Aeon Goddess, the truth will set you free!
The truth shall set you free => Religion => Topic started by: Prometheus on March 04, 2018, 04:42:10 PM
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Should we discredit it because of a 10 year German Nazi period in 12-20.000 year of its history?
see also http://www.ancient-origins.net/searchall/swastika (http://www.ancient-origins.net/searchall/swastika)
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THE SWASTIKA, THE EARLIEST KNOWN SYMBOL, by Wilson, Thomas, 1832-1902;
AND ITS MIGRATIONS; WITH OBSERVATIONS ON THE
MIGRATION OP PERTAIN INDUSTRIES IN PREHISTORIC TIMES.
Curator, Department of Prehistoric Anthropology, IT. S. National Museum.
https://archive.org/details/theswastika00wilsuoft (https://archive.org/details/theswastika00wilsuoft)
see also
https://archive.org/details/onmeaningandori00londgoog (https://archive.org/details/onmeaningandori00londgoog)
On the Meaning and Origin of the Fylfot and Swastika.
by Robert Philips Greg , Society of Antiquaries of London 1884
and
Amulets and superstitions : the original texts with translations and descriptions of a long series of Egyptian, Sumerian, Assyrian, Hebrew, Christian, Gnostic and Muslim amulets and talismans and magical figures, with chapters on the evil eye, the origin of the amulet, the pentagon, the swastika, the cross (pagan and Christian), the properties of stones, rings, divination, numbers, the Kabbâlâh, ancient astrology, etc., bySir E. A. Wallis Budge ... 1930
by Budge, E. A. Wallis (Ernest Alfred Wallis), Sir, 1857-1934.
https://archive.org/details/b29978154 (https://archive.org/details/b29978154)
PREFACE.
An English gentleman, versed in prehistoric arclueology, visited me
in the summer of 1894, and during our conversation asked if wc 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, I)e Morgan, and Zmigrodzki, and
he said, “ Xo, 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 Encyclopedic Dic-
tionary, the Encyclopedia Britannica, Johnson’s Universal Cyclo-
pedia, the People’s Cyclopedia, 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 Archeology, Fairholt’s Dictionary of
Terms in Art, “L’Art Gothique,” by Gonza, Perrot and Chipiez’s exten-
sive histories of Art in Egypt, in Chaldea and Assyria, and in Phe-
nicia; 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 Encyclopedia the description is errone-
ous, 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 Insti-
tution 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 Swas-
tika, leaving to others the task of adjustment of these facts and their
763
764
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
arrangement into an harmonious theory. The only conclusion sought
[to be deduced from the facts stated is as to the possible migration in
v 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 jsfifne people; or they may have had no settled or
definite meaning./ But the Swastika wasjprobably the first to be madel
with a definite inWrtion and a continuous or consecutive meaning, the\
^knowledge of which passed from person to person, from tribe to tribe, \
j 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 intliis paper. The
uthor 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 con-
servative 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 pre-
historic more than to modern times, and extends to nearly all the coun-
tries 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
_ilie 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.
THE SWASTIKA.
765
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 xieople, 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 cer-
tain 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
It is not the purpose of this paper to give a history of the cross, but
the x>rincipal forms are shown by way of introduction to a study of -the..
A Swastika.
Ij The Latin cross, Crux immissa, (fig. 1) is found on coins, medals, and
5 ornaments anterior to the Christian era. It was on this cross that^
•f Christ is said to have been crucified, and thus it became accepted as
J the Christian cross.
[ The Greek cross (fig. 2) with arms of equal length crossing at rigbtj
j 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.
Fig. 1.
latin cross (Crux irnmixsa).
GREEK CROSS.
Fig. 3.
ST. ANDREW’S CROSS (CfUX deCUSSCbtOL.)
1 William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica, 1828-1840.
766
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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.
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 u 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 Mitli-
raeists on their foreheads at the time of their initiation.
0. W. King, in his work entitled uEarly Christian Nuinis-
Fig.4. matics” (p. 214), expresses the opinion that the Tau cross
Egyptian cross was placed on the foreheads of men who cry after aboini-
(Cmx ansata). natj011s> (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 XPT2T02 (Christus).
This, with another variety containing all the foregoing letters, passed
as the monogram of Christ (fig. 6).
As an instrument of execution, the cross, besides being the inter-
section 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 | |, whereon he was
Fig. 5.
TAU CROSS, THOR’S HAMMER,
OR ST. ANTHONY’S CROSS.
MONOGRAM OF CHRIST.
Labaruin of Coustautine.
fastened by one foot and one hand at each upper corner; still another
form rp, whereon his body was suspended on the central ux>right 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.
I-
THE SWASTIKA.
767
CELTIC CROSSES.
Higgins, in bis “Anacalypsis,” a rare and costly work, almost an ency-
clopedia of knowledge,1 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-li. This
is cited with approval in Davenport’s
“Aphrodisiacs” (p. 13).
Of the many forms of the crossjl
the Swastika, is the most ancientJ
Despite the theories and speculations
of students, its origin is unknown. It
began before history, and is properly
classed as prehistoric. Its descrip-
tion is as follows: The bars of tlicT
normal Swastika (frontispiece and
fig. 0) are straight, of equal thickness
throughout, and cross each other at
right angles, making four arms of equal size, length, and style. TlieirL
peculiarity is that all the ends are bent at right angles and in the samef?
direction, right or left. Prof. Max
Muller 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 Swas-
tika, that bent to the left he calls
Suavastika (fig. 10), but he gives no
authority for the state-
ment, and the author has
been unnble to find, ex-
cept in Burnouf, any justification for a difference of names.
Professor Goodyear gives the title of uMeander” to that
form of Swastika which bends~two or more times (fig. 11).
r The Swastika is sometimes represented with dots or
points in the corners of the intersections (fig. 12a), and occasionally
the same when without bent ends (fig. 12fr), to which Zmigrodzki gives
Fig. 9.
NORMAL SWASTIKA.
Fig. 10.
SUAVASTIKA.
1
EJ
f* Fig. 11.
m
SWASTIKA.
Meander.
LE
n
L
1.
I v/
b
Fig.12.
CROIX SWASTICALE (ZMIORODZKI).
the name of Croix Sicasticale. Some Swastikas have three dots placed
equidistant around each of the four ends (fig. 12c).
1 Higgins, “Anacalypsis,” London, 1836, i,p. 230.
768
RErORT OP N.
There are several varieties possibly related to the Swastika which havq
been found in almost every part of toe 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/iYs 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 Swas-
tika. Certain of them have been accepted by the author as related
to the Swastika, while others have been rejected 5 but this rejection
Fig. 13a.
OGEE AND rriRAL SWASTIKAS.
Tetraskolion (four-armed). *
Fig. 13b.
SPIRAL AND VOLUTE.
Triskelion (throe armed).
Fig.
SPIRAL AN
13c.
D VOLUTE.
(Five or many armed.)
Fig. 13d.
OGEE SWASTIKA, WITH
CIRCLE.
PECULIAR FORMS OF SWASTIKA.
has been confined to cases where the known facts seemed to justify
another origin for the symbol. Speculation has been avoided.
NAMES AND DEFINITIONS OF THE SWASTIKA.
The Swastika has been called by different names in different coun-
tries, though nearly all countries have in later years accepted the ancient
Sanskrit name of Swastika: and this name is recommended as the most
deHiiite"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-n-a-s-t-i-k-a, but
pie 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:
.. SvastiTca, or Swastika, a mystic figure used by several (East) Indian sects. It was
/ equally well known to the Brahmins as to tlie Buddhists. Most of the rock
\ inscriptions in the Buddhist caverns in the west of India aro preceded or followed by
J the holy (sacramcntelle) sign of the Swastika. (Eug. Burnouf, “Lo Lotus de la bonne
j 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 com-
posed of Su (equivalent of Greek ev), “good,” and asti, “being,” “good being,” with
\ the suffix lea (Greek ua, Latin co).
THE SWASTIKA. 7f>9
In the “Revue d’Ethnographie” (iv, 18S5, p. 820), Mr. Dumoutier
gives the following analysis of the Sanskrit swastika:
Su, radical, signifying good, well, excellent, or snvidas, prosperity.
Asti, third person, singular, indicative present of the verb as, to bo, which is sum
in Latin.
Ka, suffix forming the substantive.
Professor Whitney in the Century Dictionary says, Swastika—[San-
skrit, lit., “of good fortune.” Svasti (Su. well, -f asti, being), welfare.]
Same as fylfot. Compare Crux ansata and gamma (lion.
In “Ilios” (p. 317), Max Muller says:
Ethnologically, srastika 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 Grech
evedrai. The derivation Svasti-ka is of later date, and it always means an auspicious
sign, such as are found most frequently among lluddliists and Jainas.
M. Eugene B.urnouf1 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 Avhcneeit 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.1 2
George Waring, in his work entitled “Ceramic Art in Remote Ages”
(p.'tO), says:
The word [Fylfot] is Scandinavian and is eompounue_ of Old Norsefuil, equivalent
to the Anglo-Saxon fela, German riel, many, and foir, 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 scien-
tific 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 tlfonsand 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
1 “Des Sciences et Religion,” p. 256.
2R. P. Greg, “The Fylfot and Swastika,” Archieologia, xlviii, part 2,1885, p. 298;
Goblet d’Alviella, “Migration des Symboles,” p.50.
II. Mis. 90, pt. 2----49
770
RErORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
-
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 gammce 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 'cramponnec, Croix pattce, Croix d
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.1 Waring, in his
elaborate work’, “Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,”2 says:
The * used to he vulgarly called in Scandinavia the hammer of Thor, and Thor’s
hammer-marlc, ortho hammer-mark, hut this name properly belongs to the mark y.
Ludwig Miillcr gives it as his opinion that the Swastika has no connec-
tion with the Thor hammer. The best Scandinavian authors report the
“Thor hammer” to be the same as the Greek tan (fig. 5), the same form
as the Roman and English capital T. The Scandinavian name is Midi
ner or Mjolner, the crusher or mallet.
P The Greek, Latin, and Tan crosses are represented in Egyptian liiero-
\ glyphies by a hammer or mallet, giving the idea of crushing, pounding,
\ or striking, and so an instrument of justice, an avenger of wrong,"
Lhencc standing for Horns and other gods.* 2 3 4 Similar symbolic meanings
have been given to these crosses in ancient classic countries of the
Orient.5
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 wiiters it has been respectively!
the emblem of Zeus, of Baal, of the sun, of the sun-god, of the_suiug
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
*7*^Jiuler of the Universe. It has also been held to symbolize light or the
L-^ god of light, of the forked lightning, and of wa£gr. It is believed by
/ some to have been the oldest Aryan symbohj In the estimation of
^ others it represents Brahma, Vishnu, and Siva, Creator, Preserver,
Destroyer. It appears in the footprints of Buddha, engraved upon the
’Stephens, “Old Northern Runic Monuments,” part ii, p. 509; Ludwig Muller,
quoted on p. 778 of this paper; Goblet d’Alviella, “La Migration des Symboles,”
p. 45; Haddon, “Evolution in Art,” p. 288.
2Page 12.
3“La Migration des Symboles,” pp. 21, 22.
4“Le Culto do la Croix avant J^sus-Christ,” in the Correspondant, October 25,1889,
and in Science Catholique, February 15, 1890, p. 163.
5 Same authorities.
THE SWASTIKA.
771
solid rock on the mountains of India (fig. 32). It stood for the Jupiter]
Tonans and Pluvius of the Latinspaud the Thor of the Scandinavians.^
In the latter case it has been considered—erroneously, however—a vari-
ety of the Thor hammer, (in the opinion of at least one author it had
an intimate relation to the Lotus sign of Egynfc. and Persia^ Some
authors have attributed a phallic meaning to it. Others have recog-
nized 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. i
In forming the foregoing theories/their authors have been largely
controlled by the alleged fact of the substitution and permutation
of the Swastik^slgn on various objects with recognized symbols of
these different (deities. The claims of these theorists are somewhat
clouded in obschrity and lost in the antiquity of the subject. What
seems to have' been at all times nn attribute of the Swastika is its ^
character as a chariTfoFamuIet, as a sign of benediction, blessing, long
life, good fortune, good luck. This character lias continued into mod-
ern 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
/
(njways ornamental as well.
/\ Tli
LTlie Swastika sign had great extension and spread itself practically
over the world, largely, if not entirely, in prehistoric times, though its^
jj*<e in some countries has continued into modern times.
. The elaboration of the meanings of the Swastika indicated abyvt
and its dispersion or migrations form the subject of this paper. * ^
Dr. Scliliemann found many specimens of Swastika in his excava-
tions 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 Mfiller for an explanation, who, in reply, wrote
an elaborate description, which Dr. Scliliemann published in uIlios.lw
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 tlie 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 occur-
rence of such crosses in different parts of the world may or may not point to a com-
mon origin, hut if they are once called Svastika the vulgus profanum will at once
Page 31G, et se<j.
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
jump to tlio conclusion tliat 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.1
The name Svastika, however, can ho traced (in India) a little farther hack. It
occurs as the name of a particular sign in the old grammar of Panani, about a cen-
tury earlier. Certain compounds are mentioned there in which tlib last word is
Jcarna, “ear.” * * * Ono of the signs for marking cattle was the Svastika [fig.
41], and what Panani 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/’ tlio final
a of Svastika is not to he 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’Alviella1 2 reinforces Max Muller’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 Midler continues his explanation:3
It [the Swastika] occurs often at the beginning of the Buddhist inscriptions, on
fBuddhist coin's^ and in Buddhist manuscripts. Historically, the Svastika is first
{""attested on a coin of Krananda, supposing Kranaiula to he the same king as Xan-
| dyarnes, the predecessor of Sandrokyptos, whose reign came to an end in 315 B. C.
(See Thomas on the Identity of Xamlrames and Krananda.) The paleographic evi-
dence, however, seems rather against so early a date. In the footprints of Buddha
the Buddhists recognize no less that sixty-five auspicious signs, tho first Of them being
the Swastika [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, tho Xanclydvarta [see fig. 14], is a mere development of tho Svastika. Among
the Jainas the Svastika was the sign of their seventh Jina, SnpArsva (Colehrooke
“Miscellaneous Essays,” ii, p. 188; Indian Antiqnary, vol. 2, p. 135).
In tho later Sanskrit literature, Svastika retains the meaning of an auspicious
mark; thus we see in the Ramayana (ed. Gorresio, ii, p. 348) that Bliarata selects
a ship marked with tho sign of the Svastika. Varahamiliira in the Brihat-samhita
(Med. S:ec., vi,p. Cli.) mentions certain buildings called Svastika and Naudyavarta
(53.34, seq.), but their outline does not correspond very exactly with the form of
the signs. Some Sthupas, 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 refer-
ring to a woman covering her breast with crossed arms (BAlarAm, 75.16), svahastas-
vastika-stani, and likewise with reference to persons sitting crosslegged.
Dr. Max Ohnefalscli-Kichter4 speaking of the Swastika position,
either of crossed legs or arms, among the Hindus,5 suggests as a pos-
sible explanation that these women bore the Swastikas upon their
1 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.
2“La Migration des symboles,” p. 104.
3 “Ilios,” pp. 347, 348.
4Bulletins de la Society d’Anthropologic, 1888, p. 678.
5Mr. Gandhi makes the same remark in his letter on the Buddha shell statue shown
in pi. 10 of this paper.
THE SWASTIKA.
773
arms as did the goddess Aphrodite, in fig. 8 of Ids 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 Muller continues1:
Quito another question is, why the sign should have had an auspicious mean-
ing, and why in Sanskrit it should have been called Svastika. The similarity be-
tween 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 nnmismatist, who has called attention to the fact that in
the long list of the recognized devices of the twenty-four Jaina Tirthankaras the
smTis absent, but that while the eighth Tirtliankara has the sign of the half-moon,
the seventh Tirtliankara is marked with" the Svastika, 1. C., the tUitT Jiere, then,
we have clear indications that the Svastika, with the hands pointing in the right
direction, whs 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,
Imalth, and wealth.
Hut, 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 (+ i occurs as a sign for earth in certain ideographic groups. It was
probahlyTntended 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-Fali inscriptions (Max
Muller, “ 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 Hieratie
numerals, does not prove by any means that the one figure was derived from the
other. We forget too easily that -wliat was possible in one place was possible also
in other places; and the more we extend onr researches, tins more we shall learn that
the chapter of accidents is larger than we imagine.
The u Suavastika” which Max Miiller 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.1 2
Therefore the normal Swastika would seem to be that with the ends
bent to the right. Burnouf says the word Suavastika may be a deriva^
tive or development of the Svastikaya, and ought; to signify “he who, 1
or, that which, bears or carries the Swastika or a species of Swastika.”]
Greg,3 under the title Sovastikaya, gives it as his opinion that there is
no difference between it and the Swastika. Colonel Low4 mentions the
word Sawattheko, which, according to Burnouf5 is only a variation of
1 “Ilios,” p.348.
2 “Lotus do la Bonne Loi,” App. vm, p. 626, note 4.
3 Arclueologia, p. 36.
4 Transaction* of tlie Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain, m, p. 120.
6 “Lotus de la Bonn© Loi,” App. vm, p. 625, note 2.
774
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
the Pali word Sottliika or Suvattliika, the Pali translation of the San-
skrit Swastika. Burnouf translates it as Svastikaya.
M. Eugene Burnouf1 speaks of a third sign of the footprint of Qakya,
called Kandavartava, 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 laby-
rinth, a garden of diamonds, a chain, a golden waist or shoulder belt,
and a conique with spires turning to the right.
Colonel Sykes1 2 3 4 5 6 7 concludes that, according to the Chinese authorities
Ea-hian, Soung Young, Hiuan thsang, the “Doctors of reason, ’Tao-sse,
or followers of the mystic cross ^ 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 Ea-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,3 and continued until the
introduction of orthodox Buddhism in the ninth
century A. D.4
Klaproth5 calls attention to the frequent men-
tion by Ea-hian, of the Tao-sse, sectaries of the
mystic cross Lfi (Sanskrit Swastika), and to their
existence in Central Asia and India; while lie
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.15 Mr. James Burgess7 mentions the Tirtlianka-
ras or Jainas as being sectarians of the Mystic Cross, theJswastika.
"-The Cyclopedia of India (title Swastika), coinciding with Prof. Max
Muller, says:
NANDAVARTAYA, a third
SIGN OF T11E FOOTPRINT OF
BUDDIIA.
Burnouf, “Lotus de la Bonne I.oi,”
Paris, 1R52, p. fififi.
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 sutli-sutL 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, Ter, Mnsteg, Pon, the last name meaning purity, under which
a remnant are still in the farthest parts of the most eastern province of Tibet.
1 “Lotus de la Bonne Loi,” p. 626.
2 “Notes on the Religious, Moral, and Political state of India,” Journ. Asiatic Soc.
Great Britain, vi, pp. 310-334.
3 Low, Trans. Roy. Asiatic Soc. of Great Britain in, pp. 334, 310.
4 Ibid., p. 299.
5 Ibid., p. 299.
6 Low, Trans. Royal Asiatic Soc. of Great Britain, in, p. 310.
7 Indian Antiquary, ii, May, 1873, p. 135.
THE SWASTIKA.
-
775
General Cunningham1 acids 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.
Waring2 proceeds to demolish these statements of a sect named
Swastika as pure inventions, and “ consulting Professor Wilson’s inval-
uable work on the Hindoo religious sects in the ‘Asiatic Researches,’
we find no^account of any sect named Swastika.”
Mr. Y. R. Gandhi, a learned legal gentleman of Bombay, a repre-
sentative 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 gen-
tlemen 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 frequencyjof the Swastika on tlie7
objects found by Dr. Schliemann(a^Hissarlik,\gives it as his opinion3]'
that these representations of the Swastika have relation to a human
cult indicating a supreme being filled with goodness toward man. ~~Th
siin^ 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 increas-
ing 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 lienee lie con-
cludes that the people of Ilissarlik, in the “Burnt City” (theThird 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 :4
Originally it [the Swastika] would appear to have been au early Aryan atmos-
pkeric device or symbol indicative of both rain and lightning, phenomena appertain-
ing to "the god Indra, subsequently or collaterally developing, possibly, into the
Suastika, or sacred lire 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:5
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 distinc-
^‘Bilsa Topps,” p. 17.
2“ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages/’ p. 12.
3Tenth Congress International d’Antliropologie et d’Arclneologie Prehistoriques,
Paris, 1889, p. 474.
4 Arclneologia, xlvii, pt. 1, p. 159.
6 “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” p. 11.
776
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
tive of the Vishnavas, sectarian devotees of Vishnu, is ascribed by Moor in his
“Indian Pantheon,” nor yet in the tenets of the Jains,1 do we find any decisive
explanation of the meaning attached to this symbol, although its allegorical inten-
tion is indnbitable.
lie 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 Sayee says:58 tf •
The Cyprian vase figured in Di Cesnola’s “Cyprus,” pi. 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 Jjf or l|l (ne), which has the form )jn in the inscription
of Golgi, .and also with the 1 littite |^j or ||| which Dr. Hyde Clarke once suggested
to me was intended to represent the organs of generation.
Mr. Waller, in Ills 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 (he followers of Buddha
valid was still later used by Christians at a very early period, being
y? 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’Agineourt.
Pugin, in his “Glossary of Ornament,” under the title “Fylfot,” says
that in Tibet the Swastika was used as a representation of God cruci-
fied for the human race, citing as his authority F. Augustini Antonii
Georgii.3 lie remarks:
From these accounts it would appear that tins fylfot is a mystical ornament, not
only adopted among Christians from primitive times, but used, as if prophetically,
for centuries before tlio coming of our Lord. To descend to later times, we find it
constantly introduced in ecclesiastical vestments, * * * till the end of the fif-
teenth 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.4 (See p. 8013.)
The Lev. G. Cox, in his “Aryan Mythology,” says:
We recognize the male and the female symbol in the trident of Poseidon, and in
J the fylfot or hammer of Thor, which assumes the form of a eross-pattoe in the vari-
• ous legends which turn on the rings of Frey a, llolda, Venus, or Aphrodite.
'See explanation of the Swastika by Mr. Gandhi according to tl^e Jain tenets,
p. 804.
2“Ilios,” p. 353.
3“Alphabetum Tibetarium,” Rome, 1762, pp. 211, 460, 725.
4Rockhill, “ Diary of a Journey through Mongolia and Tibet,” Smithsonian Insti-
tution, Washington, 1894, p. 67.
THE SWASTIKA.
777
Here again we find the fylfot and cross-pattee 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 Barnes,” concurs.
Burnouf1 recounts the myth of Agni (from which comes, through
tlie Latin ignis, the English word igneous), the god of Sacred Fire, as
told in the Yeda:1 2
Tlie young queen, the mother of Fire, carried the royal infant mysteriously con-
cealed inTier bosom. She was a woman of the people, whose common name was
“Arani”—that is, the instrument of wood (the Swastika) from which lire was made
orTSfougiit by rubbing. * * * The origin of the sign [Swastika] is now easy to
recognize. It represents tlie two pieces of wood which compose I'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, bv
whipping (after the fashion of top-whipping), producecflire, as did Prometheus, the
jforteur dvTfeu, 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 philoso-
phies. The Swastika was made to represent Arani (the female prinO
ciple); the Pramantha or upright fire stake representing Agni, the fire C
god (the male); and so the myth served its part to account for the birtlpd
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 Swas-T
tika, after the manner of savages in all times. Zinigrodzki accepts
this myth, and claims all specimens with dots or points—supposed nail
holes—as Swastikas.
The Count Goblet d’Alviella3 argues in opposition to the theory
announced by Burnouf and by Zinigrodzki, 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 tlie 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. Greg4 opposes this entire theory, saying:
The difficulty about tlie Swastika and its supposed connection with fire appears j
to me to lie in not knowing precisely wliat the old fire drill and cliark were like. (
* * * I much doubt whether the Swastika had originally any connection either f
with the fire-chark or with the sun. * * * The best authorities consider Mur- )
uouf is in error as to the earlier use of the two lower cross pieces of wood aud the four
nails said to have been used to fix or steady the framework.
He quotes from Tylor’s description5 of the old fire drill used in India
1 “Des Sciences et Religion/’ pp. 252, 257.
2 Vol. xi.
3“ La Migration des Symboles,” pp. 61-63.
4 Arclueologia, xlviii, pt. 2, pp. 322, 323.
"“Early History of Mankind,” p. 257, note C,
778
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
for kindling tlie sacrificial fire by tlie process called 44 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: 44 There is nothing of the Swastika and four nails
in connection with the fire-churn.”
Burton1 also criticises Burnouf’s theory:
If used on sacrificial altars to reproduce tlio lioly lire, tlie practice is peculiar and
not derived from everyday life; for as early as Pliny they knew that the savages
used two, and never three, fire sticks.
Burnouf continues his discussion of myths concerning tlie origin of
fire:
According to Ilymnes, the discoverer of fire was Atliaran, whose name signifies
lire, hut Bhrigon it was who made the sacred fire, producing resplendent llaines on
the earthen altar. In theory of physics, Agni, who Avas the lire residing Avithin the
11 onction,” (?) came from the milk of the coav, Avliick, in its turn, came iroin the
plants that had nourished her; and these plants in their turn grew by receiving and
appropriating the heat or lire of the sun. Therefore, the Arirtue of the “onction”
came from the god.
Olio of tlio Vedas says of Agni, the god of fire:1 2 3
Agni, thou art a sage, a priest, a king,
Protector, father of the sacrifice;
Commissioned by our men thou dost ascend
A messenger, eonveying to the sky
Our hymns and offerings, though thy origin
Re three fold, now from air and now from Avater,
Noav from the mystic double Arani*
Count Goblet d’Alviella combats tlie 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
Georire Bird wood, that it is, in modern India, a popular custom to name
which appear in couples as having different sexes, so that to say
“the male Swastika” and the 44female Swastika.” indicating them by
the pronouns “he” or 44she,” would be expressed in the same manner
when speaking of the hammer and the anvil or of any other objects
used in pairs.4
Ludwig Muller, 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 alpha-
betic letters, nor with the so-called spokes of the solar wheel, nor the
forked lightning, nor the hammer of Thor, lie considers that the tris-
v
1 “ The Book of the Sword/’ p. 202, note 2.
2 Burnouf, “Des Sciences et Religion,” p. 18.
3The tAvo pieces of wood of Ficus religiosa, used for kindling fire.
4“La Migration des Symboles, ” p. 63.
THE SWASTIKA.
779
kelion 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. 0.
