Part 19 (1/2)

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLATE 18. FOLIUM VITUS (”FIG LEAVES”). Terra-cotta covers, ”tunga.” Aborigines of Brazil. Cat. Nos. 59089 and 36542, U. S. N. M.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 a.s.sociation with the square Swastikas which were turned indifferently to the right and left. This a.s.sociation 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 cla.s.sed 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 Sh.e.l.l.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 263. Sh.e.l.l GORGET. Cross, circle, sun's rays(?), and heads of four ivory-billed woodp.e.c.k.e.rs(?) arranged to form a Swastika.

Mississippi.]

The Department of Prehistoric Anthropology in the U. S. National Museum, contains a considerable number of large sh.e.l.ls of aboriginal workmans.h.i.+p.

The sh.e.l.l most employed was that of the genus _Fulgur_, a marine sh.e.l.l found on the coast from Florida to the capes. The _Unio_ was employed, as well as others. These marine sh.e.l.ls 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 sh.e.l.ls 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_ sh.e.l.l may have been by reason of its larger size. Among the patterns employed for the decoration of these sh.e.l.ls, 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 sh.e.l.lwork 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 sh.e.l.l, mostly from Mr. Holmes's paper on ”Art in Sh.e.l.l of the Ancient Americans.”

I desire to express my thanks for all cuts obtained from the Bureau publications.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 264. Sh.e.l.l GORGET FROM TENNESSEE. Square figure with ornamental corners and heads of ivory-billed woodp.e.c.k.e.r arranged to form a figure resembling the Swastika.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 265. Sh.e.l.l GORGET FROM TENNESSEE. Square figure with ornamental corners and heads of ivory-billed woodp.e.c.k.e.r arranged to form a figure resembling the Swastika.]

_Ivory-billed woodp.e.c.k.e.r._--A series of gorgets in sh.e.l.l 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 sh.e.l.l gorgets from Mississippi, which ”was, in all probability, obtained from one of the mult.i.tude 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 s.p.a.ces 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 woodp.e.c.k.e.r, 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, workmans.h.i.+p, and finish.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Fig. 266. Sh.e.l.l GORGET FROM TENNESSEE. Square figure with ornamental corners and heads of ivory-billed woodp.e.c.k.e.r arranged to form a figure resembling the Swastika.]

Figs. 264, 265, and 266,[267] represent three of these sh.e.l.l gorgets. The first was obtained by Professor Putnam from a stone grave, c.u.mberland 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 c.o.c.ks'