narrator has sufficiently distorted the
traditions to make them conform as much as practicable to the Biblical
story of the birth of Christ.
And on the same page he quotes from Pêre Marquette, who says:
"I was very glad to see a great cross set up in the middle of the
village, adorned with several white skins, red girdles, bows, and
arrows, which that good people offered to the Great Manitou to return
him their thanks for the care he had taken of them during the winter,
and that he had granted them a prosperous hunting."
Marquette [comments Dr. Hoffman] was, without doubt, ignorant of the
fact that the cross is the sacred post, and the symbol of the fourth
degree of the Mide'wiwin, as is fully explained in connection with
that grade of society. The erroneous conclusion that the cross was
erected as an evidence of the adoption of Christianity and, possibly
as a compliment to the visitor was a natural one on the part of the
priest, but this same symbol of the Mide' society had probably been
erected and bedecked with barbaric emblems and weapons months before
anything was known of him.
Most aboriginal objects bearing crosses are from localities along the Ohio
River and through Kentucky and Tennessee, a locality which the early
Christian missionaries never visited, and where the cross of Christ was
rarely, if ever, displayed until after that territory became part of the
United States. Per contra, the localities among the Indians in which the
early missionaries most conducted their labors--that is to say, along the
Great Lakes and throughout northern Illinois--produce the fewest number
of aboriginal crosses. This was the country explored by Fathers Marquette,
Lasalle, and Hennepin, and it was the scene of most of the Catholic
missionary labors. Professor Holmes seems to have recognized this fact,
for he says:[303]
The cross was undoubtedly used as a symbol by the prehistoric nations
of the South, and, consequently, that it was probably also known in
the North. A great majority of the relics associated with it in the
ancient mounds and burial places are undoubtedly aboriginal. In the
case of the shell gorgets, the tablets themselves belong to an
American type, and are highly characteristic of the art of the
Mississippi Valley. A majority of the designs engraved upon them are
also characteristic of the same district.
The author agrees heartily with Professor Holmes's argument in this
matter, and his conclusion, when he says of these objects (p. 270):
The workmanship is purely aboriginal. I have not seen a single example
of engraving upon shell that suggested a foreign hand or a design,
with the exception of one (cross), that could claim a European
derivation.
There have been numerous European or Catholic crosses, as well as many
other objects of European manufacture or objects of civilized types, found
among the Indians. There have been silver crosses found with images of the
Virgin thereon, with Latin inscriptions, or of Roman letters; there have
been glass beads, iron arrowheads, and divers other objects found in
Indian graves which bore indubitable evidence of contact with the whites,
and no one with any archæological experience need be deceived into the
belief that these were aboriginal or pre-Columbian manufacture. As a
general rule, the line of demarkation between objects of Indian
manufacture and those made by the whites is definite, and no practiced eye
will mistake the one for the other. There may be exceptions, as where the
Indian has lived with the whites or a white man with the Indians, or where
an object is made with intent to deceive. In such cases one may have more
trouble in determining the origin of the object.
There were many Indians who died and were buried within a century past,
whose graves might contain many objects of white man's work. Black Hawk
and Red Jacket are examples, and, possibly, King Philip. Indian graves
have been opened in New England and New York containing the gun or
firelock of the occupant of the grave buried with him, and that this was
evidence of European contact there can be no doubt. So there have been
hundreds, possibly thousands, of Indians buried since the Columbian
discovery down to within the last decade whose graves contain white man's
tools or implements. But no person with any archæological experience need
be deceived by these things. The theory that the Latin or Greek crosses or
Swastikas shown on these gorgets, disks, and pottery furnish evidence of
contact by the aborigines with Europeans in post-Columbian times is
without foundation and inadmissible.
DECORATIVE FORMS NOT OF THE CROSS, BUT ALLIED TO THE SWASTIKA.
COLOR STAMPS FROM MEXICO AND VENEZUELA.
[Illustration: Figs. 337, 338, 339, 340, 341, and 342. TERRA-COTTA COLOR
STAMPS WITH DESIGNS SIMILAR TO THE SWASTIKA. Mexico. Cat. Nos. 99124,
99127, 27887, 99115, 99118, 99122, U. S. N. M.]
The aborigines of Mexico and Central and South America employed
terra-cotta color stamps, which, being made into the proper pattern in the
soft clay, were burned hard; then, being first coated with color, the
stamp was pressed upon the object to be decorated, and so transferred its
color, as in the mechanical operation of printing, thus giving the
intended decoration. Patterns of these stamps are inserted in this paper
in connection with the Swastika because of the resemblance--not in form,
but in style. They are of geometric form, crosses, dots, circles
(concentric and otherwise), lozenges, chevrons, fret, and labyrinth or
meander. The style of this decoration lends itself easily to the Swastika;
and yet, with the variety of patterns contained in the series of stamps
belonging to the U. S. National Museum, shown in figs. 337 to 342, no
Swastika appears; nor in the similar stamps belonging to other
collections, notably that of Mr. A. E. Douglass, in the Metropolitan
Museum of Natural History, Central Park, New York, are any Swastikas
shown. Of the foregoing figures, all are from Tlaltelolco, Mexico (Blake
collection), except fig. 339, which is from the Valley of Mexico, and was
received from the Museo Nacional of Mexico.
[Illustration: Fig. 343. TERRA-COTTA COLOR STAMPS WITH DESIGNS SIMILAR TO
THE SWASTIKA. Piaroa Indians, Venezuela. Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau
of Ethnology, fig. 982.]
Marcano says:[304]
The present Piaroas of Venezuela are in the habit of painting their
bodies by a process different from that of the North American Indian.
They make stamps of wood, which, being colored (as types are with
ink), they apply to their bodies. Fig. 982 shows examples of these
stamps. [See fig. 343 of the present paper.] The designs are
substantially the same as some petroglyphs. They either copied the
models they found carved on the rocks by peoples who preceded them, or
they knew the meaning and preserved the tradition. The former is the
only tenable hypothesis. Painting is to the Piaroas both ornamentation
and necessity. It serves, not only as a garment to protect them
against insects, but becomes a fancy costume to grace their feasts and
meetings.
These designs are not presented as Swastikas nor of any evolution or
derivation from one. They show a style common enough to Central and South
America, to the Antilles and the Canary Islands,[305] which might easily
produce a Swastika. The aboriginal designer of these might, if we depend
upon the theory of psychological similarity of culture among all peoples,
at his next attempt make a Swastika. Yet, with the hundreds of similar
patterns made during the centuries of aboriginal occupation and extending
throughout the countries named, none of these seem ever to have produced a
Swastika.
V.--SIGNIFICANCE OF THE SWASTIKA.
The origin and early history of the Swastika are lost in antiquity. All
the author has been able to find on these subjects is set forth in the
preceding chapters.
It is proposed to examine the possible uses of the Swastika in an endeavor
to discover something of its significance. The Swastika might have served:
I. As a symbol--
1, of a religion,
2, of a nation or people,
3, of a sect with peculiar tenets;
II. As an amulet or charm--
1, of good luck, or fortune, or long life,
2, of benediction, or blessing,
3, against the evil eye;
III. As an ornament or decoration.
It may have been (1) originally discovered or invented by a given people
in a given country, and transmitted from one generation to the next,
passing by migration from one country to another, and it may have been
transmitted by communication to widely separated countries and among
differently cultured peoples; or (2) it may have appeared in these latter
countries by duplicate invention or by accident, and without contact or
communication.
Positive evidence concerning its origin and earliest migration is not
obtainable, and in its absence we are driven to secondary and
circumstantial evidence. This will consist (1) of comparison of known
facts directly concerning the subject; (2) of facts indirectly concerning
it, and (3) reason, induced by argument, applied to these facts,
presenting each truly, and giving to each its proper weight.
The possible migrations of the Swastika, and its appearance in widely
separated countries and among differently cultured peoples, afford the
principal interest in this subject to archæologists and anthropologists.
The present or modern scientific interest in and investigation of the
Swastika as a symbol or a charm alone are subsidiary to the greater
question of the cause and manner of its appearance in different countries,
whether it was by migration and contact or by independent invention. In
arguing this question, we must keep continually in mind the rules of
reason and of logic, and neither force the facts nor seek to explain them
by unknown, imaginary, or impossible methods. There must be no dogmatic
assertions nor fanciful theories. If we assume certain migrations of the
Swastika, we must consider those things which might have (or must have)
migrated with it; and we must admit the means necessary to the assumed
end.
The history of the beginning and first appearance of any of the forms of
the cross is also lost in antiquity, and it would be hazardous for any
person to announce positively their origin, either as to locality or
time. The Swastika was certainly prehistoric in its origin. It was in
extensive use during the existence of the third, fourth, and fifth cities
of the site of ancient Troy, of the hill of Hissarlik; so also in the
Bronze Age, apparently during its entire existence, throughout western
Europe from the Mediterranean Sea to the Arctic Ocean. It continued in use
in Europe during the Iron Age, and also among the Etruscans, Greeks, and
Trojans. The name "Swastika," by which it is recognized to-day in all
literature, is a Sanscrit word, and was in common use among the Sanscrit
peoples so long ago that it had a peculiar or individual pronunciation in
Pânini's grammar prior to the fourth century B. C. Some authorities are of
the opinion that it was an Aryan symbol and used by the Aryan peoples
before their dispersion through Asia and Europe. This is a fair subject
for inquiry and might serve as an explanation how, either as a sacred
symbol or charm, an amulet, or token of good wishes or good fortune, the
Swastika might have been carried to the different peoples and countries in
which we now find it by the splitting up of the Aryan peoples and their
migrations and establishment in the various parts of Europe. Professor
Sayce is of the opinion that the Swastika was a Hittite symbol and passed
by communication to the Aryans or some of their important branches before
their final dispersion took place, but he agrees that it was unknown in
Assyria, Babylonia, Phenicia, or among the Egyptians.
Whether the Swastika was in use among the Chaldeans, Hittites, or the
Aryans before or during their dispersion, or whether it was used by the
Brahmins before the Buddhists came to India is, after all, but a matter of
detail of its migrations; for it may be fairly contended that the Swastika
was in use, more or less common among the people of the Bronze Age
anterior to either the Chaldeans, Hittites, or the Aryans. The additional
facts in this regard have been set forth in the chapter on this subject,
and need not be repeated here.
The question should, so far as possible, be divested of speculation, and
the evidence accepted in its ordinary meaning "without prejudice or
preconceived opinion."
A consideration of the subject in the light of the material here collected
develops the following questions:
(1) Was the Swastika, in any of its forms, the symbol of an ancient
religion or philosophy, or was it only the sign of a particular sect,
tenet, faith, or idea; or was it both?
(2) Was it a charm or amulet to be used by anyone which derived its value
from the signification given to it?
(3) What lesson can be gathered from it concerning the early migrations of
the races of man?
Examples illustrating these questions are to be found in history as well
as in everyday life. The Scarabæus of Egypt and Etruria was a symbol of
eternity. The golden hoop on the lady's finger representing a snake
swallowing its tail, is also a symbol of eternity. These represent a
sentiment, and are symbols of that sentiment without regard to sect or
organized body.
On the other hand, the Maltese cross was the symbol of the Knights of
Malta, and has become, in later years, that of the Masonic fraternity;
while the three links is the symbol of the Order of Odd Fellows. The Latin
cross is a symbol of the Christian religion and, to a certain extent, of a
Christian denomination.
Upon the evidence submitted, we must accept the Swastika first as a symbol
of that sect of Jains within the Buddhist Church originally in Tibet,
which spread itself in the Asiatic country under the names of Tao-sse,
Tirthankara, Ter, Musteg, and Pon or Pon-po, the last signifying purity
(ante, p. 774). This sect, or these sects, adopted the Swastika as their
symbol, giving it the translation _su_ "well," _asti_, "it is," the whole
word meaning "it is well," or "so be it," implying resignation under all
circumstances, the sect holding, in accordance with the meaning given to
their symbol, that contentment and peace of mind were the chief objects of
human life. In so far as it concerns this sect, the Swastika was a symbol
of both kinds. It represented a religious or at least a moral and
philosophic idea, and also the sect which held to this idea.
Among the Buddhists proper, the Swastika seems to have been employed as a
holy or sacred symbol; its occurrence as one of the signs in the footprint
of Buddha, their founder, with some relation either to the mystery of his
appearance as a leader, a missionary, or of the holy and sacred object of
his mission, causes this to be inferred. Their use of it on the bronze
statues of Buddha, and associating it with solemn inscriptions in the
caves of India, leaves no doubt as to its use as a symbol more or less of
this character.
Again, the use in the early Christian times of different forms of the
cross, coupled with the extensive use by the Christians of the "monogram
of Christ" (fig. 6), shows how naturally there may have been a conflict of
opinion in the selection of a cross which should be a representative,
while we know from history that there was such discussion, and that
different forms of the cross were suggested. Among other forms was the
Swastika, but to what extent or with what idea the author is not informed.
The Swastika was used, Burnouf says, a thousand times on Christians' tombs
in the catacombs at Rome. This is evidence of its use to a certain extent
in a sacred or solemn and funereal character, which would signify its use
as the symbol of a religious idea.
Beyond these instances the author is unable to find evidence of the
Swastika having served as a symbol of any religious or philosophic idea or
of any sect or organization.
Whether among the Bronze Age people of western Europe--among the Trojans,
Greeks, or Etruscans--whether among the semicivilized peoples of South or
Central America, or among the savages (mound-builders) of North America,
there is apparently no instance of the Swastika having been regarded as
holy or used on a sacred object--that is, holy and sacred in the light of
godliness, piety, or morality. It may have been or may yet be discovered
that some of these wild men used the Swastika upon objects serving at
ceremonies or festivals of their religion, or which had, in their eyes, a
semi-sacred character. But it does not seem that it was used as a
representative of a holy idea or of any god or supernatural being who
stood for such an idea. The meal used in the Zuñi ceremony may have been
regarded as sacred, and it may, indeed must, have been made on a stone
metate, yet neither the metate nor the stone thereby obtained any holy or
sacred character. So, also, it may have been decorated with a fret,
chevron, herringbone, or any of the numerous styles, none of which would
receive any sacred character from such use. So it is believed to have been
with the Swastika found on these objects; it was not holy or sacred
because of this use.
The author declines to discuss the possible relation of the Swastika to
the sun or sun god, to the rain or rain god, the lightning, to Dyaus, Zeus
or Agni, to Phebus or Apollo, or other of the mythological deities. This
question would be interesting if it could be determined with certainty, or
if the determination would be accepted by any considerable number of
persons. But this is left for some one more competent and more interested
than the author.
The most probable use of the Swastika among prehistoric peoples, or among
Orientals other than the Buddhists, was as a charm or amulet signifying
good fortune, good luck, long life, or benediction and blessing.[306] (See
p. 780.)
Looking over the entire prehistoric world, we find the Swastika used on
small and comparatively insignificant objects, those in common use, such
as vases, pots, jugs, implements, tools, household goods and utensils,
objects of the toilet, ornaments, etc., and infrequently on statues,
altars, and the like. In Armenia it was found on bronze pins and buttons;
in the Trojan cities on spindle-whorls; in Greece on pottery, on gold and
bronze ornaments, and fibulæ. In the Bronze Age in western Europe,
including Etruria, it is found on the common objects of life, such as
pottery, the bronze fibulæ, ceintures, spindle-whorls, etc.
In addition to the foregoing, there were peculiar uses of the Swastika in
certain localities: In Italy on the hut urns in which the ashes of the
dead are buried; in the Swiss lakes stamped in the pottery; in Scandinavia
on the weapons, swords, etc., and in Scotland and Ireland on the brooches
and pins; in America on the metates for grinding corn; the Brazilian women
wore it on the pottery fig leaf; the Pueblo Indian painted it on his dance
rattle, while the North American Indian, at the epoch of the mound
building in Arkansas and Missouri, painted it in spiral form on his
pottery; in Tennessee he engraved it on the shell, and in Ohio cut it in
its plainest normal form out of sheets of copper. So also among the modern
Indians we find it employed on occasions of ceremony, as in the mountain
chant by the Navajoes, and the war chant of the Kansas, on the necklace
and ceremonial garters of the Sac woman, and on the war shields of the
Pimas.
As we do not find it represented in America on aboriginal religious
monuments, on ancient gods, idols, or other sacred or holy objects, we are
justified in claiming that it was not here used as a religious symbol;
while, as it is found only on trinkets, shells, copper plaques,
spindle-whorls, metates, pottery bowls, jugs, bottles, or vases; as we
find it sometimes square, sometimes spiral, now outside, now inside, of
bowls and jars, etc.; at one time a small rectangular figure and at
another of extensive convolutions covering the side of the vase; as we
find it on the tools of the workmen, the objects in everyday use, whether
in the house or the shop, used indiscriminately by men and women, or on
gaming implements or dance rattles, the contention seems justifiable that
it was used as an ornament or as a charm for good luck and not as a
religious symbol. Yet we know it was used on certain ceremonial occasions
which may themselves have had more or less a sacred character.
Thus, after the fullest examination, we find the Swastika was confined to
the commoner uses, implements, household utensils, and objects for the
toilet and personal decoration. The specimens of this kind number a
hundred to one of a sacred kind. With this preponderance in favor of the
common use, it would seem that, except among the Buddhists and early
Christians, and the more or less sacred ceremonies of the North American
Indians, all pretense of the holy or sacred character of the Swastika
should be given up, and it should (still with these exceptions) be
considered as a charm, amulet, token of good luck or good fortune, or as
an ornament and for decoration.
VI.--THE MIGRATION OF SYMBOLS.
MIGRATION OF THE SWASTIKA.
The question of the migration of the Swastika and of the objects on which
it was marked, which furnished its only means of transportation, remains
to be considered. It is proposed to examine, in a cursory manner perhaps,
not only the migration of the Swastika itself, but some of these objects,
spindle whorls especially, with a view to discover by similarity or
peculiarity of form or decoration any relationship they may have had with
each other when found in distant countries and used by different peoples.
Thus, we may be able to open the way to a consideration of the question
whether this similarity of Swastikas or other decorations, or of the
objects on which they were placed, resulted from the migration of or
contact or communication between distant peoples, or was it accidental
and the result of independent discoveries and duplicate inventions--an
evidence of the parallelism of human thought?
Dr. Brinton, in a communication before the American Philosophical
Society,[307] starts out with a polemical discussion upon the subject of
the migration of the Swastika and its possible American migration, as
follows:
My intention is to combat the opinion of those writers who, like Dr.
Hamy, M. Beauvois, and many others, assert that because certain
well-known Oriental symbols, as the Ta Ki, the Triskeles, the
Svastika, and the cross, are found among the American aborigines, they
are evidence of Mongolian, Buddhistic, Christian, or Aryan
immigrations previous to the discovery by Columbus, and I shall also
try to show that the position is erroneous of those who, like William
H. Holmes, of the Bureau of Ethnology, maintain "that it is impossible
to give a satisfactory explanation of the religious significance of
the cross as a religious symbol in America."
In opposition to both these views, I propose to show that the primary
significance of all these widely extended symbols is quite clear, and
that they can be shown to have arisen from certain fixed relations of
man to his environment, the same everywhere, and hence suggesting the
same graphic representations among tribes most divergent in location
and race, and, therefore, that such symbols are of little value in
tracing ethnic affinities or the currents of civilization.
I am sorry to be compelled to differ with Dr. Brinton in these views. I
may not attempt much argument upon this branch of the subject, but
whatever argument is presented will be in opposition to this view, as not
being borne out by the evidence. Of course, the largest portion of the
discussion of this subject must consist of theory and argument, but such
facts as are known, when subjected to an analysis of reason, seem to
produce a result contrary to that announced by Dr. Brinton.
It is conceded that the duplication of the cross by different or distant
peoples is no evidence of migrations of or contact between these peoples,
however close their relations might have been. The sign of the cross
itself was so simple, consisting of only two marks or pieces intersecting
each other at a right or other angle, that we may easily suppose it to
have been the result of independent invention. The same conclusion has
been argued with regard to the Swastika. But this is a _non sequitur_.
First, I dispute the proposition of fact that the Swastika is, like the
cross, a simple design--one which would come to the mind of any person and
would be easy to make. For evidence of this, I cite the fact that it is
not in common use, that it is almost unknown among Christian peoples, that
it is not included in any of the designs for, nor mentioned in any of the
modern European or American works on, decoration, nor is it known to or
practiced by artists or decorators of either country.[308] For the truth
of this, I appeal to the experience of artists and decorators, and would
put the question whether, of their own knowledge, by their own inventions,
they have ever discovered or made Swastikas, or whether their brother
artists have done so, and if they answer in the affirmative, I would ask
whether those cases were not rare. It may be granted that when the
Swastika has been seen by an artist or decorator it is easily understood
and not difficult to execute, but, nevertheless, I insist that its
invention and use among artists and decorators during the centuries since
the Rennaissance is rare.
It is argued by Zmigrodzki that the Swastika on so many specimens,
especially the Trojan spindle-whorls, having been made regularly,
sometimes turning one way, sometimes another, sometimes square, other
times curved, goes to show the rapidity with which the sign was made, that
it did not require an artist, that its use was so common that it had
become a habit and was executed in a rapid and sketchy manner, as
evidenced by the appearance of the marks themselves upon the whorls. He
likens this to the easy and unconsidered way which men have of signing
their names, which they are able to do without attention. He likens it
also to the sign of the cross made by Roman Catholics so rapidly as to be
unnoticed by those who are unaware of its significance. With this line of
argument, Zmigrodzki reasons that the Swastika was in its time confined to
common use and thus he accounts for the number of ill-formed specimens.
This only accounts for the comparatively few ill-formed specimens, but not
for the great number, the mass of those well formed and well drawn.
Instead of the Swastika being a sign easily made, the experience of the
writer is the contrary. A simple cross like the Latin, Greek, St.
Andrew's, and other common forms may be very easy to make, but a really
good specimen of the Swastika is difficult to make. Any one who doubts
this has only to make the experiment for himself, and make correctly such
a specimen as fig. 9. While it may be easy enough to make the Greek cross
with two lines of equal length intersecting each other at right angles,
and while this forms a large proportion of the Swastikas, it is at its
conclusion that the trouble of making a perfect Swastika begins. It will
be found difficult, requiring care and attention, to make the projecting
arms of equal length, to see that they are all at the same angle; and if
it is bent again and again, two or three turns upon each other, the
difficulty increases. If a person thinks that the Swastika, either in the
square or the ogee curves or the spiral volutes, is easy to make, he has
but to try it with paper and pencil, and, if that is his first attempt, he
will soon be convinced of his error. The artist who drew the spirals for
this paper pronounces them to be the most difficult of all; the curves are
parabolic, no two portions of any one are in the same circle, the circle
continually widens, and no two circles nor any two portions of the same
circle have the same center. To keep these lines true and parallel, the
curve regular, the distances the same, and at the same time sweeping
outward in the spiral form, the artist pronounces a most difficult work,
requiring care, time, and attention (fig. 295). Even the square and
meander Swastikas (figs. 10, 11) require a rule and angle to make them
exact. All this goes to show the intention of the artist to have been more
or less deliberate; and that the object he made was for a special purpose,
with a particular idea, either as a symbol, charm, or ornament, and not a
meaningless figure to fill a vacant space.
Yet it is practically this difficult form of the cross which appears to
have spread itself through the widest culture areas, extending almost to
the uttermost parts of the earth. All this is foundation for the
suggestion that the Swastika was not the result of duplicate invention or
independent discovery, that it is not an illustration of parallelism in
human thought, but that it was transmitted from person to person, or
passed from one country to another, either by the migration of its people,
by their contact or communication, or by the migration and transmission of
the symbol and the sign itself. Pushing the argument of the difficulty of
its making, to account for the rarity of the design, it is alleged that in
modern times the Swastika is practically unknown among Christian peoples.
It passed out of use among them nigh a thousand years ago and has been
supplanted by every other imaginable geometric form. The fret, chevron,
herringbone, crosses, and circles of every kind, spirals, volutes, ogees,
moldings, etc., have all remained in use since neolithic times, but no
Swastika. The latest use mentioned in the literature upon this subject
appears to have been in the arch-Episcopal chair in the cathedral at
Milan, which bears the three ancient Christian crosses, the Latin cross,
the monogram of Christ, and the Swastika, of which the first and last are
carved in alternates around the pedestal of the chair. Yet the knowledge
of the Swastika has been perpetuated in some countries and its use has not
died out all over the world; therefore, examples of its use in modern
times should be noted in order to prevent misapprehension and
contradiction. The double Greek fret made with two continuous lines (fig.
139) forms a pseudo Swastika at each intersection, although we have seen
that this is not a real but only an apparent Swastika (p. 783). This is
used in modern times by carpet and linen weavers as borders for carpets
and tablecloths, and by tile makers in similar decoration. The Swastika
mark has continued in use among the Orientals; the Theosophists have
adopted it as a seal or insignia; the Japanese (fig. 30), the Koreans (p.
799), the Chinese (fig. 31), the Jains (figs. 33, 34), and, among the
North American Indians, the Navajo (pl. 17), and those of the Kansas
Reservation (pls. 15 and 16). It is not used by European peoples in modern
times, except in Lapland and Finland. The National Museum has lately
received a collection of modern household and domestic utensils from
Lapland, some of which bear the marks of the cross and one a churn, the
lid of which bears a possible Swastika mark. Through the kindness of
Professor Mason and Mr. Cushing, I have received a drawing of this (fig.
344). Theodor Schvindt, in "Suomalaisia koristeita,"[309] a book of
standard national Finnish patterns for the embroideries of the country,
gives the Swastika among others; but it is classed among "oblique designs"
and no mention is made of it as a Swastika or of any character
corresponding to it. Its lines are always at angles of 45 degrees, and are
continually referred to as "oblique designs."
The Swastika ornaments Danish baptismal fonts, and according to Mr. J.