Mr. R. P. Greg1 opposes this theory and expresses the opinion that
the Swastika is far older and wider spread as a symbol than the tris-
kelion, as well as being a more purely Aryan symbol. Greg says that
Ludwig M filler attaches quite too muchTmportancc to the sun in con-
nection with the early Aryans, and lays too great stress upon the sup-
posed 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 |
Miiller 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.(susd
lie 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, tlie 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 Miiller of any difference of form or mean-
ing 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 COO B. 0. it was the emblem or symbol of the supreme Aryan
gQil; that it so continued down through the various steps of descent
(according to the chart mentioned) imtil-it-hecame-the device nod sym-
bol of Brahipa, 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~eariy Uiinstians as a suitable variety of theiiy
cross, and became variously modified in form and was used as a charm.\
D’Alviella1 2 expresses his doubts concerning the theory advanced by
Greg3 to the effect that the Swastika is to be interpreted as a symbol
1 Archifiologia, xliii, pt. 2, pp. 324, 325.
2 “La Migration ties Symboles,” p. 64.
3 “Fylfot and Swastika,” Arclnoologia, 1885, p. 293.
780
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
-
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
1 by the god Indra among the Hindus, Thor among the Germans and
\ Scandinavians, Berkun among the Slavs, Zeus among the Pelasgi and
Greeks, Jupiter Tonans, and Pluvius among the Latins. lie 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 says1 that the only example known to him of a Swastika
npoTi^n. mompnent consecrated to Zeus or Jupiter is on a Celto-Poman
altar, erected, according to all appearances, by the Daci during the time
they were garrisoned at Ambloganna, in Britain. The altar bears the
letters 1. 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.1 2
Dr. Brinton 3 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,4 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
tliat, though they are more or less vague, uncertain, and confused in their descrip-
tion of it, still, with one exception, they all agree that it is a mystic symbol, pecul-
iar to somo deity or other, bearing a special signification, and generally believed to
have some connection with one of the elements—water.
Burton says:5
" 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 eross.
Count Goblet d’Alviella is of the opinion (p. 57) that the Swastika
was “ above all an amulet, talisman, or pliylactere,” while (p. 5G) “it is
incontestable that a great number of the Swastikas were simply motifs
1 “ La Migration des Symboles,” p. 65.
2“Lc Dieu gaulois du Soleil et le symbolisme de la, roue,” Paris, 1886.
3Proc. Amer. Pliilosoph. Soc., 1889, pp. 177-187.
4 “Ceramic Art in Kemote Ages.”
5 “The Book of the Sword,” p. 202.
THE SWASTIKA.
781
opQJLPameiitation, of coin-marks, and marks of fabrics.” but lie agrees
(p. 57) thaTtHere is no symbol that has given rise to so many interpre- ft
tations, not even the tricula of the Buddhists, and “this is a great deal
to say.” Ludwig Muller 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
Futhorc Tir,” 1 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 revolvetho stars of the firmament. This appear-
ance^TTotation is most impressive in the constellation of the Great
Bear. About four thousand years ago the apparent pivot of rotation
was at a Draconls, much nearer the Great Bear than now, and at that
time the rapid circular sweep must have been far more striking than at l
present. In addition to the name Ursa Major the Latins called this /
constellation Septentriones, “the seven plowing oxen,” that draggedV
the stars arquiubtlie pole, and the Greeks called it IXnuj^ from its vast ]
spiral movement.2 In the opinion of Dr. March all these are repre- '
sented or symbolized by the Swastika.
Prof. W. H. Goodyear, of Few York, lias lately (1891) published an
elaborate quarto work entitled “The Grammar of the Lotus: A Few
History of Classic Ornament as a Development of Sun AYorship.”3 It
comprises 408 pages, with 7G plates, and nearly a thousand figures. His
theory develops tlm_sun symbol from the lotus by a series of ingenious
and coni))lica ted-evoLutions passing through the Ionic style of archi-
tecture, 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 wor-
shiped in many countries from Japan to the Straits of Gibraltar;” it
was a symbol of “fecundity,” “life,” “immortality,” and of “resurrec-
tion,” and has a mortuary significance and use. But its elementary
and most important signification was as a solar symbol.4
He describes the Egyptian lotus and traces it through an innumer-
able number of specimens and with great variety of form. He men-
tions 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.5 Direct assochBiqn of the solar disk
and lotus.are, according to him, common on the monuments and on
Pheniciau and Assyrian seals; while the lotus and tl i e saciet fan i i \ in Is,
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
1 Trans. Lancaster and Cheshire Antiq. Soc., 1886.
2 Iladdon, “ Evolution in Art,” London, 1895, p 288.
3 Sampson, Low, Mars ton & Co., London.
4 Goodyear, “The Grammar of the Lotus,” pp. 4, 5.
Ibid., p. 6.
782
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 sunj>r_some j^^-hhj-deiti&s,1 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 four-
teenth century-B.XL By intercommunication with the Greeks it formed
the foundation of the Greek Tonic capital, which, he says,* * 3 “offers no
Fig. 15.
Fir. 16.
TYl'ICAL LOTUS ON CYPltlAN
VASES.
TYPICAL LOTUS ON KllODIAN
VASES.'
From figures in Coixlyt-ur’s “ Grammar of the Lotus
Fig.17.
TYPICAL LOTUS ON MELIAN
VASES.
dated example of the earlier time than the sixth century B. 0.” lie
supports this contention by authority, argument, and illustration.
lie shows3 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. 15,10, 17).
Chantre4 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. 180 •
(fig. 17) he says represents the decorat-
ing motif, the most frequent in all that
part of i >rehistoric Bnroi>e. He cites
“Notes sur les torques'" on ornaments
spirals.”5
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
Fig. 18.
DETAIL OF CYPltlAN VASE SHOWING
LOTUSES AVITII CUKLLNU SEPALS.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.
Goodyear, “Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. 47, fig. 1.
objects with many sacred and mytliologic characters in Egypt and after
wards in Greece is accepted. How far it extends in the direction con-
tended for by Professor Goodyear, is no part of this investigation. It
appears well established that in both countries it became highly con
Iventionalized, and it is quite sufficient for the purpose of this argument
ftliat it became thus associated with the Swastika. Figs. 18 and 11)
Goodyear, “ The Grammar of the Lotus,” pp. 7, 8.
‘-Ibid., p. 71.
:Ibid., pp. 74, 77.
* “Age du Bronze,” Denxieme partie, p. 301.
5 Matdriaux pour PHistoire Primitive et Natnrelle de l’llomme, 3d ser., vm, p. <>.
THE SWASTIKA.
783
represent details of Cyprian vases and amphora belonging to the Ces-
nola collection in the Yew York Metropolitan Museum of Art, showing
Fig. 19.
DETAIL OF CYPRIAN AMPHORA IN METROPOLITAN1 MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK CITY.
Lotus with curling sepals arid different Swastikas.
Goodyear, “ Crainmar of the Lotus, ’ pi. 47, figs. 2, 3.
Fig. 20.
THEORY OF THE EVOLUTION OF THE SPIRAL
SCROLL FROM LOTUS.
Ono volute.
Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” fig. 61.
the lotus with curling sepals among which are interspersed Swastikas
of different forms. '
According to Professor Goodyear,1 these bent sepals of tlmiotnaAvere
exaggerated and finally became spfr.
_als.1 2 which, being projected at a
tangent, made volutes, and, continu-
ing one after the other, as shown in
fig. 20, formed bands of ornament;
or,3 being connected to right ami left,
spread the ornament overall 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 scarabad, showing the evo-
lution of concentric rings, arc shown in figs.
22, 23, and 24.
By another path of the evolution of his tlie-^
ory, one has only to square the spiral volutes,
and the result is the Greek fret shown in tig.
25.4 The Greek fret 1ms only to be doubled,
when it produces the Swastika shown in tig. V
2G.5 Thus we have, according to him, the origin
of the Swastika, as shown in tigs. 27 and 28.6
Professor Goodyear is authority for the state-
ment that the earliest dated instances of the
isolated scroll is in the fifth dynasty of Egypt,
and of the lotus and spiral isiiutiiaIMeyehfh~dynasty^ The spiraTof
fig. 19 (above) belongs to the twelfth dynasty.7
Fig. 21.
THEORY OF LOTUS RUDIMENTS IN
SPIRAL.
Tomb 33, Alxl-el Kourneh, Thebes
Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” p. !)6.
1 “ Grammar of tlie Lotus,” pi. 8, p. 81.
2 Ibid., pp. 82-94.
3Ibid., p. 96.
4 Ibid., pi. x, figs. 7-9, p. 97.
r> Ibid., p. 354.
* Ibid., p. 353.
7 Ibid, p. 354, fig. 174.
784
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Professor Goodyear devotes an entire chapter to the Swastika. On
pages 352,353 he says:
j’*'" There is no proposition in archaeology which can ho so easily demonstrated as the
I assertion that the Swastika was originally a fragment of the Egyptian meander,
I provided Greek geometric vases arc called in evidence. The connection between
Kl! Yl’TIAN* SOAKAli.KI SIIOXVIN'O KVOU’TKlV OF OOXCKNTKIC IMNOS.
Fig.22.
C< )NCKNTRIC RINGS CON-
NECTED RY TANGENTS.
From n fi^un; in I Vine's “History
of Searulis.”
Fig. 23.
CONCENTRIC RINGS WITH PIS-
CONNK(VI'EI) TANGENTS.
I'arrinper colleclion, Metropolitan Mu-
SiMim of Art, New York City.
(iooilvenr, “ Grammar of the l.otus,” ]>t
s.fitr.os.
Fig. 24.
CONCENTRIC RINGS WITIIOCT
CONNECTION.
Farnian eolleelion, M et rojxdi tan Mu-
seum of Art, New York City.
Goodyear, “Grammar of tile l.nhis,”]d.
8, fig. 25.
the meander and the Swastika has been long since suggested by Prof. A. S. Murray.1
^ Hindu specialists have suggested that the Swastika produced the meander.
\ Ilirdwynd.- says: “ I believe Hie Swastika to be the origin of the key pattern orna-
ment of Greek and Chinese decorative art.” Zmigrodzki, in a recent publication,1
has not only reproposed this derivation of the meander, but has even connected the
My come 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 sug-
gested, in the first instance, by its appearance in
the shape of the meander on the Rhodian (pi. 28,
fig. 7), Median (]>1. 60, fig. 81T archadc-Greek (pi.
60, fig. 9, and pi. 61, fig. 12), and Greek geometric
vases (pi. 56). The appearance^ n 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.
ris-25* On page 354, Goodyear says:
SPECIAL EGYPTIAN MEANDER.
An illustration „f tl.o theory of <lo- ThS solar .8iSniflcnnre of. th^fiwnstifca-k^von
rivation from tho spiral. hy the Hindu coins of the .Tams. Its generative
Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,”pi. io, fig.9. significance is proven by a leaden statuette from
Troy. It is an equivalent of the lotus (pi. 47, figs.
1,2,3), of the solar diagram (pi. 57, fig. 12, and pi. 60, fig. 8), of the rosette (pi. 20,
fig. 8), of concentric rings (pi. 47, fig. 11), of the spiral scroll (pi. 34, fig. 8, and pi. 1 * 3
1 Cesnola, “ Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples, ” p. 410.
3 “Industrial Arts of India,” p. 107.
3 “ Zur Geschichte der Swastika.”
THE SWASTIKA.
785
39, fig. 2), of the geometric boss (pi. 48, fig. 12), of the triangle (pi. 46, fig. 5), and of
the anthemion (pi. 28, fig. 7, and pi. 30, fig. 4). It appears with the solar deer (pi. 60,
figs. 1 and 2), with the solar antelope (pi. 37, fig. 9), with the symbolic fish (pi. 42,
fig* 1)? with the ibex (pi. 37, fig. 4), with the solar sphinx (pi. 34, fig. 8), with the
solar lion (pi. 30, fig. 4), the solar ram (pi. 28, fig. 7), and the solar horse (pi. 61, figs.
/I, 4, 5, and 12). Its most emphatic and _____________________________________
constant association is with the solar bird -. " ~ .... ........ — —
(pi. 60, fig. 15; fig. 173).
Count Goblet dA.lviella, following
Ludwig Midler, Percy Gardner, S.
Beal, Edward Thomas, Max Mid-
ler, II. Gaidoz, and other authors,
accepts their theory that the Swas-
tika was a symbolic representation
of the sun or of a sun god, Jind argues
it fully.1 He starts with the propo-
sition that most of the nations of the earth have represented the sun
Fig. 26.
DETAIL OE GREEK VASE.
Meandor and Swastika.
Goodyear, “Grammar of the Lotus,” fig. 1*1
DETAIL OP GREEK GEOMETRIC VASE IN THE BRITISH
MUSEUM.
Swastika, right, with solar geese. V
Goodyear, “Grammar of the Lotus,” j>. 353, fig. 173.
Each of
or apparent relationship between
the six symbols given, either with
themselves or with the sun. Only
one of them, that of Assyria, pre-
tends 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,
the six symbols is represented as
being from a single nation of peo-
ple. They are prehistoric or of
high antiquity, and most of them
appear to have no other evidence
of their representation of the suiiy
than is contained in the sign
Sigl
itself, so that the_first ^
is to the premises, to wit, that"
while his symbols may have some-
times represented tne sun, itTis
faf from certain that they are
used
Fig. 28.
GREEK GEOMETRIC VASE.
Swastika witli solar geose.
Goodyear, “Grammar of the Lotus,” j). 353, fig. 172.
An objection is made to the
theory or hypothesis presented by Count d’Alviella1 2 that it is not
1 “La Migration ties Symboles,” chap. 2, pt. 3, p. 66.
2Ibid., p. 67.
IT. Mis. 00, pt. 2----50
786
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
-
tlie cross part of the Swastika which represents the sun, but its bent
armsA 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. Briutou 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
V^wastika 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
willbe explained, in speaking of the Assyrian sun-god Shamash (p. 789),
it is rather by a circle with pointed rays extending outward.
lPAlviella1 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. /Tt 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 dressTjThe decorations invoked are on
the broad end, which has been fiattened 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 holyor “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 His-
sarlik. 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 areliquaire of the thir-
teenth 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 c) are tetraskelions or ogee Swastikas from ancient coins.
D’Alviella’s next argument1 2 is that the triskelion, formed by the same
process as the tetraskelion,is an “incontestable” representation of solar
1 u La Migration des Symboles,” p. 69.
2 Ibid., p. 71.
THE SWASTIKA.
787
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 respect-
fully suggested that in times of antiquity, as in modern times, the sqn
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 Hexed
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 argu-
ment 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 220 of this paper.
Count d’Alviella’s further argument1 is that symbols of the sun godl
being frequently associated, alternated with, and sometimes replacedj
by, the Swastika, proves it to have been a suu symbol. But this is
doubted, and evidence to sustain the proposition is wanting. Undoubt-
edly the Swastika was a symbol, was intentional, had a meaning and a
degree of importance, and, while it may have been intended to repre-
sent 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 m this paper, and it
is respectfully submitted that the evidence does not bear out his con-
clusion. If it be established that these other symbols are representa-
tives of the sun, how does that prove that the Swastika was itself a
representative of the sun or the sun god ? ITAlviella himself argues*
against the proposition of equivalence of meaning because of associ-
ation 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 th^/V
Swastika stood for any of them. The Count* 2 says that more likely the p,
engraver added the Swastika to these in the character of a talisman or r
phylactery. On'pagulrfnie argues irftTfe same line, LhatUecause it is
foundTnTau object of sacred character does not necessarily give it the
signification of a sacred or holy symbol. He regards the Swastika as
1<4La Migration des Symboles,” pp. 72, 75, 77.
2 Ibid., p. 61.
788
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
a'syinbol of good fortune, and sees no reason why it may not be em-
/ployed 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 Muller 1 refers to the discovery by Prof. Percy Gardner of
/due 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 villa do midi, means town or city
of the south, or the sun. lie cites from Mr. Thomas’s paper on the
“Indian Swastika and its Western Counterparts”1 2 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
I by the Swastika on certain coins; likewise on some of the Andhra
coins and some punched gold coins noted by Sir Walter Elliott.3 In
these cases the circle or wheel alleged to symbolize the sun was re-
placed 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 Ohncfalsch-Kiclitcr,
p. 790.) This appears to be a non seguitur. 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,
1 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
vp 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 inten-
tidmtfly replaced if"as“STTch, the theory remains undemonstrated, the
burden rests on those ivlio take the affirmative side; and until these
points shall have been settled with some degree of probability the con-
clusion 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
1 Atlienajum, August 20, 1892, x>- 266.
2 Numismatic Chronicle, 1880, xx, pp. 18-48.
3 Madras Journ. of Lit. and Sci., ill, pi. 9.
THE SWASTIKA. 789
fly, mide' society, flocks of birds, human form, maidenhood, evil spirit,
and divers others.
Mr. Edward Thomas, in his work entitled u The Indian Swastika and
its Western Counterparts,”1 says:
As far as I have been able to trace or connect the various manifestations of this
emblem [the Swastika], they one aiul all resolve themselves into tlie primitive^ ?
conception of solar motion, which was intuitively associated with the rolling or'-'
wlieel-like projection of the sun through tho upper or visible are of the heavens, as
understood and accepted in the crude astronomy of the ancients. The earliest phase
of astronomical science wo 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 ontline circle, which is speedily advanced
toward the impression of onward revolving motion by the insertion of a cross or
four wlieel-like spokes within the circumference of the normal ring. As the original
Chaldean emblem of the sun was typified by a single ring, so tho 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.
Tlie 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 tlie
theory of j)r§siimp|4oii, the circle jniglit represent many other things
than the sun, and unless flie evidence in favor of the foregoing state-
ment 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 u cross or four wheel!
like spokes” in the Chaldean emblem of the sun will be Tbiiml to be
rays rather that cross or spokes. A cast is in the TJ. S. National
Museum (Cat. No. 15470(1) of an original specimmi^frcim^Niffer, now in
tlie Boyal Museum, Berlin, of Shamash, the Assyrian god of the sun.
He is represented on this monument by a solar disk, 4 inches in diam-
eter, 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 sur-
rounded 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.* 2 *
Perrot and Chipiez3 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 tlieK
center, with rays and lightning zigzags extending to an outer circle.
In view of these authorities and others which might be cited, it is
'London, 1880.
2Rawlinson, “Cuneiform Inscriptions of Western Asia/’ v, pi. 00; Trans. Soo.
Biblical Archaeology, vm, p. 165.
3 “History of Art in Chaldea and Assyria,” i, p. 200, fig. 71.
790
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 wlieel-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.
Hr. Max Ohnefalsch-Richter1 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 sicasticale—or, as he calls
it, Croix cantonnee—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.
Greg1 2 says:
Considered finally, it may be asked if the fylfot or gammadion was an early sym-
bol of the sun, or, if only an emblem of the solar re.volutious or m ovements across
tlio heavens, why it was drawn square rather thau curved: The even if used in
a solar sense, must have implied something more tfian, or something distinct from,
\(j the sun, whoso proper and almost universal symbol was the circle. It was evidently
more connected with the cross —|— than with the circle or solar disk.
Hr. Brinton3 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 itsjirst appearance~bii the coins of Lycia. But this appearance
was within whatis called like first period of coinage, to wit, between
700 and 4S0 B. 0., and it did not become settled until the second, and
even the tlurcT period, 280 to 240 B. O., when it migrated to Sicily.
But the Swastika had already appeared in Armenia, on the hill of
Hissarlik, in the terrainares of northern Jtaly, 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 sym-
bol 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.
1 Bull. Soc. d’Anthrop., Paris, 1888, pp. 674,675.
2 Arcbuvologia, xlviU, pt. 2, p. 326.
3Proe. Amer. Pliilosopli. Soc., 1889, xxix, p. 180.
THE SWASTIKA.
-
791
William Simpson1 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 barb tr> a very early period. The latest idea'—)
formed regardtngTTQe Swastika is that it may bo a form of the old wheel symbolism /
and that it represents a solar movement, or perhaps, in a wider sense, the whoW
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 representecT the solar motion. It did not originate with the Bud-
dhists; 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 davT or when
the sun shines, is represented by the Swastika^ These details will be found in a
letter published in the “Athenaeum” of August 20,1892, written by Prof. Max Muller,
who affirms that it
le meaning of the symbol in Greece. This
die of Apollo’s breastrthrnris a largo
another instancegomgiar to snow its solar sTgUtttuance
evidence may be “decisive” for India and Greece, but it dobs not-jaake,us_quito cer-
tainjJbont other parts of The worltH Still it raises a strong presumption that its
meaning is likely to be somewhat simihir 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 nec-
essary, 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 intro-
duction 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 mid-
mb pronrhieTTt Swastika. In this we have
While accepting these new
interpretations of the symbol, mill StaTTTnclined to the notion that the Swastika
may, at the same time, have been looked upon in some pas£s__asa cross—that is._a
pre-Christian cross, which now finds acceptance by some^autliorities as representing
the four cardinal points. The importance of the cardinal points in primitive sym-
bolism 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
Tn^ia.wfls mwiftcfAii with the title of a ChaTcravarlin—from 'Chakra, a "Wheel—Ihe/7
title meaning; a supreme ruler, or a universal jnonarch. wfixTruled the four quart,riaL**
of the- world, and on his coronationhoTiad to drive his chariot, or wheel, to the four l
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 across, represented the four quarters over(J^
which the solar power by its revolving motion carried its influence. /
ORIGIN AND
Prehistoric archeologists have found in Europe many specimens of f
ornamental sculpture and engraving belonging to the Paleolithic age, "
1 Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, January, 1895, pp. 84,85.
792
REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
/ but the cross is not known in any form, Swastika or other. In the FTeo-
l lithic age, which spread itself over nearly the entire world, with many
l 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 orna-
' mental 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 Avith certainty. It is believed by some to be involved m
that other Avarmly disputed and much-discussed question as to the local-
ity of origin and the mode and routes of dispersion of Aryan peoples.
L""There is evidence to sIioav 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 Ijpouze. Was bronze discov-
( erect in eastern Asia and was its migration westward through Europe,
or Avas it discovered on the Mediterranean, and its spread thence! The
SAvastika spread through the same countries as did the bronze, and
there is every reason to believe them to have proceeded contempora-
neously—whether at their beginning or not, is undeterminable.
The first appearance of the SAva^stijia-was^ipparentlyin. the^Orient,
preciselynTvnTa^ 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 sig-
nification Avas attributed to it by the earliest knoAvn peoples of these
localities.
M. Michael Zmigrodzki, a Polish scholar, public librarian at Suclia,
near OraeoAv, 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 Avas displayed in the Woman’s
Building. It AAras arranged in groups: The prehistoric (or Pagan) and
Christian. These Avere divided geographically and Avitli an attempt at
chronology, as follows:
I. Prehistoric:
1. India and Bactria.
2. Cyprus, Rhodes.
3. North Europe.
1. Central Europe.
5. South Europe.
6. Asia Minor.
7. Greek and Roman epoch—Numismatics.
II. Christian:
8. Gaul—Numismatics.
9. Byzantine.
10. Merovingian and Carloviugian.
*? 11. Germany.
12. Poland and Sweden.
13. Great Britain.
Lastly he introduces a group of the Swastika in the nineteenth cen-
tury. He presented figures of Swastikas from these localities and
THE SWASTIKA.
793
representing tliese epoclis. He bad a similar display at the Paris Expo-
sition of 1889, which at its close was deposited in the St. Germain Pre-
historic Museum. I met M. Zmigrodzki at the Tenth International
Congress of Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology 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 sepa-
rates of his paper published in the Archives fiir Ethnographie, with
2GG 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 Coblet d’Alviella1 shows an ear-
lier 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 terramaj^sj)f northern Italy. All this
was prior to the thirteenth century B. C. From the hill of Ilissarlik it
spread east and west; to the east into Lyeaonia and Caucasus, to the!
west into Myceme 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 devel-
oped westward from Asia Minor to northern Africa and to Borne, with
evidence in the Catacombs; on the eastward it goes into India, Persia,
China, Tibet, and Japan. All this can be made apparent upon exami-
nation 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 main-
tain 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 every-
day life—the household utensils, the arms, weapons, the dress, the fibuhe,
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.
1 “La Migration des Symboles,” pi. 3. *
Chart I.—Probable introduction of the Swastika into different countries, according to Count Goblet d’Alviella.
[ “La Migration des Symboles,” pi. 3.]
? ? ?
r
Troad
XIII Century B. C., and earlier.
XIII and XII B.C.
XI toVI B.C....
VI B.C,
V B.C
IV B. C.....................
Ill B. C....................
II B. C.t to II A.D.........
III A.D.....................
Ill to VIII A.D.............
IX A.D......................
Terremares
Mycenae
Villanova
I
Greece
(pottery)
Lvcaonia
Caucasus
Etruria
Greece
Greece
(coins)
I
[
Thrace
Macedonia
I
Asia
Minor
Greece
Sicily
Gaul
Scandinavia Germany Great Britain Xortli Africa
Home
(Catacombs)
?
India
Persia
I
China
I___
f
Tibet
Iceland
Japan
794 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
THE SWASTIKA.
795
Count Goblet d’Alviella, in the fourth section of the second chapter1
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 showingjfliat the Swastika in all other lands stood for the
sun or'for the sun-god, while the Aryans of Persia had other signs for
thejame~ thing=the Cruxansata and the winged globe. His conclusion
is^that there were twozones occupied with different symbols, the fron-
tier 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 u Troja,” says:1 2 3
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
Mykeme [same, “Ilios,” p. 353], but it was entirely unknown to Babylonia, to
Assyria, jo*. Phrenicia^jnid^ to Egypt. It must th ere foriy~5ttber"h'a^ in
EmiQpeuJLiid-apxgml. eastward through Asia Minor or have been disseminated west-
ward from the primitiye home of the Hittites. The latter alternative is the more ^
probable; but whether it is so ornot, the presence of the symbol in the land of the
iEgean indicates a particular epoch and the influence of a pre-Phoenician culture.
Hr. Schliemann4 reports that “Rev. W. Brown Keer observed the
Swastika innumerable times in the most ancient Hindu temples, espe-
cially those of the Jainas.”
Max Muller cites the following paragraph by Professor Sayce:5
It is evident to me that the sign found at Hissarlilc is identical with that found
at Mycenm and Athens, as well as on the prehistoric pottery of Cyprus (Di Cesnola,
Cyprus, pis. 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 dis-
covered in Troy. The Cyprian vase [fig. 156, this paper] figured in Di Cesnola’s
“ Cyprus/’ pi. 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,6’ citing Albert Dumont7 and Perrot and
Chipiez,8 says:
The Swastika appears in Greece, as well as in Cyprus and Rhodes, first on the pot-
tery, 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 Phomician influences on
the coasts of Greece.