A. Hjaltalin it "was used [in Iceland] a few years since as a magic
sign, but with an obscured or corrupted meaning." It arrived in that
island in the ninth century A. D.[310]
[Illustration: Fig. 344. MODERN CHURN LID WITH DESIGN RESEMBLING SWASTIKA.
Lapland. U. S. National Museum.]
The Swastika mark appears both in its normal and ogee form in the Persian
carpets and rugs.[311] While writing this memoir, I have found in the
Persian rug in my own bedchamber sixteen figures of the Swastika. In the
large rug in the chief clerk's office of the National Museum there are no
less than twenty-seven figures of the Swastika. On a piece of imitation
Persian carpet, with a heavy pile, made probably in London, I found also
figures of the Swastika. All the foregoing figures have been of the normal
Swastika, the arms crossing each other and the ends turning at right
angles, the lines being of equal thickness throughout. Some of them were
bent to the right and some to the left. At the entrance of the Grand Opera
House in Washington I saw a large India rug containing a number of ogee
Swastikas; while the arms crossed each other at right angles, they curved,
some to the right and some to the left, but all the lines increased in
size, swelling in the middle of the curve, but finishing in a point. The
modern Japanese wisteria workbaskets for ladies have one or more Swastikas
woven in their sides or covers.
Thus, it appears that the use of the Swastika in modern times is confined
principally to Oriental and Scandinavian countries, countries which hold
close relations to antiquity; that, in western Europe, where in ancient
times the Swastika was most frequent, it has, during the last one or two
thousand years, become extinct. And this in the countries which have led
the world in culture.
If the Swastika was a symbol of a religion in India and migrated as such
in times of antiquity to America, it was necessarily by human aid. The
individuals who carried and taught it should have carried with it the
religious idea it represented. To do this required a certain use of
language, at least the name of the symbol. If the sign bore among the
aborigines in America the name it bore in India, Swastika, the evidence of
contact and communication would be greatly strengthened. If the religion
it represented in India should be found in America, the chain of evidence
might be considered complete. But in order to make it so it will be
necessary to show the existence of these names and this religion in the
same locality or among the same people or their descendants as is found
the sign. To find traces of the Buddhist religion associated with the sign
of the Swastika among the Eskimo in Alaska might be no evidence of its
prehistoric migration, for this might have occurred in modern times, as we
know has happened with the Russian religion and the Christian cross. While
to find the Buddhist religion and the Swastika symbol together in America,
at a locality beyond the possibility of modern European or Asiatic
contact, would be evidence of prehistoric migration yet it would seem to
fix it at a period when, and from a country where, the two had been used
together. If the Swastika and Buddhism migrated to America together it
must have been since the establishment of the Buddhist religion, which is
approximately fixed in the sixth century B. C. But there has not been as
yet in America, certainly not in the localities where the Swastika has
been found, any trace discovered of the Buddhist religion, nor of its
concomitants of language, art, or custom. Adopting the theory of migration
of the Swastika, we may therefore conclude that if the Swastika came from
India or Eastern Asia, it came earlier than the sixth century B. C.
If a given religion with a given symbol, both belonging to the Old World,
should both be found associated in the New World, it would be strong
evidence in favor of Old World migration--certainly of contact and
communication. Is it not equally strong evidence of contact to find the
same sign used in both countries as a charm, with the same significance in
both countries?
The argument has been made, and it has proved satisfactory, at least to
the author, that throughout Asia and Europe, with the exception of the
Buddhists and early Christians, the Swastika was used habitually as a sign
or mark or charm, implying good luck, good fortune, long life, much
pleasure, great success, or something similar. The makers and users of the
Swastika in South and Central America, and among the mound builders of the
savages of North America, having all passed away before the advent of
history, it is not now, and never has been, possible for us to obtain from
them a description of the meaning, use, or purpose for which the Swastika
was employed by them. But, by the same line of reasoning that the
proposition has been treated in the prehistoric countries of Europe and
Asia, and which brought us to the conclusion that the Swastika was there
used as a charm or token of good luck, or good fortune, or against the
evil eye, we may surmise that the Swastika sign was used in America for
much the same purpose. It was placed upon the same style of object in
America as in Europe and Asia. It is not found on any of the ancient gods
of America, nor on any of the statues, monuments, or altars, nor upon any
sacred place or object, but rather upon such objects as indicate the
common and everyday use, and on which the Swastika, as a charm for good
luck, would be most appropriate, while for a sacred character it would be
singularly inappropriate.
The theory of independent invention has been invoked to account for the
appearance of the Swastika in widely separated countries, but the author
is more inclined to rely upon migration and imitation as the explanation.
When signs or symbols, myths or fables, habits or customs, utensils,
implements or weapons, industries, tools or machinery, have been found in
countries widely separated from each other, both in countries bearing
characteristics so much alike as to make them practically the same objects
or industries, and which are made in the same way, they present a question
to which there are only two possible solutions: Either they are
independent discoveries or inventions which, though analogous, have been
separately conceived, or else they have been invented or discovered in one
of the countries, and passed to the other by migration of the object or
communication of the knowledge necessary to form it, or by contact between
the two peoples. Of these inventions or discoveries said to have been made
in duplicate, each of which is alleged to have sprung up in its own
country as a characteristic of humanity and by virtue of a law of physics
or psychology, it is but fair to say that in the opinion of the author the
presumption is all against this. Duplicate inventions have been made and
will be made again, but they are uncommon. They are not the rule, but
rather the exception. The human intellect is formed on such unknown bases,
is so uncertain in its methods, is swayed by such slight considerations,
and arrives at so many different conclusions, that, with the manifold
diversities of human needs and desires, the chances of duplicate invention
by different persons in distant countries, without contact or
communication between them, are almost as one to infinity.
The old adage or proverb says, "Many men of many minds," and it only
emphasizes the differences between men in regard to the various phenomena
mentioned. There are some things sure to happen, yet it is entirely
uncertain as to the way they will happen. Nothing is more uncertain than
the sex of a child yet to be born, yet every person has one chance out of
two to foretell the result correctly. But of certain other premises, the
chances of producing the same result are as one to infinity. Not only does
the human intellect not produce the same conclusion from the same premises
in different persons, but it does not in the same person at different
times. It is unnecessary to multiply words over this, but illustrations
can be given that are satisfactory. A battle, a street fight, any event
happening in the presence of many witnesses, will never be seen in the
same way by all of them; it will be reported differently by each one; each
witness will have a different story. The jurors in our country are chosen
because of the absence of prejudice or bias. Their intellect or reason are
intended to be subjected to precisely the same evidence and argument, and
yet how many jurors disagree as to their verdict? We have but to consider
the dissensions and differences developed in the jury room which are
settled, sometimes by argument, by change of conviction, or by compromise.
What would be the resources of obtaining justice if we were to insist upon
unanimity of decision of the jury upon their first ballot or the first
expression of their opinion and without opportunity of change? Yet these
jurors have been charged, tried, and sworn a true verdict to render
according to the law and evidence as submitted to them. There is no doubt
but that they are endeavoring to fulfill their duty in this regard, and
while the same evidence as to fact, and charge as to law, are presented to
all of them at the same time, what different impressions are made and what
different conclusions are produced in the minds of the different jurors.
Illustrations of this exist in the decisions of our Supreme Court,
wherein, after full argument and fair investigation, with ample
opportunity for comparison of views, explanations, and arguments, all
based upon the same state of facts, the same witnesses; yet, in how many
cases do we find differences of opinion among the members of the court,
and questions of the gravest import and of the most vital character
settled for the whole nation by votes of 8 to 7 and 5 to 4? The author has
examined, and in other places shown, the fallacy of the rule that like
produces like. Like causes produce like effects is a law of nature, but
when the decision rests upon the judgment of man and depends upon his
reason and his intellect, our common knowledge testifies that this law has
no application. When the proposition to be determined has to be submitted
to individuals of widely separated and distinct countries between whom
there has been neither communication nor contact, and who have received no
suggestion as to their respective ideas or needs, or the means of
satisfying them, it seems to the author that no rule can be predicated
upon the similarity of human condition, of human reason, or of human
intellect, certainly none which can be depended on to produce the same
conclusion.
Consideration of the facility with which symbols, signs, myths, fables,
stories, history, etc., are transmitted from one people to another and
from one country to another, should not be omitted in this discussion. It
may have slight relation to the Swastika to mention the migrations of the
present time, but it will give an idea of the possibility of past times.
In this regard we have but to consider the immense number of articles or
objects in museums and collections, public and private, representing
almost every country and people. We there find objects from all quarters
of the globe, from the five continents, and all the islands of the sea.
Some of them are of great antiquity, and it is a matter of wonderment how
they should have made such long passages and have been preserved from
destruction by the vicissitudes of time and space. We have but to consider
how money passes from hand to hand and is always preserved to be passed on
to the next. Every collection of importance throughout the world possesses
a greater or less number of Greek and Roman coins antedating the Christian
era. We have an excellent illustration of those possibilities in the word
"halloo," commonly rendered as "hello." A few years ago this word, was
peculiar to the English language, yet an incident lately occurred in the
city of Washington, within sight of my own residence, by which this word,
"hello," has traveled the world around, has spread itself over land and
sea, has attached itself to and become part of most every spoken language
of civilization, and without much consideration as to its meaning; but
being on the procrustean bed of imitation, there are people, foreigners,
who believe that the telephone can be only made to respond when the demand
is made "hello!"
MIGRATION OF CLASSIC SYMBOLS.
Count Goblet d'Alviella, in "La Migration des Symboles," traces many
ancient symbols from what he believes to be their place of origin to their
modern habitat. The idea he elucidates in his book is indicated in its
title.
_The sacred tree of the Assyrians._--This he holds to be one of the oldest
historic symbols; that it had its origin in Mesopotamia, one of the
earliest civilized centers of the world. Beginning with its simplest form,
the sacred tree grew into an ornate and highly complex pattern, invariably
associated with religious subjects. Two living creatures always stand on
either side, facing it and each other. First they were monsters, like
winged bulls or griffins, and after became human or semihuman
personages--priests or kings, usually in the attitude of devotion. The
Count says the migration of both these types can be readily traced. The
tree between the two monsters or animals passed from Mesopotamia to India,
where it was employed by the Buddhists and Brahmins, and has continued in
use in that country to the present time. It passed to the Phenicians, and
from Asia Minor to Greece. From the Persians it was introduced to the
Byzantines, and during the early ages, into Christian symbolism in Sicily
and Italy, and even penetrated to the west of France. The other type--that
is, the tree between two semi-human personages--followed the same route
into India, China, and eastern Asia, and, being found in the ancient
Mexican and Maya codices, it forms part of the evidence cited by the Count
as a pre-Columbian communication between the Old World and the New. He
argues this out by similarity of the details of attitude and expression of
the human figure, the arrangement of the branches of the sacred tree, etc.
_The sacred cone of Mesopotamia._--This was worshipped by the western
Semites as their great goddess, under the image of a conical stone. Its
figurative representation is found alike on monuments, amulets, and coins.
On some Phenician monuments there is to be seen, super-added to the cone,
a horizontal crossbar on the middle of which rests a handle. This shape
bears a striking resemblance to the _Crux ansata_ (fig. 4), and, like it,
was a symbol of life in its widest and most abstract meaning. The
resemblance between them is supposed to have caused them to have been
mistaken and employed one for the other in the same character of symbol
and talisman. It is alleged that the Ephesian Artemis was but the sacred
cone of Mesopotamia anthropomorphized, although, with the halo added to
Artemis, the allegation of relationship has been made in respect of the
_Crux ansata_.
_The Crux ansata, the key of life._--This is probably more widely known in
modern times than any other Egyptian symbol. Its hieroglyphic name is
_Ankh_, and its signification is "to live." As an emblem of life,
representing the male and female principle united, it is always borne in
the hands of the gods, it is poured from a jar over the head of the king
in a species of baptism, and it is laid symbolically on the lips of the
mummy to revive it. From Egypt the _Crux ansata_ spread first among the
Phenicians, and then throughout the whole Semitic world, from Sardinia to
Susiana.
_The winged globe._--This was a widely spread and highly venerated
Egyptian symbol. From Egypt it spread, under various modifications,
throughout the Old World. It is formed by a combination of the
representations of the sun that have prevailed in different localities in
Egypt, the mythology of which ended by becoming a solar drama. Two uræus
snakes or asps, with heads erect, are twisted round a globe-shaped disk,
behind which are the outstretched wings of a hawk, and on its top the
horns of a goat. It commemorates the victory of the principle of light
and good over that of darkness and evil. It spread readily among
the Phenicians, where it is found suspended over the sacred tree
and the sacred cone, and was carried wheresoever their art was
introduced--westward to Carthage, Sicily, Sardinia, and Cyprus, eastward
to Western Asia. Very early it penetrated on the north to the Hittites,
and when it reached Mesopotamia, in the time of Sargonidæ, the winged
circle assumed the shape of the wheel or rosette, surmounted by a scroll
with upcurled extremities and with a feathered tail opening out like a
fan, or a human figure in an attitude sometimes of benediction, sometimes
warlike, was inscribed within the disk. Then it was no longer exclusively
a solar emblem, but served to express the general idea of divinity. From
Mesopotamia it passed to Persia, principally in the anthropoid type. It
was, however, never adopted by Greece, and it is nowhere met with in
Europe, except, as before stated, in the Mediterranean islands. When
Greece took over from Asia symbolic combinations in which it was
originally represented, she replaced it by the thunderbolt. But the
aureole, or halo, which encircles the heads of her divinities, and which
Christian art has borrowed from the classic, was directly derived from it.
_The caduceus._--This is one of the interesting symbols of antiquity. It
appears in many phases and is an excellent illustration of the migration
of symbols. Its classic type held in the hand of Mercury and used to-day
as a symbol of the healing art--a winged rod round which two serpents are
symmetrically entwined--is due to the mythographers of later times, and is
very remote from its primitive form. In the Homeric hymn it is called "the
golden rod, three-petaled of happiness and wealth," which Phoebus gave to
the youthful Hermes, but on early Greek monuments the three leaves are
represented by a disk surmounted by an incomplete circle. In this shape it
constantly appears on Phenician monuments; and at Carthage, where it seems
to have been essentially a solar emblem, it is nearly always associated
with the sacred cone. It is found on Hittite monuments, where it assumes
the form of a globe surmounted by horns. Numerous origins and manifold
antecedents have been attributed to it, such as an equivalent of the
thunderbolt, a form of the sacred tree, or a combination of the solar
globe with the lunar crescent. Some examples seem to indicate a transition
from the sacred tree surmounted by the solar disk, to the form of the
caduceus of the Hittites. Our author believes it was employed originally
as a religious or military standard or flag, and that it was gradually
modified by coming in contact with other symbols. Some Assyrian
bas-reliefs display a military standard, sometimes consisting of a large
ring placed upon a staff with two loose bandelets attached, sometimes of a
winged globe similarly disposed. This Assyrian military standard may be
the prototype of the labarum, which Constantine, after his conversion to
Christianity, chose for his own standard, and which might equally well
have been claimed by the sun worshipers. Under its latest transformation
in Greece, a winged rod with two serpents twined round it, it has come
down to our own times representing two of the functions of Hermes, more
than ever in vogue among men, industry and commerce. It has survived in
India under the form of two serpents entwined, probably introduced in the
track of Alexander the Great. It was also met with in that country in
earlier times in its simpler form, a disk surmounted by a crescent,
resembling our astronomical sign for the planet Mercury. This earliest
type of the caduceus, a disk surmounted by a crescent, appears at a remote
date in India, and seems to have been confounded with the trisula.
_The trisula._--This form of the trident peculiar to the Buddhists was of
great importance in the symbolism of the Hindus; but whether it was an
imitation of the type of thunderbolt seen on Assyrian sculptures, or was
devised by them spontaneously, is uncertain. Its simplest form, which is,
however, rarely met with, is an omicron ([Greek: o]) surmounted by an
omega ([Greek: ô]). Nearly always the upper portion is flanked by two
small circles, or by two horizontal strokes which often take the
appearance of leaves or small wings. The points of the omega are
generally changed into small circles, leaves, or trefoil; and the disk
itself is placed on a pedestal. From its lower arc there fall two spires
like serpents' tails with the ends curving, sometimes up and sometimes
down. This is a very complex symbol. None of the Buddhist texts give any
positive information in regard to its origin or meaning, and few symbols
have given rise to more varied explanations. The upper part of the figure
is frequently found separated from the lower; sometimes this is plainly a
trident superposed upon a disk-shaped nucleus. The trident may possibly
have symbolized the flash of lightning, as did Neptune's trident among the
Greeks, but more probably it is the image of the solar radiation. Among
the northern Buddhists it personifies the heaven of pure flame superposed
upon the heaven of the sun. Though undoubtedly a Hindu emblem, its
primitive shape seems to have early felt the influence of the caduceus,
while its more complex forms exhibit a likeness to certain types of the
winged globe. Still later the trisula was converted by Brahmanism into an
anthropoid figure, and became the image of Jagenath. The vegetable kingdom
was also laid under contribution, and the trisula came into a resemblance
of the tree of knowledge. Although we have learned the probable
signification of its factors in the creeds that preceded Buddhism, we know
very little about its meaning in the religion that used it most, but it is
a symbol before which millions have bowed in reverence. The plastic
development of the trisula shows with what facility emblems of the most
dissimilar origin may merge into each other when the opportunity of
propinquity is given, and there is sufficient similarity in form and
meaning.
_The double-headed eagle on the escutcheon of Austria and Russia._--Count
D'Alviella tells the history of the migration of the symbol of the
double-headed eagle on the escutcheon of Austria and Russia. It was
originally the type of the Garuda bird of southern India, found on temple
sculptures, in carved wood, on embroideries, printed and woven cloths, and
on amulets. It first appears on the so-called Hittite sculptures at Eyuk,
the ancient Pteria in Phrygia. In 1217 it appeared on the coins and
standards of the Turkoman conquerors of Asia Minor.
In 1227-28 the Emperor Frederick II undertook the sixth crusade, landing
at Acre in the latter year, and being crowned King of Jerusalem in 1229.
Within thirty years from these dates the symbol appeared on the coins of
certain Flemish princes, and in 1345 it replaced the single-headed eagle
on the armorial bearing of the holy Roman Empire. Thus, the historic
evidence of the migration of this symbol, from the far east to the nations
of the west by direct contact, would seem complete.
_The lion rampant of Belgium._--This lion was incorporated into the Percy
or Northumberland escutcheon by the marriage of Joceline of Louvain, the
second son of Godfrey, the Duke of Brabant, to Agnes, the sister and heir
of all the Percys. The Counts of Flanders, Brabant, and Louvain bore as
their coat of arms the lion rampant facing to the left, which is the
present coat of arms of the King of Belgium. The story is thus told in
Burke's "Peerage" (1895): Agnes de Percy married Joceline of Louvain,
brother of Queen Adeliza, second wife of Henry I, and son of Godfrey
Barbalus, Duke of Lower Brabant and Count of Brabant, who was descended
from the Emperor Charlemagne. Her ladyship, it is stated, would only
consent, however, to this great alliance upon condition that Joceline
should adopt either the surname or arms of Percy, the former of which,
says the old family tradition, he accordingly assumed, and retained his
own paternal coat in order to perpetuate his claim to the principality of
his father, should the elder line of the reigning duke become extinct. The
matter is thus stated in the old pedigree at Sion House: "The ancient arms
of Hainault this Lord Jocelyn retained, and gave his children the surname
of Percy."
The migration of this lion rampant is interesting. It was in the twelfth
century the coat of arms of the King of Albania. Phillippe d'Alsace, the
eldest son of Thierry d'Alsace, was Count of Flanders, sixteenth in
succession, tracing his ancestry back to 621 A. D. The original and
ancient coat of arms of the Counts of Flanders consisted of a small shield
in the center of a larger one, with a sunburst of six rays. Phillippe
d'Alsace reigned as Count of Flanders and Brabant from 1168 to 1190 A. D.
He held an important command in two crusades to the Holy Land. During a
battle in one of these crusades, he killed the King of Albania in a
hand-to-hand conflict, and carried off his shield with its escutcheon of
the lion rampant, which Phillippe transferred to his own shield, took as
his own coat of arms, and it has been since that time the coat of arms of
the Counts of Flanders and Brabant, and is now that of Belgium. The lion
in the escutcheon can thus be traced by direct historic evidence through
Northumberland, Flanders and Louvain back to its original owner, the King
of Albania, in the twelfth century. Thus is the migration of the symbol
traced by communication and contact, and thus are shown the possibilities
in this regard which go far toward invalidating, if they do not destroy,
the presumption of separate invention in those cases wherein, because of
our ignorance of the facts, we have invoked the rule of separate
invention.
_Greek art and architecture._--It has come to be almost a proverb in
scientific investigation that we argue from the known to the unknown. We
might argue from this proverb in favor of the migration of the Swastika
symbol and its passage from one people to another by the illustration of
the Greek fret, which is in appearance closely related to the Swastika;
and, indeed, we might extend the illustration to all Greek architecture.
It is a well-known fact, established by numberless historic evidences,
that the Greek architecture of ancient times migrated--that is, passed by
communication and contact of peoples, and by transfer of knowledge from
one man to another, and from one generation to the succeeding generation,
until it became known throughout all western countries. The architects of
Rome, Vicenza, Paris, London, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago, and San
Francisco derive their knowledge of Grecian architecture in its details of
Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian styles by direct communication, either
spoken, written or graphic, from the Greek architects who practiced, if
they did not invent, these styles.
_The Greek fret._--This has migrated in the same manner. As to its
invention or origin, we have little to do in the present argument. Whether
the fret was the ancestor or the descendant of the Swastika is of no
moment to our present question. It has been demonstrated in the early part
of this paper that both it and the Swastika had a common existence in
early if not prehistoric Greece, and that both were employed in perfected
form on the same specimen of Archaic Greek pottery. Figs. 133 and 134
demonstrate that these two signs migrated together from Greece to Egypt,
for the particular specimen mentioned was found at Naukratis, Egypt. From
this high antiquity the Greek fret has migrated to practically every
country in the world, and has been employed during all historic time by
the peoples of every civilization. The fret is known historically to have
passed by means of teachers, either through speaking, writing, or drawing,
and never yet a suggestion that its existence or appearance in distant
countries depended upon separate invention or independent discovery.
Why strain at the gnat of independent invention of the Swastika when we
are compelled to swallow the camel of migration when applied to the Greek
fret and architecture? The same proposition of migration applies to Greek
art, whether of sculpture, engraving, or gem carving. These ancient
Grecian arts are as well known in all quarters of the civilized globe at
the present day as they were in their own country, and this was all done
by communication between peoples either through speaking, writing, or
drawing. So far from being separate inventions, the modern sculptor or
engraver, with full historic knowledge of the origin or, at least,
antiquity of these arts, and with an opportunity for inspection and study
of the specimens, is still unable to reproduce them or to invent original
works of so high an order. The imaginary and newly invented theory that
culture is the result of the psychologic nature of man manifesting itself
in all epochs and countries, and among all peoples, by the evolution of
some new discovery made to fit a human need--that as all human needs in a
given stage are the same, therefore all human culture must, _per se_, pass
through the same phases or stages--is a theory to which I refuse adhesion.
It receives a hard blow when we take down the bars to the modern sculptor,
requiring of him neither original invention nor independent discovery, but
permitting him to use, study, adapt, and even servilely copy the great
Greek art works, and we know that with all these opportunities and
advantages he can not attain to their excellence, nor reach their stage of
art culture.
VII.--PREHISTORIC OBJECTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SWASTIKA, FOUND IN BOTH
HEMISPHERES, AND BELIEVED TO HAVE PASSED BY MIGRATION.
SPINDLE-WHORLS.
Spindle-whorls are first to be considered. These are essentially
prehistoric utensils, and are to be found in every part of the world where
the inhabitants were sufficiently cultured to make twisted threads or
cords, whether for hunting or fishing, games, textile fabrics, or
coverings, either for themselves, their tents, or other purposes. In
western Asia, all of Europe, in the pueblos of North America, and among
the aborigines--by whatever name they are called--of Mexico, Central
America, and the north and west coast of South America, wherever the
aborigines employed cord, cloth, or fiber, the spindle-whorl is found.
Where they used skins for the coverings of themselves or their tents, the
spindle-whorl may not be found. Thus, in the Eskimo land, and among
certain of the North American savages, spindle-whorls are rarely if ever
found.
The spindle-whorl was equally in use in Europe and Asia during the
Neolithic Age as in the Bronze Age. It continued in use among the peasants
in remote and outlying districts into modern times. During the Neolithic
Age its materials were stone and terra cotta; during the Bronze Age they
were almost exclusively terra cotta. They are found of both materials.
Recently a Gallo-Roman tomb was opened at Clermont-Ferrand and found to
contain the skeleton of a young woman, and with it her spindles and
whorls.[312]
The existence of spindle-whorls in distant and widely separated countries
affords a certain amount of presumptive evidence of migrations of peoples
from one country to another, or of contact or communication between them.
If the people did not themselves migrate and settle the new country,
taking the spindle-whorls and other objects with them, then the
spindle-whorl itself, or the knowledge of how to make and use it, must in
some other way have gotten over to the new country.
This argument of migration, contact, or communication does not rest solely
on the similarity of the whorls in the distant countries, but equally on
the fact of spinning thread from the fiber; and this argument is
reenforced by the similarity of the operation and of the tool or machine
with which it was done. It has been said elsewhere that the probability of
communication between widely separated peoples by migration or contact
depended for its value as evidence, in some degree, upon the
correspondence or similarity of the object considered, and that this value
increased with the number of items of correspondence, the closeness of
similarity, the extent of the occurrence, and the difficulty of its
performance. So we pass to the similarity in size, appearance, mode of
manufacture, and, finally, the use of the whorls of the two continents.
EUROPE.
_Switzerland--Lake dwellings._--Figs. 345 and 346 show stone
spindle-whorls from prehistoric Swiss lake dwellings. These are in the U.
S. National Museum, and with them are dozens of others of the same kind
and style from all other parts of Europe. Fig. 347 shows a stone
spindle-whorl from Lund, Sweden. It is in the U. S. National Museum and
was contributed by Professor Jillson. Figs. 348, 349, and 350 represent
terra-cotta spindle-whorls from the Swiss lakes. These specimens were
selected to show the different patterns, to illustrate their unlikeness
instead of their likeness, to give an understanding of the various kinds
of whorls rather than that they were all one kind, a fad which should be
kept in mind during this argument.
[Illustration: Figs. 345 and 346. STONE SPINDLE-WHORLS. Neolithic. Swiss
lake dwellings. U. S. National Museum.]
[Illustration: Fig. 347. STONE SPINDLE-WHORL. Neolithic. Lund, Sweden.
Cat. No. 5281, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 348. TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL. Neolithic or Bronze
Age. Swiss lake dwellings. Cat. No. 100642, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 349. TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL. Neolithic or Bronze
Age. Swiss lake dwellings. Cat. No. 190642, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 350. TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL. Swiss lake dwellings.
Cat. No. 100647, U. S. N. M.]
_Italy._--Figs. 351, 352, and 353 show terra-cotta spindle-whorls from
Orvieto, Italy, 78 miles north from Rome. Figs. 354 and 355 represent
spindle-whorls from Corneto, Italy, 63 miles north from Rome. As remarked
above, they have been chosen to represent the different kinds. There are
thousands of these whorls found in Italy. In the Archæological Exposition
at Turin, 1884, the number was so great that they were twined about the
columns, thereby providing a place of storage as well as a place of
display.
[Illustration: Figs. 351, 352, and 353. PREHISTORIC TERRA-COTTA
SPINDLE-WHORLS. Orvieto, Italy. Cat. Nos. 101671, 101672, U. S. N. M.]
_Wurtemburg._--Dr. Charles Rau procured for, and there is now in, the U.
S. National Museum a spindle (fig. 356) with its whorl which had been in
use for spinning from 1860 to 1870, and which he obtained in Wurtemburg,
Germany, from the woman who had used it.
[Illustration: Figs. 354 and 355. PREHISTORIC SPINDLE-WHORLS. Corneto,
Italy. Cat. No. 101773, U. S. N. M.]
_France._--The author has seen the French peasants in Brittany spinning
their thread in the same way, and once took a photograph of one in the
hamlet of Pont-Aven, Morbihan, but it failed in development. In 1893
Mr. Harle purchased at St. Gerons, Ardeche, a merchant's entire stock of
modern porcelain spindle-whorls. The manufactory was located at
Martres-Tolosane, and the trade extended throughout the Pyrenees. He
presented a series to the Société d'Anthropologie at Paris, July,
1893.[313]
[Illustration: PLATE 21. SPINDLE-WHORLS OF MODERN PORCELAIN FROM SOUTHERN
FRANCE. Cat. No. 169598, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 356. MODERN SPINDLE AND WHORL USED FOR SPINNING
THREAD. Wurtemburg, Germany.]
The U. S. National Museum has lately received, through the kindness of the
École d'Anthropologie, a series of nine of these porcelain whorls (pl.
21). The wheel and modern machines for spinning have penetrated this
corner of the world, and these whorls are the last emblem of an industry
dating slightly after the advent of man on earth and already old in that
locality when Roland crossed the mountain pass near there and sounded his
"Oliphant," calling for help from Charlemagne. These are the death chant
of the industry of hand spinning in that country.
NORTH AMERICA--PRE-COLUMBIAN TIMES.
The North American Indians employed rushes and animal skins as the
principal coverings for themselves and their tents. They used sinews and
thongs for thread and cord, and thus avoided largely the necessity for
spinning fiber or making textiles; for these or possibly other reasons, we
find few spindle-whorls among them compared with the number found in
Europe. Yet the North American Indians made and used textile fabrics, and
there are pieces of woven cloth from mounds in Ohio now in the Department
of Prehistoric Anthropology, U. S. National Museum. The Pueblo Indians
spun thread and wove cloth in pre-Columbian times, and those within the
States of Colorado and Utah and the adjoining Territories of Arizona and
New Mexico, particularly the Navajoes, have been long noted for their
excellence in producing textile fabrics. Specimens of their looms and
thread are on display in the National Museum and have been published in
the reports. Special attention is called to that by Dr. Washington
Matthews in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1881-82.
Dr. Matthews is of the opinion that the work of the Pueblo Indians
antedated that of the Navajoes, that the latter learned the art from the
former since the advent of the Spaniards; and he remarks that the pupils
now excel their masters in the beauty and quality of their work. He
declares that the art of weaving has been carried to greater perfection
among the Navajoes than among any native tribe in America north of the
Mexican boundary; while with none in the entire continent has it been less
influenced by contact with Europeans. The superiority of the Navajo to
the Pueblo work results not only from a constant advance of the weavers'
art among the former, but from a deterioration of it among the latter.
This deterioration among the Pueblo Indians he attributes to their contact
with the whites, their inclination being to purchase rather than to make
woven fabrics, while these influences seem not to have affected the
Navajoes. He represents a Navajo woman spinning (see pl. 22 of the present
paper). She is seated, and apparently whorls the spindle by rubbing it on
her leg. The spindle is of wood, as are all other spindles, but the whorl
is also of wood. In this these people are peculiar and perhaps unique. The
whorl, among most other savage or prehistoric peoples, as we have already
seen, was of stone or clay. These wooden whorls are thinner and larger,
but otherwise they are the same. An inspection of the plate will show that
with it the spinning apparatus forms the same machine, accomplishes the
same purpose, and does it in the same way. The sole difference is in the
size and material of the whorl. The difference in material accounts for
the difference in size. It is not improbable that the Indian discovered
that the wooden whorl would serve as well as a stone or pottery one, and
that it was easier made. The machine in the hands of the woman, as shown
in the figure, is larger than usual, which may be accounted for by the
thread of wool fiber used by the Navajo being thicker and occupying more
space than the flaxen thread of prehistoric times; so it may have been
discovered that a large whorl of wood served their purpose better than a
small one of stone. Stone whorls of large size might be too heavy. Thus
may be explained the change from small stone or pottery whorls to large
wooden ones.
[Illustration: Fig. 357. TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL WITH DESIGN SIMILAR TO
SWASTIKA. Valley of Mexico. Cat. No. 27875, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: PLATE 22. NAVAJO WOMAN USING SPINDLE AND WHORL. Dr.
Washington Matthews, Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
1881-82, Pl. XXXIV.]
_Mexico._--Fig. 357 represents the two sides and edge of a pottery
terra-cotta spindle-whorl. It is the largest of a series of six (Cat.
Nos. 27875-27880) from the valley of Mexico, sent to the U. S. National
Museum by the Mexican National Museum in 1877. Fig. 358 also represents
one of a series from Mexico, obtained by W. W. Blake, July, 1886 (Cat.
Nos. 99051-99059). The National Museum possesses hundreds of these from
Mexico, as well as the small ones from Peru.
[Illustration: Fig. 358. MEXICAN TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL WITH DESIGN
SIMILAR TO SWASTIKA.]
These specimens are chosen because they are the largest and most
elaborately decorated. It will be perceived at a glance how the style of
decoration lends itself to the Swastika. It consists mostly of geometric
figures, chief of which is the Greek fret, the labyrinth, the circle, and
the volute, but as in the color stamps (pp. 946-947) there is no Swastika.
[Illustration: Figs. 359 and 360. TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORLS. Omotepe
Island, Nicaragua. Cat. Nos. 28898, 28899, U. S. N. M.]
CENTRAL AMERICA.
_Nicaragua._--The specimen shown in fig. 359, from Omotepe Island, Lake
Nicaragua, is one of a series of pottery spindle-whorls, bearing, however,
great resemblance to those of stone. Fig. 360 shows a specimen from the
same locality. It is of pottery and bears much resemblance in form to the
earliest whorls found by Schliemann on the site of Troy on the hill of
Hissarlik. Both these were collected by Dr. J. F. Bransford, and are in
the U. S. National Museum. Fig. 361 shows a specimen from Granada,
Nicaragua. It is of the common shape of the European prehistoric
spindle-whorl. Its flat surface is decorated with a Greek cross in incised
lines, two quarters of which are filled with hatch marks. Fig. 362 shows a
terra-cotta spindle-whorl from Malacate, Nicaragua. It is cone-shaped.
Both these specimens were collected by Dr. Earl Flint.
[Illustration: Fig. 361. TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL. Granada, Nicaragua.
Cat. No. 23295, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 362. TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL. Malacate, Nicaragua.
Cat. No. 29009, U. S. N. M.]
SOUTH AMERICA.
_Chiriqui._--Figs. 363, 364, and 365 show terra-cotta spindle-whorls from
Chiriqui, the most northern territory in South America and adjoining the
Isthmus of Panama. They are engraved natural size, with ornamentation
similar to that on the pottery of that country.
[Illustration: Fig. 363. SPINDLE-WHORL MADE OF GRAY CLAY AND DECORATED
WITH ANNULAR NODES. Chiriqui. Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, fig. 218.]
_Colombia._--Fig. 366 shows a cone-shaped terra-cotta whorl from
Manizales, Colombia, South America. It has a star-shaped design on the
face and a three-line zigzag or chevron pattern.
_Peru._--Plate 23 represents a series of spindles and whorls from Peru.
They were furnished to the U. S. National Museum by I. V. Norton, of
Plainville, N. Y. The whorls were originally considered to be beads, and
were without further description. The spindles were not inserted in them
as at present. The spindles, as well as whorls, are exceedingly small.
Some of the whorls are decorated by incised lines in the clay, and many of
the spindles are decorated in the middle with paint in different colors,
in lines, scrolls, and chevrons. These are the only whorls from Peru which
the U. S. National Museum has, though it possesses an extensive series of
the spindles, several of which still have the spun thread wrapped upon
them.
[Illustration: PLATE 23. SERIES OF ABORIGINAL SPINDLES AND WHORLS FROM
PERU. Cat. No. 17510, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 364. SPINDLE-WHORL OF GRAY CLAY WITH FIGURES OF
ANIMALS. Chiriqui. Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig.
219.]
[Illustration: Fig. 365. SPINDLE-WHORL OF DARK CLAY WITH PERFORATIONS AND
INCISED ORNAMENTS. Chiriqui. Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of
Ethnology, fig. 220.]
[Illustration: Fig. 366. TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL. Manizales, Colombia.
Cat. No. 16838, U. S. N. M.]
There are certain distinguishing peculiarities to be remarked when
comparing the spindle-whorls from the Western Hemisphere with those from
the Eastern Hemisphere. There is greater diversity in size, form, and
decoration in the American than in the European whorls. A series of
European whorls from any given locality will afford a fair representation
of those from almost every other locality. But it is different with the
American specimens. Each section in America has a different style, not
only different from the European specimens, but different from those of
neighboring sections. Among the eighteen thousand whorls found by Dr.
Schliemann on the hill of Hissarlik, there is scarcely one so large as
those here shown from Mexico, while, on the other hand, there were only a
few as small as the largest of the series from Peru. The difference in
size and material in the Pueblo whorls has already been noticed. The
ornamentation is also peculiar in that it adopts, not a particular style
common to the utensil, but that it adopts the styles of the respective
countries. The Mexican whorl has a Mexican style of ornamentation, etc.
The Nicaragua specimens resemble the European more than any other from
America in their forms and the almost entire absence of decoration.
The foregoing are the differences; but with all the number and extent of
these differences the fact remains that the whorls of the two hemispheres
are practically the same, and the differences are insignificant. In style,
shape, and manner of use they are so similar in the two hemispheres as to
be the same invention. The whorls, when put upon their spindles, form the
same machine in both countries. They were intended for and they accomplish
the same purpose, and the method of their performance is practically the
same. While the similarity of the art of spinning and the mechanism (_i.
e._, the spindle and whorl) by which it is accomplished may not prove
conclusively that it migrated from the Eastern Hemisphere, nor yet show
positive connection or communication between the two peoples, it goes a
long way toward establishing such migration or communication. The
similarity in the art and its mechanism appears to the author to show such
resemblance with the like culture in the Eastern Hemisphere, and is so
harmonious with the theory of migration or contact or communication, that
if there shall be other objects found which either by their number or
condition would prove to be a well-authenticated instance of migration
from or contact or communication between the countries, the evidence of
the similarity of the spindle-whorls would form a valuable addition to and
largely increase the evidence to establish the main fact. Until that piece
of well-authenticated evidence has been obtained, the question must, so
far as concerns spindle-whorls, remain only a probability. The differences
between them are of manner, and not of matter; in size and degree, but not
in kind, and are not other or greater than might easily arise from local
adaptation of an imported invention. Compare the Navajo spindle (pl. 22)
with that from Wurtemburg, Germany (fig. 356), and these with the spindles
and whorls from Peru (pl. 23). These facts are entirely in harmony with
the possibility that the spindle and whorl, as a machine for spinning, was
a single invention, and that its slight differentiations resulted from its
employment by different peoples--the result of its intertribal migrations.
For purposes of comparison, and to show the similarity of these objects in
Europe, the author has introduced a series of spindle-whorls from Troy,
Hissarlik (pls. 24 and 25). These belong to the U. S. National Museum, and
form part of the valuable collection from Mme. Schliemann, the gift by her
talented husband to the people of the United States as a token of his
remembrance and grateful feelings toward them.
[Illustration: PLATE 24. SELECTED SPECIMENS OF SPINDLE-WHORLS FROM THE
THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH CITIES OF TROY. U. S. National Museum.]
[Illustration: PLATE 25. SELECTED SPECIMENS OF SPINDLE-WHORLS FROM THE
THIRD, FOURTH, AND FIFTH CITIES OF TROY. U. S. National Museum.]
BOBBINS.
EUROPE.
We have already seen how an increase in the number of correspondences
between objects from distant countries increases the weight of their
evidence in favor of contact or communication between the peoples. If it
should be found upon comparison that the bobbins on which thread is to be
wound, as well as the spindle-whorls with which it is made, had been in
use during prehistoric times in the two hemispheres, it would add to the
evidence of contact or communication. The U. S. National Museum possesses
a series of these bobbins, as they are believed to have been, running from
large to small, comprising about one dozen specimens from Italy, one from
Corneto and the others from Bologna, in which places many prehistoric
spindle whorls have been found (figs. 367 and 368). These are of the type
Villanova. The end as well as the side view is represented. The former is
one of the largest, the latter of middle size, with others smaller forming
a graduating series. The latter is engraved on the end by dotted incisions
in three parallel lines arranged in the form of a Greek cross. A similar
bobbin from Bologna bears the sign of the Swastika on its end (fig.
193).[314] It was found by Count Gozzadini and forms part of his
collection in Bologna.
[Illustration: Fig. 367. BOBBIN OR SPOOL FOR WINDING THREAD (?). Type
Villanova. Corneto, Italy. U. S. National Museum.]
[Illustration: Fig. 368. TERRA-COTTA BOBBIN OR SPOOL FOR WINDING THREAD
(?). Type Villanova. Bologna, Italy. Cat. No. 101771, U. S. N. M.]
UNITED STATES.
The three following figures represent clay and stone bobbins, all from the
State of Kentucky. Fig. 369 shows a bobbin elaborately decorated, from a
mound near Maysville, Ky. It has a hole drilled longitudinally through
the center. The end shows a cross of the Greek form with this hole in the
center of the cross. Fig. 370 shows a similar object from Lexington, Ky.,
sent by the Kentucky University. It is of fine-grained sandstone, is
drilled longitudinally through the center and decorated as shown. The end
view shows a series of concentric circles with rows of dots in the
intervals. Fig. 371 shows a similar object of fine-grained sandstone from
Lewis County, Ky. It is also drilled longitudinally, and is decorated with
rows of zigzag lines as shown. The end view represents four consecutive
pentagons laid one on top of the other, which increase in size as they go
outward, the hole through the bobbin being in the center of these
pentagons, while the outside line is decorated with spikes or rays
extending to the periphery of the bobbin, all of which is said to
represent the sun. The specimen shown in fig. 372, of fine-grained
sandstone, is from Maysville, Ky. The two ends are here represented
because of the peculiarity of the decoration. In the center is the hole,
next to it is a rude form of Greek cross which on one end is repeated as
it goes farther from the center; on the other, the decoration consists of
three concentric circles, one interval of which is divided by radiating
lines at regular intervals, each forming a rectangle. Between the outer
lines and the periphery are four radiating rays which, if completed all
around, might form a sun symbol. Bobbins of clay have been lately
discovered in Florida by Mr. Clarence B. Moore and noted by Professor
Holmes.
[Illustration: Fig. 369. BOBBIN (?) FROM A MOUND NEAR MAYSVILLE, KENTUCKY.
Cat. No. 16748, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 370. BOBBIN (?) FROM LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY. Cat. No.
16691, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: Fig. 371. BOBBIN (?) OF FINE-GRAINED SANDSTONE. Lewis
County, Kentucky. Cat. No. 59681, U. S. N. M.]
Thus we find some of the same objects which in Europe were made and used
by prehistoric man and which bore the Swastika mark have migrated to
America, also in prehistoric times, where they were put to the same use
and served the same purpose. This is certainly no inconsiderable testimony
in favor of the migration of the sign.
VIII.--SIMILAR PREHISTORIC ARTS, INDUSTRIES, AND IMPLEMENTS IN EUROPE AND
AMERICA AS EVIDENCE OF THE MIGRATION OF CULTURE.
The prehistoric objects described in the foregoing chapter are not the
only ones common to both Europe and America. Related to the spindle-whorls
and bobbins is the art of weaving, and it is perfectly susceptible of
demonstration that this art was practiced in the two hemispheres in
prehistoric times. Woven fabrics have been found in the Swiss lake
dwellings, in Scandinavia, and in nearly all parts of Europe. They
belonged to the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
[Illustration: Fig. 372. VIEW SHOWING BOTH ENDS OF A BOBBIN(?) OF
FINE-GRAINED SANDSTONE. Maysville, Kentucky. Cat. No. 16747, U. S. N. M.]
Figs. 373 and 374 illustrate textile fabrics in the Bronze Age. Both
specimens are from Denmark, and the National Museum possesses another
specimen (Cat. No. 136615) in all respects similar. While prehistoric
looms may not have been found in Europe to be compared with the looms of
modern savages in America, yet these specimens of cloth, with the hundreds
of others found in the Swiss lake dwellings, afford the most indubitable
proof of the use of the looms in both countries during prehistoric times.
Complementary to this, textile fabrics have been found in America, from
the Pueblo country of Utah and Colorado, south through Mexico, Central and
South America, and of necessity the looms with which they were made were
there also. It is not meant to be said that the looms of the two
hemispheres have been found, or that they or the textile fabrics are
identical. The prehistoric looms have not been found in Europe, and those
in America may have been affected by contact with the white man. Nor is it
meant to be said that the textile fabrics of the two hemispheres are
alike in thread, stitch, or pattern. But these at best are only details.
The great fact remains that the prehistoric man of the two hemispheres had
the knowledge to spin fiber into thread, to wind it on bobbins, and to
weave it into fabrics; and whatever differences there may have been in
pattern, thread, or cloth, they were finally and substantially the same
art, and so are likely to have been the product of the same invention.
While it is not the intention to continue this examination among the
prehistoric objects of the two hemispheres in order to show their
similarity and thus prove migration, contact, or communication, yet it may
be well to mention some of them, leaving the argument or proof to a future
occasion.
The polished stone hatchets of the two hemispheres are substantially the
same. There are differences of material, of course, for in each country
the workman was obliged to use such material as was obtainable. There are
differences in form between the polished stone hatchets of the two
hemispheres, but so there are differences between different localities in
the same hemisphere. Some hatchets are long, others short, some round,
others flat, some have a pointed end, others a square or nearly square or
unfinished end; some are large, others small. But all these differences
are to be found equally well pronounced within each hemisphere.
[Illustration: Fig. 373. WOMAN'S WOOLEN DRESS FOUND IN AN OAK COFFIN AT
BORUM-ESHOI, DENMARK. Bronze Age. Report of the Smithsonian Institution
(U. S. National Museum), 1892, pl. CI, fig 2.]
[Illustration: Fig. 374. DETAIL OF DRESS SHOWN IN THE PRECEDING FIGURE.]
Scrapers have also been found in both hemispheres and in all ages. There
are the same differences in material, form, and appearance as in the
polished stone hatchet. There is one difference to be mentioned of this
utensil--_i. e._, in America the scraper has been sometimes made with a
stem and with notches near the base, after the manner of arrow- and
spear-heads, evidently intended to aid, as in the arrow- and spear-head,
in fastening the tool in its handle. This peculiarity is not found in
Europe, or, if found, is extremely rare. It is considered that this may
have been caused by the use of a broken arrow- or spear-head, which seems
not to have been done in Europe. But this is still only a difference in
detail, a difference slight and insignificant, one which occurs seldom and
apparently growing out of peculiar and fortuitous conditions.
The art of drilling in stone was known over an extended area in
prehistoric times, and we find innumerable examples which must have been
performed in both hemispheres substantially in the same manner and with
the same machine.
The art of sawing stone was alike practiced during prehistoric times in
the two hemispheres. Many specimens have been found in the prehistoric
deposits of both.
The aboriginal art of making pottery was also carried on in the same or a
similar manner in both hemispheres. The examples of this art are as
numerous as the leaves on the trees. There were differences in the
manipulation and treatment, but the principal fact remains that the art
was the same in both countries. Not only were the products greatly
similar, but the same style of geometric decoration by incised lines is
common to both. Greater progress in making pottery was made in the Western
than in the Eastern Hemisphere during prehistoric times.
The wheel was unknown in both hemispheres, and in both the manipulation of
clay was by hand. True, in the Western Hemisphere there was greater
dexterity and a greater number of methods employed. For example, the vase
might be built up with clay inside a basket, which served to give both
form and decoration; it was coiled, the damp clay being made in a string
and so built up by a circular movement, drawing the side in or out as the
string of clay was laid thereon, until it reached the top; it may have
been decorated by the pressure of a textile fabric, real or simulated,
into the damp clay. A few years ago it would have been true to have said
that pottery decorated in this manner was peculiar to the Western
Hemisphere, and that it had never been found in the Eastern Hemisphere,
but Prince Poutjatine has lately found on his property, Bologoje, in the
province of Novgorod, midway between Moscow and St. Petersburg, many
pieces of prehistoric pottery which bear evidence of having been made in
this manner, and while it may be rare in the Eastern Hemisphere, it is
similar in these respects to thousands of pieces of prehistoric pottery in
North America.
One of the great puzzles for archæologists has been the prehistoric jade
implements found in both countries. The raw material of which these were
made has never been found in sufficient quantities to justify anyone in
saying that it is indigenous to one hemisphere and not to the other. It
may have been found in either hemisphere and exported to the other. But of
this we have no evidence except the discovery in both of implements made
of the same material. This material is dense and hard. It is extremely
difficult to work, yet the operations of sawing, drilling, carving, and
polishing appear to have been conducted in both hemispheres with such
similarity as that the result is practically the same.
Prehistoric flint-chipping was also carried on in both hemispheres with
such similarity of results, even when performing the most difficult and
delicate operations, as to convince one that there must have been some
communication between the two peoples who performed them.
The bow and arrow is fairly good evidence of prehistoric migration,
because of the singularities of the form and the intricacies of the
machinery, and because it is probably the earliest specimen of a machine
of two separate parts, by the use of which a missile could be sent at a
greater distance and with greater force than if thrown by hand. It is
possible that the sling was invented as early as the bow and arrow,
although both were prehistoric and their origin unknown.
The bow and arrow was the greatest of all human inventions--greatest in
that it marked man's first step in mechanics, greatest in adaptation of
means to the end, and as an invented machine it manifested in the most
practical and marked manner the intellectual and reasoning power of man
and his superiority over the brute creation. It, more than any other
weapon, demonstrated the triumph of man over the brute, recognizing the
limitations of human physical capacity in contests with the brute. With
this machine, man first successfully made up for his deficiency in his
contests with his enemies and the capture of his game. It is useless to
ask anything of history about the beginnings of the bow and arrow;
wherever history appears it records the prior existence, the almost
universal presence, and the perfected use of the bow and arrow as a
weapon. Yet this machine, so strange and curious, of such intricacy of
manufacture and difficulty of successful performance, had with all its
similarities and likenesses extended in prehistoric times almost
throughout the then inhabited globe. It is useless to specify the time,
for the bow and arrow existed earlier than any time of which we know; it
is useless for us to specify places, for it was in use throughout the
world wherever the world was occupied by neolithic man.
Imitative creature as was man, and slow and painful as were his steps in
progress and in invention during his infancy on earth, when he knew
nothing and had everything yet to learn, it is sufficiently wonderful that
he should have invented the bow and arrow as a projectile machine for his
weapons; but it becomes doubly and trebly improbable that he should have
made duplicate and independent inventions thereof in the different
hemispheres. If we are to suppose this, why should we be restricted to a
separate invention for each hemisphere, and why may we not suppose that he
made a separate invention for each country or each distant tribe within
the hemisphere? Yet we are met with the astonishing but, nevertheless,
true proposition that throughout the entire world the bow and arrow
existed in the early times mentioned, and was substantially the same
machine, made in the same way, and serving the same purpose.
CONCLUSION.
The argument in this paper on the migration of arts or symbols, and with
them of peoples in prehistoric times, is not intended to be exhaustive. At
best it is only suggestive.
There is no direct evidence available by which the migration of symbols,
arts, or peoples in prehistoric times can be proved, because the events
are beyond the pale of history. Therefore we are, everybody is, driven to
the secondary evidence of the similarity of conditions and products, and
we can only subject them to our reason and at last determine the truth
from the probabilities. In proportion as the probabilities of migration
increase, it more nearly becomes a demonstrated fact. It appears to the
author that the probabilities of the migration of the Swastika to America
from the Old World is infinitely greater than that it was an independent
invention.