Dr. Ohnefalscli-Richter, in a paper devoted to tlie consideration of
1 “La Migration des Symboles,” p. 93.
2 Ibid., p. 107.
3 “Ilios.,” p. xxi.v
4 Ibid, p. 352.
fiIbid, p. 353.
6 “ La Migration des Symboles,” p. 43.
7 “Peintures cdramiques de la Grece propro,” i, pi. xv, fig. 17.
8 “Histoire de Part dans Pantiqnitd,” in, figs. 513,515,518.
79G
REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
lie Swastika in Cyprus,1 expresses the opinion that the emigrant or
commercial Plienicians 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 migra-
tion to Cyprus, Carthage, and the north of Africa.
Professor Goodyear says:* 2
y 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 tlie most formal and prominent way. The Greek
geometric vases are tin*- only monuments on which the Swastika systematically
v/appears in panels exclusively assigned to it (pi. 60, fig. 13; and pi. 56, lig. 4). There
are no other monuments on which the Swastika can bo found in a dimension taking
up one-half the, hpight-fif. the entire object (pi. 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
tho informal scattering way (pi. 61, fig. 4) which characterizes the Swastika in other
styles.
-
The Swastika dates from the earliest diffusion of theJ^gyjitia^iimandcr in the
t/fuiHin of tho Mediterranean, and it is a profound remark of Do Morgan (Mission
Seieutiiique an ('ancase) that the area of the Swastika .appears to be coextensive
\vitb_t.ho area of bmir/.e. In northern^prehistorie Europe, where the Swastika has
attracted considerable attention, it is distinctly connected with the bronze culture
derived, fronTtlio sonthT^Whcn foil ml oil prehistoric jmllCiy ~oTtUc north, the
southern home'oTlts beginnings is equally clear.
In seeking tho 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 (pi. 60, fig. 15)
and Rhodian pottery (pi. 60, fig. 2). * * * Tl is well known to Melian vases (pi.
60, fig. 8) and to archaic Greek vases (pi. 61, fig. 12), but its greatest prominence is
on the pottery of the Greek geometric style (pi.60, fig. 13; pi.56, fig. 4; pi.61, figs.
1 and 4; and figs. 173 and 174). * * *
Aside from tho Greek geometric style, our earliest reference for tho Swastika, and
. very possibly an earlier reference than the first, is its appearance on tho “lint urns”
v of Ttaly. 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, conse-
quently*, imperfect, forms of the Swastika are on the hut urns of Italy, bnt that, as
an independent and definitely shaped pattern, it first belongs to the Greek geometric
style! Ido not assert that the Swastika Tsvery common on hut urns, which are
often undecorated. * * * Our present intermediate link with India for the
Swastika lies in the Cancasus and in the adjacent territory of-Koban. This last
ancient center of the arts in metal has lately attracted attention through the publi-
cation of Virchow (Das Griiberfeld von Koban). In the original Coban l)TQjize»^pf
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,”3
says:
Both the Greek fret and the fylfot appear to have been unknown to the Semitic
nations as an ornament or as a symbol.
’Bull. Soc. d’Antbrop., Paris, December 6, 1888, pp. 669,679,680.
2 “Grammar of the Lotus,” p. 348 et seq.
3Arelia*ologia, xlvii, pt. 1, p. 159.
THE SWASTIKA.
797
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 westward it may
have spread in one form oranotherlo Greecch-A^iaMiimr. jmd even to North Germany.
Oartailhac says:1
Modern Christian archaeologists have obstinately contended that the Swastika was
composed of four gamma, and so have called it the Croix Gamince. But the Rarna-
yana 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 Yisliuu
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. Oartailhac notes* 2 several facts concerning the associations of the
Swastika foimcjL 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.
With them were found many ornaments, borders representing cords,
spirals, meanders, etc., which had the same appearance as those found
by Schliemann at Mycenra. Oartailhac says:3
Without doubt Asiatic influences are evident in both cases; first appearing in the
Troad, then in Greece, they wero 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. Waring4 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
* “Ages Prehistoriqiie de PEspagne et du Portugal,” pp. 285-293,
2 Ibid., p. 286.
3 Ibid., p. 293.
* “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” p. 13.
798
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 pattde, 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 EuropeTlong alter the establishment of Christi-
/Oh anityTnot in Europe, but i uT8can(iin aviaTand wherever tlie Scand in a v i an s had pene-
trated)!* It may btTseenupou tne bells ot many of outTSarish churches, as
at Appleby, Mexboroughj Haythersaye, Waddingtou, Bishop’s Norton, West Bark-
with, and other places, where it was placed as a magical sign to subdue the vicious
spirit of the tempestand he subsequently points out its constant use in relation
to water or rain.
Mr. Waring continues:
The Rev. C. Boutcll, in “Notes and Queries,” points out that it is to be found on
many mediaeval 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 jurisdic-
tion, should be given full credit. He says, on page 15:
It [the Swastika] appear* in_ Sent.)mid and England only in those parts where
Scam]ipavipim penetrated and settled, but is not once found in any works of purely
Irish^or FraiiccTCeltln-ajL
He qualifies this, however, by a note:
, I believe it occurs_twice_on an “Ogam” stone _in the Museum of the Royal Irish
'i Academy, figured’IrTwilde’iTcatalogue (p. lb(i), but the fylfots are omitted in the
wood cut. [See fig. 215.]
Dr. Brinton,1 describing the normal Swastika, u with four arms of
equal length, the hook usually pointing from left to right,77 says: “In
this form it occurs in India and on very early (Neolithic) Grecian,
Italic, and Iberian remains.j; Drr-BriTTtoiris 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 consid-
ered 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.
n
Jo
&
^roc. Amer. Philosoph. Soc., 1889, xxix, p. 179.
THE SWASTIKA.
799
II.—Dispersion of the Swastika.
EXTREME ORIENT.
JAPAN.
The Swastika was in use in Japan in anr.ip.ntn.Rwp.il 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
Sw&stikas^on the pedestal, the ends all
turned at right angles to the right. This
specimen is shown by De Mortillet1 because
it relates to prehistoric man. The image or
statue holds a cane in the form of a “ tin tin-
nabulum,” with movable rings arranged to
make a jingling noise, and De Mortillet in-
serted it in his volume to show the likeness
of this work in Japan with a number of sim-
ilar objects found in the Swiss lake dwell-
ings in the prehistoric age_of bronze (x>. 806).
The Swastika mark was employed by the
Japanese on their porcelain. Sir Augustus
W. Franks1 2 shows one of these marks, a
small Swastika turned to the left and in-
closed in a circle (fig. 30). Fig. 9 also repre-
sents a mark on Japanese bronzes.3
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 Swas-
tika is normal, with arms cross-
ing 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
In appearance it resembles the Swastika in fig. 9.
Fig. 29.
BRONZE STATUE OF BUDDHA.
Japan.
Eight Swastikas on pedestal. Cano
tintinnabiilum with six movable
rings or bells.
One fifteenth natural size.
Fig. 30.
JAPANESE POT-
TER’S MARK ON
PORCELAIN.
De Mortillet, “ Mu-
see Prehistorique,”
fig. 1248.
degrees.
CHINA.
In the Chinese language the sign of the Swastika is pro-
nounced wan (p. 801), and stands for “many,” “a great number,” “ten
thousand,” “infinity,” and by a synecdoche is construed to mean “long
1 “Mus6e Pr6historique,” fig. 1230; Bull. Soc. d’Antfirop., Paris., 1886, pp. 299,313,
314.
2“Catalogue of Oriental Porcelain and Pottery,” pi. 11, fig. 139.
3De Morgan, “ Au Caucasc,” fig. 180.
800
REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
life, a multitude of blessings, great happiness,” etc.; as is said in French,
“mille pardons,7’ u mille remerciments,77 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 attaches, Mr. Chung, dressed
in his robes of state; his outer garment was of moire 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 11 longevity.77 a long life,77 “many years.77
< Thus was showirthatTiirTiir ruTwell asTiear 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 follow-
ing 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, Vang Yu.
Buddhist philosophers consider simple characters as half or incomplete characters
and compound characters as complete characters, while the Swastika pj-| is regarded
as a natural formation, f A Buddhist priest of the Tang Dynasty, Tao Sliih by name,
in a chapter of his work entitled Fa Yuen Clin Lin, on the original Buddha, describes
him as having this jlJJ mark on his breast and sitting on a high lily of innumerable
petals. [PI. 1.] v/
^/Empress Wu (684-704 A. D.), of the Tang Dynasty, invented a number of new forms
for characters already in existence, amongst which was the word forjm^ (g)
for moon, for star, and so on. These characters were once very extensively
used in ornamental writing, and even now the word ((-HJ 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 Lni IIsu and others of the
Tsin Dyuasty, records a decree issued by Emperor Tai Tsung (763-779 A. D.) forbid-
ding the nse of the Swastika on silk fabrics manufactured for any purpose. [PI. 3.]
Fung Tse, of the Tang Dynasty, records a practice among the people of Loh-yang
to endeavor, on the 7th of the 7tli month of each year, to obtain spiders to weave
the Swastika on their web. Rung 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. [PI. 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. [PI. 5.]
The TsMng-I-Luh, by Tao Kuh, of the Sung Dynasty, records that an Empress m
Report of National Museum, 1 894. —Wilson.
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 Yu, Chinese
Minister, Washington, I). C.
Report of National Museum, 1894,—Wilson
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 Y"ii, Chinese
Minister, Washington, D. C.
f
i
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 3.
Swastika Design on Silk Fabrics.
This use of the Swastika was forbidden in China by Emperor Tai Tsung (703-779 A. I).).
From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U, S. National Museum by Mr. Yang Yu, Chinese
Minister, Washington. D. C.
Report of National Museum, 1 894. —Wilson.
Plate 4.
ft #
f-
Swastika in Spider Web over Fruit.
(A good omen in China.)
From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to tne U. S. National Museum by Mr. Yang Yu, Chinese
Minister, Washington, D. C.
Report of National Mjseum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 5.
4 X1
J> it
^
JU
jU
^ is.)
#
• 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 Yu, Chinese
Minister, Washington, D. C. *
1
Report of National Museum, 1 894.—Wilson.
Plate 6.
Incense Burner with Swastika Decoration.
South Tang Dynasty.
From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. National Museum by Mr. Yang Yii, Chinese
Minister, Washington D. C.
»
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
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 Yii, Chinese
Minister. Washington, D. C.
1
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 8.
Mountain or Wild Date.—Fruit Resembling the Swastika.
From a drawing by Mr. Li, presented to the U. S. National Museum by 3Ir. Yang Yu, Chinese
Minister, Washington, D. C.
THE SWASTIKA. 801
the time of the South Tang Dynasty had an incense burner the external decoration
of which had the Swastika design on it. [ PI. 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. [PI. 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 tho fruit, which ripens in the ninth month of the year,
suggests a resemblance to the Swastika. [PI. 8.]
The Swastika is one of the symbolic marks of the Chinese porcelain.
Prime1 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. Sclilieinann:1 2 “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 Dumoutier3 says this sign is nothing else
^lan the ancient Chinese character c h e, which,
according to D’Alviella,4 carries the idea of
perfection or excellence, and signifies the
renewal and perpetuity of life. And again,2
“Dr. Lockyer, formerly medical missionary to
tCiina, says the sign ft is thoroughly Chinese.”
The Swastika is found on Chinese musical instruments. The IT. S.
National Museum possesses a Hu-Ch’in, a violin with four strings, the
body of which is a section of bamboo about 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,”5
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.”
potter’s mark on porcelain.
Claim.
Tablet of honor, with Swastika.
Prime, “ Pottery and Porcelain,” p. 254.
1 “ Pottery and Porcelain,” p. 254.
2 “Ilios,” p. 352.
3“Le Swastika et la roue solaire en Chine,” Revue d’Ethnographie, iv, pp.
319, 350.
4 “La Migration des Symboles,” p. 55.
5 New York Independent, November 10, 1893; Science, March 23, 1894, p. 162.
II. Mis. 90, pt. 2-----51
802
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
TIBET.
Mr. William Woodville Boekhill,1 speaking of the fair at Kuinbum,
says:
I found there a number of Lh’asa Tibetans (they call them Gopa liere) selling
pulo, beads of various eolors; saffron, medicines, peacock feathers, incense sticks,
etc. I had a talk with these traders, several of whom I had met hero 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’Alviolla says that the Swastika is continued among the
Buddhists of Tibet; that the women ornament their pcttieoats witli it,
and that it is also placed upon
the breasts of their dead.1 2
lie also reports3 a Buddhist
statue at the Musee Guimet
with Swastikas about thebase.
He does not state to what
country it belongs, so the au-
thor has no means of deter-
mining if it is the same statue
as is represented in fig. 29.
INDIA.
Burnouf4 says approvingly
of the Swastika:
Christian arelneologists believe
this was the most ancient sign of
the cross. * * * It was used
among tho Brahmins from all an-
tiquity. (Voyez mot “Swastika”
dans notre dietionnaire Sanskrit.)
FOOTPRINT OF BUDDHA WITH SWASTIKA, FROM AMARAVATI Swa8tifca> or Swasta, ill India COr-
T0PE' responds to “benediction” among
From a figure by Fergusson and Schliemann. . ,
Christians.
The same author, in his translation of the u 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 Qakya (fig. 32) commences
as follows:
1. Svastikaya: This is the familiar mystic figure of many Indian seets, represented
1 “ Diary of a Journey through Mongolia and Tibet in 1891-92,” p. 67.
2“La Migration des Symboles,” p. 55, citing note I, Journ. Asiatique, 2e siSrie, iv,
p. 245, and Pallas, “ Sainmlungen liistorischer Naehriehten iiber die mongolisehen
Volkerschaften,” i, p. 277.
3Ibid., p. 55.
4 “Des Sciences et Religion,” p. 256.
THE SWASTIKA.
803
thus, Lpj, aud whose name signifies, literally, ‘‘sign of benediction or of good
augury/’ (Rgya tcli’er rol pa, Vol. 11, p. 110.)
* * * The sign of the Swastika was not less known to the Brahmins than to
the Buddhists. “Eamayana,” Yol. 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 ofi
the inscriptions on the Buddhist caverns in western India are cither preceded or fol-»
lowed by the holy (sacramentelle) sign of the Swastika. It appears less common on
the Brahmin monuments.
Mr. W. Crooke (Bengal Civil Service, director of Etli. Survey, North-
west Provinces and Oudli), says:1
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 liablo 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 marriago day in Gujarat. A red circle with Swastika in the center is depicted
ou 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 sli^ne 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, .160).
Village shrines.—The outside (of the shrines) is often covered with rude representa-
tions of the mystical Swastika.
V'
On page 250 lie 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. Yirchand 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 sometime in Washington, 1). 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
1 “Introduction to Popular Religion and Folk Lore of North India,” p. 58.
804
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 18»4.
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 aud 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 differ-
ent 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 knowl-
edge, right conduct. When a person has these, 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, lias 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.
EXPLANATION OF THE JAIN
SWASTIKA, ACCORDING TO
GANDHI.
(1) Archaic or protoplas-
mic life: (2) Plant and
animal life; (3) Human
life; (4) Celestial life.
THE FORMATION OF THE JAIN SWASTIKA—FIRST
STAGE.
Handful of rice or meal, in circular form, thinner
in center.
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.
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 aud make
them more permanent.
THE SWASTIKA.
805
Mr. Gandhi says the Jains make the sign of the Swastika as fre-
quently 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^J
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-eiglith of an inch deep
(fig. 34a), then commence at the outside of the circle (fig. 34b), 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
1/ Fig. 34c.
THE FORMATION OF THE JAIN SWASTIKA—THIRD STAGE.
Ends turned out, typifying animal, human, and celestial life, as shown in tig. 33.
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. 34c).
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 Bud-v
dhist 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 inscrip-
tions, containing the Swastikas, is taken from the first book coming to
hand—the “Report of Dr. James Burgess on the Buddhist Gave Tem-
ples and their Inscriptions, Being a Bart of the Result of the Fourth,
806
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Fifth, and Sixth Seasons’ Operations of the Archeological Survey of
Western India, 1S7G, 1S77, 187S, 1879
Inserip- Direction
Plato. tion in which ends
number. are bent.
Ilhaja XLIV 2 To right.
Kmla XLYI 26 Do.
Do XL VI 27 To left.
Kol XL VI 5 To right.
Karle 1 I)o.
Do XLVII 3 I)o.
J mmar 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 YLIX 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.
Xasik LII 5 Do.
Do LV (Xasik 21) 5 (?) l)o.
Do LV (Xasik 24) 8(?) Do.
Cliantre2 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 wo employ the Greek fret, lozenges, and similar motifs in our
ornamentation. Xistres [the staff with jingling bells, hold in the hand of Buddha,
on whose base is engraved a row of Swastikas, fig. 29 of present paper] of similar
^ form and-stylo have been found in prehistoric Swiss lake dwellings of the bronze ago.
Thus the niatres and the Swastika~arc 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.
I)e Mortillet and others hold the same opinion.3
CLASSICAL ORIENT.
-
BABYLONIA, ASSYRIA, CIIALDEA, AND PERSIA.
Waring4 says, “In Babylonian and AssjTriau remains we search for
it [the Swastika] in vain.” Max Muller and Count Goblet d’Alviella
are of the same opinion.5
^rubner & Co., London, 1883, pp. 140, pi. 60.
a“Age du Bronze,” pt. 1, p. 206.
3“Musde Tr^historique,” pi. 98; “Notes de l’Origine Orientale de la Mtftallurgie,”
Lyon, 1879; “L’Ago de la Pierre et dn Bronze dans l’Asie Occidental,” Bull. Soc.
d’Anthrop., Lyon, i, fasc. 2, 1882; Bull. Soe. d’Anthrop. de Paris, 1886, pp. 299, 313,
and 314.
4 “Ceramic Art in Remote Ages.”
6“La Migration des Symboles,” pp. 51, 52.
THE SWASTIKA.
807
Of Persia, D’Alviella (p. 51), citing Ludwig Muller,1 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 Plienicia, e. g. Max Muller, J. B. Waring, Count Goblet d’Alvi-
ella.1 2
Ohnefalscli-Bicliter3 says that the Swastika is not found in Plienicia,
yet be 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. TOG.)
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,4 quoting Perrot and Cliipiez,5 6 states that
the Hittites introduced the Swastika on a bas-relief of Ibriz, Lycaonia, i
where it forms a border of the robe of a king or priest offering n*
sacrifice to a god.
* ARMENIA.
M. J. de Morgan (the present director of the Gizeli Museum at Cairo),
under the direction of the French Government,
made extensive excavations and studies into the
prehistoric antiquities and archaeology of Riigsinn
Armenia. His report is entitled “Le Premier
Age de M<5taux dans FArmenie Busse.”0 He ex-
fcavated a number of prehistoric cemeteries, and
found therein various forms of crosses engraved
on ceintures, vases, and medallions. The Swas-
tika, though present, was more rare. He found
it on the heads of two large bronze pins (figs.
35 and 3G) and on one piece of pottery (fig. 37) chkithan-thagh.
i/from the prehistoric tombs. The bent arms are
all turned to the left, and would be the Suavastika of Prof. Max Muller.
1 “Det Saakaldte Hagebors,” Copenhagen, 1877.
2 “La Migration ties Sj'mboles,” pp. 51, 52.
3 Bull, de la Soe. d’Antlirop., December 6, 1888, xi, p. 671.
4 “La Migration des Symboles,” p. 51.
5 “Histoirc de PArt dans TAntiquity,” iv.
6“Mission Scientifique au Caucase.”
BRONZE PIN-HEAD FROM
808
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
CAUCASUS.
/
In Caucasus, M. E. Chantre1 fouud tlie Swastika iu great purity of
form. Fig. 38 represents portions of a bronze plaque from that coun-
try, used on a ceiuture or belt. Another of slightly
different style, but with square cross and arms bent
at right angles, is repre-
sented in his pi. 8, fig. 5.
These belonged to the
first age of iron, and
much of the art was in-
tricate.1 2 It represented
animals as well as all ge-
ometric forms, crosses,
circles (concentric and
otherwise), spirals, meanders, chevrons,
herring bone, lozenges, etc. These were
sometimes cast in the metal, at other times
repousse, and again wen*, 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
Fig. 36.
BRONZE PIN-IIEAI) FROM
AKTHALA.
DeMorgau, “Au Cauease,” fig.
I7K.
SWASTIKA MARK ON BLACK POTTERY.
Cheithan-thagh.
I>e Morgan, “Au Cauease,” fin. 179.
Fig. 38.
FRAGMENT OF BRONZE CEINTUltE.
Swastika repousse.
Necropolis of Koban, Caucasus.
Chantre, “ Le Cauease,” pi. 11, fig. 3.
signs reported by Waring3 as from Asia Minor, which he credits, with-
out explanation, to Ellis’s “Antiquities of Heraldry.”
1 “ Recherches Anthropologiques dans le Cauease/’ tome deuxikme, p6riode proto-
Mstorique, Atlas, pi. 11, fig. 3.
3Count Goblet d’Alviella, “La Migration des Symboles,” p. 51.
3 “Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi. 41, figs. 5 and 6,
THE SWASTIKA.
809
The specimen shown in fig. 41 is reported by Waring,1 quoting
Rzewusky,2 as one of the several branding marks used on Circassian
horses for identification.
Mr. Frederick Rem-
ington, the celebrated
artist and literateur, has
an article, “Cracker Cow-
boy in Florida,”3 wherein
he discourses of the for-
gery of brands on cattle
in that country. One of
his genuine brands is a
circle with a small cross
in the center.^ The for-
gery consists in elongat-
ing each arm of the cross
and turning it with a
scroll, forming an ogee
Swastika(fig.l3d), which,
curiously enough, is ] >rae-
tically the same brand
used on Circassian horses (fig. 41). Max Ohnefalsch-Richtcr4 says that
instruments n£ copper^ (audumbaroasih) are rec-
ommended in the Atharva-Veda to make the Swas-
tika, 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.
Fig. 39.
RRONZE AGRAFE OK KELT PLATE.
Triskelion in spiral.
Ivoban, Caucasus.
Chant re, “ Le Oauoase,” j>I. 11, fig. 4.
Fig. 40.
SWASTIKA SIGNS KKOM ASIA
MINOR.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote
Ages,” ]>l. 41, figs. 5 and 6.
ASIA MINOR—TROY (lIISSARLIK).
Many specimens of the Swastika were found by Dr.
Schliemann in the ruins of Troy, principally on spindle
Mvhorls, vase's, and bijoux "of precious metal. Zmig-
rodzki5 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 imre 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
Fig. 41.
RRAND FOR HORSES
IN CIRCASSIA.
Ogee Swastika, tet-
raskeliou.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in
Remote Ages,” |»1. 42,
lig. 20c.
1 “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi. 42, lig. 20c.
2 “ Mines de POrient,” v.
3 Harper's Magazine, August, 1895.
4Rulletins de la Soc. d'Antlirop., 1888, ii, p. 678.
5Dixifcme Congr&s International d’Anthropologie et d'Arcli<Sologie l*r6histori(pie,
Paris, 1889, p. 474,
810
/
relation to the Swastika thus: Eighty-two representing stars; 70 rep-
resenting suns; 42 representing branches of trees or palms; 15 animals
non-feroeious, deer, antelope, hare, swan, etc.; total, 209 objects. Many
of these were spindle whorls.
Dr. Scliliemann, 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 10 meters) deep; the third, 23 to 33 feet (7 to 10 meters) deep; the
fourth city, 13 to 17.0 feet (4 to 5J 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.
First and Second Cities.—But few whorls were found in the first and
second cities1 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 unorna-
mented, 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 ease they were fiat.1 2 In
the second city the whorls were smaller than in
the lirst. They were all of a black color and their
incised ornamentation was practically the same as
those from the upper cities.3
Zmigrodzki congratulated himself on having discovered among
Sehliemann’s finds what he believed to be the oldest representation of
the Swastika of which we had reliable knowledge. It was a frag-
^nent 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 Scliliemann, in a later edi-
tion, 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 and |7J-i, was frequent in the third,
fourth, and fifth cities.
The following specimens bearing the Swastika mark are chosen, out
of the many specimens in Scliliemann’s great album, in order to make
a fair representation of the various kinds, both of whorls and of Swas-
1 “ Ilios,” pp. 229, 350, note 1.
3 Ibid, %s. 63-70, p. 229.
3 Ibid, pi 303.
Fig. 42.
FRAGMENT OF Ll’STROlS
1SLACK POTTERY.
Swastika, right.
Depth, 23 feet.
SchlkMiiann, “Ilios,” fij;. i?47.
THE SWASTIKA.
811
tikas. They are arranged in the order of cities, the depth being indi-
cated in feet.
The Third, or Burnt, City (23 to 33 feet dee])).—The spindle-whorl
shown in fig. 43 contains two Swastikas and two crosses.1 Of the one
Fig.43.
SPINDLE-WHORL with two swastikas ANI) TWO
, ' CROSSES.
Depth, 23 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. isr>s.
Fig. 44.
SPINDLE-WIIORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 23 feet.
Schlieinann, “ Ilios,” fij'. IS74.
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 tig. 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 shad-
ows. The second Swastika has its ends bent at an
obtuse angle to the left, and at the extremities the
lines taper to a point.
Fig. 45.
SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 23 feet.
Sclilieinann, “ Ilios,” (is;. P.U'.i.
SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO
SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 28 feet.
Schlieinann, “ Ilios,” %. Is2»>.
The whorl shown in
fig. 45 is nearly spher-
ical, with two Swas-
tikas 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. 4G represents a spindle-
whorl with two irregular Swastikas; but
one arm is bent at right angles add all the
arms and points are uncertain and of un-
equal lengths. The rest of the field is covered with indefinite and inex-
plicable 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
Fig. 47.
SPINDLE-WHORLWITII THREE SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 23 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” tig. IN5I.
‘All spindle-whorls from tlio hill of Hissarlik are represented- one-half natural
size.
812
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891.
or dog-tooth ornaments. Witliin 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.
one
Fig.48.
SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SWASTIKAS
Depth, 23
Sohliomann, “ Ilios,” fij;.
All three have
or more ends
bent, not at any an-
gle, but in a curve
or hook, making an
ogee. Fig. 48 shows
a large whorl with
two or three Swas-
tikas on its upper
surface in connection
with several indefi-
nite marks appar-
ently without mean-
ing. 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 (sec
/ tigs. 7d, 88) divided by longitudinal lines into four
segments, which are again divided by an equa-
torial 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. (Ireg says of it:1
"We sco on one hemisphere the Ft1 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 Fy standing for the enihlom of the sky god.