The Swastika is found in America in such widely separated places, among
such different civilizations, as much separated by time as by space, that
if we have to depend on the theory of separate inventions to explain its
introduction into America we must also depend upon the same theory for its
introduction into the widely separated parts of America. The Swastika of
the ancient mound builders of Ohio and Tennessee is similar in every
respect, except material, to that of the modern Navajo and Pueblo Indian.
Yet the Swastikas of Mississippi and Tennessee belong to the oldest
civilization we know in America, while the Navajo and Pueblo Swastikas
were made by men still living. A consideration of the conditions bring out
these two curious facts: (1) That the Swastika had an existence in America
prior to any historic knowledge we have of communication between the two
hemispheres; but (2) we find it continued in America and used at the
present day, while the knowledge of it has long since died out in Europe.
The author is not unaware of the new theories concerning the parallelism
of human development by which it is contended that absolute uniformity of
man's thoughts and actions, aims and methods, is produced when he is in
the same degree of development, no matter in what country or in what epoch
he lives. This theory has been pushed until it has been said, nothing but
geographical environment seems to modify the monotonous sameness of man's
creations. The author does not accept this theory, yet he does not here
controvert it. It may be true to a certain extent, but it surely has its
limitations, and it is only applicable under special conditions. As a
general proposition, it might apply to races and peoples but not to
individuals. If it builds on the hereditary human instincts, it does not
take into account the will, energy, and reasoning powers of man. Most of
all, it leaves out the egoism of man and his selfish desire for power,
improvement, and happiness, and all their effects, through the individual,
on human progress. In the author's opinion the progress of peoples through
consecutive stages of civilization is entirely compatible with his belief
that knowledge of specific objects, the uses of material things, the
performance of certain rites, the playing of certain games, the possession
of certain myths and traditions, and the carrying on of certain
industries, passed from one country to another by migration of their
peoples, or by contact or communication between them; and that the
knowledge, by separate peoples, of the same things, within reasonable
bounds of similarity of action and purpose, and with corresponding
difficulty of performance, may well be treated as evidence of such
migration, contact, or communication. Sir John Lubbock expresses the
author's belief when he says,[315] "There can be no doubt but that man
originally crept over the earth's surface, little by little, year by year,
just, for instance, as the weeds of Europe are now gradually but surely
creeping over the surface of Australia." The word migration has been used
by the author in any sense that permitted the people, or any number
thereof, to pass from one country to another country, or from one section
of a country to another section of the same country, by any means or in
any numbers as they pleased or could.
The theory (in opposition to the foregoing) is growing in the United
States that any similarity of culture between the two hemispheres is held
to be proof of migration of peoples. It appears to the author that these
schools both run to excess in propagating their respective theories, and
that the true condition of affairs lies midway between them. That is to
say, there was certain communication between the two hemispheres, as
indicated by the similarities in culture and industry, the objects of
which could scarcely have been the result of independent invention; while
there are too many dissimilar arts, habits, customs, and modes of life
belonging to one hemisphere only, not common to both, to permit us to say
there was continuous communication between them. These dissimilarities
were inventions of each hemisphere independent of the other.
An illustration of the migration to America is the culture of Greece. We
know that Greek art and architecture enter into and form an important part
of the culture of Americans of the present day; yet the people of America
are not Greek, nor do they possess any considerable share of Greek culture
or civilization. They have none of the blood of the Greeks, nor their
physical traits, nor their manners, habits, customs, dress, religion, nor,
indeed, anything except their sculpture and architecture. Now, there was
undoubtedly communication between the two countries in so far as pertains
to art and architecture; but it is equally true that there has been no
migration of the other elements of civilization mentioned.
The same thing may be true with regard to the migrations of prehistoric
civilization. There may have been communication between the countries by
which such objects as the polished stone hatchet, the bow and arrow, the
leaf-shaped implement, chipped arrow- and spear-heads, scrapers,
spindle-whorls, the arts of pottery making, of weaving, of drilling and
sawing stone, etc., passed from one to the other, and the same of the
Swastika; yet these may all have been brought over in sporadic and
isolated cases, importing simply the germ of their knowledge, leaving the
industry to be independently worked out on this side. Certain
manifestations of culture, dissimilar to those of the Old World, are found
in America; we have the rude notched ax, the grooved ax, stemmed scraper,
perforator, mortar and pestle, pipes, tubes, the ceremonial objects which
are found here in such infinite varieties of shape and form, the metate,
the painted pottery, etc., all of which belong to the American Indian
civilization, but have no prototype in the prehistoric Old World. These
things were never brought over by migration or otherwise. They are
indigenous to America.
Objects common to both hemispheres exist in such numbers, of such infinite
detail and difficulty of manufacture, that the probabilities of their
migration or passage from one country to another is infinitely greater
than that they were the result of independent invention. These common
objects are not restricted to isolated cases. They are great in number and
extensive in area. They have been the common tools and utensils such as
might have belonged to every man, and no reason is known why they might
not have been used by, and so represent, the millions of prehistoric
individuals in either hemisphere. This great number of correspondences
between the two hemispheres, and their similarity as to means and results
is good evidence of migration, contact, or communication between the
peoples; while the extent to which the common industries were carried in
the two continents, their delicacy and difficulty of operation, completes
the proof and forces conviction.
It is not to be understood in the few foregoing illustrations that the
number is thereby exhausted, or that all have been noted which are within
the knowledge of the author. These have been cited as illustrative of the
proposition and indicating possibilities of the argument. If a completed
argument in favor of prehistoric communication should be prepared, it
would present many other illustrations. These could be found, not only
among the objects of industry, utensils, etc., but in the modes of
manufacture and of use which, owing to their number and the extent of
territory which they cover, and the difficulty of accomplishment, would
add force to the argument.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SWASTIKA.
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AMERICAN ENCYCLOPEDIA.
Title, Cross.
AMERICAN JOURNAL of Archæology and of the History of Fine Arts.
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Member of the Imperial Geologic Institute, Vienna. | Second Edition. |
Vol. V. | Madras: | Printed at the Lawrence and Adelphi Presses, | 1873. |
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12º, pp. 1-272.
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in the | British Islands | with a dissertation on the Ogam character, &c.
| Illustrated with fifty Photolithographic plates | by the late | Richard
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Ireland; and author of "The Ecclesiastical | Architecture of Ireland." |
Edited by George M. Atkinson | London: | George Bell & Sons, York street,
Covent Garden | 1879.
4º, pp. i-xvi, 1-425.
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| of the American Ethnological Society; Author of "Notes | on the
Floridian Peninsula," etc. | (Design) | New York: | Leypoldt & Holt. |
1868.
8º, pp. i-viii, 1-307.
The cross of Mexico, pp. 95-97, 183-188.
---- American | Hero-Myths. | A study of the Native Religions | of the
Western Continent. | By | Daniel G. Brinton, M. D., | Member of the
American Philosophical Society; the American | Antiquarian Society; the
Numismatic and Antiquarian | Society of Phila., etc.; Author of "The Myths
of | the New World;" "The Religious Senti- | ment," etc. | Philadelphia: |
H. C. Watts & Co., | 506 Minor Street, | 1882.
8º, pp. i-xvi, 1-251.
Symbol of the cross in Mexico. The rain god, the tree of life, and the
god of strength, p. 122; in Palenque, the four rain gods, p. 155; the
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| The Results of the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Seasons' Operations | of the
Archæological Survey of Western India, | 1876-77, 1877-78, 1878-79. |
Supplementary to the Volume on "Cave Temples of India." | By | Jas.
Burgess, LL. D., F. R. G. S., | Member of the Royal Asiatic Society, of
the Société Asiatique, &c. | Archæological Surveyor and Reporter to
Government | for Western and Southern India, | London: | Trübner & Co.,
Ludgate Hill. | 1883. | (All rights reserved.)
Folio, pp. 140.
Inscriptions with Swastika, vol. IV, pls. XLIV, XLVI, XLVII, XLIX, L,
LII, LV; vol. V, pl. LI.
---- The | Indian Antiquary, | A Journal of Oriental Research | in |
Archæology, History, Literature, Languages, Folk-Lore, &c., &c., | Edited
by | Jas. Burgess, M. R. A. S., F. R. G. S. | 3 vols., 1872-74, | Bombay:
| Printed at the "Times of India" Office. | London: Trübner & Co. Paris:
E. Leroux. Berlin: Asher & Co. Leipzig: F. A. Brockhaus. | New York:
Westermann & Co. Bombay: Thacker, Vining & Co.
4º, Vols. I-III.
Twenty-four Jain Saints, _Suparsva_, son of Pratishtha by Prithoi, one
of which signs was the Swastika. Vol. II, p. 135.
BURNOUF, EMILE. Le | Lotus de la Bonne Loi, | Traduit du Sanscrit, |
Accompagné d'un Commentaire | et de Vingt et un Mémoires Relatifs au
Buddhisme, | par M. E. Burnouf, | Secrétaire Perpétuel de l'Académie des
Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. | (Picture) | Paris. | Imprimé par
Autorisation du Gouvernement | à l'Imprimerie Nationale. | MDCCCLII.
Folio, pp. 1-897.
Svastikaya, Append. VIII, p. 625.
Nandavartaya, p. 626.
---- The | Science of Religions | by Emile Burnouf | Translated by Julie
Liebe | with a preface by | E. J. Rapson, M. A., M. R. A. S. | Fellow of
St. John's College, Cambridge | London | Swan, Sonnenschein, Lowrey & Co.,
| Paternoster Square. | 1888.
Swastika, its relation to the myth of Agni, the god of fire, and its
alleged identity with the fire-cross, pp. 165, 253-256, 257.
BURTON, RICHARD F. The | Book of the Sword | by | Richard F. Burton |
Maître d'Armes (Brevette) | (Design) | With Numerous Illustrations |
London | Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly | 1884 | (All rights reserved).
4º, pp. 299.
Swastika sect, p. 202, note 2.
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_Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal_, Vol. XLIX, pt. 1, 1880, pp.
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CARTAILHAC, ÉMILE. Résultats d'Une Mission Scientifique | du | Ministère
de l'Instruction Publique | Les | âges Préhistoriques | de | l'Espagne et
du Portugal | par | M. Émile Cartailhac, | Directeur des Matériaux pour
l'Histoire primitive de l'homme | Préface par M. A. De Quatrefages, de
l'Institut | Avec Quatre Cent Cinquante Gravures et Quatre Planches |
Paris | Ch. Reinwald, Libraire | 15, Rue des Saints Pères, 15 1886 | Tous
droits réservés.
4º, pp. i-xxxv, 1-347.
Swastika, p. 285.
Triskelion, p. 286.
Tetraskelion, p. 286.
Swastika in Mycenæ and Sabraso.--Are they of the same antiquity?, p.
293.
CENTURY DICTIONARY.
Titles, Swastika, Fylfot.
CESNOLA, LOUIS PALMA DI. Cyprus: | Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples.
| A Narrative of Researches and Excavations During | Ten Years' Residence
in that Island. | By | General Louis Palma Di Cesnola, | * * * | * * |
With Maps and Illustrations. * * | New York: | Harper Brothers,
Publishers, | Franklin Square. | 1877.
8º, pp. 1-456.
Swastika on Cyprian pottery, pp. 210, 300, 404, pls. XLIV, XLV, XLVII.
CHAILLU, PAUL B. DU. The Viking Age | The Early History | Manners and
Customs of the Ancestors | of the English-Speaking Nations | Illustrated
from | The Antiquities Discovered in Mounds, Cairns, and Bogs, | As Well
as from the Ancient Sagas and Eddas. | By | Paul B. Du Chaillu | Author of
"Explorations in Equatorial Africa," "Land of the Midnight Sun," etc. |
With 1366 Illustrations and Map. | In Two Volumes * * | New York: |
Charles Scribner's Sons. | 1889.
8º, I, pp. i-xx, 1-591; II, pp. i-viii, 1-562.
Swastika in Scandinavia. Swastika and triskelion, Vol. I, p. 100, and
note 1; Vol. II, p. 343. Swastika, Cinerary urn, Bornholm, Vol. I,
fig. 210, p. 138. Spearheads with runes, Swastika and Triskelion,
Torcello, Venice, fig. 335, p. 191. Tetraskelion on silver fibula,
Vol. I, fig. 567, p. 257, and Vol. II, fig. 1311, p. 342. Bracteates
with _Croix swasticale_, Vol. II, p. 337, fig. 1292.
CHANTRE, ERNEST. Études Paléoethnologiques | dans le Bassin du Rhône | Âge
du Bronze | Recherches | sur l'Origine de la Métallurgie en France | Par |
Ernest Chantre | Première Partie | Industrie de l'Âge du Bronze | Paris, |
Librairie Polytechnique de J. Baudry | 15, Rue Des Saints-Pères, 15 |
MDCCCLXXV.
Folio, pp. 1-258.
---- Deuxième Partie. Gisements de l'Âge du Bronze. pp. 321.
---- Troisième Partie. Statistique. pp. 245.
Swastika migration, p. 206. Oriental origin of the prehistoric
_Sistres_ or _tintinnabula_ found in Swiss lake dwellings, Vol. I, p.
206.
Spirals, Vol. II, fig. 186, p. 301.
---- Notes Anthropologiques: De l'Origine Orientale de la Métallurgie.
In-8, avec planches. Lyon, 1879.
---- Notes Anthropologiques. Relations entre les Sistres Bouddhiques et
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---- L'Âge de la Pierre et l'Âge du Bronze en Troade et en Grèce. In-8.
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---- L'Âge de la Pierre et l'Âge du Bronze dans l'Asie Occidentale. (Bull.
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---- Prehistoric Cemeteries in Caucasus. (Nécropoles préhistoriques du
Caucase, renferment des crânes macrocéphales.)
_Matériaux_, seizième année (16), 2{e} série, XII, 1881.
Swastika, p. 166.
CHAVERO, D. ALFREDO. Mexico | A Través de los Siglos | Historia General y
Completa del Desenvolvimiento Social, | Político, Religioso, Militar,
Artistico, Científico, y Literario de México desde la Antigüedad | Más
Remota hasta la Época Actual | * * | Publicada bajo la Dirección del
General | D. Vicente Riva Palacio | * | * | * | * | * | Tomo Primero |
Historia Antigua y de la Conquista | Escrita por el Licenciado | D.
Alfredo Chavero. | México | Ballesca y Comp.{a}, Editores | 4, Amor de
Dios, 4.
Folio, pp. i-lx, 1-926.
_Ciclo de 52 años._ (Atlas del P. Diego Duran, p. 386.) Swastika
worked on shell (Fains Island), "_labrado con los cuatro puntos del
Nahui Ollin_." p. 676.
CLAVIGERO, C. F. Storia Antica del Messico. Cesena, 1780.
Swastika, II, p. 192, fig. A. Cited in Hamy's _Decades Américanæ_,
Première Livraison, 1884, p. 67.
CONDER, Maj. C. R. Notes on Herr Schick's paper on the Jerusalem Cross.
_Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement_, London, July, 1894,
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CROOKE, W. An Introduction | to the | Popular Religion and Folk-lore | of
| Northern India | By W. Crooke, B. A. | Bengal Civil Service. | Honorary
Director of the Ethnographical Survey, Northwestern | Provinces and Oudh |
Allahabad | Government Press | 1894.
8º, pp. i-ii, 1-420.
Swastika, pp. 7, 58, 104, 250.
CROSS, The. The Masculine Cross, or History of Ancient and Modern Crosses,
and their Connection with the Mysteries of Sex Worship; also an account of
the Kindred Phases of Phallic Faiths and Practices.
In Cat. 105 of Ed. Howell, Church street, Liverpool.
D'ALVIELLA, LE COMTE GOBLET. La | Migration des Symboles | par | Le Comte
Goblet d'Alviella, | Professeur d'Histoire des Religions à l'Université de
Bruxelles, | Membre de l'Académie Royale de Belgique, | Président de la
Société d'Archéologie de Bruxelles | (Design, Footprint of Buddha) | Paris
| Ernest Leroux, Editeur | Rue Bonaparte, 28 | 1891.
8º, pp. 1-343.
Cross, pp. 16, 110, 113, 164, 250, 264, 330, 332.
Crux ansata, pp. 22, 106, 107, 114, 186, 221, 229, 250, 265, 332.
Cross of St. Andrew, p. 125.
Swastika cross, Cap. II, passim, pp. 41-108, 110, 111, 225, 271, 339.
Tetraskelion. Same references.
Triskele, triskelion, or triquetrum, pp. 27, 28, 61, 71, 72, 83, 90,
100, 221-225, 271, 339.
Reviewed in _Athenæum_, No. 3381, Aug. 13, 1892, p. 217.
Favorably criticised in Reliquary Illustrated Archæologist (Lond.),
Vol. I, No. 2, Apr. 1895, p. 107.
DAVENPORT.----Aphrodisiacs.
The author approves Higgins' views of the Cross and its Relation to
the Lama of Tibet.
DENNIS, G. The | Cities and Cemeteries | of | Etruria. | Parva Tyrrhenum
per aequor vela darem. Horat. | (Picture) | By George Dennis. | Third
Edition. | In two volumes | * * * | With maps, plans, and illustrations. |
London: | John Murray, Albemarle Street. | 1883.
8º, two vols.: (1), pp. i-cxxviii, 1-501; (2) pp. i-xv, 1-579.
Archaic Greek vase, British Museum. Four different styles of Swastikas
together on one specimen. Vol. I, p. xci.
Swastika, common form of decoration, p. lxxxix.
Primitive Greek Lebes, with Swastika in panel, left, p. cxiii, fig.
31.
Swastika on bronze objects in Bologna foundry. Vol. II, p. 537.
D'EICHTAL, G. Etudes sur les origines bouddhiques de la civilization
américaine, 1{re} partie. Paris, Didier, 1862.
Swastika, p. 36 et suiv. Cited in Hamy's _Decades Américanæ_, Première
Livraison, 1884, p. 59.
DICTIONNAIRE DES SCIENCES ANTHROPOLOGIQUES. Anatomie, Crâniologie,
Archéologie Préhistorique, Ethnographie (Moeurs, Arts, Industrie),
Démographie, Langues, Religions. Paris, Octave Doin, Éditeur, 8, Place de
l'Odéon, Marpon et Flammarion, Libraires 1 à 7, Galeries de l'Odéon.
4º, pp. 1-1128.
Title, Swastika, Philippe Salmon, p. 1032.
DORSEY, J. OWEN. Swastika, Ogee (tetraskelion), symbol for wind-song on
Sacred Chart of Kansa Indians.
_Am. Naturalist_, XIX (1885), p. 676, pl. XX, fig. 4.
DULAURE, J. A. Histoire Abrégée | de | Différens Cultes. | Des Cultes |
qui ont précédé et amené l'Idolatrie | ou | l'Adoration des figures
humaines | par J. A. Dulaure; seconde édition | revue, corrigée et
augmentée | Paris | Guillaume, Libraire-Editeur | rue Hautefeuille 14. |
1825.
Two vols.: (1), pp. i-x, 11-558; (2), pp. i-xvi, 17-464.
Origin of symbols, works of art and not natural things, Vol. I, pp.
25, 26. Another result of a combination of ideas, p. 45.
The cross represents the phallus, Vol. II, pp. 58, 59, 167, 168.
DUMOUTIER, GUSTAVE LE. Swastika et la roue Solaire en Chine.
_Revue d' Ethnographie_, Paris, IV, 1885, pp. 327-329.
Review by G. De Mortillet, Matériaux pour l'Histoire Primitive et
Naturelle de L'Homme, II, p. 730.
EMERSON, ELLEN RUSSELL. Indian Myths | or | Legends, Traditions, and
Symbols of the | Aborigines of America | Compared with those of other
Countries, including Hindostan, Egypt, Persia | Assyria and China | by
Ellen Russell Emerson | Member of the Société Américaine de France |
illustrated | Second Edition | London | Trübner & Company | Ludgate Hill |
Printed in the U. S. A.
8º, pp. i-x, 1-425.
ENCYCLOPÆDIC DICTIONARY.
Titles, Ansated Cross (Crux ansata), p. 230, Vol. I; Cross, p. 1302,
Vol. II; Crux, p. 1378, Vol. II; Fylfot, p. 2240, Vol. II; Gammadion,
p. 2256, Vol. II.
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA.
Title, Cross, 4º, pp. 539-542.
ENGLEHARDT, C. Influence Classique sur | le Nord Pendant l'Antiquité | par
| C. Englehardt. | Traduit par | E. Beauvois. | Copenhague, | Imprimerie
de Thiele. | 1876.
8º, pp. 199-318.
Solar disks, fig. 44, p. 240. Crosses, figs. 64, 65, p. 252.
ETHNOLOGY, Reports of the Bureau of. Second Annual Report, 1880-81.
Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans, by W. H. Holmes. pp. 179-305,
pls. XXI-LXXVII.
Collections made in New Mexico and Arizona in 1879, by James
Stevenson. pp. 307-422, figs. 347-697.
Third Annual Report, 1881-82.
Catalogue of Collections made in 1881, by W. H. Holmes. pp. 427-510,
figs. 116-200.
Fourth Annual Report, 1882-83.
Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley, by W. H. Holmes. pp.
361-436, figs. 361-463.
Fifth Annual Report, 1883-84.
Burial Mounds of Northern Sections of the United States, by Cyrus
Thomas. pp. 3-119, pls. I-VI, figs. 1-49.
The Mountain Chant, by Washington Matthews. pp. 379-407, pls. X-XVIII,
figs. 50-59.
Sixth Annual Report, 1884-85.
Ancient Art in the Province of Chiriqui, by W. H. Holmes. pp. 3-187,
pl. I, figs. 1-285.
Tenth Annual Report, 1888-89.
Picture writing of the American Indians, by Garrick Mallery. pp.
3-807, pls. I-LIV, figs. 1-1290.
Twelfth Annual Report, 1890-91.
Mound Explorations, by Cyrus Thomas. pp. 3-730, pls. I-XLII, figs.
1-344.
EVANS, JOHN. The Ancient | Bronze Implements, | Weapons, and Ornaments, |
of | Great Britain | and | Ireland. | By | John Evans, D. C. L., LL. D.,
F. R. S., | F. S. A., F. G. S., Pres. Num. Soc., &c., | London: |
Longmans, Green & Co. | 1881. | (All rights reserved.)
8º, pp. i-xix. 1-509.
---- The Ancient | Stone Implements, | Weapons, and Ornaments, | of |
Great Britain, | by | John Evans, F. R. S., F. S. A. | Honorary Secretary
of the Geological and Numismatic Societies of | London, etc., etc., etc. |
London: | Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer. | 1872. | (All rights
reserved.)
8º, pp. l-xvi, 1-640.
FAIRHOLT, F. W. A Dictionary | of | Terms in Art. | Edited and Illustrated
by | F. W. Fairholt, F. S. A. | with | Five Hundred Engravings | On Wood |
(Design) | Daldy, Isbister & Co. | 56, Ludgate Hill, London.
12º, pp. i-vi, 1-474.
Titles, Cross, Fret, Fylfot, Symbolism.
FERGUSSON, JAMES. Rude Stone Monuments | in | All Countries; | Their Ages
and Uses. | By James Fergusson, D. C. L., F. R. S, | V. P. R. A. S., F. R.
I. B. A., &c. | (Picture.) | With Two Hundred and Thirty-four
Illustrations. |London: | John Murray, Albemarle Street. | 1872. | The
Right of translation reserved.
8º, pp. i-xix, 1-559.
Crosses, Celtic and Scottish, pp. 270-273.
FORRER, R. Die | Graeber- und Textilfunde | von | Achmim-Panopolis | von |
R. Forrer | mit 16 Tafeln: 250 Abbildungen | in Photographie, Autographie,
Farbendruck und theilweisem Handcolorit, nebst Clinché-Abbildungen | im
Text; Text und Tafeln auf Cartonpapier. | Nur in wenigen nummerirten
Exemplaren hergestellt. | (Design.) | Strassburg, 1891 | Druck von Emil
Birkhäuser, Basel. | Photographie von Mathias Gerschel, Strassburg. |
Autographie und Farbendruck von R. Fretz, Zürich. | Nicht im Buchhandel.
Folio, pp. 1-27.
Swastika, ornament at Achmin-Panopolis, Egypt, p. 20, pl. XI, fig. 3.
FRANKLIN, Colonel. [Swastika an emblem used in the worship of specified
sects in India.]
_The Jeyrees and Boodhists_, p. 49, cited in "Ogam Monuments," by
Brash, p. 189.
FRANKS, AUGUSTUS W. Horæ ferales. Pl. 30, fig. 19.
GARDNER, ERNEST A. Naukratis. Part II. | By | Ernest A. Gardner, M. A., |
Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, Craven student and formerly Worts
student of the University of Cambridge; | Director of the British School
of Archæology at Athens. | With an Appendix | by | F. L. L. Griffith, B.
A., | of the British Museum, formerly student of the Egyptian Exploration
Fund. | Sixth Memoir of | the Egypt Exploration Fund. | Published by order
of the committee. | London: etc.
Folio, pls. 1-24, pp. 1-92. Swastika in Egypt, Pottery, Aphrodite. Pl.
V, figs. 1, 7; pl. VI, fig. 1; pl. VIII, fig. 1.
GREG, P. R. Fret or Key Ornamentation in Mexico and Peru.
_Archæologia_, Vol. XLVII, 1882, pt. 1, pp. 157-160, pl. VI.
---- Meaning and Origin of Fylfot and Swastika.
_Archæologia_, Vol. XLVIII, 1885, pt. 2, pp. 293, 326, pls. XIX, XX,
XXI.
GOODYEAR, WILLIAM H. The Grammar of | the Lotus | A new History of Classic
Ornament | as a | development of Sun Worship | with Observations on the
Bronze Culture of Prehistoric Europe as derived | from Egypt; based on the
study of Patterns | by | Wm. H. Goodyear, M. A. (Yale, 1867) | Curator
Department of Fine Arts in the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences | *
* * | London: | Sampson, Low, Marston & Company | Limited | St. Dunstan's
House, Fitter Lane, Fleet Street, E. C., | 1891.
Chapters on Lotus and Swastika.
GOULD, S. C. The Master's Mallet or the Hammer of Thor.
_Notes and Queries_, (Manchester, N. H.), Vol. III (1886), pp. 93-108.
HADDON, ALFRED C. Evolution in Art: | As Illustrated by the |
Life-Histories of Designs. | By | Alfred C. Haddon, | Professor of
Zoology, Royal College of Science, Corresponding | Member of the Italian
Society of Anthropology, etc. | With 8 Plates, and 130 Figures in the
Text. | London: | Walter Scott, Ltd., Paternoster Square. | Charles
Scribner's Sons, | 153-157 Fifth Avenue, New York. | 1895.
The meaning and distribution of the Fylfot, pp. 282-399.
HAMPEL, JOSEPH. Antiquités préhistoriques de la Hongrie; Erstegom, 1877.
No. 3, pl. XX.
---- Catalogue de l'Exposition préhistorique des Musées de Province;
Budapest, 1876, p. 17.
HAMY, Dr. E. T. Decades Américanæ | Mémoires | d'Archéologie et
d'Ethnographie | Américaines | par | le Dr. E.-T. Hamy | Conservateur du
Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro. | Première Livraison | (Picture) |
Paris | Ernest Leroux, Editeur | Libraire de la Société Asiatique | de
l'École des Langues Orientales Vivantes, etc. | 28, Rue Bonaparte, 28 |
1884.
8º, pp. 1-67.
Le Svastika et la roue solaire en Amérique, pp. 59-67.
HEAD, BARCLAY V. Synopsis of the Contents | of the | British Museum. |
Department of | Coins and Medals. | A Guide | to the principal gold and
silver | Coins of the Ancients, | from circa B. C. 700 to A. D. 1. | With
70 Plates. | By | Barclay V. Head, Assistant Keeper of Coins. | Second
Edition. | London: | Printed by order of the Trustees. | Longmans & Co.,
Paternoster Row; B. Quaritch, 15, Piccadilly; | A. Asher & Co., 13,
Bedford Street, Convent Garden, and at Berlin; | Trübner & Co., 57 and
59, Ludgate Hill. | C. Rollin & Feuardent, 61, Great Russell Street, and
4, Rue de Louvois, Paris. | 1881.
8º, pp. i-viii, 1-128, pl. 70.
Triskelion, (Lycian coins), three cocks' heads, pl. 3, fig. 35.
Punch-marks on ancient coins representing squares, etc., and not
Swastika. Pl. 1, figs. 1, 3; pl. 4, fig. 24; pl. 4, figs. 7, 8, 10;
pl. 5, fig. 16; pl. 6, figs. 30, 31; pl. 12, figs. 1, 3, 6.
HIGGINS, GODFREY. Anacalypsis | or | attempts to draw aside the veil | of
| the Saitic Isis | or, | an inquiry into the origin | of | Languages,
Nations, and Religions | by | Godfrey Higgins, Esq. | F. S. A., F. R.
Asiat. Soc., F. R. Ast. S. | of Skellow Grange, near Doncaster. | London |
Longman, &c., &c., Paternoster Row | 1836.
Vols. I, II.
Origin of the Cross, Lambh or Lama; official name for Governor is
Ancient Tibetan for Cross. Vol. I, p. 230.
HIRSCHFELD, G. Vasi arcaici Ateniesi. Roma, 1872. Tav. XXXIX and XL.
HOLMES, W. H. Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans.
_Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology_, 1880-81.
The cross, pls. XXXVI, LII, LIII. Spirals, pls. LIV, LV, LVI.
Swastika, (shell gorget, the bird,) pls. LVIII, LIX. Spider, pl. LXI.
Serpent, pls. LXIII, LXIV. Human face, pl. LXIX. Human figure, pls.
LXXI, LXXII, LXXIII. Fighting figures, pl. LXXIV.
---- Catalogue of Bureau Collections made in 1881.
_Third Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology_, 1881-82.
Fighting figures, fig. 128, p. 452.
Swastika in shell, from Fains Island, fig. 140, p. 466.
Spider, same, fig. 141.
Spirals on pottery vase, fig. 165, p. 484.
---- Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi Valley.
_Fourth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology_, 1882-83.
Spirals on pottery, figs. 402, p. 396; 413, p. 403; 415, 416, p. 404;
435, p. 416; 442, p. 421; in basketry, fig. 485, p. 462.
Maltese cross, fig. 458, p. 430.
---- Ancient Art in the Province of Chiriqui.
_Sixth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology_, 1884-85.
Conventional alligator, series of derivations showing stages of
simplification of animal characters, figs. 257 to 528, pp. 173-181.
Spindle-whorls, Chiriqui, figs. 218-220, p. 149.
---- The Cross used as a Symbol by the Ancient Americans.
_Trans. Anthrop. Soc._, Washington, D. C., II, 1883.
HUMPHREYS, H. NOEL. The | Coin Collector's Manual, | or guide to the
numismatic student in the formation of | A Cabinet of Coins: | Comprising
| An Historical and Critical Account of the Origin and Progress | of
Coinage from the Earliest Period to the | Fall of the Roman Empire; | with
| Some Account of the Coinages of Modern Europe, | More especially of
Great Britain. | By H. Noel Humphreys, | Author of "The Coins of England,"
"Ancient Coins and Medals," | etc., etc. | With above one hundred and
fifty illustrations | on Wood and Steel. | In two volumes. | London: | H.
G. Bohn, York Street, Convent Garden. | 1853.
12º, (1), pp. i-xxiv, 1-352; (2), pp. 353-726.
Punch-marks on ancient coins, Vol. I. pls. 2, 3, 4. Triquetrum,
triskele or triskelion on coins of Sicily, Vol. I, p. 57, and note.
KELLER, FERDINAND. The | Lake Dwellings | of | Switzerland and Other Parts
of Europe. | By | Dr. Ferdinand Keller | President of the Antiquarian
Association of Zürich | Second Edition, Greatly Enlarged | Translated and
Arranged | by | John Edward Leo, F. S. A., F. G. S. | Author of Isca
Silurum etc. | In Two Volumes | Vol. I. (Vol. II) | London | Longmans,
Green and Co. | 1878 | All rights reserved.
8º, Vol. I, text, pp. i-xv, 1-696; Vol. II, pls. CCVI.
Swastika, Lake Bourget, pattern-stamp and pottery imprint, p. 339,
note 1, pl. CLXI, figs. 3, 4.
LANGDON, ARTHUR G. Ornaments of Early Crosses of Cornwall.
Royal Institute of Cornwall, Vol. X, pt. 1, May, 1890, pp. 33-96.
LE PLONGEON, AUGUSTUS. Sacred Mysteries | Among | the Mayas and the
Quiches, | 11,500 Years Ago. | Their Relation to the Sacred Mysteries | of
Egypt, Greece, Chaldea and India. | Free Masonry | In Times Anterior to
The Temple of Solomon. | Illustrated. | By Augustus Le Plongeon, | Author
of "Essay on | the Causes of Earthquakes;" "Religion of Jesus Compared
with the | Teachings of the Church;" "The Monuments of Mayas and | their
Historical Teachings." | New York: | Robert Macoy, 4 Barclay Street. |
1886.
8º, pp. 163.
Cross and Crux ansata, p. 128.
---- Mayapan and Maya Inscriptions.
_Proc. Am. Antiq. Soc._, Worcester, Mass., April 21, 1881.
Also printed as a separate. See pp. 15, 17, and figs. 7, 13, and
frontispiece.
LITTRÉ'S FRENCH DICTIONARY. Title, Svastika.
McADAMS, WILLIAM. Records | of | Ancient Races | in the | Mississippi
Valley; | Being an account of some of the Pictographs, sculptured |
hieroglyphics, symbolic devices, emblems, and tra- | ditions of the
prehistoric races of America, with | some suggestions as to their origin.
| With cuts and views illustrating over three hundred objects | and
symbolic devices. | By Wm. McAdams, | Author of * | * | * | * | * | St.
Louis: | C. R. Barns Publishing Co. | 1887.
4º, pp. i-xii, 1-120.
Mound vessels with painted symbols, sun symbols, cross symbols, cross
with bent arms (Swastika), etc., Chap. XV, pp. 62-68.
Cites Lord Kinsborough, "Antiquities of Mexico," for certain forms of
the cross, of which the first is the Swastika and the third the
Nandavartaya Chap. xvii, pp. 62-68.
MACRICHIE, DAVID. Ancient | and | Modern Britons: | A Retrospect. |
London: | Kegan Paul, Trench & Co., | 1 Paternoster Square. | 1884.
Two vols., 8º. (1), pp. i-viii, 1-401; (2), i-viii, 1-449.
Sculptured stones of Scotland (p. 115), the Newton stone, a compound
of Oriental and western languages (pp. 117-118). Ethnologic
resemblances between old and new world peoples considered. Vol. II
(app.).
MALLERY, GARRICK. Picture writing of the American Indians.
_Tenth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology_, 1888-89, pp. 1-807, pls. I-LIV,
figs. 1-1290.
Sun and star symbols, figs. 1118-1129, pp. 694-697. Human form (cross)
symbols, figs. 1164-1173, pp. 705-709. Cross symbols, figs. 1225-1234,
pp. 724-730. Piaroa color stamps, fret pattern, fig. 982, p. 621.
MARCH, H. COLLEY. The Fylfot and the Futhore Tir.
Cited in _Transactions of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian
Society_, 1886.
MASSON, ----. [The Swastika found on large rock near Karachi.]
_Balochistan_, Vol. IV, p. 8, cited in Ogam Monuments, by Brash, p.
189.
MATÉRIAUX pour l'Histoire Primitive et Naturelle de l'Homme. Revue
mensuelle illustrée. (Fondée par M. G. De Mortillet, 1865 à 1868.) Dirigée
par M. Émile Cartailhac. * * *
Swastika, Vol. XVI, 1881.
Prehistoric Cemeteries in Caucasus, by E. Chantre, pp. 154-166.
Excavations at Cyprus, by General di Cesnola, p. 416.
Signification of the Swastika, by M. Girard de Reale, p. 548.
Swastika, Vol. XVIII, 1884.
Étude sur quelques Nécropoles Halstattiennes de l'Autriche et de
l'Italie. By Ernest Chantre, Swastika on Archaic Vase, fig. 5, p. 8.
Croix Gammée, figs. 12 and 13, p. 14. Cross, p. 122. Swastika, pp.
137-139. Swastika sculpté sur pierre, Briteros, Portugal, fig. 133, p.
294.
Necropolis of Halstatt, pp. 13, 14; p. 139, fig. 84; p. 280, Report of
spearhead with Swastika and runic inscription, found at Torcello, near
Venice, by Undset.
Swastika, Vol. XX, 1886.
Frontispiece of January number. Swastika from Museum, Mayence.
MATTHEWS, WASHINGTON. The Mountain Chant.
_Fifth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology_, 1883-84, pp. 379-467, pls.
X-XVIII, figs. 50-59.
Swastika in Navajo Mountain Chant. Second (?) Dry Painting, pl. XVII,
pp. 450, 451.
MONTELIUS, OSCAR. The | Civilization of Sweden | in Heathen Times | by |
Oscar Montelius, Ph. D. | Professor at the National Historical Museum,
Stockholm. | Translated from the Second Swedish Edition | Revised and
enlarged for the author | by | Rev. F. H. Woods, B. D. | Vicar of Chalfont
St. Peter. | With Map and Two Hundred and Five Illustrations. | London |
Macmillan and Co. | and New York. | 1888.
pp. i-xvi, 1-214.
The wheel with cross on many monuments of the Bronze Age became almost
unknown during the Age of Iron (in Scandinavia). It was the contrary
with the Swastika. Compte-Rendu, Cong. Inter. d'Anthrop. et d'Arch.
Préhistorique. 7{me} session, 1874, I, pp. 439, 460.
MOOREHEAD, WARREN K. Primitive Man | In Ohio | by | Warren K. Moorehead |
Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science | Author
of "Fort Ancient, the Great Prehistoric | Earthwork of Ohio," etc. | G. P.
Putnam's Sons | The Knickerbocker Press, | 1892.
pp. i-xii, 1-246.
Discoveries in Hopewell Mound, Chillicothe, Rose County, Ohio, pp.
184-196.
Swastika, p. 193.
MORGAN, J. DE. Mission Scientifique | au Caucase | Etudes | Archæologiques
et Historiques | par | J. De Morgan | Tome Premier | Les Premiers Ages Des
Métaux | Dans l'Arménie Russe | Paris | Ernest Leroux, éditeur | 28, Rue
Bonaparte, 28 | 1889.
8º, (1), pp. i-iii, 1-231; (2), pp. i-iv, 1-305.
Swastikas on bronze pin-heads from prehistoric Armenian graves. Vol.
I, p. 160, figs. 177, 178, 179.
MORTILLET, GABRIEL et ADRIEN DE. Musée | Préhistorique | par | Gabriel et
Adrien de Mortillet | Photogravures Michelet | Paris | C. Reinwald,
Libraire-Éditeur | 15, Rue des Saints-Pères, 15 | 1881 | Tous Droits
Réservés.
4º. Planches C, figs. 1269.
Tintinnabulum and Buddha with Swastika, pl. XCVIII, fig. 1230. Swiss
Lake pottery, fig. 1231. Swastika, many representations, pl. XCIX,
figs. 1233, 1234, 1235, 1239, 1240, 1241, 1244, 1246, 1247, 1248,
1249; pl. C, figs. 1255, 1256, 1257, 1261, 1263, 1264, 1265, 1266,
1267. Crosses--divers, pl. XCIX, etc.
MORTILLET, GABRIEL DE. Le Préhistorique | Antiquité de l'Homme | par
Gabriel de Mortillet | Professeur d'anthropologie préhistorique | à
l'École d'anthropologie de Paris. | 64 figures intercalées dans le texte.
| Paris | C. Reinwald, Libraire-Éditeur | 15, Rue des Saints-Pères, 15 |
1883 | Tous droits réservés.
12º, pp. 1-642.
Communications between Europe and America, pp. 186, 187.
---- Le Signe | de la Croix | Avant | le Christianisme | par | Gabriel de
Mortillet | Directeur des Matériaux pour l'Histoire positive et
philosophique | de l'homme | avec 117 gravures sur bois. | Paris | C.
Reinwald, Libraire-Éditeur | 15, rue des Saints-Père, 15 | 1866 | Tous
droits réservés.
See p. 182.
MÜLLER, F. MAX. Chips | from | A German Workship. | By Max Müller, M. A.,
| Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. | Essays on * * | New York: |
Scribner, Armstrong & Co. | Successors to Charles Scribner & Co.
Essays on Mythology, Traditions, and Customs. Svasti, Sanscrit,
meaning joy or happiness. Vol. II, p. 24.
Swastika. Letter to Dr. Schliemann, "Ilios," pp. 346-349.
Swastika, Review of, Athenæum (Lond.), No. 3332, Aug. 20, 1892, p.
266.
MÜLLER, LUDWIG. [Swastika.]
_Proc. Royal Danish Academy of Science_, Fifth series, Section of
History and Philosophy, Vol. III, p. 93.
MUNRO, ROBERT. Ancient | Scottish Lake Dwellings | or Crannogs | with a
Supplementary Chapter on | Remains of Lake Dwellings in England | by |
Robert Munro, M. A. | M. D., F. S. A. Scot. | (Design) | Edinburgh: David
Douglas | 1881 | All rights reserved.
8º, pp. i-xx, 1-326.
Swastika on pin and triskelion on plank, crannog of Lochlee, figs. 144
and 149, pp. 130-134.
Note by Montelius, figs. 11 and 12, p. 131.
---- The | Lake Dwellings | of | Europe: | Being the | Rhind Lectures in
Archæology | for 1888. | By | Robert Munro, M. A., M. D., | Secretary of
the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland; Author of | "Ancient Scottish Lake
Dwellings or Crannogs." | Cassell & Company, Limited: | London, Paris &
Melbourne. | 1890 | (All rights reserved).
4º, pp. i-xl, 1-600.
Swastika in Lake Bourget (Savoy), fig. 195, Nos. 11 and 12, pp. 532
and 538; in Lisnacroghera (Ireland), fig. 124, No. 20; triskele, fig.
124, No. 22, pp. 383, 585.
NADAILLAC, Marquis de. Prehistoric America | by the | Marquis de Nadaillac
| Translated by N. D'Anvers | Edited by W. H. Dall | (Design of Vase) |
with 219 illustrations | New York and London | G. P. Putnam's Sons | The
Knickerbocker Press | 1884.
8º, pp. i-vii, 1-566.
Swastika (?) alleged to be on the Pemberton hammer from New Jersey,
pp. 22, note 1, citing Professor Haldeman, Sept. 27, 1877, Rep.
Peabody Museum, 1878, p. 255. Dr. Abbott denounces this inscription as
a fraud. Primitive Industry, p. 32.
NEWTON, JOHN. History of Migration of the Triskelion from Sicily to the
Isle of Man, through Henry III of England and Alexander III of Scotland.
_Athenæum_, No. 3385, Sept. 10, 1892, pp. 353, 354.
NICHOLSON, CORNELIUS. Report of Swastika found in recently explored Mosaic
pavement in Isle of Wight, Munro's "Ancient Scottish Lake Dwellings,"
note, p. 132.
PETRIE, W. M. FLINDERS. Naukratis (Greek inscription). | Part I, 1884-85
by | W. M. Flinders Petrie. | With Chapters by | Cecil Smith; Ernest
Gardner, B. A.; | and Barclay V. Head. | (Design, two sides of coin.) |
Third Memoir of | The Egypt Exploration Fund. | Published by Order of the
Committee. | London: | Trübner & Co., 57 & 59, Ludgate Hill. | 1886.
Folio, pp. 1-100, pls. 1-28.
Swastika in Egypt, fourth and fifth centuries B. C., pl. IV, fig. 3.
Meander Swastikas, pl. V, figs. 15, 24.
PRÄHISTORISCHE BLÄTTER. | Von | Dr. Julius Nan, in München. | VI. Jahrg.,
1894. München. Nr. 5. Mit Taf. XI-XV.
Söderberg, Sven. Die Thierornamentik der Völkerwanderungszeit. | Mit
Tertabildungen und Tafel XI-XV. | Lund, Sweden. Figs. 12, 13, p. 73.
PRIME, WILLIAM C. Pottery and Porcelain | Of All Times And Nations | With
Tables of Factory and Artists' Marks | For the Use of Collectors | by
William C. Prime, LL. D. | (Design) | New York | Harper & Brothers,
Publishers | Franklin Square | 1878.
8º, pp. 1-531.
Symbolic marks on Chinese porcelain. Tablet of honor inclosing
Swastika. Fig. 155, p. 254; fig. 33, p. 61.
QUEEN LACE BOOK, The. A | Historical and Descriptive Account of the
Hand-Made | Antique Laces of All Countries. | * * | with | Thirty
Illustrations of Lace Specimens, and seven Diagrams of | Lace Stitches. |
London: | "The Queen" Office, 346, Strand, W. C. | 1874. | All rights
reserved.
pp. i-viii, 1-38.
Swastika design in linen embroidery and cutwork (Sixteenth Century.
Geometric Style). pl. 1, fig. 2.
RAWLINSON, GEORGE. The Religions | of | the Ancient World. | By | George
Rawlinson, M. A. | Author of "The Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient |
Eastern World," etc. | New York: | Hurst & Co., Publishers, | 122 Nassau
Street.
12º, pp. 1-180.
Religion of the Ancient Sanscrit Indians. Agni, the god of Fire,
described pp. 87, 89. Sun, Wind, Dyaus (Heaven), and Prithivi (Earth).
Nothing said about Swastika or Solar circle.
RICHTER, MAX OHNEFALSCH. Excavations in Cyprus.
_Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop._, Paris, Vol. XI (ser. III), pp. 669-682.
ROBINSON, DAVID. A Tour | through | The Isle of Man: | To which is
subjoined | A Review of the Manx History. | By David Robertson, Esq. |
London: | Printed for the Author, | by E. Hodson, Bell-Yard, Temple-Bar. |
Sold by Mr. Payne, Mews-Gate; Messrs. Egertons, Whitehall; | Whites, Fleet
Street; and Deighton, Holborn. | 1794.
4º narrow, pp. 235.
Triskelion--Coat of arms of Isle of Man.
ROCKHILL, WILLIAM WOODVILLE. Diary of a Journey | through | Mongolia and
Tibet | in | 1891 and 1892 | by | William Woodville Rockhill | Gold
Medalist of the Royal Geographical Society | (Design.) | City of
Washington | Published by the Smithsonian Institution | 1894.
4º, pp. i-xx, 1-413.
Swastika (yung-drung) tattooed on hand of native at Kumbum, p. 67.
SACHEVERELL, WILLIAM. An | Account | of the | Isle of Man, | its |
Inhabitants, Language, Soil, re- | markable Curiosities, the Succession |
of its Kings and Bishops, down to | the present Time. | By way of Essat. |
With a Voyage to I-Columb-kill. | By William Sacheverell, Esq.: | Late
Governour of Man. | To which is added, | A Dissertation about the Mona of
Cæsar and | Tacitus; and an Account of the Antient | Druids, &c. | By Mr.
Thomas Brown, | Address'd in a Letter to his Learned | Friend Mr. A.
Sellars. | London: | Printed for J. Hartley, next the King's Head Tavern.
| R. Gibson in Middle Row, and Tho. Hodgson over a- | gainst Gray's-Inn
Gate in Holborn, 1702.
12mo, pp. 175.
Triskelion--Coat of arms of Isle of Man.
SCHICK, Herr Baurath VON. The Jerusalem Cross.
_Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement_, July, 1894, pp.
183-188.
SCHLIEMANN, HEINRICH. Atlas Trojanischer Alterthümer. | Photographische
Abbildungen | zu dem | Berichte | über die Ausgrabungen in Troja | von |
Dr. Heinrich Schliemann. | (Design) | Leipzig: | In Commission bei F. A.
Brockhaus. | 1874.
Folio, pp. 1-57, plates, 1-217.
Spindle whorls--_passim_. Swastikas on many specimens from fig. No.
142 to 3468. No. 237 is in U. S. National Museum as part of Mme.
Schliemann's collection.
SCHLIEMANN, HENRY. Ilios | The City and Country | of | the Trojans | The
Results of Researches and Discoveries on the Site of Troy and | Throughout
the Troad in the Years 1871-72-73-78-79 | Including an | Autobiography of
the Author | By Dr. Henry Schliemann | F. S. A., F. R. I. British
Architects | Author of "Troy and Its Remains," "Mycenæ," etc. | With a
Preface, Appendices, and Notes | By Professors Rudolf Virchow, Max Müller,
A. H. Sayce, J. P. Mahaffy, H. Brugsch-Bey, P. Ascherson, M. A.
Postolaccas, M. E. Burnouf, Mr. F. Calvert, and Mr. J. A. Duffield. |
(Greek Verse) | With Maps, Plans, and About 1,800 Illustrations. | New
York | Harper & Brothers, Franklin Square | 1881. |
8º, pp. i-xvi, 1-800.
Swastika: Introduction, p. xi, and pp. 229, 231, 303, 349, 353, 416,
518, 571, 573.
"Owl-faced" (?) vases, figs. 227, 1293, 1294. Fig. 986 (not owl, but
human, Virchow), pp. xiii, xiv.
Figures of Swastika on spindle-whorls--_passim_--fig. 1850 is in the
U. S. National Museum.
---- Mycenæ; | A Narrative of Researches and Discoveries | at Mycenæ and
Tiryns. | By Dr. Henry Schliemann, | Citizen of the United States of
America, | Author of "Troy and Its Remains," "Ithaque, Le Peloponnèse et
Troie," | and "La Chine et le Japon." | The Preface | By the Right Hon. W.
E. Gladstone, M. P. | Maps, Plans, and Other Illustrations. | Representing
more than 7,000 Types of the Objects Found in the | Royal Sepulchres of
Mycenæ and Elsewhere | In the Excavations. | New York: | Scribner,
Armstrong & Company. | 1878. | (All Rights Reserved.)
8º, pp. i-lxviii, 1-384, Swastika, pp. 77, 165, 259, figs. 383, 385,
and many others.
---- Troja | Results of the Latest | Researches and Discoveries on the |
Site of Homer's Troy | And in the Heroic Tumuli and Other Sites | Made in
the Year 1882 | and a Narrative of a Journey in the Troad in 1881 | by |
Dr. Henry Schliemann | Hon. D. C. L., Oxon., and Hon. Fellow of Queen's
College, Oxford | F. S. A., F. R. I. B. A. | Author of "Ilios," "Troy and
its Remains," and "Mycenæ and Tiryns" | Preface by Prof. A. H. Sayce |
with 150 Woodcuts and 4 Maps and Plans | (Quotation in German from Moltke:
Wunderbuch, p. 19, Berlin, 1879) | New York | Harper & Brothers, Franklin
Square 1884.
8º, pp. 1-434.
Swastika, preface xviii, xxi, pp. 122, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128.
Spiral form, pp. 123.
Lycian coins--triskelion, pp. 123, 124.
SCHVINDT, THEODOR. Vihko 1-4 | Suomalaisia koristeita. | 1.
Ompelukoristeita. | Finnische Ornamente. | 1. Stickornamente. | Heft 1-4 |
Suolalaisen Kirjallisunden Seura Helsingissa. | 1894.