F i g.. .">() represents
one of the biconieal
spindle-whorls with
various decorations
on the two sides,
longitudinal lines
interspersed with
dots, arcs of con-
centric circles ar-
ranged 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.
1 Archioologia, xlviii, pt. 2, p. 322.
SPHERE DIVIDED INTO KIOHT
SEGMENTS, ONE OP WHICH
CONTAINS A SWASTIKA.
Srhlieninnn, “ Ilios,” %. P.i9<i.
Fig. 50.
mCONIOAL SPINDLE-WIIORL WITH SWASTIKA.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fi;;. 1949.
THE SWASTIKA.
813
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
Fig. 51.
MICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SIX SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 33 feet.
Schlietniinn, “ Ilios,” tig. ]«r>n.
Fig.52.
15ICON1CAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO OOEE
SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 33 feet.
St'hliemann, “Ilios,” tig. ]',7tl.
forms, crossing each other at the center at nearly right angles, the
ogee ends curving to the right. In fig. 55 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 flour-
ish. (See figs. 55 and 34 for refer-
ence to this flourish.) The specimen
shown in fig. 54 has a center field in
its upper part, of which the decora-
tion consists of incised parallel lines
forming segments of circles, re-
peated in each one of the four quar-
ters 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.
U’INDLE-WHORL WITH
FOUR SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 33 feet.
-
>e Mortillet, “ Mus6e Pr£his-
torique,” fig. 1240.
Fig. 54.
SPINDLE-WHORL WITH
ONE SWASTIKA.
Depth, 33 feet.
De Mortillet, “ Musee Pre-
historique,” fig. 1241.
The Fourth City (13.2 to 17.6 feet deep).—Schliemann says:1
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 (6iita a/j,(piHV7teXXcx)\ 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 eity, while the masses of shells and cockles
1 ** Ilios,” pp. 518, 571.
814
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
accumulated in tlie d6bris of the houses are so stupendous that they bafllo 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, bear 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 Mycense,
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 repre-
sentation of specimens of whorls are given
as in the third city, and the same observa-
tions apply.
Fig. 55 shows a simple cone, the upper surface being flat and without
other decoration than three Swastikas equidistant from the hole and
from eacli 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 Schlie-
mann collection in the lT. S.
National Museum, Cat. No.
149704). Fig. 5G shows a re-
markable spindle-whorl. Its
marks greatly excited the in-
terest of l)r. Schliemann, and
he devoted much space to the
discussion of these and simi-
lar 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. Schlie-
mann 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 “ burn-
ing altar.” This assertion he also fortified with authorities and with
CONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 13^ feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 18!U.
CONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH FOITIt SWASTIKAS OF VARI-
OUS KINDS.
Depth, 13£ feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig.
Fig. 55.
CONICAL SPINDLE-WHOM. WITH THREE OGEE
SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 13J feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1S50.
THE SWASTIKA.
815
illustrations of a similar sign from different countries. (See fig. 101.)
Tlie 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 overtliebackof theanimal.
(See figs. 99 and 100.)' Fig. 57
represents another cone-shaped
whorl, the flat surface of which is
engraved with one perfect Swas-
tika, 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.
Scliliemann calls
Swastikas, al-
though they are
uncertain in some
of their arms
and angles. The
fourth character
he imagined to
be an inchoate or
attempted Swas-
tika. 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 unde-
termined that it is doubtful
if they could have had any sig-
nification, 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 fiat
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. GO a biconical
Pig. 60.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH TWO SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 16J feet.
Schliemanu, “ Ilios,” fig. 1863.
I
Pig. 59.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH THREE OGEE SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 13£ feet.
Schliemann, “Ilios/’ fig. 199<i.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH ONE SWASTIKA.
Depth, 13 J feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1983.
816
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
BICONICAL
Fig. 61.
SPINDLE-WIIORL WITH FIVE OOKK
SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 18 feet.
Srhliemann, “Ilios.” fig. 31*05.
whorl is shown. It has three of the circle segments marked in equi-
lateral positions, with three or four parallel lines, after the style shown
in fig. 51. 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. G1 is bicon-
ical, but much flattened; it contains
live 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. G2
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. G3 represents
a spindle-wliorl
with a cup-
sliaped depres-
sion around the
central hole,
which is sur-
rounded by three
lines in concen-
tric circles, while
on the field, at
00 degrees from
each other, are four ogee Swastikas (tetraskelions), the arms all turn-
ing to the left and spirally each upon itself. The specimen shown in
fig. G4 is biconical,
though, as usual,
the upper cone
is the smallest.
There are parallel
lines, three in a set,
forming the seg-
ments of three cir-
cles, in one space
of which appears
a Swastika of a
curious and unique
form, similar t o
that shown in fig.
GO. 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
Fig.62.
SPINDLE-WHORL WITH Till
SWASTIKAS.
Depth, 19.8 feet.
Si-lilieinann, “ fig. Is.r>5.
Fig.63.
SPINDLE*WIIOIiL HAVING FOUR OGEE SWAS-
TIKAS WITH SPIRAL VOLUTES.
Depth, 18 feet.
Srhliemann, “ Ilios,” ti^j. W>S.
Fig. 64.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH ONE SWASTIKA.
Depth, 19.8 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. lsii5.
THE SWASTIKA.
817
that if continued slightly farther they would close and form a decora-
tive figure 8. The specimen shown in fig. 05 is decorated Avitli parallel
lines, three in number, arranged in
segments of three circles, the periphery
of which is toward the center, as in
figs. GO and G4. 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. GG
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. G7 shows four speci-
mens 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. 34c). They are alternated with
a chevron decoration. Fig. G8 shows three Swastikas, the ends of the
arms of which are all bent to the left. One Swastika is composed of
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH THREE SWAS-
TIKAS ANI) THREE BURNING ALTARS.
Depth, 19.8 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1872.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH ONE SWAS-
TIKA.
Depth, 19.8 feet.
Schliemami, “Ilios,” fig. 1886.
Fig. 67.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH FOUR SWAS-
TIKAS.
Depth, 19.8 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1873.
Fig. 68.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH THREE SWAS-
TIKAS OB' DIFFERENT STYLES.
Depth, 19.8 feet.
Scliliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1911.
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
H. Mis. 90, pt. 2-----------52
818
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1*94.
Fig.G9.
BICONIOAL SPINDLE 'WHOM. AVITII ONE SWASTIKA OF THE
FIGURE-8 STYLE.
Depth, 19.8 feet.
Schliemann, *• I!ius,” fig. ]srti.
little flourish (figs. 07 and 34e). One of these ends, like that in fig. GO,
has been corrected by the maker. Fig. 09 represents one Swastika in
which the main arms cross at nearly right angles. Both ends of one
arm turn to theleftand those
of the other arm turn to the
right in figures 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. 00, 04, G5, and 09,
except that it has four in-
stead 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.
The V. S. National Museum was, during 1893, the fortunate recipient
of a collection of objects from Madame Schliemann, which her husband,
before his death, had signi- __
fled 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 acknowl-
edgments 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 Anthropol-
ogy. In this collection is a spin-
dle whorl, found at 13J feet (4
meters) depth and belonging to
the fourth city. It had three
Swastikas upon its face, and is
here shown as fig. 71.1
The Fifth City.—Schliemann
says:2
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. In-
2 Ibid, p. 573.
Fig. 70.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-AVIIOBI. WITH ONE SWASTIKA, SLIGHTLY OGEE.
Depth, 19.8 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. IwM.
CONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL AVITII THREE OGEE SAVAST1K.VS.
Depth, 13.5 feet.
Gift of Madame Schliemann. Cat. No. 149704, U. S. N. M.
1 “Ilios,” fig. 1852.
THE SWASTIKA.
819
stead 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 ill “Ilios,”
page 587, and the seventh on pages G08 and G18. Both cities contained
occasional whorls of clay, all thoroughly baked, without incised or
painted ornamentation, and shed no fur-
ther light on the Swastika.
Fig.
pheres
Figs. 72, 73, 74.
FORMS OF WHORLS FROM THE FIFTH BURIED CITY OF
HISSARLIK, FOR COMPARISON.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” figs. 1801, 1602, 1803.
75 represents the opposite liemis-
of a tern-cotta ball, found at a
depth of 2G feet, divided by in-
cised lines into fifteen zones, of
which two are ornamented with
points and the middle zone, the
largest of all, with thirteen spec-
imens of y=, and flf.
Zmigrodzki says1 that there
were found by Schliemann, at Hissarlik, fifty-five specimens of the Swas-
tika “pure and simple” (pp. 809, 82G). It will be perceived by exami-
nation 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
Miiller’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 oif
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 them-
selves. These will some-
times have three, five, six,
or more arms, instead of
four (p. 7G8). 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 associ-
ated with the Swastika, and are only related to it by the association
of similar objects from the same locality. A description of their pat-"
terns will include those already figured, together with Schliemann’s
1 Tenth Congr. Inter. d’Anthrop. et d’Archmol. Prohist., Paris, 1889, p. 474.
Fig. 75.
TERRA-COTTA SPHERE WITH THIRTEEN SWASTIKAS,
Third city. Depth, 26 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” figs. 215, 24<i.
820
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
comments as to signification and frequency. They become more impor-
tant because these related forms will be found in distant countries and
among distant peoples, notably among the prehistoric peoples of Amer-
ica. Possibly these design shave
(^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 ideo-
graphic, signification. No opin-
ion is advanced by the author
on these theories, but the de-
signs are given in considerable
numbers, to the end that the
evidence may be fully reported,
and future investigators, radi-
cal 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.
The specimen represented in fig. 70 is not a
spindle-whorl, as shown by the number and loca-
tion 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. 34c). Pig. 77 represents a spindle-whorl with a Swastika of the ogee
style curved to the right. The center hole of the whorl forms the cen-
spindle-wiiokl with ogee
SWASTIKA.
Tliirdeity. Depth, 23 lent.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. I''---
Fig. 70.
TERRA-COTTA DISK WITH ONE SWASTIKA.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1849.
Fig. 78.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-W1IOKL WITH IRREGULAR SWAS
TIKAS AND CROSSES.
Fourth city. Depth, 13.6 feet.
Schliemann, “Ilios,” fig. 1871.
Fig. 79.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH UNCERTAIN
AND MALFORMED SWASTIKAS.
Third city. Depth, 33 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. Ia70.
ter of the sign. The figure is of double lines, and in the interspaces are
four dots, similar to those iu figs. 00-118, and others which Dr. Schliemann
THE SWASTIKA.
821
-
reports as common, and to which lie 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. GO and G4). Two others are
crudely and irregularly formed, and
would scarcely be recognized as
Swastikas except for their associ-
ation. Fig. 70 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. SI shows two Swastikas,
both crossing tlieir 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 decora-
tions of apparently unmeaning, or, at least, unexplained, lines. Fig. 82
shows four segmented cir-
cles with an indefinite Swas-
tika 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 lias 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
Fig. 82.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH ONE SWASTIKA AND FOUR
SEGMENTS OF CIRCLES.
Third city. Depth, 33 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 19sy.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL, FLATTENED, WITH TWO
SWASTIKAS AND INDEFINITE DECORATION.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” lip. 1947.
Fig. 80.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH IRREGULAR AND
PARTLY FORMED SWASTIKAS HAVING LARGE DOT
IN CENTER.
Fourth city. Dejitli, 23 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” lip. 1S75.
822
.y/ot
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
*
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, Avhile the
arms of the cross start from the out-
side of the circle, extending them-
selves in curves, all of them to the
right. (See fig. 13d.) 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 80 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 easv.
Fig. 83.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL, FLATTENED
Ogpo Swastika with central circle.
Third cit}'. Depth, 23 feet.
Sehlieuiann,
Fig. 84.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SIX OGEE SWASTIKAS
HAVING CENTRAL CIRCLE AND DOT.
Third city. Depth, 23 feet.
Sehliemann, ‘‘Ilios,'’ fig. 1,*C,2.
Fig. 85.
SPHERICAL SPINDLE WHORL AVITH
FLATTENED TOP AND OGEE LINES
AYHICH DO NOT FORM SAVASTIKAS.
Sehliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1*90.
Attention has been called to decorations comprising segments of the
circles incised in these whorls, the peripherv of which is toward their
centers (figs. GO, 04, 05, 09, 70, 82
and 83). Also to the mysterious
dots (figs. 40, 50, 75, 70, 77, 79,84,
92, 90 and 97). Fig. 87 shows a
combination of the segments of
three circles, the dots within each,
and two Swastikas. Of the Swas-
tikas, one is normal, turning to
the right; the other turns to the
rightr but at an obtuse angle,
with one end straight and the
other irregularly curved. Fig. 88
cotta sphere divided similar to fig,
Fig. 86.
BICON1CAL SPINDLE-AVIIORL AVITH OGEE CURVES AVHICII
ARE NOT CROSSED TO FOR.AI SAVASTIKAS.
Sehlieinann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1**9.
represents two sections of a terra-
49. Each of these sections contains
THE SWASTIKA.
823
Fig. 87.
SPHERICAL, SPINDLE-WHORL, FLATTENED.
Two Swatikas combined with segments and dots.
Schliema.n, “ Iliosfig-. 19S8.
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 decora-
tion 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).1 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 re-
curring dots are seen in fig. 90.
It is not contended that these are necessarily evolutions of the Swas-
tika. AVe 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 per-,
sons rich in theories and bril *
liant in imagination have de-i
dared that they could see a
resemblance, a relation, in this
or some other decoration. As
objects belonging—toAli^same
culture, from the same locality,
and intimately associated with
unmistakable Swastikas, they
were part of the res gcstcc, and as such eiititled... to. adinis&ioii-as-evi-
dence in the case. The effect of their evidence is a legitimate subject
for discussion and argument. To refuse these figures admission would
left, ogee and zigzag.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1993.
Fig.
SPHERICAL SPINDLE-WHORL.
Largo central dot witli twelve arms, similar in form to
tho ogee Swastika.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1946.
Ilios” }). 4 IS.
2 See p. 786
824
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
*
Fig. 90.
SPINDLE-WHORL.
Central dot with ogee arms
radiating therefrom in
different directions, bnt
in the form of a Swastika.
Third city. Depth, 29 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1830.
is lost in .antiquity.
Fig. 91.
SPINDLE-WHORL WITH
CENTItAL HOLE AND
RADIATING AKMS.
Third city. Depth,
23 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilies,” fig.
Is42.
IJ
be to decide the case against this contention without giving the oppos-
ing party an opportunity to see the evidence or to be heard in argu-
inent. Therefore the objects are inserted.
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 rela-
tionship between them; but no
person is competent to decide
-^from a mere inspection or by rea-
ison of dissimilarity that there
(^was not. We have to plead ig-
noramus as to the growth and
evolution of both cross and Swas-
tika, because the origin of both
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.
Evidence leading to conviction
may be found in associated contem-
poraneous specimens. M.Montelius,
an archaeologist 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 libuhe found in prehistoric
graves. In assorting his stock of
fibula?, he was enabled to lay out a series of eight styles, each different,
but with many presentations, lie 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 dis-
covered 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 intermix
ture; 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 C and 8, nor 5
and 7, nor was there any association beyond ad-
joining numbers in the series. Thus Montelius was able to deter-
Cmine 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
Fig. 92.
SPINDLE-WIIORL WITH CENTRAL CIRCLE AND MANY
ARMS.
Fourth city. Depth, 19.8 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1837.
SPINDLE-WIIORL WITH CEN-
TRAL HOLE, LARGE CIRCLE,
AND MANY CURVED ARMS.
Third city. Depth, 29 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,,, fig. 1833.
THE SWASTIKA.
825
from eacli 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 iiq^
pro vein ent in art,
always by com-
munication be-
tween their
makers or owners.
Thus it may be
with the other
forms of crosses,
and thus it ap-
pears to be with
the circle a'n d
spiral Swastikas
and those with
ends bent in op-
posite and differ-
ent directions.
Just what their
relations are and
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
Fig. 94.
LARGE BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL.
Four cresses witli bifurcated arms.
Third city. Depth, 23 feet.
Schlieinann, “ Ilios,” fig. I85t>.
at which end of the series the evolution began, is^
Fig. 95.
SPINDLE-WIIOUL.
Hole ami large circle in center
with broad arms of Greek
cross.
Third city. Depth, 26.4 feet.
Schlieinann, “ Ilios,” fig. IS'-’O.
Fig.96.
SPINDLE-WHORL.
Hole and large circle in center.
Eextended parallel arms with
dots, forming a Greek eros3.
Third city. Depth, 23 feet.
Schlieinann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1817.
Fig. 97.
SPINDLE-WHORL.
Greek cross. Tapering arms
with dots.
Third eity. Depth, 23 feet.
Schlieinann, “ Ilios,” fig. 181s.
ways, thus forming a foliated cross similar to the Maya cross, the “Tree
of life.” Figs. 95, 90, 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
82 G
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 ot four arms.
Figs. 99 and 100 each show four of the curious
animals heretofore represented (fig. 50) in connec-
tion 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 show-
ing eye on one side,
Fig. 98.
SPINDLE-WHORL.
Central hole and three
arms with dots.
Thirdcity. Depth, 23feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 18P.I.
and long ears resem-
Fig. 99.
HICOMCAL SPINDLE-WHORL.
Four animals are shown similar to those
found associated with the Swastika.
Third city. Depth, 33 feet.
Schliemann-, “ llins,” fig. Is77.
bling those of a rabbit
or hare, which, in fig. 50, are called horns.
The general remarks in respect to the
propriety of inserting crosses and burn-
ing altars (p. 824) apply with equal pcrti-
ncncy 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 in-
serted because it represents one of
the 4iburning altars” of Dr. Schlie-
mann, associated with a Swastika,
as in figs. Cl, GO, and G8, and even
those of figure-8 style (figs. G4 and
G9).
- Dr. Schliemann found, during his ex-
cavations on the hill of llissarlik, 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 71), but the greatest
number were from the third city, thence upward in decreasing numbers.
'T 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
Fig. 100.
B1 CONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL.
Four animals are shown similar to tlios»o i
found associated with the Swastika.
Fourth city. Depth, 19.6 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 18G7.
SPINDLE-WHORL WITH FIGURE-8 SWASTIKA( ?) AND
SIX “BURNING ALTARS.”
Fourth city. Depth, 19.6 feet.
Schliemann, “ Ilios,” fig. 1833.
THE SWASTIKA.
827
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 associa-
tion and make such comparison as will satisfy him. (Figs. 102 to 124.)
107.
108.
110.
111.
Figa. 102-113.
TROJAN SPINDLE-WHORLS.
Schliemann, “ Iliog.”
\Ov
828
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, l89L
117.
123. 124.
Figs. 114-124.
TROJAN SPINDLE-WHORLS.
Schliemann, “ Ilios.”
THE SWASTIKA.
829
-
Leaden idol of HissarWc.—Dr. Schlieinaim, in liis 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.1 It was submitted to Professor Sayce who made the follow-
ing report:1 2
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
iEgean Sea. Characteristic figures of the goddess have
been discovered at Myeeme 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 serpontine was
recently found in Mamma, and published by M. Salmon
Reinacli in, Revue Arclneologique. By the side of the
goddess stands the Babylonian Bel, and among the Baby-
lonian symbols that surround them is the representation
of one of the terra-cotta whorls, of which Dr. Selilie-
mann found such multitudes at Troy.
The chief interest to us of Dr. Schlienmnifs
description of the idol lies in the last paragraph :3 4
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 Swastikal_j7
which we see in the middle of the vulva. * * * g0t| n
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 repre-
sented on the six figures by a largo triangle. * * *
Similar white Parian marble figures, found in the Cy-
clades, whereon the vulva is represented by a decorated
triangle, are preserved in the British Museum. Lenor-
ment, in “Los Antiquitds de la Troade” (p. 46), says:
“The statuettes of tho 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 sepul-
chers 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
wholo extent of tho Chaldco-Assyrian, Araimean, and Phoenician world. Their pro-
totype 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.
Fig. 125.
LEADEN IDOL OK ARTEMIS NANA
OK CHALDEA, WITH SWASTIKA.4
Third city. Depth, 23 feet.
Schlienutnn, “ llios.” fig. 126
1 >3 natural size.
1 “ llios,” fig. 226,
3Ibid, p. 691.
5 Ibid, p. 338.
4 See p. 795.
p. 337.
830
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, lh9i.
t
It is to be remarked that this mark is not on the vulva, as declared
by Sehliemann, but rather ou a triangle shield which covers the mans
ceneris.
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, appar-
ently 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.
Old-shaped vases.—It is also remarkable to note in this connec-
tion the series of owl-slmped terra-cotta vases of the ruined cities of
"v^tlissarlik and their
•relation to the Swas
tika as a possible sy m
bol of the generative
power. These vases
have rounded bot-
toms, 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 en-
tirely 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
Sehliemann collection (fig. 12G). 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.
TERRA-COTTA VASE WITH MAMELOX.
Fourth city. Depth, 16.5 feet.
Cat. No. 14**070, U. S. N. M.
1; natural size.
Fig.127.
TEKRA-COTTA VASE WITH CIRCLE
OR RING.
Fourth city. Depth, 20 feet.
Sehliemann, “ llios,’’ fig. 9b*.
J, natural size.
THE SWASTIKA.
831
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 mamma) are well shown, while the other organ has the con-\y
centric 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 repre-
sented by a circle, the mammae 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 ritus of Brazil (pi. 18), the similarity becomes signifi-
cant, if not mysterious. But, with all this significance and mystery, it
Fig. 128.
TERRA COTTA VASE WITH CIRCLE OR RING
AND CROIX SWASTICALE.
Sehlieinann, “ llios,” fig. 9SI',.
J natural size.
Fig. 129.
TERRA-COTTA VASE WITH CIRCLE OR
RING INCLOSING SWASTIKA.
Sehlieinann, “ Troja,” fig. ini.
natural size.
appears to the author that this sign, in its peculiar position, has anl
equal claim as a symbol of blessing, happiness, good fortune, as that it/
represents the generative power.
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~^reatest command of God to man, as
set forth in the Holy Bible, is to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replen
ish the earth/’1 This was repeated after the Deluge,1 2 and when He
pronounced the curse in the Garden, that upon the woman3 was, “In
sorrow thou sllalt 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
1 Genesis i, 28.
2 Genesis viii, 17; ix, 7.
3 Genesis iii, 16.
832
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be
numbered.”1 u 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 ol
LHissarlik, the vases of Greece, or the fibula* of Etruria.
The age of the Trojan cities.—It maybe well to consider for a moment
the age or epoch of these prehistoric Trojan cities on the hill of Ilis-
sarlik. Professor Virchow was appealed to by Schliemann for his
opinion. He says:1 2
Other scholars have been inclined to ascribe the oldest cities of llissarlik 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. 1). belongs the surface of the fortress hill of llissarlik, which still lies
above the Macedonian wall; and the oldest “cities’’—although not only polished
stones but also chipped Hakes of chalcedony and obsidian occur in them—neverthe-
less fall within the age of metals, for even in the first city utensils of copper, gold,
and oven silver were dug up. No stone people, properly so called, dwelt upon the
fortress hill of llissarlik, so far as it has been uncovered.
Virchow’s opinion that none of the cities of llissarlik were in the
stone age may be correct, but the reason lie gave is certainly doubtful,
lie says they come within the age of metals, for, or because, u 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 abo-
rigines, is no evidence that they were in a metal age, as it has been
assigned and understood by prehistoric archaeologists. The great prin-
ciple 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 archied -
ogists 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 coun-
tries and localities where stone is scarce and shell abundant, cutting
1 Genesis xiii, 16; xv, 5.
2 “Uios,” preface, p. xi.
THE SWASTIKA.
833
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 says1 while “it is impossible to assign
these strata tQ 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,’7 and1 2 3 that “no place in Europe is known
which could be put in direct connection with any one of the six lower
cities of Hissarlik.77
Professor Sayce also gives his opinion on the age of these ruins:2
The antiquities, therefore, unearthed l>y I)r. Schlieiuann at Troy, acquire for ns a
double interest. They carry us hack 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 Miiller is of this opinion,
as is also Count Goblet d’Alviella.4
Waring5 says:
The only sign approaching the fylfot in Egyptian hieroglyphics that we have met
is shown in fig. 3, pi. 41, where it forms one of the hieroglyphs of Isis, hut is not
very similar to our fylfot.
Mr. Greg says:6 “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 130). Professor Goodyear,7 says:
The earliest dated Swastikas are of the third millenium I>. C., and occur on the for- 7 ,
eign Cyprian and Carian (f) pottery fragments of the time of the twelfth dynasty / V
(in Egypt), discovered by Mr. Flinders Petrie in 18S9. (Kahun, Onrob, and ITawara, 1
pi. 27, Nos. 1G2 and 173.)
1 “ Ilios,” app. 1, p. G85.
2 “ Ibid.,” app. G, p. 379.
3 “Troja,” p. xii.
4 “La Migration des Symbol es,” pp. 51, 52.
5 “Ceramie Art in Remote Ages,’7 p. 82.
R Arcliajologia, xlvii, pt. 1, p. 159.
7 “ Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. 30, figs. 2 and 10, p. 35G.
H. Mis. 90, pt. 2----53
834
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
GREEK VASE SHOWING DEER, GEESE,
AND SWASTIKAS.
Naukratis, Ancient Egypt. Sixth
and fifth centuries, 1>. C.
Petrie, Third Memoir, Egypt Exploration Knnd,
part I,pi. 4, fig. 3, and Goodyesir, Grammar
of the Lotus,” pi. Co, fig. 2.
AuwAtuUs.—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 Swas-
tikas. It should be
explained that these
/are said to be Greek
vases which have
been imported into
/Egypt. So that,while
Mound in Egypt and
so classed geograph-
ically, they are not
Egyptian, but Greek.
Coptos (Achwim-
Vanopotis). — Within
the past few years
great discoveries
have been made in Upper Egypt, in Sakkarah,
Fayum, and Achmirn, _the last of which ivas
the ancient city of Panopolis. The inhabit-
ants of Coptos and the surrounding or neigh-
boring cities were Christian Greeks, who mi-
grated from their eountry'~7Tufing the first
centuries of our era and settled in this land of
Jypt. Strabo mentions these people and
;ir ability as weavers and embroiderers.
.Discoveries have been made of their cemeteries,
winding sheets, and grave clothes. These
clothes have been subjected to analytic in-
vestigation, and it is the conclusion of M.