Description of Finnish national ornamental embroidery in which the
Swastika appears as a pattern made by oblique stitches, pp. 14, 15,
figs. 112-121.
SIMPSON, WILLIAM. Swastika.
_Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement_, January, 1895, pp.
84, 85.
SNOWDEN, JAMES ROSS. A Description | of | Ancient and Modern Coins, | in
the | Cabinet Collection | at the Mint of the United States. | Prepared
and arranged under the Direction of | James Ross Snowden, | Director of
the Mint. | Philadelphia: | J. B. Lippincott & Co. | 1860.
8º, pp. i-xx, 1-412.
Punch-marks on ancient coins, and how they were made. Introduction,
pp. ix-xiv, and figures.
SQUIER, E. GEORGE. Peru | Incidents of Travel and Exploration | in the |
Land of the Incas | By E. George Squier, M. A., F. S. A. | Late U. S.
Commissioner to Peru, Author of "Nicaragua," "Ancient Monuments | of
Mississippi Valley," etc., etc. | (Design) | With Illustrations | New York
| Harper Brothers, Publishers | Franklin Square | 1877.
8º, pp. i-xx, 1-599.
Mythologic representations of earth, air, and water. The cross not
mentioned as one, p. 184.
STEVENS, GEORGE L. The Old Northern | Runic Monuments | of Scandinavia and
England | Now first | collected and deciphered | by | George Stevens,
Esq., F. S. A. | Knight of the Northern Star and other titles, | with many
hundreds of fac-similes and illustrations partly in gold, silver, bronze
and colors. | Runic alphabets; introductions; appendices; word-lists, etc.
| London, John Russell Smith. | Kobenhaven, Michaelsen and Tillge. |
Printed by H. H. Thiele, 1866-67.
8º, pp. i-xi, 1-625.
STEVENSON, JAMES. Collections made in New Mexico and Arizona, 1879, by
James Stevenson.
_Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology_, 1880-81, pp. 307-465, figs.
347-697.
Spiral in basketry, fig. 542. Swastika (dance-rattle), fig. 562, p.
394. Maltese cross, fig. 642. Greek cross, fig. 708, p. 453.
SYKES, Lieut. Col. Notes on the religious, moral, and political state of
India before the Mohammedan invasion, chiefly founded on the travels of
the Chinese Buddhist priest, Fa-Hian, in India, A. D. 399, and on the
commentaries of Messrs. Klaproth, Burnouf, and Landresse.
_Journal Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland_, Vol. VI,
pp. 248, 299, 310, 334.
THOMAS, CYRUS. Burial Mounds of Northern Sections of the United States.
_Fifth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology_, 1883-84, pp. 3-119, pls. I-VI,
figs. 1-49.
Excavations in Little Etowah Mounds.
Human figures on copper plates, repoussé work, figs. 42, 43, pp. 100,
101.
Eagle (copper) Mound near Bluff Lake, Union County, Illinois, fig. 48,
p. 105.
---- Report on the Mound Explorations of the Bureau of Ethnology.
_Twelfth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology_, 1890-91, pp. 1-730, pls.
I-XLII, figs. 1-344.
Human figures (copper), repoussé work, figs. 186, p. 304; 189, p. 306.
Eagle Mound in Illinois, fig. 192, p. 309.
Swastika on shell, Big Toco Mound, Tennessee, fig. 262, p. 383.
THOMAS, G. W. Excavations in Anglo-Saxon Cemetery, Sleaford, Lincolnshire.
Swastika.
_Archæologia_, Vol. L, 1887, pt. 2, p. 386, pl. XXIV, fig. 2.
TYLOR, EDWARD B. Anthropology: | An Introduction to the Study of | Man and
Civilization. | By | Edward B. Taylor, D. C. L., F. R. S. | With
Illustrations. | New York: | D. Appleton and Company, | 1, 3, and 5 Bond
Street. | 1881.
12º, pp. 1-448.
Spinning and spindle whorls, pp. 247, 248.
---- Primitive Culture | Researches into the Development of | Mythology,
Philosophy, Religion, | Language, Art and Custom | by | Edward E. Tylor,
LL. D., F. R. S., | Author of "Researches into the Early History of
Mankind," etc. | (Quotation in French) | First American, from the Second
English Edition | In Two Volumes | (Design) | Boston | Estes & Lauriat |
143 Washington Street | 1874.
8º, (1), pp. i-xii, 1-502; (2), pp. i-viii, 1-470.
WAKE, C. S. The Swastika and Allied Symbols.
_Am. Antiquarian_, 1894, Vol. XVI, p. 413.
The writer cites Prof. Alois Raimond Hein, Meander, etc.,
Worbelornamente in Amerika. Vienna, 1891.
WARING, J. B. Ceramic Art | in | Remote Ages; | With Essays on the Symbols
of | the Circle, the Cross and Circle, | the Circle and Ray Ornament, the
Fylfot, | and the Serpent, | Showing their Relation to the Primitive
Forms | of | Solar and Nature Worship, | by | J. B. Waring, | Author of
"Stone Monuments, Tumuli, and Ornament of Remote Ages," "Illustrations of
Architecture and Ornament," | "The Art Treasures of the United Kingdom,"
&c., &c. | London: | Printed and Published by John B. Day, | Savoy Street,
Strand | 1874.
Folio, pp. 1-127, pls. 1-55.
Swastika; Triskelion; Ancient coins. Plates 2, 3, 7, 27, 33, 41-44.
WIENER, CHARLES. Pérou | et Bolivie | Récit de Voyage | suivi | d'Études
Archéologiques et Ethnograhiques | et de Notes | Sur l'Écriture et les
Langues des Populations Indiennes | par | Charles Wiener | Ouvrage
Contenant | 100 Gravures, 27 cartes et 18 plans | (Design) | Paris |
Librairie Hachette et Cie. | 79, Boulevard Saint-Germain, 79 | 1880 |
Droits de Propriété et de traduction réservés.
8º, pp. i-xi, 1-796.
Christian cross in America.--Means used to implant it. Chap. VII, pp.
716-730.
WOOD, J. G. The | Natural | History of Man; | Being | an Account of the
Manners and Customs of the | Uncivilized Races of Men. | By the Rev. | J.
G. Wood, M. A., F. L. S. | etc., etc. | With New Designs by Angas, Danby,
Wolf, Zwecker, etc., etc. | Engraved by the Brothers Dalziel. | London: |
George Routledge and Sons, The Broadway, Ludgate. | New York: 416 Broome
Street. | 1868.
2 vols., 8º, pp. 774, 864.
The Gurani Indians wear the queyu or bead apron; Vol. II, p. 626, but
the Waraus wear only a triangular bit of bark, p. 623.
WRIGHT, T. F. Notes on the Swastika.
_Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly Statement_, London. October,
1894, p. 300.
ZMIGRODZKI, MICHAEL V. Zur | Geschichte der Swastika | von | Michael V.
Zmigrodzki | Mit Vier Figuren im Text und Vier Tafeln. | Braunschweig, |
Druck und Verlag von Friederich Vieweg und Sohn. | 1890.
---- Histoire du Suastika.
_Congrès International d'Anthrop. et Archéol. Préhist._ Compte Rendu
de la dixième session à Paris, 1889 pp. 473-490.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PLATES.
Facing page.
Pl. 1. Origin of Buddha, with Swastika sign, according to Tao
Shih 800
2. Swastika decreed by Empress Wu (684-704 A. D.) as a sign for
sun in China 800
3. Swastika design on silk fabrics 800
4. Swastika in spider web over fruit 800
5. Buffalo with Swastika on forehead. Presented to Emperor of
Sung Dynasty 800
6. Incense burner with Swastika decoration. South Tang Dynasty 800
7. House of Wa Tsung-Chih of Sin Shin, with Swastika in railing 800
8. Mountain or wild date--fruit resembling Swastika. China 800
9. Punch marks on reverse of ancient coins 876
Fig. 1. Coin from Lydia. Electrum. Reverse. Oblong sinking
between two squares. Babylonic stater. The earliest known
coinage. Circa B. C. 700.
2. Phenician half stater. Electrum. Reverse. Incuse square
with cruciform ornament.
3. Silver coin of Teos. Reverse. Incuse square. Circa 544
B. C.
4. Silver coin of Acanthus. Reverse. Incuse square.
5. Silver coin of Mende. Reverse. Incuse triangles.
6. Silver coin of Terone. Reverse. Incuse.
7. Coin of Bisaltæ.[316] Reverse. Flat incuse square.
Octadrachm.
8. Silver coin of Orrescii.[316] Reverse. Incuse square.
Octadrachm.
9. Corinthian silver coin. Reverse. Incuse square divided
into eight triangular compartments.
10. Silver coin of Abdera. Reverse. Incuse square.
11. Silver coin of Byzantium. Reverse. Incuse square,
granulated.
12. Silver coin of Thrasos (Thrace). Reverse. Incuse square.
10. Engraved Fulgur (?) shell resembling statue of Buddha. Toco
mound, Tennessee. Cat. No. 115560, U. S. N. M. 880
11. Plan of North Fork (Hopewell) Works, Ross County, Ohio.
_Smithsonian Contrib. to Knowledge_, I, pl. X 888
12. Plan of Hopewell mound, Ross County, Ohio, in which
aboriginal copper Swastikas were found. _Primitive Man in
Ohio_, pl. XXXIV 888
13. Human skull, with copper-covered horns, probably of elk.
Hopewell mound, Ross County, Ohio. _Primitive Man in Ohio_,
frontispiece 890
14. Altar, Hopewell mound, Ross County, Ohio. Found near the
copper Swastika shown in fig. 244. _Primitive Man in Ohio_,
fig. XXXVII. Cat. No. 148662, U. S. N. M. 890
15. Bead necklace and garters with Swastika ornamentation. Sac
Indians 894
16. Ceremonial bead garters with Swastikas. Sac Indians, Cook
County (Kansas) Reservation 896
17. "Navajo Mountain Chant." Dr. Washington Matthews. _Fifth
Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1883-84, pl. XVII 898
18. _Folium Vitus_ ("fig leaves")--terra-cotta covers,
"_tunga_," used by aborigines of Brazil. Cat. Nos. 59089
and 36542, U. S. N. M. 904
19. Various forms of crosses in use among North American
Indians, from Greek cross to Swastika. _Second Ann. Rep.
Bur. Ethnol._, 1880-81, pl. LIII 928
Fig. 1. Greek cross.
2. Greek cross.
3. Cross on copper.
4. Cross on shell.
5. Greek cross.
6. Greek cross.
7. Latin cross, copper.
8. Greek cross.
9. Latin cross, copper.
10. Swastika on shell.
11. Swastika on shell.
12. Swastika on pottery.
13. Swastika on pottery.
20. Palenque cross, foliated. _Smithsonian Contrib. to
Knowledge_, XXII, fig. 7, p. 33 932
21. Modern porcelain spindle-whorls. Southern France. Cat.
No. 169598, U. S. N. M. 968
22. Navajo woman using spindle and whorl. Dr. Washington
Matthews, _Third Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1881-82, pl.
XXXIV 970
23. Series of aboriginal spindles and whorls from Peru. Cat.
No. 17510, U. S. N. M. 972
24. Selected specimens of spindle-whorls from the Third,
Fourth, and Fifth cities of Troy. U. S. National Museum 974
25. Selected specimens of spindle-whorls from the Third,
Fourth, and Fifth cities of Troy. U. S. National Museum 974
TEXT FIGURES.
Page.
Fig. 1. Latin cross (_Crux immissa_) 765
2. Greek cross 765
3. St. Andrew's cross (_Crux decussata_) 765
4. Egyptian cross (_Crux ansata_), the Key of Life 766
5. Tan cross, Thor's hammer, St. Anthony's cross 766
6. Monogram of Christ. Labarum of Constantine 766
7. Maltese cross 766
8. Celtic crosses 767
9. Normal Swastika. Arms crossing at right angles, with ends
bent to the right 767
10. Suavastika. Arms bent to the left 767
11. Swastika 767
12. _Croix swasticale_ (Zmigrodzki) 767
13_a_. Ogee and spiral Swastikas. Tetraskelion (four-armed) 768
13_b_. Spiral and volute. Triskelion (three-armed) 768
13_c_. Spiral and volute (five or many armed) 768
13_d_. Ogee Swastika with circle 768
14. Nandâvartaya, a third sign of the footprint of Buddha.
Burnouf, _Lotus de la Bonne Loi_, Paris, 1852, p. 626 774
15. Typical lotuses on Cyprian vases. Goodyear, _Grammar_,
etc., p. 77 782
16. Typical lotus on Rhodian vases. Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc. 782
17. Typical lotus on Melian vases. Goodyear, _Grammar of the
Lotus_ 782
18. Detail of Cyprian vase showing lotuses with curling sepals.
Met. Mus. of Art, N. Y. Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl.
XLVII, fig. 1 782
19. Details of a Cyprian amphora; lotus with curling sepals,
and different Swastikas. Met. Mus. of Art, N. Y. Goodyear,
_Grammar_, etc., pl. XLVII, figs. 2 and 3 783
20. Theory of the evolution of the spiral scroll from lotus.
One volute. Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., fig. 51 783
21. Theory of lotus rudiments in spiral. Tomb 33, Abd-el-Kourneh,
Thebes. Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., p. 96 783
22. Concentric rings connected by tangents. Petrie, _History of
Scarabs_. 784
23. Concentric rings with disconnected tangents. Barringer
Coll., Met. Mus. of Art, N. Y. Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc.,
Pl. VIII, fig. 23 784
24. Concentric rings without connection. Goodyear, _Grammar_,
etc., pl. VIII, fig. 25. Farman Coll., Met. Mus. of Art,
N. Y. 784
25. Special Egyptian meander. An illustration of the theory of
derivation from the spiral. Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl.
X, fig. 9 784
26. Detail of Greek vase. Meander and Swastika. No. 2843 in
Polytechnic, Athens. Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., fig. 174 785
27. Detail of Greek geometric vase in the British Museum.
Swastika, right, with solar geese. Goodyear, _Grammar_,
etc., fig. 173, p. 353 785
28. Greek geometric vase. Swastika with solar geese. Goodyear,
_Grammar_, etc., fig. 172, p. 353 785
29. Bronze statue of Buddha. Japan. Eight Swastikas on
pedestal, cane tintinnabulum with six movable rings or
bells. Cernuschi Coll. One-fifteenth natural size 799
30. Japanese potter's mark on porcelain. Swastika, left. Sir
A. W. Franks, _Catalogue_, etc., pl. XI, fig. 139; De
Mortillet, _Musée Préhistorique_, fig. 1248 799
31. Potter's mark on porcelain. China. Tablet of Honor, with
Swastika. Prime, _Pottery and Porcelain_, p. 254 801
32. Footprint of Buddha with Swastika, from Amaravati Tope.
From a figure by Fergusson and Schliemann 802
33. Explanation of Jain Swastika, according to Gandhi 804
(1) Archaic or protoplasmic life; (2) plant and animal
life; (3) human life; (4) celestial life.
34_a_. The formation of the Jain Swastika--First stage 804
34_b_. The formation of the Jain Swastika--Second stage 804
34_c_. The formation of the Jain Swastika--Third stage 805
35. Bronze pin-head from Cheithan-thagh. De Morgan, _Au
Caucase_, fig. 177 807
36. Bronze pin-head from Akthala. De Morgan, _Au Caucase_,
fig. 178 808
37. Swastika mark on black pottery. Cheithan-thagh. De Morgan,
_Au Caucase_, fig. 179 808
38. Fragment of bronze ceinture. Necropolis of Koban,
Caucasus. Swastika repoussé. Natural size. Chantre, _Le
Caucase_, pl. XI, fig. 3 808
39. Bronze agrafe or belt plate. Triskelion in spiral. Koban,
Caucasus, Chantre, _Le Caucase_, pl. XI, fig. 4 809
40. Swastika signs from Asia Minor. Waring, _Ceramic Art in
Remote Ages_, pl. XLI, figs. 5 and 6 809
41. Brand for horses in Circassia. Ogee Swastika,
tetraskelion. Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XLII,
fig. 20_c_ 809
42. Fragment of lustrous black pottery. Swastika, right.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 247 810
43. Spindle-whorl with two Swastikas and two crosses; 23 feet
depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1858 811
44. Spindle-whorl, two Swastikas; 23 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1874 811
45. Spindle-whorl, two Swastikas; 23 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1919 811
46. Spindle-whorl, two Swastikas; 23 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1826 811
47. Spindle-whorl, three Swastikas; 23 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1851 811
48. Spindle-whorl, Swastikas; 23 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1982 812
49. Sphere, eight segments, one containing Swastika.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1999 812
50. Biconical spindle-whorl, Swastika. Schliemann, _Ilios_,
fig. 1949 812
51. Biconical spindle-whorl, six Swastikas; 33 feet depth.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1859 813
52. Biconical spindle-whorl, two ogee Swastikas; 33 feet depth.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1876 813
53. Spindle-whorl, four Swastikas; 33 feet depth. De Mortillet,
_Musée Préhistorique_, fig. 1240 813
54. Spindle-whorl, one Swastika; 33 feet depth. De Mortillet,
_Musée Préhistorique_, fig. 1241 813
55. Conical spindle-whorl, three ogee Swastikas; 13-1/2 feet
depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1850 814
56. Conical spindle-whorl, four Swastikas, various kinds;
13-1/2 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1879 814
57. Conical spindle-whorl, Swastikas; 13-1/2 feet depth.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1894 814
58. Biconical spindle-whorl, one Swastika; 13-1/2 feet depth.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1983 815
59. Biconical spindle-whorl, three ogee Swastikas; 13-1/2 feet
depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1990 815
60. Biconical spindle-whorl, two Swastikas; 16-1/2 feet depth.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1863 815
61. Biconical spindle-whorl, five ogee Swastikas; 18 feet
depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1905 816
62. Spindle-whorl, three Swastikas; 19.8 feet depth.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1855 816
63. Spindle-whorl, four ogee Swastikas, with spiral volutes;
18 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1868 816
64. Biconical spindle-whorl, one Swastika; 19.8 feet depth.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1865 816
65. Biconical spindle-whorl, one Swastika; 19.8 feet depth.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1866 817
66. Biconical spindle-whorl, three Swastikas and three "burning
altars;" 19.8 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1872 817
67. Biconical spindle-whorl, four Swastikas of the Jain style;
19.8 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1873 817
68. Biconical spindle-whorl, three Swastikas of different
styles; 19.8 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1912 817
69. Biconical spindle-whorl, one Swastika of the figure-8 style;
19.8 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1861 818
70. Biconical spindle-whorl, one Swastika slightly ogee; 19.8
feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1864 818
71. Conical spindle-whorl, three ogee Swastikas; 13-1/2 feet
depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1852. Gift of Mme.
Schliemann. Cat. No. 149704, U. S. N. M. 818
72, 73, 74. Forms of whorls from fifth buried city of
Hissarlik, for comparison. Schliemann, _Ilios_, figs. 1801,
1802, and 1803 819
75. Terra-cotta sphere, thirteen Swastikas. Third city; 26 feet
depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, figs. 245, 246 819
76. Terra-cotta disk, one Swastika. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig.
1849 820
77. Spindle-whorl, ogee Swastika. Third city; 23 feet depth.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1822 820
78. Biconical spindle-whorl, irregular Swastikas and crosses.
Fourth city; 13.6 foot depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1871 820
79. Biconical spindle-whorl, uncertain and malformed Swastikas.
Third city; 33 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1870 820
80. Biconical spindle-whorl, irregular and partly formed
Swastika with large dot in center. Fourth city; 23 feet
depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1875 821
81. Biconical spindle-whorl, flattened, two Swastikas with
indefinite decoration. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1947 821
82. Biconical spindle-whorl, one Swastika and four segments of
circles. Third city; 33 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_,
fig. 1989 821
83. Biconical spindle-whorl, flattened, ogee Swastika with
center circle. Third city; 23 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1987 822
84. Biconical spindle-whorl, six ogee Swastikas, with center
circle and dot. Third city; 23 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1862 822
85. Spherical spindle-whorl, flattened top, ogee lines which do
not form Swastikas. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1890 822
86. Biconical spindle-whorl, ogee curves not crossed to form
Swastikas. Fourth city; 10.6 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1889 822
87. Spherical spindle-whorl flattened, with two Swastikas
combined with segments and dots. Schliemann, _Ilios_,
fig. 1988 823
88. Two sections of terra-cotta sphere, central circle and
many extended arms, ogee and zigzag to the left.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1993 823
89. Spherical spindle-whorl, large central dot with 12 arms, in
same form as ogee Swastika. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1946 823
90. Spindle-whorl, central dot with ogee arms radiating
therefrom, turning in different directions, but in form of
Swastika. Third city; 29 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_,
fig. 1830 824
91. Spindle-whorl, central hole with radiating arms. Third
city; 23 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1842 824
92. Spindle-whorl, large central circle with many arms. Fourth
city; 19.8 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1837 824
93. Spindle-whorl, central hole and large circle with many
curved arms. Third city; 29 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1833 824
94. Large biconical spindle-whorl with four large crosses
with bifurcated arms. Third city; 23 feet depth.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1856 825
95. Spindle-whorl, hole and large circle in center with broad
arms of Greek cross. Third city; 26.4 feet depth.
Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1820 825
96. Spindle-whorl, hole and large circle in center, extended
parallel arms of Greek cross, with dots. Third city; 23
feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1817 825
97. Spindle-whorl, arms of Greek cross tapering, with dots.
Third city; 23 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 1818 825
98. Spindle-whorl, central hole, three arms ornamented with
dots. Third city; 23 feet depth. Schliemann, _Ilios_,
fig. 1819 826
99. Biconical spindle-whorl, with four animals associated with
the Swastika. Third city; 33 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1877 826
100. Biconical spindle-whorl, with four animals associated with
the Swastika. Fourth city; 19.6 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1867 826
101. Spindle-whorl, figure-8 Swastika (?) with six "burning
altars." Fourth city; 19.6 feet depth. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 1838 826
102 to 113. Trojan spindle-whorls. Schliemann, _Ilios_ 827
114 to 124. Trojan Spindle-whorls. Schliemann, _Ilios_ 828
125. Leaden idol, Artemis Nana of Chaldea, with Swastika.
Hissarlik, 23 feet depth, 1-1/3 natural size. Schliemann,
_Ilios_, fig. 226 829
126. Terra-cotta vase with mamelon. Fourth city; 16-1/2 feet
depth. One-third natural size. Cat. No. 149676, U. S. N.
M. 830
127. Terra-cotta vase with circle or ring. Fourth city; 20
feet depth. One-third natural size. Schliemann, _Ilios_,
fig. 988 830
128. Terra-cotta vase, with circle or ring with _Croix
swasticale_. Fourth city; 20 feet depth. One-sixth
natural size. Schliemann, _Ilios_, fig. 986 831
129. Terra-cotta vase, with circle or ring inclosing Swastika.
Fifth city; 10 feet depth. Two-fifths natural size.
Schliemann, _Troja_, fig. 101 831
130. Greek vase showing deer, geese, and three Swastikas.
Naukratis, ancient Egypt, sixth and fifth centuries B. C.
Flinders Petrie, _Third Mem. Egypt Expl. Fund_, pt. 1, pl.
IV, fig. 3; and Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. LX, fig. 2 834
130_a_. Detail of vase shown in the preceding figure 834
131. Pottery fragments with two meander Swastikas. Naukratis,
ancient Egypt. Petrie, _Third Mem. Egypt Expl. Fund_, pt.
1, pl. V, figs. 24 and 15 835
132. Fragments of Greek vase with lion and three meander
Swastikas. Naukratis, ancient Egypt. Petrie, _Sixth Mem.
Egypt Expl. Fund_, pt. 2, pl. V, fig. 7; and Goodyear,
_Grammar_, etc., pl. XXX, fig. 2 835
133. Fragment of Greek vase with figures of sacred animals and
Swastikas associated with Greek fret. Naukratis, ancient
Egypt. Petrie, _Sixth Mem. Egypt Expl. Fund_, pt. 2, pl.
VI, fig. 1 836
134. Fragment of Greek vase with figures of animals, two
meander Swastikas, and Greek fret. Naukratis, ancient
Egypt. Petrie, _Sixth Mem. Egypt Expl. Fund_, pt. 2, pl.
VIII, fig. 1; and Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. XXX,
fig. 10 836
135. Greek vase with deer and meander and figure-8 Swastikas.
Naukratis, ancient Egypt. _Sixth Mem. Egypt Expl. Fund_,
pl. V, fig. 1 837
136. Greek tapestry. Coptos, Egypt. First and second centuries
A. D. Forrer, _Achmim-Panopolis_, pl. IX, fig. 3 837
137. Torus of column with Swastikas. Roman ruins, Algeria.
Delamare. Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XLIII, fig. 2 838
138. Bronze ingots captured at Coomassee during Ashantee war.
Swastika on each 838
139. Variations of the Greek fret. The two continuous lines
crossing each other give the appearance of Swastikas 839
140. Greek geometric vase with goose and Swastika (panel).
Smyrna. Leyden Museum. Conze, _Anfänge_;, etc., Vienna,
1870; and Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. LVI, fig. 4 839
141. Greek vase, geometric ornament, Athens. Horses, Swastika
(panels). Dennis, _Etruria_, vol. I, p. cxiii 839
142. Greek vase with Swastikas (panels). Conze, _Anfänge_,
etc., vol. 4; and Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. LX,
fig. 13 839
143. Detail of Archaic Greek vase with solar goose and
Swastika (panel). British Museum. Waring, _Ceramic Art_,
etc., pl. XLI, fig. 15 840
144. Cyprian pottery plaque with Swastika (panel). Met. Mus.
of Art, N. Y. Cesnola, _Cyprus, Its Ancient Cities, Tombs,
and Temples_, pl. XLVII, fig. 40 840
145. Detail from Cyprian vase, Swastikas in triangles.
Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. I, fig. 11 840
146. Detail of Attic vase with antelope (?) and Swastika.
British Museum. Böhlau, _Jahrbuch_, 1885, p. 50; and
Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. XXXVII, fig. 9 840
147. Cyprian vase with Swastikas. Cesnola, _Cyprus_, etc.,
appendix by Murray, p. 404, fig. 15 841
148. Terra-cotta figurine with Swastikas (panels). Cesnola,
_Cyprus_, p. 300. Ohnefalsch-Richter, _Bull. Soc.
d'Anthrop._, Paris, 1888, p. 681, fig. 11 841
149. Terra-cotta vase, Swastika, and figure of horse 841
150. Bronze fibula with Swastika, goose, and fish, Boeotia,
Greece, one-half natural size. Ludwig Müller. De
Mortillet, _Musée Préhistorique_, fig. 1265 841
151. Details of Greek vase with birds and Swastikas. Waring,
_Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XXXIII, fig. 24; and Goodyear,
_Grammar_, etc., pl. XLVI, fig. 5 842
152. Detail of Cyprian vase, sun hawk, lotus, solar disk,
Swastikas. Bölau, _Jahrbuch_, 1886, pl. VIII; Reinach,
_Revue Archéologique_, 1885, II, p. 360; Chipiez &
Perrot, _Hist. of Art in Antiq._, IV, p. 564; Goodyear,
_Grammar_, etc., pl. XLV, fig. 3 842
153. Detail of Greek geometric vase with horses and Swastika.
Thera. Leyden Museum. Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl.
LXI, fig. 4 842
154. Bronze fibula with large Swastika on shield. Greece.
Musée St. Germain. De Mortillet, Musée Préhistorique,
fig. 1264. One-half natural size 843
155. Greek vase, _oinochoë_, with two painted Swastikas. De
Mortillet, _Musée Préhistorique_, fig. 1244. One-quarter
natural size 843
156. Cyprian vase with animal and Swastikas. Cesnola, _Cyprus_,
etc., pl. XLV, fig. 36 843
157. Archaic Greek pottery fragment. Santorin, ancient Thera.
Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XLII, fig. 2 843
158. Cyprian vase with bird, lotus, and Swastikas. Met. Mus.
of Art, N. Y. Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. LX, fig. 15 844
159. Cyprian vase with two Swastikas. Cesnola Coll., Met. Mus.
of Art, N. Y. Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., fig. 151 844
160. Fragment of terra-cotta vase with Swastikas, from ruins
of temple at Paleo-Paphos; 40 feet depth. Cesnola,
_Cyprus_, etc., p. 210 845
161. Wooden button, clasp, or fibula, covered with plates of
gold, ogee Swastika, (tetraskelion) in center. Schliemann,
_Mycenæ_, fig. 385, p. 259 845
162. Detail of Greek vase with goose, honeysuckle (Anthemion),
spiral Swastika. Thera. _Monumenti Inedite_, LXV, 2.
Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. XLVI, fig. 7 845
163. Detail of Greek vase, Sphynx with spiral scrolls, two
meander Swastikas (right). Melos. Böhlau, _Jahrbuch_,
1887, XII; Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. XXXIV, fig. 8 846
164. Detail of Greek vase, ibex and scroll, meander Swastika
(right). Melos. Böhlau, _Jahrbuch_, 1887, p. 121; and
Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. XXXIX, fig. 2 846
165. Detail of Greek vase with ram, meander Swastika (left),
circles, dots, and crosses. Rhodian style. British
Museum. Salzmann, _Necropole de Camire_, LI; and
Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. XXVIII, fig. 7 846
166. Cyprian vase and details with birds and Swastikas.
Perrot & Chipiez, _Chypre_, etc., p. 702; Goodyear,
_Grammar_, etc., pl. XLVIII, figs. 6 and 12; Cesnola,
_Cyprus_, etc., appendix by Murray, pl. XLIV, fig. 34,
p. 412 847
167. Cyprian vase with lotus, bosses, buds, and sepals, and
different Swastikas. Cesnola Coll., Met. Mus. of Art.,
N. Y. Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. XLVIII, fig. 3 847
168. Cyprian vase with bosses, lotus buds, and different
Swastikas. Cesnola Coll., Met. Mus. of Art., N. Y.
Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. XLVIII, fig. 15 848
169. Detail of early Boeotian vase with horse, solar diagram,
Artemis with geese, and Swastikas (normal and meander,
right and left). Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. LXI, fig.
12 848
170. Detail of Rhodian vase with geese, circles, and dots,
Swastikas (right and left). British Museum. Waring,
_Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XXVII, fig. 9 849
171. Detail of Rhodian vase with geese, lotus, circles, and
two Swastikas (right and left). Goodyear, _Grammar_,
etc., fig. 145, pl. 271 849
172. Greek vase of typical Rhodian style with ibex, geese,
lotus, six Swastikas (normal, meander, and ogee, all
left). Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. XXXVIII, p. 251 850
173. Detail of Greek vase with deer, solar diagrams, three
Swastikas (single, double, and meander, right). Melos.
Conze, _Meliosche Thongefässe_; Goodyear _Grammar_,
etc., pl. LX, fig. 8 851
174. Archaic Greek vase from Athens with five Swastikas, of
four styles, British Museum. Birch, _History of Ancient
Pottery_, quoted in Waring's _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl.
XLI, fig. 15; Dennis, _Etruria_, Vol. I, p. xci 851
175. Detail of Archaic Boeotian vase with two serpents,
crosses, eight Swastikas (normal, right, left, and
meander). Goodyear, _Grammar_, etc., pl. LX, fig. 9 852
176. Attic vase for perfume with Swastikas of two kinds and
_Croix swasticale_. Ohnefalsch-Richter, _Bull. Soc.
d'Anthrop._, Paris, 1888, p. 674, fig. 6 852
177. Detail of Cyprian vase, Swastika with palm tree, sacred
to Apollo. Citium, Cyprus. Ohnefalsch-Richter, _Bull.
Soc. d'Anthrop._, Paris, 1888, p. 673, fig. 3 852
178. Cyprian vase, birds, Swastika, (panel). Musée St. Germain.
Ohnefalsch-Richter, _Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop._, Paris, 1888,
p. 674, fig. 6 853
179. Chariot of Apollo-Resef with sun symbol (?) on a shield;
four Swastikas, two right and two left, on quadrants of
chariot wheels. Cesnola, _Salamania_, p. 240, fig. 226;
and Ohnefalsch-Richter, _Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop._, Paris
1888, p. 675, fig. 7 853
180. Terra-cotta statue of goddess, Aphrodite-Astarte, with
four Swastikas. Curium, Cyprus. Ohnefalsch-Richter,
_Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop._, Paris, 1888, p. 676, fig. 8 853
181. Cyprian centaur with one Swastika. Cesnola, _Salamania_,
p. 243, fig. 230; Ohnefalsch-Richter, _Bull. Soc.
d'Anthrop._, Paris, 1888, p. 676, fig. 9 853
182. Greek statue, Aphrodite-Ariadne, with six Swastikas, four
right, and two left. From Polistis Chrysokon.
Ohnefalsch-Richter, _Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop._, Paris, 1888,
p. 677, fig. 10 854
183. Hut urn (Bronze Age), Etruria. "Burning Altar" mark
associated with Swastikas. Vatican Museum 856
184. Fragment of Archaic Greek pottery with three Swastikas.
Cumæ, Campania, Italy. Rochette; Waring, _Ceramic Art_,
etc., pl. XLII, fig. 1 858
185. Cinerary urn with Swastikas in panels. Vatican Museum.
San Marino, near Albano. Pigorini, _Archæologia_, 1869 858
186. Cinerary urn with Swastikas inclosed in incised lines in
intaglio (panels). Cervetri, Italy. _Conestabile due
Dischi in Bronzo_, pl. V, fig. 2, one-sixth natural size 858
187. Gold fibula with Swastikas (left). Etruscan Museum,
Vatican. _Catalogue_, 1st pt., pl. XXVI, fig. 6, one-half
natural size 859
188. Etruscan gold bulla, Swastika on bottom. Waring, _Ceramic
Art_, etc., pl. XLII, fig. 4_a_ 859
189. Ornamental Swastika on Etruscan silver bowl, Cervetri
(Cære), Etruria. Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XLI,
fig. 13 859
190. Bronze fibula with two Swastikas (supposed rays of sun),
Etruria. Copenhagen Museum. Goblet d'Alviella. One-fourth
natural size. De Mortillet, _Musée Préhistorique_, fig.
1263 859
191. Pottery urn ornamented with successive bands, in intaglio,
two of which bands are Swastikas. Necropolis Arnoaldi,
Italy, Museum of Bologna. Gozzadini, _Scavi Archæologici_,
etc., pl. IV, fig. 8 860
192. Fragment of pottery, row of Swastikas in intaglio,
Necropole Felsinea, Italy, Museum of Bologna. Gozzadini,
_Due Sepolcri_, etc., p. 7, one-half natural size 860
193. Swastika sign on clay bobbin. Type Villanova, Bologna.
Gozzadini Coll. De Mortillet, _Musée Préhistorique_,
fig. 1239 860
194. Pottery vase ornamented with bronze nail heads in form
of Swastika. Este, Italy. _Matériaux_, etc., 1884, p. 14 861
195. Fragment of pottery with Swastika stamped in relief 861
196. Stamp for making Swastika sign on pottery. Swiss lake
dwelling of Bourget, Savoy, Musée de Chambéry. Chantre,
_Age du Bronze_, figs. 53 and 55; and Keller, _Lake
Dwellings of Europe_, etc., pl. CLXI, fig. 3 861
197. Fragment of ceinture, thin bronze, repoussé, with
Swastikas of various kinds; Tumulus Alsace. Bronze Age,
Halstattien epoch. De Mortillet, _Musée Préhistorique_,
fig. 1255 862
198. Fragment of ceinture of thin bronze, openwork with
intricate Swastikas; Tumulus of Metzstetten, Wurtemburg.
Museum of Stuttgart, Halstattien epoch. De Mortillet,
_Musée Préhistorique_, fig. 1257, and Chantre, _Caucasus_,
etc., vol. II, p. 50, fig. 25 862
199. Bronze fibula, the body of which forms a Swastika. Museum
of Mayence. De Mortillet, _Musée Préhistorique_, fig. 1206 862
200. Sepulchral urn with Swastika. North Germany. Lisch &
Schröter, Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. VII, fig. 94 862
201. Spearhead with Swastika, _Croix swasticale_ and
triskelion. Brandenburg, Germany. Waring, _Ceramic Art_,
etc., pl. XLIV, fig. 21. _Viking Age_, Vol. II, fig. 336 863
202. Bronze pin with Swastika, _pointillé_, from mound in
Bavaria. Chantre, _Matériaux_, 1884, pp. 14, 120 863
203. Runic inscription on bronze sword, inlaid with silver.
Saebo, Norway. One of the characters is a Swastika 864
204_a_. Swastika with dots. Torcello, Italy. Du Chaillu,
_Viking Age_, vol. II, fig. 335 865
204_b_. Runic inscription on spearhead. Torcello, Italy. Du
Chaillu, _Viking Age_, vol. II, fig. 335 865
205. Redding comb with Swastika. Scandinavia 865
206. Bronze brooch or fibula with combination of Swastikas.
Scandinavia 865
207. Bronze brooch with Swastikas (tetraskelions), right and
left; triskelion, left. Scandinavia 866
208. Plaque for ceinture with buckle, two ogee Swastikas
(tetraskelions) 866
209. Scandinavian sword scabbard with two ogee Swastikas
(tetraskelions), right and left 866
210. Scandinavian sword scabbard with ogee Swastika 866
211. Scandinavian sword scabbard, two triskelions, right and
left 866
212. Gold brooch with ogee Swastika. Island of Fyen. Waring,
_Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XLIII, fig. 11 867
213. Scandinavian bronze silver-plated horse gear with three
Swastikas, one elaborate. Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc.,
pl. XLIV, fig. 16 867
214. Scandinavian sword scabbard with normal Swastika. Vimose
bog find 867
215. Sculptured stone with Greek cross in circle, normal
Swastika in square, and ogee Swastika in _quatrefoil_ 868
216. Fragment of thin bronze, repoussé, ogee Swastika. Ireland.
Dr. R. Munro, _Lake Dwellings of Europe_, pl. 124, figs.
20-22 868
217. Fragment of thin bronze, triskelion. Ireland. Munro,
_Lake Dwellings of Europe_, p. 384, pl. 124, figs. 20-22 868
218. Bronze pin with small normal Swastika on head. Crannog of
Lochlee, Tarbolton, Scotland. Munro, _Lake Dwellings of
Europe_, p. 417 868
219. Carved triskelion found on fragment of ash wood. Crannog
of Lochlee, Tarbolton, Scotland. Munro, _Lake Dwellings
of Europe_, p. 415 869
220. Stone altar with Swastika on pedestal. France. Museum of
Toulouse. De Mortillet, _Musée Préhistorique_, fig. 1267 869
221. Pottery bottle of dark gray with Swastika, and decoration
in white barbotine. Gallo-Roman epoch. Museum of Rouen.
De Mortillet, _Musée Préhistorique_, fig. 1246 870
222. Anglo-Saxon bronze gilt fibula, simulation of Swastika.
Long Wittenham, Berkshire 870
223. Pottery urn with band of twenty Swastikas made by hand.
White on blackish ground. Shropham, Norfolk. British
Museum. Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. III, fig. 50 871
224. Lycian coin, triskelion, with three arms representing
cocks' heads and necks 871
225, 226. Lycian coins, triskelions, with central dots and
circles, 480 B. C. Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XLII,
figs. 12 and 13 871
227. Sicilian coin with quadriga and triskelion, 336-280
B. C. _Coins of the Ancients_, Brit. Mus., pl. XXXV,
fig. 28 873
228. Warrior's shield, from a Greek vase, Achilles and Hector,
Agrigentum, Sicily. Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XLII,
fig. 24 873
229. Corinthian coin with punch mark resembling Swastika.
Obverse and reverse 876
230. Ancient Hindu coin. A cross with Swastika on extremity of
each arm. Cunningham, Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XLI,
fig. 18 877
231, 232, 233, 234. Ancient Hindu coins with Swastikas, normal
and ogee. Cunningham, Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XLI,
figs. 20, 21, 22, 23 877
235. Ancient coin with Swastika. Gaza, Palestine. Waring,
_Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. XLII, fig. 6 878
236. Gold bracteate with Jain Swastika. Denmark. Thomson,
_Atlas_, Table VII. Waring, _Ceramic Art_, etc., pl. I,
fig. 9 878
237. Shell gorget with engraved Swastika, circles, and dots.
Mound on Fains Island, Tennessee. Cat. No. 62928, U. S.
N. M 880
238. Engraved shell with Swastika, circles, and dots. Toco
Mound, Monroe County, Tenn. Cat. No. 115624, U. S. N. M. 880
239. Shell gorget. Two fighting figures, triangular
breech-clout, dots and circles, three garters and
anklets. From mound on Fains Island; associated with
fig. 237. Cat. No. 62930, U. S. N. M. _Third Ann. Rep.
Bur. Ethnol._, 1881-82, p. 452, fig. 128 885
240. Copper plate. Etowah Mound, Georgia. Cat. No. 91113, U.
S. N. M. _Fifth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1883-84 886
241. Copper plate. Repoussé work. Etowah Mound, Georgia. Cat.
No. 91117, U. S. N. M. 887
242. Engraved shell. Triangular breech-clout, with dots and
circles. Etowah Mound, Georgia. Cat. No. 91443, U. S.
N. M. 888
243. Copper plate repoussé (eagle). Mound in Union County,
Ill. Cat. No. 91507, U. S. N. M. 889
244. Swastika cross of thin copper. Hopewell Mound, Ross
County, Ohio. One-fourth natural size 889
245. Flat ring of thin copper. Hopewell Mound, Ross County,
Ohio. One-fifth natural size 889
246. Stencil ornament of thin copper. Hopewell Mound, Ross
County, Ohio. One-eighth natural size 889
247. Stencil ornament of thin copper. Hopewell Mound, Ross
County, Ohio. One-fourth natural size 890
248. Fish ornament of thin copper. Hopewell Mound, Ross
County, Ohio. One-sixth natural size 890
249. Lozenge-shaped stencil of thin copper. Hopewell Mound,
Ross County, Ohio. Three-fourths natural size 890
250. Spool-shaped object of copper. Repoussé and intaglio
decoration. Hopewell Mound, Ross County, Ohio. Natural
size 891
251. Fragment of engraved bone representing a paroquet.
Hopewell Mound, Ross County, Ohio. Natural size 892
252. Fragment of engraved bone probably representing a
Mississippi kite or leather-back turtle. Hopewell
Mound, Ross County, Ohio. Natural size 892
253. Fragment of engraved bone probably representing an
otter with a fish in his mouth. Hopewell Mound, Ross
County, Ohio. Natural size 893
254. Water jug, red on yellow, Swastika in center. Poinsett
County, Ark. Cat. No. 91230, U. S. N. M. 893
255. Kansa Indian war chart. Swastika, sign for winds and
wind songs. J. Owen Dorsey, _Am. Naturalist_, July,
1885, p. 670 894
256. Dance rattle, small gourd in black, white, and red,
ogee Swastika on each side. Cat. No. 42042, U. S. N. M.
_Second Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1880-81, fig. 562 896
257. Pima Indian war shield with ogee Swastika (tetraskelion)
in three stripes of color, (1) blue, (2) red, (3) white.
Cat. No. 27829, U. S. N. M. 900
258. Pima Indian war shield with ogee Swastika. The hole near
the lower arm of the Swastika was made by an arrow shot.
(Property of F. W. Hodge) 900
259. Colonial patchwork with pattern resembling Swastika.
_Scribner's Magazine_, September, 1894 901
260. Fragment of the foot of a stone metate with Swastika.
Nicaragua. Cat. No. 23726, U. S. N. M. 902
261. Fragment of stone slab with ogee Swastika (tetraskelion)
from ancient Maya city of Mayapan. Inscription translated
as "fire" by Le Plongeon. _Proc. Amer. Antiq. Soc._, April
21, 1881 903
262. Different forms of Swastika, placed together for comparison 905
263. Shell gorget, cross, circle, sun rays (?), and the heads
of four ivory-billed woodpeckers (?) arranged to form a
Swastika. Mississippi 906
264. Shell gorget from Tennessee 907
265. Shell gorget from Tennessee 907
266. Shell gorget from Tennessee 908
267. Scalloped shell disk (_Fulgur_), with three spiral volutes
(triskelion). From mound near Nashville, Tenn. 909
268. Scalloped shell disk with circles, dots, and four spiral
volutes (tetraskelion). Mound near Nashville, Tenn. 910
269. Shell disk, unfinished engraving, dot and circle in
center, and ogee Swastika (tetraskelion) marked, but not
completed. Brakebill mound, near Knoxville, Tenn. 911
270, 271. Engraved shell disk (obverse and reverse) with
three-armed volutes (triskelion) 911
272. Engraved shell disk with three-armed volute or spiral
Swastika (triskelion). From mounds in Tennessee 912
273. Engraved shell disk. Three-armed volute (triskelion).
Tennessee 912
274. Engraved shell disk. Three-armed volute (triskelion).
Tennessee 913
275, 276, 277, 278. Engraved shell gorgets (_Fulgur_)
representing the spider, with circles and Greek
crosses. From stone graves and mounds in
Illinois and Tennessee 913, 914, 915
279. Engraved shell gorget (_Fulgur_) representing
rattlesnake. From McMahon mound, Tennessee. _Second
Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1880-81, pl. LXIII 915
280, 281, 282, 283, 284, 285. Engraved shells (_Fulgur_)
with representations of the human face. (For
comparison.) From Tennessee and Virginia 916, 917
286. Engraved shell (_Fulgur_). Human figure. McMahon
mound, Tennessee. (For comparison.) _Second Ann. Rep.
Bur. Ethnol._, 1880-81, pl. LXXI 917
287. Engraved shell (_Fulgur_). Human figure. (For
comparison.) Mound in Tennessee. _Second Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1880-81, pl. LXXII 918
288. Engraved shell gorget (_Fulgur_). Human figure. (For
comparison.) Missouri. _Second Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._,
1880-81, pl. LXXIII 919
289. Pottery vessel, with four-armed volute, ogee Swastika,
(tetraskelion). Arkansas. One-third natural size 920
290. Pottery vessel, four volutes resembling Swastika. Pecan
Point, Ark. One-third natural size 920
291. Pottery vessel, animal shaped, volutes, nine arms. Pecan
Point, Ark. One-third natural size 920
292. Pottery bowl, volutes with many arms. Arkansas.
One-third natural size 921
293. Pottery vase, volutes. Arkansas 921
294. Tripod pottery vase, four-armed volutes making spiral
Swastika. Arkansas. One-third natural size 922
295. Pottery bowl with spiral Swastika, five arms, in bottom.
Poinsett County, Ark. Cat. No. 114035, U. S. N. M. Two
views, top and side 923
296. Vessel of black ware, spiral scroll. Arkansas 924
297. Pottery bowl, bird shaped with three parallel incised
lines with ribbon fold. Charleston, Mo. 924
298. Pottery bottle with three parallel incised lines turning
with ribbon fold. Charleston, Mo. 925
299. Basket work with many armed volutes. _Fourth Ann. Rep.
Bur. Ethnol._, 1882-83, fig. 485 925
300. Engraved shell gorget disk. Greek cross resembling
Swastika, incised lines. Mound, Union County, Ill. 926
301. Engraved shell gorget with Greek cross. Charleston,
Mo. _Second Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1880-81, pl. LI,
fig. 2 927
302. Engraved shell gorget disk. Greek cross, inchoate
Swastika. _Second Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1880-81,
Pl. LII, fig. 3 928
303. Fragment of copper disk. Greek cross in center circle.
Ohio. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., N. Y. _Second Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1880-81, pl. LII, fig. 4 928
304. Engraved shell disk gorget, rude cross with many dots.
Lick Creek, Tenn. _Second Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._,
1880-81, pl. LII, fig. 2 929
305. Engraved shell, Greek cross, hatched. Caldwell County,
N. C. Cat. No. 83169, U. S. N. M. 929
306. Engraved shell three-armed (triskelion). Lick Creek,
Tenn. Cat. No. 83170, U. S. N. M. 929
307. Drilled and engraved shell or "runtee" with dotted
Greek cross in circle. Arizona 930
308. Drilled and engraved shell or "runtee," dots and rings
forming circle and Greek cross. Ohio 930
309. Drilled and engraved shell or "runtee," dots and rings
forming circle and Greek cross. New York 930
310. Pottery jar with crosses, encircling rays and scallops.
_Third Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1881-82, fig. 188 931
311. Olla, decorated with Greek and Maltese crosses. _Second
Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1880-81, fig. 708 932
312. Pottery water vessel, Maltese cross. _Second Ann. Rep.
Bur. Ethnol._, 1880-81, fig. 642 932
313. Pottery vase finely decorated in red and white glaze.
Mexico. Maltese cross with sun symbol (?). Cat. No.
132975, U. S. N. M. 933
314. Greek cross representing winds from cardinal points.
Dakota Indians. _Tenth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1888-89,
fig. 1225 934
315. The cross in connection with circle. Sun symbols (?).
Petroglyphs _a_ to _f_, Hopi Indians, Oakley Springs,
Ariz.; _g_, Maya Indians. _Tenth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._,
1888-89, figs. 1118, 1120, and 1126 935
316. Circles and rays, probably representing sun symbols. _a_
to _f_, Hopi Indians, Oakley Springs, Ariz.; _g_ to
_k_--Ojibways 935
317. Crosses with circles, star symbols. Oakley Springs, Ariz. 936
318. Star symbol, circle and rays without cross. Oakley
Springs, Ariz. 936
319. Crosses, circles, and squares representing lodges.
Dakota Indians 936
320. Latin cross representing dragon fly. Dakota Indians 936
321. Double cross of six arms, representing dragon fly. Moki
Indians, Arizona. _Tenth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._,
1888-89, fig. 1165 937
322. Crosses representing flocks of birds, Eskimos. Cat. Nos.
44211 and 45020, U. S. N. M. _Tenth Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1888-89, fig. 1228 937
323. Large white Greek cross, petroglyph. Tulare Valley,
California. _Tenth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1888-89,
fig. 1229 937
324. Petroglyphs from Owens Valley, California. _a_, _b_,
Greek cross; _c_, double Latin cross; _d_ to _f_, Latin
crosses representing human figures. _Tenth Ann. Rep.
Bur. Ethnol._, 1888-89, fig. 1230 938
325. Cross in zigzag lines representing human form. Navajo
Indians 938
326. Maltese cross (?), representing a woman; breath in the
center 939
327. Maltese and St. Andrew's crosses, emblems of maidenhood.
Moki Indians 939
328. Cross with bifurcated foot representing human form.
Shaman, Innuits 939
329. St. Andrew's crosses, symbol for wood. _Tenth Ann. Rep.
Bur. Ethnol._, 1888-89, fig. 1233 940
330. Graphic delineation of the alligator, from a vase of the
lost-color group. Chiriqui. Holmes, _Sixth Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1884-85, fig. 257 941
331. Graphic delineation of the alligator, from a vase of the
lost-color group. Chiriqui. Holmes, _Sixth Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1884-85, fig. 258 941
332. Conventional figure of alligator, from lost-color ware.
Chiriqui. Holmes, _Sixth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._,
1884-85, fig. 259 942
333. Conventional figure of alligator crowded into a short
rectangular space. Chiriqui. Holmes, _Sixth Ann. Rep.