Gerspach, the administrator of the national
manufactory of the Gobelin tapestry, Paris,1
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.
On one of these Coptic cloths, made of linen,
reproduced in “Die Graber- und Textilfunde
von Acliinim-Panopolis,” by R. Forrer, occurs
DETAIL OF VASE SHOWN
THE PRECEDING FIGURE
1 “Les Tapisseries Coptes,” see. 4, pp. 5, G.
THE SWASTIKA.
835
a normal Swastika embroidered or woven, tapestry fashion, with
woolen thread (fig. 130). It belongs to the first epoch, Avliich includes
Fig. 131.
rOTTKHY FRAGMENTS WITH TWO MEANDER SWASTIKAS.
Xaukratis, Ancient Egypt.
Petrie, Third Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund, part 1, pi. 5, figs. 15, 21,
portions of the first and second centuries A. 13. There were on these
cloths an enormous amount of decoration, representing many figures,
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,” pi. 30, fig 2.
*
both natural and geometric. Among them was the Swastika variously
applied and in different sizes, sometimes inserted in borders, and
836
IvEPOIiT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894
Li- 133.
FRAGMENT OF GREEK VASE IiKCOItA'l El) WITH FIGURES OF fSACIiSjl ANIMALS AND SWASTIKAS, ASSOCIATED
WITH GREEK FRET.
.Xawkratis, Aiiciint Egypt.
l'utrio, Sixth Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fuml, part J, pi. •>, tig. 1.
Fig.134.
FRAGMENT OF GREEK VASE WITH FIGURES OF ANIMALS, TWO MEANDER SWASTIKAS, AND GREEK FRET.
Isaukratis, Aneieut Egypt.
Petrie, Sixth Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund, part 2, pi. S, fig. 1, and Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. .10, tig. 1".
THE SWASTIKA.
837
Fig.135.
GREEK VASE WITH DEER, AND MEANDER AND FIGURE-8 SWASTIKAS.
Naukrat.is, Ancient Egypt.
Petrie, Sixth Memoir of the Egypt Exploration Fund, part pi. f>, tig. ].
Fig.136.
GREEK TAPESTRY.
Coptos, Egypt. First and second centuries, A. I).
Forrer, “Die Gr'aber- und Textilfunile von Achmin-Panopolis.”
838
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894. *
sometimes adorning the corners of the tunics and togas as a large
medallion, as shown in the figure.1
ALGERIA.
Waring, in his “Ceramic Art in Remote Ages/’ discoursing upon the
Swastika, which he calls fylfot, shows in pi. 43, fig. 2 (quoting from Rela-
mare), the base of a col-
yiimn from a ruined Ro-
' man 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 pave-
i/i nen t i n A1 geria. In stead
of being square,however,
or at right angles, as
might ordinarily be ex
pected 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.2
ASTIANTEE.
Mr. R. B.TEneas McLeod, of lnvergordon Castle, Ross-shire, Scotland,
reported3 that, on looking over some curious bronze ingots raptured at
Coomassee in 1874, during the late Ashantee Avar, by Captain Eden,
in wliosepossession they were
at Im^erness, he had found
some marked Avith the SAvas-
tika sign (fig. 188). These
specimens were claimed to be
aboriginal, but Avhether the
marks Avere cast or stamped
in the ingot is not stated.
n^orrer, “Die Griiber- und Textilfunde von Aclimim-Panopolis,” p. 20.
2Bull. Soc. Fran?aise do numisiii. et d’arcli^ol., n, pi. 3, p. 3.
3 “Rios,” p. 353.
Fig.138.
BRONZE INGOTS BEARING SWASTIKAS.
Comassee, Asliaiiteo.
THE SWASTIKA.
839
CLASSICAL OCCIDENT—MEDITERRANEAN.
GREECE AND THE ISLANDS OF CYPRUS, RHODES, MELOS, AND THERA.
The Swastika lias 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
’ Fig. 139.
VARIATION OF THE GREEK FRET.. OHREK GEOMETRIC VASE ™ THE LEYDEN MUSEUM, WITH
FIGURES OF GEESE AND SWASTIKA IN PANEL.'
Continuous lines crossing each other at right Smyrna
angles forming figures resembling the Swas- . ... . ,, ,
& r> o ts •( oiizp, ‘‘Antange, ’ eti'., \ lenna, 1S70, and Goodyear, “ Grammar ot <he
tikas. Lotus,” pi. 56, fig. 4.
I^fargest proportion should be the oldest, those belonging to the Archaic
( period. Those already shown as having been found at Xaukratis, in
J Egypt, are assigned by Mr. Flinders Petrie to the sixth and fifth een
jturiesP. 0., and their presence is accounted for by migrations from
[Greece.
The Greek fret and Egyptian meander not thesameas the Swastika.—Pro-
fessor Goodyear says:1 2 “There is no proposition in archaeology which
can be so easily demon- J
strated as the assertion
that the Swastika is
originally a fragment of
the Egyptian meander,
provided Greek geo-
metric 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 neces-
sary to prove his proposition.
Fig. 141.
GREEK VASE WITH FIGURES OF
HORSES, GEOMETRIC ORNAMENT’S
AND SWASTIKAS IN PANELS.
Athens.
Dennis, “ Etruria,” T, p. rxiii.
Fig.142.
GREEK VASE WITH SWASTIKAS
IN PANELS.
C'onze, “ Alliance,” e(<\, and Goodyear,
“ Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. 60,
lig. IS.
1 See p. 845.
2 “Grammar of the Lotus,” p.352.
840
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891.
Fig.143.
DETAIL OF ARCHAIC GREEK VASE WITH FIOIRI
OF SOLAR GOOSE AND SWASTIKAS IV PANELS.
British Museum.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi. 41, fig. 1.'.
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 impos-
sible, 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.
Xo man is so poor in expedients
that lie may not argue. Goldsmith’s
schoolmaster “evntho’ 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 simi-
lar to the Swastika (fig. KID), 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 charac-
ter. It was simply a
variation of the fret,
and at best was rarely
used, and like it, was
employed only for or-
nament 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 orna-
mental band, consisting
of doubled, bent, and
sometimes crossed or in-
terlaced lines, always con
tinuous and never ending,
and running between two
parallel borderlines. 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
Fig. 144.
CYPRIAN POTTERY PLAQUE WITH SWASTIKA IN PANEL.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Cesnola, “ Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, ami Temples,” pi. 47, liy. -R'.
DETAIL OF CYPRIAN VASE WITH
SWASTIKAS IN TRIANGLES.
Goodyear," Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. l,tig. 11.
Fig. 146.
DETAIL OF ATTIC VASE
WITH FIGURE OK ANTE-
LOPE( ?) AND SWASTIKA.
British Museum.
ISohlau, Jahrbuch, 1$S5, p. 50,
and Goodyear, “ Grammar of
the Lotus,” pi. 37, fi^. 9.
THE SWASTIKA.
841
requirement or foundation principle tlie 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 car-
ried along
to form
another
Swastika
adjoining,
in the at-
tempt to
m a k e a
band, it
Fig. 147.
CYPRIAN VASE WITH SWASTIKAS.
! <“M,r
, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, ami Temples,” appendix by
Murray, p. 404, fig. 15.
Fig. 148.
TERRA COTTA FIGURINE
WITH SWASTIKAS IN
PANELS.
Cesnola, “ Cyprus, its Ancient
Cities, Tombs, and Temples,”
p. 300, and Ohnefalsch-Rich-
ter, Bull. Soc. d’Anthrop.,
Paris, IXN8, p. 081.
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 9G, in connection
with pi. 10, fig. 9, also figs. 173 and 174 (pp. 353
and 354). These fig-
ures are given in this
paper and are, respec-
tively, Nos. 21, 25, 2G,
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
Fig. 149.
TERRA COTTA VASE WITH SWAS-
TIKA AND FIGURE OF HORSE.*
Fig. 150.
BRONZE FIBULA WITH SWASTIKA AND
REPRESENTATIONS OF A GOOSE AND
A FIS1I.
Bojotia, Greece.
De Mortillet, “ Musee Preliistorique,” fig. I ytlf>.
: Goodyear, “Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. Gl, fig. 1.
842
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
the winds of their respective artists. (2) Single specimens are no
evidence of custom. This is a principle of the common law which has
Waring. “ Ceramic Art ii> Remote Ages,” 1»1. 33, fig. 21, and <ioo.Iye.-ir, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” j.l. 4t., fig. 5.
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
DETAIL OF CYI>RIAN VASE.
Sunhitwk, lotus, solar disk, and Swastikas.
Biihlau, Jahrbmh, l.v,rt, pi. s ; Reinaeh Revue Ar.-ha-ologique, 1SS5, H, p. 360 ; IVrr. t an.l Chipiez, “ History of Art in
Phenicia and Cyprus,” II ; Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. 45, fig. 3.
Greek fret to the Swastika can be shown only by the existence of the
y/ custom or habit of the artist to make them both in the same or adjoin-
DETAIL OF GREEK GEOMETRIC VASE WITH SWASTIKAS AND FIGURES OF HORSES.
Thera.
Leyden Museum.
Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. 61, fig. 4.
ing epochs of time, and this is not proved by showing a single speci-
\l men. (3) If a greater number of specimens were produced, the chain of
THE SWASTIKA.
843
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 mean-
der 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. 2.1 and
25). The transition will be found much easier from the Greek meander
fret to the normal Swastika and from that to the 7
meander Swastika than to proceed in the oppo-
site direction. Anyone who doubts this has
Fig. 154.
HRONZE FJRUI.A WITH LARGE SWASTIKA ON SHIELD.
Greece.
Mus6e St. Germain.
De Mortillet, “ Musee Prehistorique,” fifj. 1264.
l.j, natural size.
Fig. 155.
GREEK VASE, OINOCHOE, WITH
1 WO PAINTED SWASTIKAS.
De Mortillet, “ Mu.see Prt'historique,”
fij,'. 1244.
14 natural size.
but to try to make the Swastika in a continuous or extended band or
line (fig. 2G), similar to the Greek fret.
Figs. 133 and 134, from ISTaukratis, afford palpable evidence of the
different origin of the Swastika and the Greek fret. Evidently Gre-
cian vases, though found in Egypt, these specimens bear side by side
examples of the fret and the Swastika used contemporaneously, and
Fig. 156.
Fig. 157.
CYPRIAN VASE WITH SWASTIKAS AND FIGURE
OF ANIMAL.1
ARCHAIC GREEK POTTERY FRAGMENT.
Santorin, Ancient Thera.
(Vsnoia, “ Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Tempit
pi. 45, fi«. 36.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote Afjes,” pi. 42,
fig- 2.
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 vase1 2 ornamented with bronze nail heads in the form of
1 See p. 795.
2Matdrianx pour PHistoire Primitive et Naturelle de lTIomme, xvm, p. 14.
844
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Swastikas, but associated with it is the design of the Greek fret, show-
ing them to be of contemporaneous use, and therefore not, as Professor
CYPRIAN VASE WITH LOTUS AND SWASTIKAS AND FIGURE OF RIRD.
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.
Goodyear, “ Grammar of (he Lotus, )>1. fid, (ig. 15.
Goodyear believes, an evolution of one from the other. The specimen
is in the Museum at Este, Italy.
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
THE SWASTIKA.
845
FRAGMENT OF TERRA COTTA VASE
WITH SWASTIKAS, FROM RUINS OF
TEMPLE AT PALEO-PAP1IOS.
Depth, 40 feet.
Cesuola, “ Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs,
ami Temples,” p. 210.
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.1
Swastika in panels.—Professor Goodyear, in
another place,* 2 argues in a mann er 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 ap-
pears in “the largest
dimension” and in
“the most prominent
way.” In verification
of this declaration,
he says that in this
style the Swastika
systematically ap-
pears in panels ex-
clusively assigned to
it. Put 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 sx>eci-
mens, figs. 141 to 148, from Dennis’s “Etru-
ria,” from Waring’s “Ceramic Art,” and from
Cesuola and Olinefalsch-Piehter. It might be too much to say that
these are tbe only Swastikas in Greece appearing in panels, but it
is certain that the great
majority of them do not
thus appear. There-
fore, Professor Good-
year’s theory is not sus-
tained, for no one will
pretend that four speci-
mens 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
Fig. 161.
WOODEN HUTTON, CLAST, OR FIBULA
COVERED AVITII PLATES OF GOLD.
Ogee Swastika, tetraskelion in
center.
Sehliemann, “ Myceme,” fig. 3>5.
Fig.162.
DETAIL OF GREEK VASE WITH FIGURE OF GOOSE, HONEYSUCKLE
(ANTIIEMION), AND SPIRAL SWASTIKA.
Thera.
“ Monument! Inedite,” lxv, p. 2, and Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. 46, fig. 7.
]Athenic vases painted by Andokides, about 525 14 C., represent the dress of the
goddess, ornamented witb Swastika and Croix swasticale. Am. Journ. Archied.,
Jauuary-Mareh, 1896, xi, No. 1, iigs. 9, 11.
2“ Grammar of the Lotus/’ pp. 348, 353.
846
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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
Swastikas (right).
Me’.os.
libhlau, Juhrlmch, mi, < ioodyear, “ i Iramiimr of
tin- Lulus,” jil. Ill, fi^. s.
DETAIL OF GREEK VASE.
I hex, scroll, and meander Swastika (right).
Melos.
Hbhlau, .lahrluich, Inn", 121, ami Goodyear, “ < •rainiii.ir
<-£ the Lulus,” pi. «!», lit?. 2.
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.
Fig.165.
-
DETAIL OF A GREEK VASE IN THE BRITISH Ml/SEUM.
ltam, meander Swastika (left), circles, dots, and crosses.
Salzmann, “ Necropole <Ie Cain ire,” u, and Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. 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
THE SWASTIKA.
847
possible, and lias divided them according1 to forms and peculiarities.
The first group (figs. 140, 143, 140, 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 an I the islands of the Grecian Archi-
Fig. lf»C.
CYPRIAN VASE WITH SWASTIKAS AND FIGURES OF BIRDS.
IVrrot anil Cliipiez, “ History of Art in Phenk'ia ami Cyprus,” 11, p. 31K), fig. 237 ; Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. 4K, figs. fi, 1_‘;
CVsnola, “ Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples,” Appendix by Murray, p. 41‘2, pi. 41, tig. 34.
pelago, and these, with such specimens as have been found in Smyrna,
have for this purpose all been treated as Greek.
Swastikas with four arms crossing at right angles, ends bent to the left.—
Figs. 141, 142, 144, 149, 151, 152, 153, 154, 150, 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 de-
scribed as to color or form. It
would be difficult to do so cor-
rectly; besides, these descrip-
tions arc not important in our
study of the Swastika. Fig.
155 represents a vase or pitcher
(oinochoe, Greek—ozVo?, wine,
and to pour) with painted
Swastika, ends turned to the
left. It is in the Museum of
St. Germain, and is figured by
M. l)o Mortillet in ‘-Musee Fre-
historique.'7 Fig. 15(5represents
a Cyprian vase from Ormidia,
in the New York Museum. It is described by Cesnola1 and by
Perrot and Chipiez.2 Fig. 157 is taken from a fragment of archaic j
Greek pottery found in Santorin (Ancient Thera), an island in the
1 “Cyprus, its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Temples,” pi.45, fig. 36.
History of Art in Phenicia and Cyprus,” ii, p. 302, iig. 230.
Fig.1G7.
CYPRIAN VASE WITH LOTUS, BOSSES, BUDS, SEPALS, AND
DIFFERENT SWASTIKAS.
Cesnola Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York City.
Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” pi. 4S, fig. ;!.
848
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Greek Archipelago. This island was first inhabited by the Pheni-
cians, afterwards by the Greeks, a colony of whom founded Cyrene
in Africa. This specimen is cited by Pochette and figured by
Waring.1
Swastikas with four arms crossing at other than right angles, the ends
ogee and to the left.—Figs. 158, 150, and 100 show Swastikas witli four
arms crossing at other than
right angles, many of them
ogee, but turned to the left.
Fig. 101 is a representation
of a wooden button or clasp,
much resembling the later
gold brooch of Sweden, class-
ified by Montelius (p. 807),
covered with plates of gold,
from Sepulcher iv, Myceme
(Sohliemann.Myceme, fig. 085,
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
JM idler and the ( roi.v sirasticalc of Zmigrodzki, which Bnrnouf attrib-
Autcd 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 Fima Indians of
New Mexico (fig. 258).
Dr. Schliemann reports that the
Swastika in its spiral form is rep
resented innumerable times in the
sculptured ceiling of the Thalamus
in the treasury at Orcliomenos.
(See figs. 21 and 25.)
lie also reports2 that Swastikas
(turned both ways) maybe seen in
the Royal Museum at Berlin incised
on a balustrade relief of the hall
s/whicli surrounded the temple of Athene at Pergamos. Fig. 1G2 repre-
sents a spiral Swastika with four arms crossing at right angles, the ends
all turned to the left and each one forming a spiral.
1 “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi. 42, fig. 2.
8“Troja,” p. 123.
Figuro of horse, solar diagram, Artemis with
geese, and Swastikas (normal and meander,
right and left).
Goodyear, “ Grammar of the l.otns,” jd. *0, fur- l‘->.
CYl'RIAN VASK WITH ROSSES, TjOTUS BUDS. AM) DIFFERENT
SWASTIKAS.
Cesnola Collection, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New
York City.
Goodvoar, “ Grammar of the I.otus,” jd. 4S, tio. i;,.
THE SWASTIKA.
849
Waring1 figures and describes a Grecian oinoclioe from Camirus,
Rhodes, dating, as lie says, from 700 to 500 B. 0., 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. 103, 1G1, and
105 show the Swastika in meander pattern. Fig. 103 shows two Swas-
tikas, the arms of both
bent
to the right, one
six, the other nine times.
The Swastika shown in
fig. 101 is bent to the
right eight times. That
shown in fig. 105 bends
to the left eight times.
Swastikas of different
kinds on the same object. —
Fig. 170.
DETAIL OF RHODIAN VASE.
Figures of geese, circles an<l dots, and Swastikas (rightand left).
British Museum.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” j>1. 27, fig. 9.
The next group (figs. 1G7
to 170) is of importance
in that it represents ob-
jects which, bearing the
normal Swastika, also show on the same object other styles of Swas-
tika, 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
111eir chronologic identity anxL-tlieiiicoiLseancnt-rolniloilToIxicIi other,
showing them to bjTaTTthe same sign—that is, they were all Swastikas,
Fig.171.
DETAIL OF RHODIAN VASE.
Geese, lotus circles, and two Swastikas (right and left,).
Goodyear, “Grammar of the Lotus,” p. 271, fig. 145.
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.
?| Many examples of vases similar to fig. 172 are shown in the London,
; Paris, and Few York museums, and in other collections. (See figs.
1 149, 159.) Fig. 174 shows an Attic painted vase (Lobes) of the
I Archaic period, from Athens. It is a pale yellowish ground, probably the
H 1 “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages/’ frontispiece, fig. 3, and p. 115.
I H. Mis. 90, pt. 2-----54
850
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
natural color, witli 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
GREEK VASE OF TYPICAL RHODIAN STYLE.
Ibex, lotus, geese, aiul six Swastikas (normal, meander, and ogee, all left).
Oooilyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus,” l>. 251, pi. 38.'
scattered over the field as chance or luck might determine. A speci-
men of Swastika interesting to prehistoric arcliaiologists is that on a
vase from Cyprus (Musee St. Germain, Xo. 21557), on which is repre-
sented an arrowhead, stemmed, barbed, and suspended by its points
between the Swastika.2
I)r. Max Olmefalsch-Kickter presented a paper before the Soci£t<$
'• Another Rhodian vase, similar in style, with Swastikas, is shown in the “Grammar
of the Lotus,” pi. 37, fig. 4.
2Mat«5riaux pour l’Histoire Primitive et Naturelle de rilomme, 1881, xvi,p. 416
THE SWASTIKA.
851
d’Antliropologie in Paris, December G, 1888, reported in the Bulletin of
that year (pp. 6G8-G81). It was entitled “La Croix gammee et la Croix
cantonnee en Chypre.v (The Croix gammee is the Swastika, while
the Croix cantonnee is the
cross with dots, the Croix
sicasticale of Zmigrodzki.) In
tli is paper the author describes
his finding the Swastika dur-
ing his excavations into pre-
historic Cyprus. On the first
page of his paper the follow-
ing statement appears:
The Swastika comes from India
as an ornament jn form of a cone detail of gkeek vase. ^
(conique) ofmetal, gold, silver, or 1>‘‘“r -™'1
bronze gilt, worn on the ears (see
G. Perrot: “Ilistoire do PArt,” in,
p. 562 etfig. 384), andnose-rings (see
S. Peinacli: u Cbroniqne d’Orient,”
3° s6rie, t. IV, 1886). I was tlio first to make known the nose-ring worn by the god-
dess Aphrodite-Astarte, even at Cyprus. In the Indies the Avomen still wear these
ornaments in their nostrils and ears. The fellah in of Egypt also wear similar
jewelry; but as Egyptian art gives us no example of the usage of these ornamentsin
DETAIL OF GREEK VASE.
Deer, solar diagrams, and three Swastikas (single,
double, and meander, right).
Melos.
Conze, “ Meliosehe Thongefas.se,’* and Goodyear, u Grammar of the Lotus,1
pi, GO, fig. S.
Fig. 174.
ARCHAIC GREEK VASE AVITH FIVE SWASTIKAS OK FOUR DIFFERENT FORMS.
Athens.
Birch, “ History of Ancieut Pottery,” quoted by AVaring in “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” j»I. 41, fig. 15; Deunis, “ The Cities anil
Cemeteries of Etruria,” i, p. 91.
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 AAdiich surrounded the
island of Cyprus.
The first pages of his memoir are employed in demonstrating that
852
KEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
the specimens of the Swastika found in Cyprus, the most of which are
set forth in this paper (figs.^T-l^iir^howa Phenician influence; and
according to his theory demonstrate their mi-
gration or importation. He does not specify
the evidence on which he bases his assertion
of Phenician influence in Cyprus, except in
one or two par-
ticulars. Speak-
ing of the spec-
imen shown in
fig. 177 of the
present paper,
he says:
It represents tlie
sacred palm under
Avliicli Apollo, the
god of light, Avas
horn. # * * At
Cyprus the palm
did not appear
only Avith the Phc-
nicians; it was
not known prior to
that time (p. G74).
The design shown in fig. 178 lie de-
scribes as representing two birds in the
attitude of adoration before a Swastika, Fig> 176
all being figured on a Greek cup of the atticvasefor perfume,withckoixkwas-
, 1 -j v • . j T1CALE AND TWO FORMS OF SAVASTIKAS.
Sty 1C I lpy ion. Ohuefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soo. d’Anthrop., l’aris, lbM,
Dr. Olmefalsch-Kichter adds: v- 673,%.4.
On the A'ases of Dipylon the Swastikas are generally transformed into other orna-
* ments, mostly meanders. But this is not the
rule in Cyprus. The Swastika disappeared
from there as it came, in its sacred form, Avith
the Phenieian influence, Avith the Phenician
inscriptions on the vases, with the concentric
circles Avithout central points or tangents.
He says2 that the Swastika as well
as the “Croix eantonnee” (with points
{ or dots), while possibly not always the
\ equivalent of tlie solar disk, zigzag
-s lightning, or the double hatchet, yret
/ are employed together and are given
Swastikas with palm tree, sacred to Apoiio. ''tlie same signification, and frequently
Citium, Cyprus. rejilaee eacli otlier. It is liis opinion3
ML Soo. d'Auuuop., iw, is*,. tbat tbe gwagtika iu Cyprus bad nearly
A'ASE.
Serpents, erosses, and Swastikas
(normal, right, left, and mean-
der).
Goodyear, “ Grammar of the Lotus," pi. 60,
fig. 9.
DETAIL OF CYPRIAN VASE.
XG. Hirselifield, “Vasi archaici Ateniesi,” Annali dell’ Instituto di eorrispondenza
archteologica, 1872, TaAr. d’Ag. K. 6, 52.
3 Bull. Soc. d’Anthrop., Paris, 1888, pp. 674-675.
3Il>id., p. 675.
THE SWASTIKA.
853
Fig. 178.
CYPRIAN YASE WITH FIGURES OF BIRDS
AND SWASTIKA IN PANEL.
Musee St. Germain.
Ohnefalscli-Richter, Bull. Soc. d’Anthrop., Paris,
I88S, p. 674, fig. 6.
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 a tour the storm, the light-
___.__ ning, 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 tlie fire wheel, and to the sun
chariot. In suj)port of
this, he cites a figure
(fig. 179) taken from
Cesnola,1 in which the
wheels of the chariot are decorated with four Swas-
tikas displayed in each of the four
quarters. - The chief personage on
the ear he identifies as the god of
Apollo-Kesef, 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 Heliosi
The other personage is Herakles/
Meequars,therighthand of Apollo,
both of them heroes of the sun.
The su-
preme god-
dess of the
Tsle of Cyprus was jAphrodite-Astarte,2 whose
presence with a prepon-
derating Phenician in-
fluence can be traced
back to the period of the
age of iron, her images
bearing signs of the
Swastika, being, accord-
ing to Hr. Ohnefalsch-
Picliter, found in Cyprus.
In fig. 180 the statue of
this goddess is shown,
which he says avus found
by himself in 1884 at
Curium. It bears four
Swastikas, two on the shoulders and tAvo on
the forearms. Fig. 181 represents a centaur
found by him at the same time, on the right arm of Avhicli is a Swastika
painted in black, as in the foregoing statue.
Fig. 179.
CHARIOT OF APOLLO-RESEF.
Sun sj'mbol(?) on shield and four Swastikas (two
right and two left) on quadrants of chariot wheels.
Cesnola, “ Salaminia,” p. 240, fig. 226, and Ohnefalscli-Richter,
Bull. Soc. d’Anthrop., TariM, 1X88, p. 675, fig. 7.
Fig. 180.
TERRA-COTTA STATUE OF TIIE
GODDESS APIIRODITE-ASTARTE
WITH FOUR SWASTIKAS. 3
Curium, Cyprus.
Olinefalsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. d’Antlijop.,
p. 676, fig. 8.
Paris,
ONE
Fig.181.
CENTAUR WITH
SWASTIKA.
Salaminia,” p. 248, fig. 230;
Ohnefalscli-Richter, Bull. Soc. d’An-
throp., Paris, 1888, p. 676, fig. 9.
Cesnola,
1 “Salaminia,” p. 240, fig. 226.
2 Aphrodite=Pheniciaii Aslitoretli, Astarte = Babylonian Ishtar.
3 See p. 773.
854
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
AVe have found, in the course of this paper, many statues of human
figures bearing the mark of the Swastika on some portion of their gar-
ments. M. Ohnefalsch-Richter, on page G77, gives the following expla-
nation thereof:
^ It appears to me that the priests and priestesses, also the hoys who performed the
' services in the sacred places, were in the habit of burning or tattooing Swastikas
upon their arms. * * * In 1885, among tlm votive offerings found in one of the
sacred places dedicated to Aphrodite-Astoret, near Idalinm, was a stone statuette,
j representing the young Adonis Kinyras in a squatting posture, Avith the Swastika
( tattooed or painted in red color upon his naked arm.
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. 078), the Croix caul ounce (the Croix sirasticale
of Zmigrodzki) replaced the Swastika on the gar-
ments, and he cites the statue of Hercules strangling
the lion in the presence of Athena, whose robe is
ornamented with the Croix cant ounce. He repeats
that the two signs of the cross re present the idea
of light, sun, sacrifice, rain, storm, and the seasons.
EUROPE.
-
GREEK STATUE OK AVH-
ltODITE-Alii ADX E. 3VRONZE AGE.
Six Swastikas (four
right and two left). Prehistoric archaeologists claim that bronze was
rdistis ci.rysokon. introduced into Europe in prehistoric times from the
Ohnefals',h-Riphter, Bull. Sup. . ’ .
<i’Anthrc>i>., Buns, issn, v. extreme Orient. The tm mines of the peninsula ot
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 Sundries 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
f 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
THE SWASTIKA.
855
mark found on the same objects came also from the Orient. ThisA
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 lire*/
vailed. Nearly all varieties of the Swastika came into use during thoV
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^7
the Swastika is found principally on the spin die-whorl; in Greece and I
Cyprus, on the pottery vases; in Germany, on the eeintures of bronze; 1
in Scandinavia, on weapons and on toilet and dress ornaments. In/
Scotland and Ireland it was mostly on sculptured stones, which arqf.^
many times themselves ancient Celtic crosses. In England, Erauce,
and Etruria, the Swastika appears on small bronze ornaments, princi-
pally fibulae. Different forms of the Swastika, i. e., those to the right,
left, square, ogee, curved, spiral and meander, triskelion and tetraske-
lion, 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 Miiiler, seems
to fail altogether.
Greg says:1
About 500 to 600 B. C., the fylfot, (Swastika) curiously enough begins to dis-
appear 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-Bichter says:1 2
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 writh 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 tcho 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. 0.; while Dr. Brin ton and the late President Welling have-
made the latest contributions thereto. The culture of the Etruscans
1 Archaeologiii, xi/viii, pt. 2, p. 305.
2 Bull. Soc. d’Antlirop., Paris, 1888, p. 679.
856
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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.
While it may be doubtful if any specimen of Swastika can be identi-
fied as having belonged to the Xeolitliic 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 examina-
tion. There are other figures,
incised and in relief. One of
them is the celebrated uburn-
ing altar*’ mark of Dr. Sclilie-
mann. 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 exca-
vated from the neighboring
cemetery of the prehistoric
city of Oorneto-Tarquinii. They were of pottery, but made as if to
represent rude huts of skin, stretched on cross poles, in general appear-
ance not unlike the cane and rush conical cabins used to this day by the
peasants around Borne. They belonged to the Bronze Age, and ante-
dated the Etruscan civilization. This was demonstrated by the finds
at Oorneto-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, fibulte, bronze and pottery vases, etc., the characteristics of which
Fig. 183.
HUT URN IN THE VATICAN MUSEUM.
“Burning altar” mark associate! with Swastikas.
Etruria (Bronze Age).
THE SWASTIKA.
857
were different from Etruscan afreets of similar purpose, so they could
be satisfactorily identified and segregated. The hut urns were recep-
tacles for the ashes of the cremated dead, which, undisturbed, are to
be seen in the museum. The vases forming part of this grave furni-
ture 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,1 and another from the
Alban Mount.* 2 3 He says (note 1):
1/
These remarkable urns were first found in 1817 at Montecucco, Dear Marino, and at
Monte Crescenzio, near the Lago de Castello, beneath a stratum of peperlno (tufa)
18 inches thick. They were embedded in a yellowish volcanic ash and rested on a
lower and earlier stratum of peperino.*
Curiously enough, the three or four pronged mark, called “burning
altar” by Dr. Sckliemann, is on both hut urns in Dennis’s u Cities
and Cemeteries of Etruria.” Dr. Schlieinann argues strongly in favor
of the relationship between Swastika and the u 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 Vati-
can at Home.4 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 speci-
men completes the proof cited by^Scliliemann, and associates the!/
Swastika with the “ burning altar ” sign in tlie Etruscan country, as
well as on the hill of Ilissarlik and in other localities.
Dennis supposes the earliest Etruscan vases, called by many different
names, to date from the twelfth century B. 0. to 540 B. 0.,5 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 witli annular bands, zigzag, waves, meanders, con-
centric circles, hatched lines, Swastikas, and other geometric patterns.
Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria,” i, p. 69.
2Ibid., ii, p. 457.
3Annali dell’ Instituto, Rome, 1871, pp. 239-279; Bnlletino Institute, Rome, 1871,
pp. 34-52; Pigorini and Sir John Lubbock, “ Notes on Hut Urns and other objects
from Marino,” London, 1869; Virchow, “Die Huttenurnen von Marino,” Berlin, 1883.
4“Troja,” p. 122.
6“Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria,” i, p. lxxxix.
858
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
A fragment of Archaic Greek pottery is reported by Eochette from
the necropolis of Cum.T, in the eampagna of Italy, and is shown in fig!
_____ 184. Eochette reports it as an exam-
ple 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 ot Greek pottery found
there, and that the Phenicians are not
known to have employed the Swas-
tika, 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 Eochette
to this decision was the zigzag orna-
mentation, which he translated to be a
Phenician sign for water; but this
ml in many places without having any
rig. 184.
FRAGMENT OF ARCHAIC GREEK roTTKKY WITH
THREE SWASTIKAS.
Cuinte, Italy.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” j.l. •Ji*, fij.. ].
pattern was used many times
such meaning, and is no proof of his
proposition.
Pigs. 185 and 180 represent the one-
handled cinerary urns peculiar to the
Eronze Age in Italy. They are be-
lieved to have been contemporaneous
with or immediately succeeding the
hut urns just
shown,
cinerary
shown in fig.
185 was found
at Marino,
near Albano,
in the same lo-
cality and un-
der the same
condition as
the hut urns.
The original is in the Vatican Museum and was
figured by Pigorini in “ArclnTologia,” 1800.
Fig. 180 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 Avork peculiar
Fig.185.
CINERARY URN WITH SWASTIKAS IN PANELS.
Sau Marino, near Albano, Italy.
Vatican Museum.
CINERARY URN WITH SWASTIKAS
INCLOSED BY INCISED LINES IN
INTAGLIO.
Cervetri, Italy.
“ Conestabile due Disci! in ISronz.o,” jil. 5,
fig. 2.
?s natural size.
THE SWASTIKA.
859
GOLD FIBULA WITH SWASTIKAS (LEFT).
Etruscan Museum, Vatican.
Catalogue of the Etruscan Museum, part 1, pi. 215, fig.
L> natural size.
Fig. 188.
ETRUSCAN GOLD BULLA
WITH SWASTIKA ON
BOTTOM.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Re-
mote Ages,” pi. 42, fig. 4 a.
to tlie 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 deco-
rated with a circle and Swastika inside.
The figure is taken from
“ IJArt pour Tous,”
Fig. 187. and is reproduced by
Waring.
An ornamental
Swastika (fig. 180) is
found on a silver bowl
from Cervetri (Caere), 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 Copen-
hagen, and is taken from
the report of the Congres
Internationale d’Anthropo-
logie et d’Arclneologie Fre-
historique, Copenhagen,
1875, page 180. This speci-
men, by its rays or crotch-
ets around the junction of
the pin with the shield, fur-
nishes the basis of the argument by Goblet d’Al-
viella1 that the Swastika was evolved from the
circle and was a symbol of the sun or sun-god.
(See p. 785.)
Bologna was the site of the Iloman city Bononia,
and is supposed to have been that of Etruscan
Felsina. Its Etruscan cemetery is extensive.
Different names have been given to the excava-
tions, 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 1 2
Fig.189.
ORNAMENTAL SWASTIKA ON
ETRUSCAN SILVER BOWL.
Cervetri (Caere), Etruria.
Waring, “Ceramic Art in Remote
Ages,” pi. 41, fig. 13.
Fig. 190.
BRONZE FIBULA WITH TWO
SWASTIKAS AND SUPPOSED
RAYS OF SUN.2
Etruria.
Copenhagen Museum.
Goblet d’Alviella, fig. 19 a, De Mortiliet,
“ Mus£e Prehistorique,” fig. 12(53.
natural size.
1 “La Migration des Symboles,” p. 67.
2 See p. 786.
860
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 Folsina necropolis, Bologna, orna-
mented with a row of Swastikas stamped
into the clay in a manner peculiar to the
locality.
Fig. 193 shows the end view of one of the
bobbins from Bologna, Italy, in the posses-
sion of Count Cozzadini 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 belong-
ing 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
POTTERY URN ORNAMENTED WITH SUC-
CESSIVE BANDS IN INTAGLIO, TWO
OF WHICH ARE COMPOSED OF SWAS-
TIKAS.
Xorropolis Arnoaldi, Bologna.
Museum of'*Bologna.
Gozzailini, “ Scavl Arolm'olo^id,” etc., pi. 4, fitf. S.
Fig. 192.
FRAGMENT OF POTTERY WITH ROW
OF SWASTIKAS IN INTAGLIO.
Xecropolo Felsmea, Italy.
Museo Bologna.
Gozzadini, “ Due Sepolcrl,” eto., )>. 7.
% natural size.
or both extremities of many terra-cotta cyl-
inders found in the terranmre at Coazze,
province of Verona, de-
posited in the National
(Kirclieriano) Museum at
Borne. (See figs. 380 and
381 for similar bobbins.)
The museum at Este, Italy, contains an elegant
1 lottery 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, espe-
cially 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
Fig. 193.
SWASTIKA SIGN ON OLAY
BOBBIN.
Typo Villanova, Bologna.
De Mortillet, “ Musee Prehistu-
rique,” Hg. 1230.
THE SWASTIKA.
861
as lias been found in Scandinavia and also among tlie Pueblo Indians
of the United States, is in the museum at Este.
When in the early centuries of the Christian era the Huns madejl
their irruption into Europe, they apparently possessed a knowledge or)
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 assim-
ilated with the population. They have re-
mained in northern Italy under the title of
Longobards. In this Longobardian civiliza\/
tion or barbarism, whichever we may call it,
and in their style of architecture and orna-
ment, the Swastika found a prominent place,
and is spoken of as Longobardian.
It is needless to multiply citation s of the S was-
tika in Roman and Christian times. It would/
would appear as though the sign had descended^
from the Etruscans and Samnites along tliej
coast and had continued in use during Roman times.
Schliemann says1 that it is found frequently in the
wall paintings at Pompeii; even more than a liun-
Fig. 195.
FRAGMENT OF POTTERY WITH
SWASTIKA STAMPED IN RE-
LIEF.
Fig. 194.
POTTERY VASE ORNAMENTED WITH
BRONZE NAIL HEADS IN FORM OF
SWASTIKA.
Este, Italy.
Materiaux pour l’Histoire Primiiive et Na-
turelle de l’Homme, 1884, p. 14.
dred 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 Creek letter P (fig. G) 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 Arelii-
episcopal chair in the cathedral at Milan.2
Siviss lake dwellings.—Figs. 195 and 19G 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. 19G repre-
sents the stamp, also in pottery, with which the
imprint was made. They are figured by Keller,3
and are described on page 339, and by Chan tie.4
They were found in the Swiss lake dwelling of Bourget (Savoy) by the
Hue de Chaulnes, and are credited to lfis Museum of Chambery.
J“Ilios,”p. 352.
2There are bronze hatchets from Italy, with Swastikas in intaglio and in relief, in
Mus6e St. Germain. De Mortillet, “Musee Preliistoricpie,” tigs. 1153, 1154.
3 “ Lake Dwellings,” pi. 161, figs. 3, 4.
4 “Age du Bronze,” pt. 2, figs. 53-55, p. 195,
Fig. 196.
STAMP FOR MAKING SWASTIKA
SIGN ON POTTERY.
Swiss lake cl welling of Ilourget,
Savoy.
Mus6e de Cliambdry.
Chantre, “ Age du Bronze,” figs. 53, 55,
and Keller, “Lake Dwellings of Eu-
rope,” pi. 161, fig. 3.
862
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
FRAGMENT OF CEINTURE FROM A TUMULUS IN ALSACE.
Thin bronze repousse with Swastikas of various kinds.
Bronze Age, Ilalstattien epoch.
I)e Mortillet, “ Mus^e I’rehistorique,” fig. 1255.
Germany and Austria.—Fig. 197 represents a fragment of a cein-
ture of thin bronze of the Ilalstattien epoch of the Bronze Age from a
tumulus in Alsace. It
is made after the style
common to that period;
the work is repousse and
the design is laid off by
diagonal lines which
divide the field into loz-
enges, wherein the Swas-
tika is represented in va-
rious 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 tire making, and
which Zmigrodzki calls the Croix sicas-
icalc. This specimen is in the collec-
tion Xessel at Ilaguenau. 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
crosslines, 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, Wiirtemberg,
and is in the Museum of
Stuttgart. It is not re-
pousse, but is cut in open-
work 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
FRAGMENT OF A UEINTURE FROM THE TUMU-
LI'S OF METZSTETTEN, WURTEMBF.RG.
Thin bronze open work with intricate Swas-
tikas.
Ilalstattien epoch.
I>e Mortillet, "Musee Prehistoiique,” fig. I-J5T, anti
Chantre, “ Le Cuuease," n, p. 50, fig. 25.
Fig.109.
RRONZE FIBULA,
THE BODY OF
WHICH FORMS
A SWASTIKA.
Museum of May-
ence.
De Mortillet, “Must-*
Prehistorique,” fig.
Fig. 200.
SEPULCHRAL URN WITH SWASTIKA.
North Germany.
Waring, “Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi. 7, fig. 94.
THE SWASTIKA.
863
Bologna (fig. 103). It is reported l>y Liscli and Sehrdter, 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.
The Swastika sign is on one of the three
^pottery vases found on Bishops Island, near
Kdnigswalde, on the right bank of the Oder,
and on a vase from Reichersdorf, near Guben;1
^on a vase in the county of Lip to, Hungary,1 2
and on pottery from the Cavern of Barathegy,
Hungary.3 Fig. 201 represents a spearhead of
iron from Brandenburg, Rortli Germany. It
bears the mark of the Swastika with the ends
turned to the left, all being at right angles,
f£he ends ornamented with three dots recalling
/Zmigrodzki’s Croix stvasticaJe (figs. 12 and 13).
ny the side of this Swastika is a triskelion, or
tliree armed ogee sign, with itsends also dec-
orated 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 Ilalstattien cemeteries in Italy
and Austria.4 At San Margarethen, on the
road between Rudolfswerth and Kronau, Ba-
varia, he encountered a group of tumuli.
Many objects of the “ bel age du bronze”
were found:
Fig. 202.
among others,
a bronze pin
(fig.202) with a
short stem, but
large, square,
fiat head, was
SPEARHEAD WITH SWASTIKA (CROIX
SWASTICALE) AND TRISKELION.
Brandenburg, Germany.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi.
44, fig. 21, and “ Viking Age,’ i, fig. 336 .
found, with a normal Swastika engraved
with small dots, pointille, such as has
been seen in Italy, Austria, and Armenia.
Belgium.—The Museum of Xanmr,
Belgium, possesses a small object of bone, both points of which havei
BRONZE PIN WITH SWASTIKA, POINT!LLK,
FROM MOUND IN BAVARIA.
Chantre, Materiaux pour l’Hi.stoire Primitive et Nat-
urelle de I’llomme, 1884, pp. 14, 120.
1 Zeitsclirift fur Etlmograpbie, Berlin, 1871 and 1876.
2 Coll. Majlath Bela; Hampel, “Antiquittfs Pr<5historiques de la Hongrie;” Erzter-
gom, 1877, pi. 20, No. 3.
3Hampel, “Catalogue de l’Exposition des Musses des Provinces,r Budapest, 1876,
p. 17; Schliemann, “Ilios,” p. 352.
4 Materiaux pour PHistoire Primitive et Naturelle de l’llomme, 1884, pp. 14,120.
864
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 fiat 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 Swas-
tika, 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 Paleo-
lithic times, and one, the Grotto de Spy, has furnished the most cele-
brated specimens of the skeletons of Paleolithic man. lint 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 re-
( semblance 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.
A bronze sword is reported by Mr. George Stephens 1 as having been
found at Sa*bo, Norway, with runes and a Swastika inlaid with silver.
This specimen (fig. 203) was the subject of discussion before the Inter
RUNIC INSCRIPTION CONTAINING A SWASTIKA.
Inlaid with silver on a bronze sword.
Saebo, Norway.
national Congress of Anthropology and Prehistoric Archaeology,1 2 at
Budapest, 1S7G. Its runes were translated by Stephens, and being
read from right to left, “oh thuemuth,” or “owns me Thurmutk.”
But on the same page he gives another sign for Thu and renders * as
Odin or (W)oden. In the discussion before the congress it seems to
have been agreed that the sign stood for “blessing,” “good luck,”
or some beneficent charm or benediction. A spearhead has been for
1 “01<l Northern Runic Monuments,” pt. 3, p. 407.
2 Proceedings of the Eighth Session, i, pp. 457-460.
THE SWASTIKA.
865
iro
Fig. 204a.
SWASTIKA WITH DOTS.
Torcollo, Italy.
Du Chaillu,
1. *G N E TH C
Fig. 204&.
RUNIC INSCRIPTION ON SPEARHEAD.
Toroello, Italy.
“Viking Age,” I, fig. 335.
years displayed in the museum at Torcello, near Venice, Italy, with a
Swastika sign (fig. 204u) prominent as an engraved sign.1 Associated
with it, but not a part of it, was an inscription (fig, 204 &), which has
always been attrib-
uted to the Etrus-
cans. Mr. I. Undset,
an archaeologist i n
the museum of Chris-
tiania, made an ex-
tended visit through
Italy in 1883, and on
seein g thi s spearh ead
recognized the inscription as runic and belonging to Scandinavia. The
arras 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
___ Croixswasticalc(fig. 12). Figs. 205 and 20G
represent articles of dress, or toilet, and
bear the Swastika. The first shows a red-
ding comb, the Swastika on which turns to
the right. It was probably of bone or
horn, as are those of modern times. Fig.
200 shows a brooch, the interior decora-
tion of which is a combination of Swas-
tikas 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 Swas-
tikas, four of which turn to the left and two to the right. Another is
a triskelion, the arms of which turn to the right.
Si * mill
wmmmm
Fig. 205.
REDDING COMB WITH SWASTIKA.
Scandinavia.
BRONZE BROOCH OR FIBULA WITH COMBINATION OF SWASTIKAS.
Scandinavia.
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.
1 Du Chaillu, “ Viking Age/7 i, fig. 335.
H. Mis. 00, pt. 2---55
866
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
These are found more frequently on fibula? or brooches and oil swoi'ds
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 (^etraskelions). In this and
fig. 207 the border and accessory decoration con-
sist largely of ogee curves, which, here repre-
sented 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 repre-
sents a gold brooch from a grave at Fyen, re-
ported by Worsaae and figured by Waring.1
The brooch with ogee
Swastika bears inter-
nal evidence of Scan-
dinavian workman -
ship. There are other
Swastikas of the same
gen oral form and style
in distant localities,
and ~this speciTnon
serves to emphasize
the extent of possible
communication be-
tween 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.2
It is not seen that
these fanciful ad-
ditions serve any
purpose other than
decoration. They
do not appear to
have changed the
symbolic meaning
of the Swastika.
Fig. 214represents
a sword scabbard belonging to the Vimose find, with a normal Swas-
tika. Ludwig Muller reproduces a Swastika cross from a runic stone
BRONZE BROOCH WITH SWAS
TIKAS.
Tetraskelions (right and left)
triskelioii (left).
Scandinavia.
WITH
Fig.
PLACQUE FOR CEINTURE,
BUCKLE.
Two ogee Swastikas (tetraskelions;.
Fig.209.
SCANDINAVIAN SWORD SCAB-
BARD.
Two ogee. Swastikas (tetra-
skelions), right and left.
Fig.210.
SCANDINAVIAN
SWORD SCAB-
BARD.
Ogee Swastika.
-
Fig. 211.
SCANDINAVIAN SWORD
SCABBARD.
Two triskelions, right
and left.
1 “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi. 43, fig. 11:
hardt, “L’Aucien Age de Fer,” fig. 28.
2 Du Chaillu, “ Viking Age,” i, fig. 379.
“ Viking Age,” u, fig. 1311; Engle-
THE SWASTIKA.
867
in Sweden. In an ancient church in Denmark, the baptismal font is
decorated with Swastikas, showing its use
(See p. 878 for continuation of Swastika on
Scandinavian or Danish gold bracteates.)
Mr. Paul du Ghaillu, in his u Viking Age,”
mentions many specimens of Scandinavian
and Norse antinuities 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. 33G5 another of the same, Yolhynia,
Russia, fig. 3373 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. 797JT I11 the churchyard of Aglish,
county Kerry, Ireland, stand two stones
bearing Ogam inscriptions. At the tou
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.
Oil two corners of the stone are inscrip-
tions of the usual Ogam characters. The
translation may be given, but seems to
be unimportant and without apparent
They are somewhat obliterated and their
reading difficult. So far as made out, they are as follows: Maqimaqa
and Apiloggo.
SCANDINAVIAN HORSE-GEAR.
Silver plated on bronze.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi. 44, tig. 16 ;
Du Chaillu, “ Viking Age,” i, fig. 379.
bearing upon this question.
in early Christian times.
Fig.212.
GOLD BROOCH WITH OGEE SWASTIKA.
Island of Fyen.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi. 43,
fig. 11.
t
y\\\\v
3—C
if
Fig. 214.
SCANDINAVIAN SWORD SCABBARD WITH NORMAL SWASTIKA.
Vjmose 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
868
REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
i
I
Greek cross in circle, normal Swastika in square, and ogee
Swastika in quatrefoil.
Ireland.
tlie 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 decipher-
ment. The late Alexander
Thomson, esq., of Banchory,
Scotland, circulated a pho-
tograph and description
of this monument among
antiquarians with a re-
quest for their decipher-
ment of it. Various readings have been given by the learned gentle-
men, who have reported it to be Hebrew, Phenician, Greek, Latin,
Aryan, Irish, and Anglo Saxon respectively. Brash1
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 sub-
sequent 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 an-
gles, two of the ends are enrved, aud the two
others bent at a wider than right angle.
There are four characters in the line closely
following each other. (See p. 71)7.)
The Logie stone, in Aberdeenshire, Scot-
land, bearing Ogam characters, contains a figure or mark reported
by George M. Atkinson
as a Swastika.1 2
On the Celtic crosses
of Scotland certain
marks appear which are
elsewhere found asso-
ciated with Swastika,
and consequently have some relation therewith. The “Aimam Stone”
bears the mark of a Swastika (left) within three concentric circles,
around the outside of which is a circle of dots.3
Fig. 216.
FRAGMENT OF THIN
BRONZE KEPOU&SK.
Ogee Swastika.
Ireland.
Munro, “ Lake Dwellings of
Europe,” pi. 124, figs.
20-22.
FRAGMENT OF THIN BRONZE.
Triskelion.
Ireland.
Munro, u Lake Dwellings of Europe,”
384, pi. 124, figs. 20-22.
Fig.218.
BRONZE PIN WITH SMALL NORMAL SWASTIKA ON HEAD.
Crannog of Loclilee, Tarbolton, Scotland.
Munro, “ Lake Dwellings of Europe,” p. 417.
1 “ Ogam Inscribed Monuments,” p. 359, pi. xlix.
2Ibid., p. 358, pi. xlviii.
3Greg, Archaiologia, xlviii, pt. 2, pi. 19, fig. 27.
THE SWASTIKA.
869
Ludwig Miiller reports the Swastika in Scotland and Ireland on J
Christian tombs, associated with Latin crosses.1
A sculptured stone in Ireland (fig. 215) shows on the face three r
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 qnatrefoil.1 2
An Irish bowl showed a Swastika thus
Dr. R. Munro3 reports from the Crannog of
Lesnacrogliera country, Antrim, Ireland?
two pieces or disks of thin bronze, repousses
(fig. 21G), bearing the sign of the Swastika
and having the four arms of the spirals
turned to the deft. The similarity of this
figure with those shown on the shields of
the Tima Indians of New Mexico and Ari-
zona (figs. 257 and
258) is to be re-
marked. Fig. 217
shows a triskelion
of symmetric spi-
rals turned to the
Fig.219.
CARVED TRISKELION FOUND ON FRAG-
MENT OF ASH WOOD.
Fig.220.
STONE ALTAR WITH SWASTIKA ON
Crannog of Lochlee, Tarbolton, Scot-
land.
Munro, “ Lake Dwellings of Kuro]ie,” p. 415.
right. In the Crannog of
Lochlee, near Tnrbolton, 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 Swas-
tika 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.
PEDESTAL.
France.
Museum of Toulouse.
De Mortillet, “ Musee Pr£historique,” fig.
12G7.
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.
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
1 “La Migration des Symboles,” p. 49.
2Zmigrodzki “Zur Gescbiclite der Suastika/’ taf. 6, fig. 248.
3 “Lake Dwellings of Europe/’ p. 384, pi. 124, figs. 20-22.
\
870 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
apparent. Fig. 221 represents a pottery battle with another specimen
of Swastika belonging to the same (Gallo-Roman) epoch, but coining
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. Schlie-
mann on the spindle-whorl of Troy, and is yet
^employed in making the Jain Swastika (fig. 33).
M. Alexander Bertrand1 speaks of the dis-
covery at Yelaux, in the department of Bouches-
du-Rhdne, of the headless statue of a crouching
or squatting guard which has a row of Swas-
tikas across his breast, while beneath is a range
of crosses, Greek or Latin. The newest exam-
ples of the Swastika belonging to this epoch
have been found at Estinnes, Ilainaut, and at
Ant-lice, Xamur, Belgium, on pieces of Roman
tile; also on a tombstone in the Roman orBelgo-
Koman cemetery of Jusleiiville near Pepinster.1 2 *
This is a Pagan tomb, as evidenced by the in-
scriptions commenced u 1). M.’’ (DUs Manibus).*
ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD.