Bur. Ethnol._, 1884-85, fig. 265 942
334. Conventional figure of alligator crowded into a circle.
Chiriqui. Holmes, _Sixth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._,
1884-85, fig. 266 942
335. Series of figures of alligators, showing stages of
simplification. Chiriqui. Holmes, _Sixth Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1884-85, fig. 277 943
336. Series showing stages in the simplification of animal
characters, beginning with the alligator and ending with
the Greek cross. Chiriqui. Holmes, _Sixth Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1884-85, fig. 278 943
337 to 342. Terra-cotta color stamps, Mexico, with designs
similar to the Swastika. Cat. Nos. 99124, 99127, 27887,
99115, 99118, and 99122, U. S. N. M. 946
343. Terra-cotta color stamps, with designs similar to the
Swastika. Piaroa Indians, Venezuela. _Tenth Ann. Rep.
Bur. Ethnol._, 1888-89, fig. 982, p. 621 947
344. Modern churn lid with design resembling Swastika. Lapland 956
345. Stone spindle-whorl, Neolithic. Swiss lake dwelling. Cat.
No. 100641, U. S. N. M. 967
346. Stone spindle-whorl, Neolithic. Swiss lake dwelling. Cat.
No. 100641, U. S. N. M. 967
347. Stone spindle-whorl, Neolithic. Lund, Sweden. Cat. No.
5281, U. S. N. M. 967
348. Terra-cotta spindle-whorl, Neolithic or Bronze Age. Swiss
lake dwelling. Cat. No. 100642, U. S. N. M. 967
349. Terra-cotta spindle-whorl, Neolithic or Bronze Age. Swiss
lake dwelling. Cat. No. 100642, U. S. N. M. 968
350. Terra-cotta spindle-whorl, Swiss lake dwelling. Cat. No.
100642, U. S. N. M. 968
351, 352, 353. Prehistoric terra-cotta spindle-whorls.
Orvieto, Italy. Cat. No. 101671, 101672, U. S. N. M. 968
354, 355. Prehistoric spindle-whorls. Corneto, Italy. Cat.
No. 101773, U. S. N. M. 968
356. Modern spindle and whorl used for spinning thread.
Würtemberg, Germany. 969
357. Terra-cotta spindle-whorl design similar to Swastika.
Valley of Mexico. Cat. No. 27875, U. S. N. M. 970
358. Mexican terra-cotta spindle-whorl design similar to
Swastika. 971
359. Terra-cotta spindle-whorl. Omotepe Island, Nicaragua.
Cat. No. 28899, U. S. N. M. 971
360. Terra-cotta spindle-whorl. Omotepe Island, Nicaragua.
Cat. No. 28898, U. S. N. M. 971
361. Terra-cotta spindle-whorl. Granada, Nicaragua. Cat. No.
23295, U. S. N. M. 972
362. Terra-cotta spindle-whorl. Malacate, Zapatera Island,
Nicaragua. Cat. No. 29009, U. S. N. M. 972
363. Spindle-whorl, gray clay decorated with annular nodes.
Chiriqui. Holmes, _Sixth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._,
1884-85, fig. 218 972
364. Spindle-whorl of gray clay with animal figures. Chiriqui.
Holmes, _Sixth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol._, 1884-85, fig. 219 973
365. Spindle-whorl of dark clay with perforations and incised
ornaments. Chiriqui. Holmes, _Sixth Ann. Rep. Bur.
Ethnol._, 1884-85, fig. 220 973
366. Terra-cotta spindle-whorl. Manizales, Colombia, South
America. Cat. No. 16838, U. S. N. M. 973
367. Bobbin or spool for winding thread (?). Type Villanova,
Corneto, Italy. U. S. N. M. 975
368. Terra-cotta bobbin or spool for winding thread (?). Type
Villanova, Bologna, Italy. Cat. No. 101771, U. S. N. M. 975
369. Bobbin (?). Mound near Maysville, Ky. Cat. No. 16748,
U. S. N. M. 976
370. Bobbin (?). Lexington, Ky. Cat. No. 16691, U. S. N. M. 976
371. Bobbin (?). Lewis County, Ky. Fine-grained sandstone.
Cat. No. 59681, U. S. N. M. 976
372. Bobbin (?). End views. Fine-grained sandstone. Maysville,
Ky. Cat. No. 16747, U. S. N. M. 977
373. Woman's woolen dress found in oak coffin. Borum-Eshoi,
Denmark. _Rep. Smithsonian Inst._ (U. S. N. M.), 1892,
pl. CI, fig. 2 978
374. Detail of woven cloth shown in the preceding figure.
Denmark. _Rep. Smithsonian Inst._ (U. S. N. M.), pl. CI,
fig. 3 979
MAP.
Facing page.
Distribution of the Swastika 904
CHART.
Page.
Showing the probable introduction of the Swastika into
different countries 794
FOOTNOTES:
[1] William Berry, Encyclopædia Heraldica, 1828-1840.
[2] Higgins, "Anacalypsis," London, 1836, I, p. 230.
[3] "Des Sciences et Religion," p. 256.
[4] R. P. Greg, "The Fylfot and Swastika," Archæologia, XLVIII, part 2,
1885, p. 298; Goblet d'Alviella, "Migration des Symboles," p. 50
[5] Stephens, "Old Northern Runic Monuments," part II, p. 509; Ludwig
Müller, quoted on p. 778 of this paper; Goblet d'Alviella, "La Migration
des Symboles," p. 45; Haddon, "Evolution in Art," p. 288.
[6] Page 12.
[7] "La Migration des Symboles," pp. 21, 22.
[8] "Le Culte de la Croix avant Jésus-Christ," in the Correspondant,
October 25, 1889, and in Science Catholique, February 15, 1890, p. 163.
[9] Same authorities.
[10] Page 316, et seq.
[11] The native Buddhist monarchs ruled from about B. C. 500 to the
conquest of Alexander, B. C. 330. See "The Swastika on ancient coins,"
Chapter II of this paper, and Waring, "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," p. 83.
[12] "La Migration des symboles," p. 104.
[13] "Ilios," pp. 347, 348.
[14] Bulletins de la Sociètè d'Anthropologie, 1888, p. 678.
[15] Mr. Gandhi makes the same remark in his letter on the Buddha shell
statue shown in pl. 10 of this paper.
[16] "Ilios," p. 348.
[17] "Lotus de la Bonne Loi," App. VIII, p. 626, note 4.
[18] Archæologia, p. 36.
[19] Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain, III, p.
120.
[20] "Lotus de la Bonne Loi," App. VIII, p. 625, note 2.
[21] "Lotus de la Bonne Loi," p. 626.
[22] "Notes on the Religious, Moral, and Political state of India," Journ.
Asiatic Soc. Great Britain, VI, pp. 310-334.
[23] Low, Trans. Roy. Asiatic Soc. of Great Britain, III, pp. 334, 310.
[24] Ibid., p. 299.
[25] Ibid., p. 299.
[26] Low, Trans. Royal Asiatic Soc. of Great Britain, III, p. 310.
[27] Indian Antiquary, II, May, 1873, p. 135.
[28] "Bilsa Topes," p. 17.
[29] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," p. 12.
[30] Tenth Congress International d'Anthropologie et d'Archæologie
Prehistoriques, Paris, 1889, p. 474.
[31] Archæologia, XLVII, pt. 1, p. 159.
[32] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," p. 11.
[33] See explanation of the Swastika by Mr. Gandhi according to the Jain
tenets, p. 804.
[34] "Ilios," p. 353.
[35] "Alphabetum Tibetarium," Rome, 1762, pp. 211, 460, 725.
[36] Rockhill, "Diary of a Journey through Mongolia and Tibet,"
Smithsonian Institution, Washington, 1894, p. 67.
[37] "Des Sciences et Religion," pp. 252, 257.
[38] Vol. XI.
[39] "La Migration des Symboles," pp. 61-63.
[40] Archæologia, XLVIII, pt. 2, pp. 322, 323.
[41] "Early History of Mankind," p. 257, note C.
[42] "The Book of the Sword," p. 202, note 2.
[43] Burnouf, "Des Sciences et Religion," p. 18.
[44] The two pieces of wood of _Ficus religiosa_, used for kindling fire.
[45] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 63.
[46] Archæologia, XLIII, pt. 2, pp. 324, 325.
[47] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 64.
[48] "Fylfot and Swastika," Archæologia, 1885, p. 293.
[49] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 65.
[50] "Le Dieu gaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de la roue," Paris, 1886.
[51] Proc. Amer. Philosoph. Soc., 1889, pp. 177-187.
[52] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages."
[53] "The Book of the Sword," p. 202.
[54] Trans. Lancaster and Cheshire Antiq. Soc., 1886.
[55] Haddon, "Evolution in Art," London, 1895, p. 288.
[56] Sampson, Low, Marston & Co., London.
[57] Goodyear, "The Grammar of the Lotus," pp. 4, 5.
[58] Ibid., p. 6.
[59] Goodyear, "The Grammar of the Lotus," pp. 7, 8.
[60] Ibid., p. 71.
[61] Ibid., pp. 74, 77.
[62] "Age du Bronze," Deuxieme partie, p. 301.
[63] Matériaux pour l'Histoire Primitive et Naturelle de l'Homme, 3d ser.,
VIII, p. 6.
[64] "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 8, p. 81.
[65] Ibid., pp. 82-94.
[66] Ibid., p. 96.
[67] Ibid., pl. X, figs. 7-9, p. 97.
[68] Ibid., p. 354.
[69] Ibid., p. 353.
[70] Ibid., p. 354, fig. 174.
[71] Cesnola, "Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples," p. 410.
[72] "Industrial Arts of India," p. 107.
[73] "Zur Geschichte der Swastika."
[74] "La Migration des Symboles," chap. 2, pt. 3, p. 66.
[75] Ibid., p. 67.
[76] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 69.
[77] Ibid., p. 71.
[78] "La Migration des Symboles," pp. 72, 75, 77.
[79] Ibid., p. 61.
[80] Athenæum, August 20, 1892, p. 266.
[81] Numismatic Chronicle, 1880, XX, pp. 18-48.
[82] Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., III, pl. 9.
[83] London, 1880.
[84] Rawlinson, "Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia," V, pl. 60;
Trans. Soc. Biblical Archæology, VIII, p. 165.
[85] "History of Art in Chaldea and Assyria," I, p. 200, fig. 71.
[86] Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, pp. 674, 675.
[87] Archæologia, XLVIII, pt. 2, p. 326.
[88] Proc. Amer. Philosoph. Soc., 1889, XXIX, p. 180.
[89] Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, January, 1895,
pp. 81, 85.
[90] "La Migration des Symboles," pl. 3.
[91] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 93.
[92] Ibid., p. 107.
[93] "Ilios," p. XXI.
[94] Ibid., p. 352.
[95] Ibid., p. 353.
[96] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 43.
[97] "Peintures céramiques de la Grèce propre." I, pl. XV, fig. 17.
[98] "Histoire de l'art dans l'antiquité," III, figs. 513, 515, 518.
[99] Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, December 6, 1888, pp. 669, 679, 680.
[100] "Grammar of the Lotus," p. 318 et seq.
[101] Archæologia, XLVII, pt. 1, p. 159.
[102] "Ages Prehistorique de l'Espagne et du Portugal," pp. 285-293.
[103] Ibid., p. 286.
[104] Ibid., p. 293.
[105] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," p. 13.
[106] Proc. Amer. Philosoph. Soc., 1889, XXIX, p. 179.
[107] "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1230; Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris,
1886, pp. 299, 313, 314.
[108] "Catalogue of Oriental Porcelain and Pottery," pl. 11, fig. 139.
[109] De Morgan, "Au Caucase," fig. 180.
[110] "Pottery and Porcelain," p. 254.
[111] "Ilios," p. 352.
[112] "Le Swastika et la roue solaire en Chine," Revue d'Ethnographie, IV,
pp. 319, 350.
[113] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 35.
[114] New York Independent, November 16, 1893; Science, March 23, 1894, p.
162.
[115] "Diary of a Journey through Mongolia and Tibet in 1891-92," p. 67.
[116] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 55, citing note I, Journ. Asiatique,
2{e} série, IV, p. 245, and Pallas, "Sammlungen historischer Nachrichten
über die mongolischen Völkerschaften," I, p. 277.
[117] Ibid., p. 55.
[118] "Des Sciences et Religion," p. 256.
[119] "Introduction to Popular Religion and Folk Lore of North India," p.
58.
[120] Trubner & Co., London, 1883, pp. 140, pl. 60.
[121] "Âge du Bronze," pt. 1, p. 206.
[122] "Musée Préhistorique," pl. 98; "Notes de l'Origine Orientale de la
Métallurgie," Lyon, 1879; "L'Âge de la Pierre et du Bronze dans l'Asie
Occidentale," Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Lyon, I, fasc. 2, 1882; Bull. Soc.
d'Anthrop. de Paris, 1886, pp. 299, 313, and 314.
[123] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages."
[124] "La Migration des Symboles," pp. 51, 52.
[125] "Det Saakaldte Hagebors," Copenhagen, 1877.
[126] "La Migration des Symboles," pp. 51, 52.
[127] Bull. de la Soc. d'Anthrop., December 6, 1888, XI, p. 671.
[128] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 51.
[129] "Histoire de l'Art dans l'Antiquité," IV.
[130] "Mission Scientifique au Caucase."
[131] "Recherches Anthropologiques dans le Caucase," tome deuxième,
période protohistorique, Atlas, pl. 11, fig. 3.
[132] Count Goblet d'Alviella, "La Migration des Symboles," p. 51.
[133] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 41, figs. 5 and 6.
[134] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 42, fig. 20_c_.
[135] "Mines de l'Orient," V.
[136] Harper's Magazine, August, 1895.
[137] Bulletins de la Soc. d'Anthrop., 1888, II, p. 678.
[138] Dixième Congrès International d'Anthropologie et d'Archéologie
Préhistorique, Paris, 1889, p. 474.
[139] "Ilios," pp. 229, 350, note 1.
[140] Ibid., figs. 63-70, p. 229.
[141] Ibid., p. 303.
[142] All spindle-whorls from the hill of Hissarlik are represented
one-half natural size.
[143] Archæologia, XLVIII, pt. 2, p. 322.
[144] "Ilios," pp. 518, 571.
[145] "Ilios," fig. 1852.
[146] Ibid., p. 573.
[147] Tenth Congr. Inter. d'Anthrop. et d'Archæol. Prehist., Paris, 1889,
p. 474.
[148] "Ilios," p. 418.
[149] See p. 786.
[150] "Ilios," fig. 226, p. 337.
[151] Ibid., p. 694.
[152] Ibid., p. 338.
[153] See p. 795.
[154] Genesis i, 28.
[155] Genesis viii, 17; ix, 7.
[156] Genesis iii, 16.
[157] Genesis xiii, 16; xv, 5.
[158] "Ilios," preface, p. xi.
[159] "Ilios," app. 1, p. 685.
[160] Ibid., app. 6, p. 379.
[161] "Troja," p. xii.
[162] "La Migration des Symboles," pp. 51, 52.
[163] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," p. 82.
[164] Archæologia, XLVII, pt. 1, p. 159.
[165] "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 30, figs. 2 and 10, p. 356.
[166] "Les Tapisseries Coptes," sec. 4, pp. 5, 6.
[167] Forrer, "Die Gräber-und Textilfunde von Achmim-Panopolis," p. 20.
[168] Bull. Soc. Française de numism. et d'archéol., II, pl. 3, p. 3.
[169] "Ilios," p. 353.
[170] See p. 845.
[171] "Grammar of the Lotus," p. 352.
[172] Goodyear, "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 61, fig. 1.
[173] See p. 795.
[174] Matériaux pour l'Histoire Primitive et Naturelle de l'Homme, XVIII,
p. 14.
[175] Athenic vases painted by Andokides, about 525 B. C., represent the
dress of the goddess, ornamented with Swastika and _Croix swasticale_. Am.
Journ. Archæol., January-March, 1896, XI, No. 1, figs. 9, 11.
[176] "Grammar of the Lotus," pp. 348, 353.
[177] "Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples," pl. 45, fig. 36.
[178] "History of Art in Phenicia and Cyprus," II, p. 302, fig. 239.
[179] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 42, fig. 2.
[180] "Troja," p. 123.
[181] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," frontispiece, fig. 3, and p. 115.
[182] Matériaux pour l'Histoire Primitive et Naturelle de l'Homme, 1881,
XVI, p. 416.
[183] Another Rhodian vase, similar in style, with Swastikas, is shown in
the "Grammar of the Lotus," pl. 37, fig. 4.
[184] G. Hirschfield, "Vasi archaici Ateniesi," Annali dell' Instituto di
corrispondenza archæologica, 1872, Tav. d'Ag. K. 6, 52.
[185] Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, pp. 674-675.
[186] Ibid., p. 675.
[187] "Salaminia," p. 240, fig. 226.
[188] Aphrodite = Phenician Ashtoreth, Astarte = Babylonian Ishtar.
[189] See p. 773.
[190] Archæologia, XLVIII, pt. 2, p. 305.
[191] Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 679.
[192] "Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria," I, p. 69.
[193] Ibid., II, p. 457.
[194] Annali dell' Instituto, Rome, 1871, pp. 239-279; Bulletino
Instituto, Rome, 1871, pp. 31-52; Pigorini and Sir John Lubbock, "Notes on
Hut Urns and other objects from Marino," London, 1869; Virchow, "Die
Huttenuruen von Marino," Berlin, 1883.
[195] "Troja," p. 122.
[196] "Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria," I, p. lxxxix.
[197] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 67.
[198] See p. 786.
[199] "Ilios," p. 352.
[200] There are bronze hatchets from Italy, with Swastikas in intaglio and
in relief, in Musée St. Germain. De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique,"
figs. 1153, 1154.
[201] "Lake Dwellings," pl. 161, figs. 3, 4.
[202] "Age du Bronze," pt. 2, figs. 53-55, p. 195.
[203] Zeitschrift für Ethnographie, Berlin, 1871 and 1876.
[204] Coll. Majlath Bela; Hampel, "Antiquités Préhistoriques de la
Hongrie;" Erztergom, 1877, pl. 20, No. 3.
[205] Hampel, "Catalogue de l'Exposition des Musées des Provinces,"
Budapest, 1876, p. 17; Schliemann, "Ilios," p. 352.
[206] Matériaux pour l'Histoire Primitive et Naturelle de l'Homme, 1884,
pp. 14, 120.
[207] "Old Northern Runic Monuments," pt. 3, p. 407.
[208] Proceedings of the Eighth Session, I, pp. 457-460.
[209] Du Chaillu, "Viking Age," I, fig. 335.
[210] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 43, fig. 11; "Viking Age," II,
fig. 1311; Englehardt, "L'Ancien Age de Fer." fig. 28.
[211] Du Chaillu, "Viking Age," I, fig. 379.
[212] "Ogam Inscribed Monuments," p. 359, pl. xlix.
[213] Ibid., p. 358, pl. xlviii.
[214] Greg, Archæologia, XLVIII, pt. 2, pl. 19, fig. 27.
[215] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 49.
[216] Zmigrodzki, "Zur Geschichte der Suastika," taf. 6, fig. 248.
[217] "Lake Dwellings of Europe," p. 384, pl. 124, figs. 20-22.
[218] "L'Autel de Saintes et les triades gauloises," Revue Archæol., 1880,
XXXIX, p. 343.
[219] Institut Archæologique Liégeois, X, 1870, p. 106, pl. 13.
[220] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 47, fig. 13.
[221] See fig. 238.
[222] Archæologia, L, pt. 2, p. 406, pl. 23, fig. 7.
[223] Archæologia, XXXI.
[224] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 43, fig. 10.
[225] Ibid., pl. 3, fig. 50.
[226] See p. 787.
[227] "History of Art in Phrygia, Lydia, Caria, and Lycia," p. 391.
[228] An unique cast of this tripod is in the U. S. National Museum,
Department of Oriental Antiquities.
[229] The number of heads may have been regulated by the size of the coins
in question, probably answering to different values.
[230] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," p. 85.
[231] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 13, fig. 24.
[232] Ibid., pl. 13, fig. 21.
[233] Athenæum, No. 3385, September 10, 1892, p. 353.
[234] Debrett's "Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland."
[235] Snowden, "Mint Manual of Coins of all Nations," Introduction, pp.
ix-xiv; Ackerman, "Roman Coins," pl. 14.
[236] The Bisaltæ and Orrescii were Thracian tribes who dwelt in the
valleys of the Strymon and the Angites, to the north of the Pangæan Range.
[237] See p. 788.
[238] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," pl. 41, figs. 20-23.
[239] "Numismatic Chron.," (new series), IV.
[240] "La Migration des Symboles," figs. 17, 123.
[241] Edward Thomas, Journ. Royal Asiatic Soc. (new series), I, p. 475.
[242] "Ceramic Art in Remote Ages," p. 83.
[243] "Numismatic Chron.," pt. I, 1880. See p. 788 of this paper.
[244] Archæologia, XLVIII, pt. II, 1885, p. 306.
[245] Athenæum, August 20, 1892.
[246] "Viking Age," II, figs. 1307, 1309.
[247] Page 436, fig. 140.
[248] Proc. Royal Danish Acad. Sci., 5th ser., III, p. 94, fig. a; "La
Migration des Symboles," p. 50, fig. 16.
[249] Third Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1881-82, p. 464 et seq., figs.
139-141.
[250] This theory was first announced by Antonio de Montezinos and
published by MANASSEH ben ISRAEL in Amsterdam, 1636. In Leser Library,
Phil., and Cohen Library, Balto. Catalogued by Dr. Cyrus Adler. First
English Ed. by Moses Wall, London: 1651, republished by Dr. Grossmann, Am.
Jews' Annual, 1889, p. 83.
[251] Max Müller and Ohnefalsch-Richter agree with this. See pp. 772, 773
of this paper.
[252] Cf. Ghandi, p. 882, of this paper.
[253] Fifth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1883-84, pp. 96-106, figs. 42,
43, 45.
[254] These explorations were made for the Department of Ethnology at the
World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.
[255] "Prehistoric America," p. 22, note 24, fig. 9.
[256] "Primitive Industry," p. 32.
[257] American Naturalist, XIX, July, 1885, p. 670.
[258] Ibid., pl. 20.
[259] This was the last time I ever saw Mr. Dorsey. He died within a
month, beloved and regretted by all who knew him.
[260] "Troja," p. 123.
[261] "The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde, Southwestern Colorado," P. A.
Norstedt & Son, Chicago, 1893.
[262] From letter of Mr. Walter Hough, Winslow, Ariz. "I send you two
pieces of pottery [bearing many ogee Swastikas] from the ruins near here
formerly inhabited by the Moki. Many of the bowls which we have found in
this ruin had the Swastika as a major _motif_ in the decoration."
See also The Archæologist, III, No. 7, p. 248.
[263] "Troja," p. 122.
[264] The presence of the Swastika is the only purpose of this citation.
The correctness of the translation is not involved and is not vouched for.
[265] Equivalent to Istar of Assyria and Babylon, Astarte of Phenicia, to
the Greek Aphrodite, and the Roman Venus.
[266] Cited in "Misson Voyage d'Italie," tome 1, p. 217; Dulaure,
"Histoire des Differens Cultes," II; Brantône, "Dames Galantes"; Rabelais,
"Pantagruel," 3, chap. 35.
[267] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 59.
[268] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, p. 273, pl. 54.
[269] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, pl. 55, fig. 1.
[270] Ibid., pl. 55, fig. 2.
[271] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, p. 276, pl. 56, figs.
1, 2.
[272] Op. cit., p. 276, pl. 56, figs. 3, 5, 6.
[273] Op. cit., p. 281.
[274] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, pl. 61.
[275] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, pls. 69-73.
[276] Figs. 402, 413, 415, 416.
[277] Third Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 157.
[278] Fourth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1882-83, fig. 442.
[279] Fourth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1882-83, p. 343, fig. 331.
[280] Third Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1881-82, fig. 165.
[281] Ibid., pp. 502, 503, figs. 186, 189.
[282] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, p. 271, pl. 51, fig.
1.
[283] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, pp. 272, 273.
[284] Schoolcraft, "History of the Indian Tribes," III, pl. 25; Second
Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, pl. 36.
[285] Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, p. 33, pl. 14, fig. 7.
[286] "La Migration des Symboles," p. 18.
[287] Tenth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1888-89, figs. 1118-1129.
[288] Eighth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 283.
[289] Tenth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1888-89, fig. 1165.
[290] Ibid., fig. 1232.
[291] Ibid., fig. 1231.
[292] Ibid., p. 729.
[293] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 61.
[294] Contrib. North American Ethnology, V, p. 144.
[295] "Historia de Mexico," I, p. 238.
[296] Ninth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1887-88, p. 479.
[297] "Myths of the New World," p. 96.
[298] "Gaspesi," London, 1691, pp. 170, 172, 199.
[299] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, p. 270.
[300] Sixth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 173 et seq., figs. 257-278.
[301] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 269.
[302] Seventh Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 155.
[303] Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 269.
[304] Mem. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, 1890, p. 200.
[305] De Quatrefages, "Histoire Générale du Races Humaines," Introduction,
p. 239, figs. 185-191, 193-194.
[306] Goblet d'Alviella, "La Migration des Symboles," pp. 56, 57.
[307] Proc. Am. Philosoph. Soc., xxvi, p. 177.
[308] For general lack of knowledge of Swastika in modern times, see
Preface, p. 763.
[309] Finnische Ornamente. 1. Stichornamente. Heft 1-4. Soumalaisen
Kirjallisuuden Seura Helsingissä, 1894.
[310] Karl Blind, "Discovery of Odinic songs in Shetland," Nineteenth
Century, June, 1879, p. 1098, cited by Alfred C. Haddon in "Evolution in
Art," London, 1895, p. 285.
[311] Miss Fanny D. Bergen, in Scribner's Magazine, September, 1894.
[312] Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, October, 1893, p. 600.
[313] Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, pp. 461-462.
[314] De Mortillet, "Musée Préhistorique," fig. 1239.
[315] "Prehistoric Man," p. 601.
[316] The Basaltæ and Orrescii were Thracian tribes who dwelt in the
valleys of the Strymon and the Angites, to the north of the Pangæan Range.
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