Britain.—Greg reports4 * a silver disk 1.4 inches
in diameter, with a triskelion made by punched
dots, in the same style as the pin heads from Armenia (figs. 35 and 3G).
This was from grave 95 in an Anglo-Saxon ceme-
tery 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 The
slight curve or flourish on the outer end of the
bent arm of this specimen resembles the Jain Swas-
tika (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
Wittenliam, Berkshire, was reported in Arehreologia,6 and is figured
1 “L’Autel de Saintes et les triades gauloises,” Revue Archieol., 1880, xxxix, p. 343.
Unstitut Arch.eologique Liogeois, x, 1870, p. 106, pi. 13.
saLa Migration des Symboles,” p. 47, iig. 13.
4Arch;eologia, L, pt. 2, p. 406, pi. 23, fig. 7.
5See fig. 238.
6Archaeologia, xxxi.
Fig.222.
ANGLO-SAXON BRONZE GILT
FIBULA.5
Simulation of Swastika.
Long Wittenliam, llerk-
shire, England.
POTTERY BOTTLE OF DARK GRAY
WITH SWASTIKA AND DECORA-
TION IN WHITE BARBOTINE.
Gallo-Roman Epoch.
Museum of Rouen.
I).- Mortillet, “ Musee Prehistorique,” fi^.
1240.
THE SWASTIKA.
871
by Waring.1 A figure having great similarity to this, even in its pe-
culiarities and called a Swastika, was found on a shell in Toco Mound,
Tennessee (fig. 238). Tig. 223 represents an Anglo-Saxon urn from
Sliropham, 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
tlie stamp. They are white on a blackish
ground. The original, which is in the
British Museum, is cited by Kemble and
figured by Waring.2
THE SWASTIKA ON ANCIENT COINS.
There lias 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
persornTthat the triskelion which formed
the armorial emblem of the island of Sicily,
and also of the Isle of
Man, is but an evolu-
tion from or modification of the_ Swastika. In
the judgment of the author this is based ratlier
upon the similarity of the designs than upon any
likeness in their origin and history. The accept-
ance by modern writers
of this theory as a fact
is only justified from its
long-continued repetition.
Triskelion, Lycia.—The
triskelion onjincient coins first appears on the
coins of Lycia, in Asia Minor, about B. C. 480.
It was adoptedTor~Sici 1 y by Agathocles, B. 0.
317 to 307. The coins of Lycia were first three
cocks’ heads and necks joined together equidis-
tant in the center of the field, as shown in fig. 224, while figs. 225 and
22G 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
Fig.223.
POTTERY URN.
Hand of twenty hand-made Swastikas,
white, on hlackisli ground.
Sliropham, Norfolk, England.
Jlritisli Museum.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi. 3,
fig. 50.
Fig. 224.3
LYCIAN COIN.
Triskelion with three arms
representing cocks’ heads
and necks.
Figs. 225 and 226.3
LYCIAN COINS.
Triskeiions with central dots and
circles.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,”
pi. 42, figs. 12, 13.
1 “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages/’ pi. 43, fig. 10.
2Tbi(l., pi. 3, fig. 50.
3 See p. 787.
872
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
outward and are largest at the outer ends. In fig. 22G there is a mint
mark or counter mark of the same design as the triskelion, exeei>t that
it has but two arms or rays (diskelion).
Perrot and Cliipiez,1 speaking of Lycia, say:
The device of many of her coins is the “triskelis” or so-called “ triquetra ” (liter-
ally, three-cornered, triangular), a name derived from three serpents’ heads, which
usually ligure in the field, much after the fashion of those supporting the famous
tripod at Delphi,1 2 consecrated by the Greeks to Apollo after the battle of Plata*a.
The number of heads is not constant, some coins having as many as four, “ tetras-
kelis,” while others have but two, “diskelis.”3
The Greeks connected the symbol witli 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-qn coins of Alexander. B. C. 333 to 323. A
comparison of these designs \vTfnniTel$wastika will, it is believed, show
theTFiTiisnnilavi tyj 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
rsmall circle and dot which might represent the axle on which the
(jnacliine 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
alm<>sCalway sTsquare7is always a cross at riglTL 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 thjjidea
<>fjuauss. 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 tlie design or machine could be
made to reyulye, as Til these Lycian triskelions; nothing of the central
boss, cup, or nave, which forms what the Germans call the uliad-
Kreiiz,*1 wheel cross, as distinguished from the square cross.
In this regard Greg says:
If R. Hi'own’s lunar and Semitie 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 was a far older and
ashore widely spread symbol than the triskele, asjwelLagJ*. more purely Aryan one.
Waring, explaining the tetraskelion (four-armed), declares it to have
preceded the triskelion (three-armed), and he explains its meaning,4
citing Sir Charles Fellows, as being a harpago, a grappling iron, a cant-
ing sign for ILarpagus, who conquered Lycia for Cyrus, circa, 5G4 B. C.
1 “History of Art in Phrygia, Lydia, Caria, and Lycia,” p. 391.
2 An unique cast of this tripod is in the U. S. National Museum, Department of
Oriental Antiquities.
3 The number of heads may have been regulated by the size of the coins in ques-
tion, probably answering to different values.
4 “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” p. 85.
THE SWASTIKA.
873
-
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 Swas-
tika was well known throughout the Trojan peninsula and the iEgean
Sea, and the difference be-
tween them was so well rec-
ognized that one could not
possibly have been mistaken
for the other.
Trislelion, Sicily.—N o w
we pass to the consideration
V the triskelion of Sicily.
Pig. 227 represents a coin of
Sicily. "On the obverse the
^ head of Persephone, on the
(/^reverse the quactnga, 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 u 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. Pig. 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,1
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 simi-
larity of appearance. This is rendered clearer
by Waring,2 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, refer-
ence 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, any1^
revolution. It is asserted that originally the triskelion of Sicily, pos-'b
1 “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi. 13, fig. 24.
Ibicl., pi. 13, fig. 21.
From a Greek vase, represent-
ing Achilles and Hector.
Agrigentum, Sicily.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote
Ages,” pi. 42, fig. 24.
& __
Fig. 227.
SICILIAN COIN WITH QUADRIGA AND TRISKELION.
British Museum.
Barclay Head, “ Coins of the Ancients,” etc., pi. 35, fig. 28.
874
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
sibly of Lycia, was a symbol of the sun, morning, midday, aiul afternoon,
respectively. But this was purely theoretical and without other foun-
dation than the imagination of man, and it accordingly gave way in due
course. Phny denies this theory and attributes the origin of the tris-
kelion 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 Lilybmum. This statement, dating to so early a period,
accounting for the triskelion emblem of Sicily, is much more reasonable
and ought to reeeiye greater credit than that of its devolution from the
Swastika, which theory is of later date and has none of these corrobo-
rations 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 inTiie islands and countries about Sicily.
Among hundreds of patterns of the Swastika belonging to both
>hemispheres"affd TcTaTI 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 how ever the triskelion occurred, by whom it was in-
vented, 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 anv 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 wras a modification of the Swmstika. But its migra-
tion direct from Sicily to the Isle of Man can be traced through the
pages of history, and Mr. John Newton,1 citing the Manx Note Book
for January, 1SSG, has given this history at length, of which the follow-
ing is a resume:
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 (1245,1240
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. 13. 12GG, 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,77 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 1 Tre Cassyn7
as the distinguishing arms of the Isle of Man.” He then explains how
this probably came about: Frederick II (A. 13.1197-1250), the Norman
King of Sicily, married Isabella, the daughter of Henry III of England.
1 Athena;urn, No. 3385, September 10, 1892, p.353.
THE SWASTIKA.
875
A quarrel between tlie 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 Koyal 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 125G, 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-indaw, the King of Sicily, and was received with great honors.
About that time Haco, the Korse king of the Isle of Man, was defeated
by Alexander III of Scotland, and killed, soon after which event (1200)
the Isle of Man was ceded to the latter. The Xorse coat of arms disap-
peared from the escutcheon of the Isle of Man, and, being replaced by
the three legs of Sicily, Mr. Kewton inquires:
Wliat more likely than that the King (Alexander III), when he struck the Norwe-
gian 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 17G5, sold his rights to the Crown of England, still bears the arms of
Man as the fifth quartering, “The three human legs in armor, con-
joined at the upper part of the thigh and flexed in triangle, proper
garnished,” being a perpetuation of the triskelion or triquetrum of
Sicily.1
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 evolu-
tion from and migration of the Swastika is a failure.
Punch marks on Corinthian coi?is 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. 0.) 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,
•Debrett’s “ Complete Peerage of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.”
876
[
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891.
while Lyeia, 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 “Plectrum.” 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 owl5 Corinth, Pegasus; Metapontine, a sheaf of wheat; Naples, a
liuman-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 22C>). A
series of these punch marks is
given for demonstration on pi. 9.
A favorite design was a square
punch with a cross of two arms
passing through the center, di-
viding the field into four quar-
ters. 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.1
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 inter-
pretation 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 1>. C. The obverse represents a Pegasus standing, while,
the reverse is a punch mark, said to have been a Swastika; but, exam-
ining 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 gam-
mas, 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
1 Snowden, “Mint Manual of Coins of all Nations/’ Introduction, pp. ix-xiv; Ack-
erman, “Roman Coins,” pi. 14.
CORINTH I AX COINS.
Obverse and reverse.
Punch mark resembling Swastika.
I
I
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 9.
t o 3
4 5 6
4 8 9
to 11 12
Punch Marks on Reverse of Ancient Coins.
Fig. t. Coin of Lydia. Electrum. Oblong sinking between two squares.
Babylonian stater. Tlie earliest known coinage. Circa TOO B. C.
2. Pheniciax Half Stater. Electrnni. Incuse square with cruciform
ornament.
8. Silver Coin of Teos. Incuse square. Circa 544 B. C.
4. Silver Coin of Acanthus. Incuse square.
5. Silver Coin of Mexde. Incuse triangles.
6. Silver Coin of Teroxe. Incuse square.
7. Coin of Bisaltas.1 Incuse square. Octadrachm.
8. Silver Coin of Orrescii.1 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.
1 The Bisalta* and Orrescii were Thracian tribes who dwelt in the valleys of the Stryinon and
the Angites, to the north of the Pangrean Range.
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 9,
Punch Marks on Reverse of Ancient Coins.
1
THE SWASTIKA.
877
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.
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 inde-
pendent 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.
Other ancient Hindu coins bearing the Swastika (figs. 231-231) are
attributed to Cunningham by Waring.1 2 These are said by Waring to
be Buddhist coins found at Behat near Scliaraupur. Mr. E. Thomas,
in his article on the “Earliest Indian Coinage,”3 ascribes themjto the
Fig. 230.
ANCIENT HINDU COIN IN
THE FORM OF A CROSS
WITH A SWASTIKA ON
TIIE EXTREMITY OF
EACH ARM.1
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Re-
mote Ages,” pi. 41, fig. 18.
ANCIENT HINDU COINS WITH SWASTIKAS, NORMAL AND OGEE.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” pi. 41, figs. 20-24.
rejgnjjf Krananda, a Buddhist Indian king contemporary with or prior
to Alexander, about 330 B. C.
-
The coins of lvrananda,4 contenqiorary of Alexander the Great,5
bear the Swastika mark, associated with the principal Buddhist marks,
the trisulaj the stupha..sacred tree, sacred cone, etc. Waring says6
that according to Prinsep’s u Engravings of Hindu Coins,” the Swastika
seems to disappear from them about 200 B. C., nor is it found on the
1 See p. 788.
2 “Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,’’ pi. 41, figs. 20-23.
3 Numismatic Chron.(new series), iv.
4 “La Migration des Symboles,” figs. 17, 123.
5 Edward Thomas, Journ. Royal Asiatic Soc.Cnew series), i, p. 175.
6“Ceramic Art in Remote Ages,” p.83.
878
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Indo-Bactrian, the Indo-Sassanian, or the ]ater Hindu or subsequent
Mohammedan, and he gives in a note the approximate dates of these
dynasties: Early native Buddhist monarchs from about 500 B. 0. to the
conquest of Alexander, about 330 B. 0.; the Indo-Bactrian or Greek
successors of Alexander from about 300 to 120 B. O.; the Indo-Parthian
or Scythic from about 120 B. 0.; the second Hindu dynasty from about
50 B. 0.; the Indo-Sassanian from A. D. 200 to G30,
and subsequent to that the Indo-Mohammedan from
the eleventh to the close of the thirteenth century;
the Afghan dynasty from A. 1). 1290 to 152G, and the
Mongol dynasty to the eighteenth century, when it was
Fig.235.
ANCIENT COIN WITH
SWASTIKA.
Gaza, Palestine.
Waring, “Ceramic Art in
Remote Ages,” |>l. 42, fig. <>.
destroyed by Nadir Shah. (See p. 772.
Swastika on coins in Mescmbria and Gaza.—Mr. Percy
Gardner, in Ins article, “Ares as a Sun-god.”1 finds the
Swastika on a coin of Mesembria in Thrace. He ex-
plains that “Mesembria is simply the Grcek-word
for noon, midday (jneGfjjuppla)? TlnTcoins of this city
bear the inscription Greg1 2 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 evi-
dence in support of it. .Max Miillcr3 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 deter-
mine 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 attrib-
uted to E. Pochette, 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.
Swastika on Danish gold bractcatcs.—Fig. 230
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.4 Some of them bear signs referring to
Christian civilization, such as raising hands in prayer; and from a
j 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 dis-
Fig.236.
GOLD RRACTEATE WITH JAIN
SWASTIKA.
Denmark.
Waring, “ Ceramic Art in Remote
Ages,” pi. 1, fig. 9.
1 “Numismatic Chron./’ pt. 1,1880. See p. 788 of this paper.
2 Arclneologia, xlviii, pt. ii, 1885, p. 800.
3 Atlieiuemn, August 20, 1892.
4 “Viking Age/’ ii, figs. 1307, 1309.
THE SWASTIKA.
879
covery 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 archaeology 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 Ave
have such notable examples 021 specimens of pottery from the hill of Ilis-^ ^
sarlik, in Greece) did not terminate before coinage began, or before
480 B. 0., 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 commoneiMise, or those having greater relation to supersti-
tioii and folklore wherein the possible ATilue of the Swastika as an
amulet dt^lTAvith 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, Teun. It is figured and
described in the Third Annual Iieport of the Bureau of Ethnology,1 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 bo formed by two rectangular tablets or slips slit longitudinally and inter-
laced 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 SAvastika
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 A^alue on further investigation, but not to be con-
founded with the dots or points in Avhat M. Zmigrodzki calls the Croix
sicasticale. The mound from which this specimen came, and the objects
associated with it, show its antiquity and its manufacture by the abo-
rigines untainted by contact with the whites. The mound is on the
H'ago 4G6, fig. 140.
I
880
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 uo regularity in
placing the bodies.
The peculiar form of this Swas-
tika is duplicated by a Runic
Swastika in Sweden, cited by
Ludwig Muller and by Count
d’Alviella.1
Tliefollowing objects were found
in the mound ou Fains Island as-
sociated with the Swastika shell
(fig. 237) and described, and many
of them figured:* 2 A gorgetof the
same Fulgur shell (fig. 239); a
second gorgetof Fulgur shell with
SHELL GOUOET WITH ENGRAVED SWASTIKA, CIRCLES,
ANI) DOTS.
Fains Island, Tennessee.
Cat. No. IT. S. N. M.
an engraved spider (fig. 278):
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 ljj
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 ob-
jects. The shell objects (in addition to
the disks and gorgets mentioned) were
pins made from the columelhe of Fulgur
(Busycon pervcrsum?) 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.
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.
202, Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1890-91, page
383, although it is not described. This is a circular disk of Fulgur
ENGRAVED SHELL WITH SWASTIKA, CIRCLES,
AND DOTS.
Toco Mound, Monroe County, Tenn.
Cat. No. II5624, U. S. N. M.
^roc. Royal Danish Acad. Sci., 5th ser., in, p.94, tig. a; “La Migration des Sym-
boles,” p. 50, fig. 16.
2Third Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1881-82, p. 464 et seq., figs. 139-141.
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 10.
Engraved Fulgur(?) Shell, Resembling Statue of Buddha.
Toco Mound, Tennessee.
Cat. No. 115560, U. S. N. M.
E
1
i
II
I
?
THE SWASTIKA.
881
shell, much damaged around the edge, 1£ inches in diameter, on which
lias been engraved a Swastika. It has a small circle and a dot in
the center, around which circle the arms of the Swastika are inter-
laced. There are also circles and central dots at each turn < f the
four arms. The hatch work in the are 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 ornamenta-
tion. 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 Swas-
tika 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 representa-
tions of Swastikas, it was my belief that no reliable trace of Buddha or
ihe 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 evi-
dence 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 (pi. 10), marked as shown on the back, found by
Air. Emmert, an employe of the Bureau of Ethnology, in the year 1882.
Its original field number was 267, Professor Thomas’s 6512, 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. Atten-
tion 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
H. Mis. 90, pt. 2---------56
882
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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, appear-
ance, 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.’7 But this figure, taken in connec-
tion with the Swastika, presents a set of circumstances corresponding
with that possibility which goes a long distance in forming circum-
stantial evidence in its favor.
M. Gustave d’Eiehthal wrote a series of essays in the Bevue Archm-
ologique. lSfkt-Oo, in which he collated the evidence and favored the
theory ot 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,1 but all these theories have properly had but slight
influence in turning public opinion in their direction. Mr. V. K.
Gandhi, in a recent letter to the author, says of this specimen (pi. 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; -
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 atti-
tude, which has no connection, however, with the symbolic meaning of the Swastika
with four arms. The figure [pi. 10], a photograph of which you gave me the other
day, has tho same Swastika posture. In matters of concentration and meditation,
Swastika posture is oftentimes prescribed, which is also called Sukhasana, mean-
ing 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 hand around the waist, which goes from the navel
lower on till it reaches the hack part, has a peculiar significance in the Jain phi-
losophy. The Shvetamber division of the Jain community have always this kind
of hand in their images. The object is twofold: The first is that the generative
parts ought not to he visible; the second is that this hand 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
employe of the Bureau of Ethnology, under the direction of Prof.
‘This theory was first announced by Antonio de Montezinos and published by
Maxasseh ben Ishael 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.
2 Max Muller and Olinefalsch-Richter agree with this. See pp. 772, 773 of this paper.
THE SWASTIKA.
883
-
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 lteport of the
Bureau of Ethnology, pages 370-384.
We can now be governed only by the record as to the objects asso-
ciated with this shell (pi. 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. 40. Toco mound
contained fifty-two skeletons, or, rather, it contained buried objects
reported as from that many skeletons. Those reported as with skele-
ton 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 consid-
erable importance. Association of discovered objects is one of the
important means of furnishing evidence in prehistoric archaeology. 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 Xo.
4. Two polished stoiie 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, pi. 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 (orna-
mented), 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.
884
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Skeleton No.
37. One polished stone chisel, one stone pipe, one shell mask (ornamented).
41. One polished stone hatchet, one stone pipe, pottery vase with ears (orna-
mented), one shell mask, one shell pin, four arrowheads (two with serrated
edges), two stone perforators.
43. Lot of shell heads.
49. One polished stone hatchet, one spade-shaped stone ornament (perforated), one
spear-head, one stone pipe, one pottery howl with two handles, two shell
masks (ornamented), twenty-seven hone needles, two heaver teeth, one hone
implement (raccoon), piece of mica, lot of red paint, two shell gorgets (one
ornamented with Swastika, tig. 238), thirty-six arrow-heads, lot of hint
chips, fragment of animal jaw and hones, lot of large shells, one image pot.
51. One shell pin, one shell mask, one arrow-head, two small shell heads.
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 compar-
ing the objects with this description and find their general agreement.
Dr. Palmer, the finder, was an employe of the Bureau of Ethnology, is
a man of the highest character, of great zeal as an arelueologist 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 employe 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 belong-
ing to the mound-building epoch in the valley of the Tennessee.
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 estab-
lish 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 Deport 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. 230).
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,
THE SWASTIKA.
885
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
Fig.239.
SHELL GORGET.
Two fighting figures with triangular breech-clout, garters an<l 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.
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 vigor-
ously 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, aud 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
88(1
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 pu-
pil being almost obliterated.
The ankles and legs just be-
low the knee and the wrists
each have three lines repre-
senting bracelets or anklets.
It is uncertain whether the
leg is covered or naked; but
between the waistband and
the leggings, over the abdo-
men, is represented on both
figures a highly decorated
triangular garment, or, pos-
sibly coat of mail, to which
particular attention is called.1
In the center, at the top, just
under the waistband, are four
circles with dots in the cen-
ter arrangedin a square; out-
side 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 trian-
gle, with certain decorations
of incised lines, completes
the garment. This decora-
tion is the same on both fig-
ures, 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 (pi. 10). Another
Fig. 240.
COPPER PLATE.
Entowah Mound, Georgia.
Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 42.
Cat. No. 91113, U. S. N. M.
Cf. Gliandi, p. 882, of this paper.
THE SWASTIKA.
887
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 iii all their peculiarities of construction and design with the
Fig. 1241.
COPPEK PLATE.
Iieponssp work.
Kntowali Mound, Georgia.
wings on the copper and shell figures from the Etowah mound, Georgia
(figs. 240, 241, and 242)1. Behind the left-hand figure is an ornament
resembling the spreading tail of an eagle which, with its feather arrange-
ment and the detail of their mechanism, correspond to a high degree
with the eagle effigies in repousse copper (fig. 243) from the mound in
1 Fifth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1&33-84, pp. 36-100, ligs. 12,43,45.
888 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Union County, 111., shown in the Fifth Annual Report of the Rureau
of Ethnology (p. 105) and in the Twelfth Annual Report (p. 309).
IIopciccll 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 Talley—was that of Prof. Warren K. Moore-
liead, in the fall and winter of 1891-92, in his excavations of the Hope-
well mound, seven miles northwest of Chillicothe, Ross County, Ohio.1
The locality of this mound is well shown in Squier and Davis’s work on
the “Monuments of the Mississippi Valley” (pi. 10, p. 2G),under the name
of “Clark’s Works,” here reproduced as pi. 11. It is the large irregular
unnumbered triple mound
just within the arc of the
circle shown in the center
of the plan. The excava-
tion contemplated the de-
struction of the mound by
cutting it down to the sur-
rounding level and scat-
tering the earth of which
it was made, over the sur-
face; and this was done.
Preparatory to this, a sur-
vey and ground plan was
made (pi. 12). 1 assisted
at this survey and can
vouch for the general cor-
rectness. The mound was
surrounded by parallel
lines laid out at right an-
gles 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 10 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 Air. Moorehead to cut it down in trenches, commencing on the north-
east. 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 hat one atop the other, in a rectangular space, say three
by four feet square. These objects are unique in American prehistoric
archeology. Some of them bore a resemblance in form to the scalloped
mica pieces found by Squier and Davis, and described by them in
1 These explorations were made for the Department of Ethnology at the World a
Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.
Triangular hreecli-elout with dots ami circles.
Entowah Mouml, Georgia.
Cat. Xo. 91443, I\ S. X. M.
Ross County, Ohio.
Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. I, PI. X.
f
Museum, 1894.—Wilson. PLATE 11.
1
I
1
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Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 12,
S
E
Plan of Hopewell Mound, in which Aboriginal Copper Swastikas were Found.
Ross County, Ohio.
Moorehead, “Primitive Man in Ohio, ” PI. xxxiv.
1
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THE SWASTIKA.
889
their “Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley” Q>. 240), and
also those of the same material found
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.
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
live similar designs
traceable on the re-
verse; smaller mass
bv Professor Putnam in the
Fig. 241.
SWASTIKA CROSS OJ
COPPER.
Hopewell Mound, 3 toss
County, Ohio.
*i natural size.
Fig. 243.
COPPER PLATE SHOWING FIGURE OF EAGLE,
llepousse work.
Union County, 111.
Cat. No. 91507, U. S. X. M.
of copper; eighteen single
ber of double copper rings
copper rings; a num-
, 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 tig. 245, orig-
inally placed in a pile and now oxidized together;
also large circular,
stencil-like orna-
ments, one (fig.
240) inches in
diameter; another
(fig. 247) somewhat
in the shape of a
St. Andrew’s cross,
the extreme length
over the arms
being 8| inches.
About five feet below the deposit of
sheet copper and 10 or 12 feet to the
west, two skeletons lay together. They
Avere covered with copper plates and
fragments, copper hatchets, and pearl
beads, shown in the list below, laid in rectangular form about seven
Fig. 245.
FLAT RING OF THIN COPPER.
Hopewell Mound, Hosa
-
County, Ohio
g natural mzo.
Fig.246.
STENCIL ORNAMENT OF THIN COPPER.
Hopewell Around, lio.ss County, Ohio.
y natural size.
feet in length and
overlap.
five feet in widtli? and so close as to frequently
890
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
STENCIL ORNAMENT OK
TIUN COPPER.
Hopewell Mon ml, lio.ss
County, Ohio.
natural size.
FIS1I ORNAMENT OF THIN COPPER.
Hopewell Hound, I loss County, Ohio.
}?; natural size.
There were also found sixty-six copper hatchets, ranging from 14
to 224 inches in length; twenty-three copper plates and fragments;
one copper eagle; eleven semicircles, bars, etc.;
two spool-shaped objects; four comb-sliaped 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 hu-
man jaw, very large; a
fragmentary fish resem-
bling 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, sawshaped;
twenty ceremonial objects, rusted or oxidized copper; two diamond-
shaped stencils, copper (fig.
249); four peculiar spool-
shaped copper ornaments,
perforated, showing re-
pousse 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 ob-
tained, 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
Hopewell Mound, lioss County, Ohio.
34 natural size.
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 13.
Human Skull with Copper-covered Horns.
Hopewell Mound, Ross County, Ohio.
Moorehead, “ Primitive Man in Ohio,” frontispiece.
I
I
Fouu<l near the copper Swastika shown in fig. iM4.
Moorehead. “Primitive Man in Ohio”, Fig. xxxvn. Cat. No. 14806-4, U. S. N. M.
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson. PLATE 14.
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THE SWASTIKA. 891
head of the “leather-back” turtle. Fig. 253 probably represents an
otter with a fish in his mouth.
In trench No. 3, 15 skeletons (numbered 261 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 pi.
13. It was a most remarkable specimen, and forms the frontispiece of
Prof. W. K. Mooreliead’s volume u Primitive Man in Ohio,” where it is
described (p. 195) as follows:
At liis 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
Repousse and intaglio decoration.
Hopewell Mound, Ross County, Ohio.
Natural size.
high and 19 inches across from prong to prong. They fitted into a crown of copper
Lent to fit the head from occipital to upper jaw. Copper plates were upon the hreast
and stomach, also on the hack. The copper preserved the bones and a few of the
smews. It also preserved traces of cloth similar to coffee sacking in texture, inter-
woven 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 spear-
head of agate were near the right shoulder. The pipe was of very fine workman-
ship and highly polished.
While digging out skeletons 280 to 284, Professor Moorehead says
they touched the edge of an altar (pi. 14). It was on the base line and
15 feet north of the copper find before described. On the 5th of Janu-
ary, 1892, the altar was uncovered, and the earth, charcoal, and objects
within it put into five soap boxes and transported to headquarters,
892
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 orna-
ments, copper balls, frag-
ments 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 af-
fected by heat, the copper
being fused in many cases.
The teeth and tusks were
charred, split, and cal-
cined. There were no
ashes. All the fuel was
charcoal, and from the ap-
pearance of the debris, es-
pecially 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.
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 Atlan-
tic Coast COO 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 obsid-
ian, which could not have been found
nearer than theBocky 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 (pi. 13) made
in semblance of elk horns, 1G inches high, and other wonderful things.
Those not described have no relation to the Swastika.
Fig.251.
FRAGMENT OF ENGRAVED RONE REPRESENTING A PAROQUET.
Hopewell Mound, Hoss County, Ohio.
Nutiir.il size.
Fig.252.
FRAGMENT OF ENGRAVED BONE PROBABLY REP-
RESENTING A MISSISSIPPI KITE OR LEATHER-
BACK TURTLE.
Hopewell Mound, lloss County, Ohio.
Natural size.
THE SWASTIKA.
893
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 undeter-
mined. It is strange to find
so many objects brought such
long distances, and we may not
be able to explain the problem
presented j but there is no
authority for injecting any
modern or European influ-
ence 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 bot-
FRAGMENT OF ENGRAVED BONE PROBABLY REPRESENTING
AN OTTER WITH A FISH IN ITS MOUTH.
Natural size.
I
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I
i
I
Fig. 254.
WATER JUG WITH FIGURE OF SWASTIKA.
Decoration, red on yellow ground.
Poinsett County, Ark.
Cat. No. 91230, U. S. N. M.
tom 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.
Mounds in Arkansas.—A water jug in the collection of the IT. S.
National Museum (fig. 254) was obtained in 1883 by 1\ W. Norris, of
894
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 sur-
faces. 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 Nadaillac1 describes and figures a grooved ax from Pember-
ton, N. J., on which some persons have recognized a Swastika, but
which the Marquis doubts, while Dr. Abbott1 2 denounces the inscrip-
tion as a fraud.
NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS.
The Kansas.—The Rev. J. Owen Dorsey3 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 pi. 20, page G7G. 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
A of another old man who gives success to the
I) ^ hunters; No. 4 (fig. 255 in the present paper)
C| 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 dei-
ties; they are Bazanta (at the pines), the east wind;
Ak'a, the south wind; A'k'a jinga 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 lire as a sacrifice to the winds.
Fig. 255.
KANSA INDIAN’ WAR CHART.
Swastika sign for winds and
wind songs.
Owen Dorsey, American Naturalist,
July, 1SK5, l>. 670.
J.
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 chart4 was drawn for him,
with the Swastika as represented, by Pakanle-gaqle, the war captain,
1 “ Prehistoric America,” p. 22, note 24, fig. 9.
2 “Primitive Industry,” p.32.
3 American Naturalist, xix, July, 1885, p. 670.
4 Ibid., pi. 20.
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 1 5.
Ceremonial Bead Necklace with Swastika Ornamentation.
Sac Indians, Cook County (Kansas) Reservation.
I
>
I
i
n
THE SWASTIKA.
895
who had official charge of it and who copied it from one he had inher-
ited from his father and his ufather’s fathers”; and Mr. Dorsey assured
me that there can be no mistake or misapprehension about this Indian7 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.1
The Sac Indians.—Miss Mary A. Owen, of St. Joseph, Mo., sending
some specimens of beadwork of the Indians (pi. 15) from the Kansas
Reservation, two of which were garters and the third a necklace 13
inches longhand 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, Pottawat-
omies, Iowas, and (I have been told) by the Winnebagoes. I have never seen it on
a Winuebago. 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 think-
ing it an emblem of tire 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 yon 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
j service.
1 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 inter-
cede for the people. There are many malicious little demons who thwart the ances-
tors 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 w ho 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. Dur-
ing 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
^his was the last time I ever saw Mr. Dorsey. He died within a month, beloved
and regretted by all who knew him.
896
REPORT OF* NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1&)4.
had failed. Yet she did not give up hope. Accordingly, in the winter
of 1800, 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 pi. 10.
The Pueblos.—The Pueblo country in Colorado, Utah, Yew 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 some-
what 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 spec-
ulating 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.
In the Annual Report of the Bureau of Eth-
nology for the year 1SS0-S1 (p. 304, fig. 5G2) is
described a dance rattle made from a small gourd,
ornamented in black, white, and red (fig. 2oG).
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 Yew Mexico and Ari
zona. 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, occasion-
ally inside. It is more frequently of the ogee form, similar to that on
the rattle from the same country (fig. 25G). The larger proportion of
these specimens comes from the imeblos of Santa Clara and St. llde-
fonso.
Fig. 256.
-
DANCE RATTLE MADE OF A
SMALL GOURD DE< oRATED
IN RLACK, 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.
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson
Plate 16.
Ceremonial Bead Garters with Swastikas.
Sat* Indians, Cook County (Kansas) Reservation.
1
I
THE SWASTIKA.
897
Dr. Schliemann reports:1
We also see a Swastika (turned to the left) scratched on two terra cotta howls
of the Puehlo Indians of New Mexico, preserved in the ethnological section of the
Royal Museum at Berlin.
G. Nordenskiold,1 2 in the report of his excavations among the ruined
pueblos of the Mesa Verde, made in southwestern Colorada during
the summer of 1891, tells of the finding of numerous specimens of the
Swastika. In pi. 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 ot small dots. His pi. 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 pi.
18, fig. 1, represented a large bowl found in Mug House. Its decora-
tion 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 Swas-
tika marks, chiefly of the ogee form.3
The Navqjoes.—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 Moun-
tain 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
“dsilyidje qagal”—literally, “chant toward (a place) within the moun-
tains.” The word udsiJyiv 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. “ Qagal” 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 sous, and two daughters, dwelt in ancient times near the
Carrizo Mountains. They lived by hunting and trapping; but the
1 “Troja,77 * * p. 123.
2“The Cliff Dwellers of the Mesa Verde, Southwestern Colorado/7 P. A. Norstedt
& Son, Chicago, 1893.
3From 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.77
See also The Archaeologist, III, No. 7, p. 248.
H. Mis. 90, pt. 2-----57
898
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
place was desert, game scarce, and they moved up the river farther
iuto the mountains. The father made incantations to enable his two
sons to capture and kill game; he sent them hunting each day, direct-
ing 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 Yaybicliy (Qastceelp) 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 fete being
organized, stories are told, speeches made, and sacred songs are sung
(the latter are given by Hr. 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 Avood.” 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 (Qastceeh;i 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 Qastcecl<p
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
f
I
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Report of National Museum, 1894.- Wilson.
Plate 1 7.
ontaining Swastikas.
Fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1883-84, PI. xvii.
I
THE SWASTIKA.
899
morning, the bears again offered food, which he again declined, saying
he was not hungry. Then they showed him how to make the bear
Icethawnsj 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.
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 pi. 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 cdbitlol 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 north-
east. Each of the sacred plants grows from five white roots in the cen-
tral 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 arm-
lets, 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 rea-
I sons, reversed. The gods have, respectively, a rattle, a charm, and a
basket, each attached to his right hand by strings. This basket, repre-
sented 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
i 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.
Dr. Matthews informs me that he has no knowledge of any peculiar
meaning attributed by these Indians to this Swastika symbol, and we
900
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
WAB SHIELD UsKD I5Y THU I'lMA INDIANS.
Ogee Swastika (tetraskclion) in three colors: (1) blue, (2) red, (3) wliito.
Cut. No. :»7)r. S. N. M.
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.
THE SWASTIKA.
901
know not whether it is intended as a religious symbol, a charm of bless-
ing, or good luck, or whether it is only an ornament. We do not know
whether it has any hidden, mysterious, or symbolic meaning j 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 longitudi-
nally 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
(tig. 257) is almost an exact reproduction of the Swastika from Myceme
(tig. 101), from Ireland (fig. 21G), 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. IIodge,of the Bureau of Ethnology.
He obtained it from a Fima 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 en'emy.
COLONIAL PATCH WORK.
In Scribner’s Magazine for September, 1891, under the title of “ Tap-
estry in the New World,” one of our popular writers has described, with
many illustrations, the bed quilt 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 in-
vented combination of patch-
work which formed a new pat-
| tern, and while it bears a slight
: resemblance to the Swastika,
lacks its essential elements.
It was not a symbol, and rep-
resents 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 resem-
blance 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
prills SI
jfk jr jAjihk. VA
r A Upr Ikii
Fig. 259.
COLONIAL PATCHWORK WITH FIGURES RESEMBLING
SWASTIKAS.
Scribner’s Magazine, September, 1N94.
902
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
cross on his slnte, 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
rliomboidal and triangular quilt patches as would produce a new orna-
mental pattern.
CENTRAL AMERICA.
NICARAGUA.
The specimen shown in fig. 2(50 (Oat. No. 2372G, U.S.N.M.) is a frag-
ment, the foot of a large stone nictate from Zapatero, Granada, Nica-
ragua. 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.
“ The Cross, Ancient and Mod-
ern,7’ by W. AY. 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 enthu-
siast, Orozco y Terra, claims
at first glance that it shows
Buddhist origin, but I have not
been able as yet to verify the
quotation.
YUCATAN.
-
Dr. Scliliemann 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,1 citing Le Plon-
geou, “Fouilles an Yucatan,’7 that uduring the last excavations in
Yucatan this sign was found several times on ancient pottery.77
Le Plongeon discovered a fragment of a stone slab in the ancient
Maya city of Mayapan, of which he published a description in the Pro-
FUAGMENT OK THE FOOT OF A STONE METATE WITH
FIGURE (JF SWASTIKA.
Nicaragua.
('at. No. 237'26, U. S. N. M.
1 “ Troja,” p. 122.
THE SWASTIKA.
903
ceedings 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 If, making the whole to be Cliacli or
KaJc, which, he says, is the word fire in
the Maya language.1
COSTA MCA.
A fragment of a metate (Cat. No. 9693,
U. S. N. M.) found on Lempa River, Costa
Rica, by CapL J. M. Dow, has on its bot-
tom a Swastika similar to that on the
metate from Nicaragua. Specimen No. ANC1ENX MAyA CITY OP MAYAPAN.
59182, U. S. JM. N., is a fragment of a pot- Ogeo Swastika (tetraskelion).
tery vase from Las Hliacas, Costa Rica, of the American Antiquarian S.K-iely,
collected by Dr. J. F. Bransford. It is pn ’
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 Nana2 of Chaldea, Saycej statuettes
of the Cyclades, Lenorinant) 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 pol-
ished. 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 presence of the Swastika is the only purpose of this citation. The correct-
ness of the translation is not involved and is not vouched for.
Equivalent to Istar of Assyria and Babylon, Astarte of Plienicia, to the (Jreek
Aphrodite, and the Roman Venus.
904
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
The consideration of the leaden idol of Ilissarlik, with a Swastika,
as though for good luck, recalled to the author similar plaques in
his department from Brazil. Some arc of common yellow ware, others
were finer, were colored red and rubbed smooth and hard, but were
without decoration. The specimen shown in pi. IS (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 liivcr, Brazil, was col-
lected by Prof. J. B. Steere. The body color, clay, and the decoration
paint are much the same as the former. The ornamentation is princi-
pally 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. S30-S32.)
These specimens were submitted by the author to the Brazilian min-
ister, Senor Mendonga, himself an archaeologist 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 Tambvao or TamatiaUmg, accord-
ing to the dialects of different provinces. The later dialect name for
apron is reported as tunga, and the minister makes two remarks hav-
ing 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, relat-
ing, 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 Cein-
tures de Chastete, specimens of which are privately shown at the Musee
de Gluny at Paris. These are said to have been invented by Fraugoise
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. I). 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 ceiutures with their locks
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 18.
v /,~J m ./ \ # nT-5
X Vi 69 n _ l J. L \ ^3 ^ <gPr^ W/I ? .. . P
ggs u
-fc % Jr q— [A/\ _\W j Tj
-ir* V>1 % yp tan-H ir ^gf— JSL i 1
? Wjf J s__ % =. W ^
y ^ f riggr i
— Jk_! r -=a r ”~fj X. /#
-?% — • — -a-— 3
— 1p^ j r ^ %»5; 0 '^r #
) ———= Map showing ff illlilli
— Distribution of the Swastika. •| I ^ •
o J 0 ;2<? 50 i SO 150 J20 90 60 30 O
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
THE SWASTIKA.
905
attached, which were represented as des pieces de conviction of this
monster.1 Voltaire describes his hero Uqui ticnt sous la clef, la verta de
sa femme.1'
PARAGUAY.
Dr. Schlieinann reports that a traveler of the Berlin Ethnological
Museum obtained a pumpkin bottle from the tribe of Lenguas in Para-
guay which bore the imprint of the Swastika scratched upon its sur-
face, and that he had recently sent it to the Royal Museum at Berlin.
O] o A L- LJ
A 1 uJ 1
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 itA-meanders, ogees, the triskelion, tetraskelion, and live
and six armed spirals or volutes. This has been mentioned above (page
7C8), and some of the varieties are shown in lig. 13. These related forms
have been found in considerable numbers in America, and this investi-
gation 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 asso-
ciation with the square
Swastikas which were
turned indifferently to the
right and left. This asso-
ciation of different yet
related forms was so inti-
mate, 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 dif-
ferent form (fig. 202). Curiously enough, the design of this Greek vase
is painted maroon on a yellow ground, the style generally adopted iu
the vases from the mounds of Missouri and Arkansas, which mostly
represent the spiral Swastika.
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. 1G6 to 17G).
‘Cited in “Misson Voyage dltalie,” tome 1, p. 217; Dnlaure, “Histoiredes Dif-
ferensCultes,” ii; Brautone, “ Dames Galantes”; Rabelais, “Pantagruel,”3, chap. 35.
Fig. 262.
DIFFERENT FORMS OF SWASTIKA FOR COMPARISON.
906
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 SHEI.L.
The Department of Prehistoric Anthropology in the IT. S. National
Museum, contains a considerable number of large shells of aboriginal
Fig. 263.
SHELL GORGET.
Cross, circle, sun’s rays( ?), and heads of four ivory-billed woodpeckers (?) arranged to form a Swastika.
Mississippi.
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
THE SWASTIKA.
907
graves a thousand miles from tlieir 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 liold-
ing or carrying liquids.
When intended for or-
naments, 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 prefer-
ence 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 em-
ployed. Ho detailed descrip-
tion of the patterns of this
shellwork will be attempted,
because figures will be re-
quired to give the needed in-
formation for the interpreta-
tion 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 ex-
press my thanks for all cuts
obtained from the Bureau pub-
lications.
Ivory-billed tvoodpeclcer.—A
Figs. 264.
SHELL GORGET FROM TENNESSEE.
Square figure with ornamental corners and heads of ivory-
hilled woodpecker arranged to form a figure resembling the
Swastika.
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.
series of gorgets in shell have been found ornamented -with designs
.resembling the Swastika, which should be noticed. They combine
908
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
the square and the cross, while the head and bill of the bird form
the gamma indicative of the Swastika. Fig. 2G3, taken from the Sec-
ond Annual Eeport of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81 (pi. 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.’7 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 sym-
metrical Greek cross inclosed in a circle of 1J 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 sym-
bol ; projecting from the center
of each side of this square,
opposite the arms of the cross,
are four heads of birds repre-
senting the ivory-billed wood-
pecker, the heron, or the swan.
The long, slender, and straight
mandibles give the Swastika
form to the object. Mr. Ilolmes
says (p. 282) that he has been
able to find six of these speci-
mens, all of the type described,
varying only in detail, work-
manship, and finish.
Figs. 204, 205, and 2GG,1 rep-
resent three of these shell gor-
gets. The first was obtained by
Professor Putnam from a stone
grave, Cumberland Biver, Ten-
nessee. It is about 2J 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 trishele, 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 Tennes-
see and the adjoining country, which were engraved with this design,
though always in spiral form. There seems to have been no distinction
1 Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 59.
SHELL (JOKOET FROM TENNESSEE.
Square figure -with ornamental corners and tends of
ivory-billed woodpecker arranged to form a figure
resembling the Swastika.
THE SWASTIKA.
909
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.
Fig. 267 1 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
Fig. 267.
SCALLOPED SHELL DISK (FUL(iUK) FROM A MOUND NEAR NASHVILLE, TENN.
Three spiral volutes (triskeliou).
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 triskeliou 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 spi-
rally to the left as shown in the figure, making upward of half a revolu-
tion. These lines are somewhat wider and more deeply engraved than
1 Second Ann. liep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, p. 273, pi. 51.
910
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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.
Fig. 2G81 represents a well-preserved disk with four volute arms form-
ing the tetraskelion, and thus allied to the Swastika. The volutes (to
the right) are deeply cut and for about one-third their length pene- |
tratc the shell, producing four crescent-shaped perforations which show j
on the opposite side. This specimen is from a stone grave near Nash-
ville, Tenn., and the original is in the Peabody Museum. Fig. 269*
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 .diame-
ter. There are four volute arms which start from the opi>osite sides of
1 Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, pi. 55, fig. 1.
3 Ibid., pi. 55, fig. 2.
THE SWASTIKA.
-
911
Fig. 269.
SHELL DISK FROM I5RAKEBILL MOUND, NEAR KNOXVILLE, TENN.
Dot and circle in center and ogee Swastika (tetraskelion) marked but not completed.
Three-arlned volute (triskelion).
912
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 inter-
esting specimen of the tetraskelion or spiral Swastika, in that it is
unfinished, the outline
heen cut in the shell sufficient
to indicate the form, hut not per-
fected. 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 Jscw Orleans,1 as a spec-
imen of the deposit and original
condition of these objects:
In a carefully constructed stone sar-
cophagus in which the face of the skel-
eton 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 orna-
mented 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 mate-
rial 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 or-
nament 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 cen-
tral 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.
Laving
ENGRAVED SHELL DISK.
Tennessee.
Three-armed volute (triskelion).
ENGRAVED SHELL DISK.
Tennessee.
Three-armed volute (triskelion).
Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, p. 276, pi. 56, figs. 1, 2.
THE SWASTIKA.
913
Fig. 271 represents tlie hack 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 en-
graving 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 Hi ver,
opposite ^Nashville, Tenn.
Figs. 272, 273, and 274 are
other representations of shell
carved in spirals, and may
have greater or less relation
to the Swastika.1 They are
inserted for comparison and
without any expression of opin-
ion. They are drawn in out-
line, and the spiral form is thus
more easily seen.
Mr. Holmes1 2 makes some ob-
servations upon these designs
and gives his theory concerning their use:
I do not assume to interpret these designs; they are not to he interpreted. All I
desire is to elevate these works from the category of trinkets to what I believe is
their rightfnl place—the serious art
of a people with great capacity for
loftier works. What the gorgets
themselves were, or of what partic-
ular value to their possessor, aside
from simple ornaments, must he, in
a measure, a matter of conjecture.
They were hardly less than the to-
I terns of clans, the insignia of rulers, or
the potent charms of the priesthood.
The spider.—The spider was
represented on the shell gor-
gets. Figs. 275 to 2783 present
four of these gorgets, of which
figs. 275 to 277 display the
Greek cross in the center, sur-
rounded by two concentric in-
cised lines forming a circle which
. ...... n . . -r-,. Figure representing a spiiler: circles ami Greek crosses.
is the body of a spider. Fig. 27G p
shows the same spider and circle, and inside of it a cross much resem-
1 Op. cit., p. 276, pi. 56, figs. 3, 5, 6.
2 Op. cit., p. 281.
3Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, pi. 61.
n. Mis. 90. Dt. 2-----58
Tennessee.
Tliree-armecl volute (ti’iskelion).
1
914
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
1'ig. 27ti.
KNCKAYEI) SHELL
bling the Swastika, in that the arms are turned at their extremities to
the right and form, in an inchoate manner, the gamma. Fig. 278 rep-
resents the shell with
the spider, and, though
it contains no cross nor
semblance of the Swas-
tika, derives its value
from having been taken
from the same mound
on Fains Island, Ten-
nessee, as was the true ,
Swastika. (Seefig.237.)
The rattlesnake.—The
rattlesnake was a fa-
vorite 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 execu-
tion. Fig. 279 is a spec-
imen 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 speci-
men is represented
three-fourths size, and
comes from McMahon
mound, Tennessee.
Four others of similar
design are also from
Tennessee and the ad-
joining States, but the
locality is more re-
stricted than is the
case with other shell
disk ornaments.
The human faee and
form. — These were
also carved and
wrought upon shells
in the same general
locality. The engrav-
ing is always on the
convex side of the shell which has been reduced to a pear-shaped form.1
Fig.277.
ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET.
1 Second Aim. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, pis. 69-73.
THE SWASTIKA.
915
ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET.
Fains Island, Tennessee.
* Fig. 279. *
ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET REPRESENTING A RATTLESNAKE.
McMahon Mound, Tennessee.
Second Annual Rejiort of the Jiureau of Ethnology, 1>1. lxiii.
916
REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1&94.
These human faces and forms (tigs. 2S0-2S8), 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 compari-
ENUKAVEU Ml ELLS WITH REPRESENTATIONS OK THE HUMAN FACE.
McMahon Mound, Tennessee.
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pi. lxix.
Tennessee.
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pi. lxix.
son with the shell designs and work shown in the Biuldlia figure
(pi. 10) and its associates. Slight inspection will show two styles,
differing materially. To decide wdiicli was foreign and which domestic,
THE SWASTIKA.
917
ENGRAVED SHELLS WITH REPRESENTATIONS OF THE HUMAN FACE.
Virginia
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pi. i.xix.
Fig. 286.
ENGRAVED SHELL WITH REPRESENTATION OF A HUMAN FIGURE
McMahon Mound, Tennessee.
Second Aunual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pi. lxxi.
918
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
wlii<ili was imported and wliieli 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 consid-
eration of evidence which belongs to the future. The specimens shown
Tennessee.
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Kthnolo^y, pi. t.xxii.
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 Aqnia Creek, Virginia,
THE SWASTIKA.
919
and that in fig. 285 is from a mound in Ely County, Ya. The Avork-
mansliip on these has no resemblance to that on the Buddha figure
(pi. 10), nor does its style compare in any manner therewith.
On the contrary, figs. 280 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
Fig. 288.
ENGKAVKD SHELL GORGET WITH REPRESENTATION OF A HUMAN FIGURE.
Missouri.
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pi. lxxiii.
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 (pi. 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), Avhile fig. 288
continues the resemblance in style of drawing. It has the same peculiar
920
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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.
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, 1882-83,1 shows
Fig. 289.
POTTERY VSSSEL.
Four-armed volute, ogee Swastika (tetraske-
liou).
ArkansUvS.
natural size.
Fig.290.
POTTEKY VESSEL.
Four volutes resembling Swastika
I’ccan Point, Ark.
natural size.
many of these. Fig. 289 represents a teapot-shaped vessel from Ar-
kansas, 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 spi-
rally to the right,
forming the four
volutes of the Swas-
tika (tetraskelion)
and coveringthe en-
tire side of the ves-
sel. The same spiral
form of the Swas-
tika is given in fig.
290, a vessel of ec-
centric shape from
Pecan Point, Ark.
The decoration is in
the form of two lines
crossing each other
'Sf'v ?jsfg.
Fig. 291.
POTTERY VESSEL MADE IN THE FORM OF AN ANIMAL.
Spiral volutes, nine arms,
recan Point, Ark.
,'j natural size.
and each arm then
twisting to the
right, forming volutes, the incised lines of which, though drawn close
1 Figs. 402, 413, 415, 416.
THE SWASTIKA.
921
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 orna-
ments shade off indefinitely until they ar-
rive 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
springfrom the central
point and twist spi-
rally about as volutes
until they cover the
field, which is one-
third the body of the
bowl. Two other de-
signs of the same kind
complete the circuit of
the pot and form the
decoration all around.
Fig. 2931 represents
these volutes in incised
lines of considerable
fineness, close to-
gether, and in great
numbers, forming a decoration on each of the sides of the vase, sepa-
rated by three nearly perpendicular lines.
1 Third Ann. liep. Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 157,
Fig.292.
POTTERY BOWL ORNAMENTED WITH
MANY-ARMED VOLUTES.
Arkansas.
bj natural size.
922
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
The spiral Swastika, form appears painted upon the pottery from
Arkansas. The specimen shown in fig. 2941 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 Xo. 2, Thorn’s farm, Taylor Shanty group, Mark Tree,
ViS.294.
TlilPOl) I'OTTKKY VASK.
volutes making spiral Swastika.
Arkansas.
natural size.
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
1 Fourth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1882-83, iig. 442.
THE SWASTIKA.
923
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.1
The specimen shown in fig. 29G is from the mound at Arkansas Post,
in the county and State of Arkansas.1 2 It represents a vase of black
ware, painted a yellowish ground, with a red spiral scroll. Its diam-
Fig.295.
POTTERY ROWE WITH FIVE-ARMED SPIRAL SWASTIKA OX TIlE ROTTOM.
Poinsett County, Ark.
Cat. No. 114035, U. S. X. M.
eter is inches. These spiral figures are not uncommon in the
localities heretofore indicated as showing the normal Swastika. Pigs.
297 and 2983 show parallel incised lines of the same style as those
1 Fourth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1882-83, p. 313, fig. 331.
2Third Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1881-82, fig. 105.
»Ibid., pp. 502, 503, figs. 186, 189.
924
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
forming the square in the bird gorgets already noted (figs. 2G3-2G7).
Fig. 297 shows a bowl
nine inches in diameter;
its rim is ornamented
with the head and tail
of a conventional bird,
which probably served
as handles. On the out-
side, just below the rim,
are the four incised par-
allel lines mentioned.
In the center of the side
is represented a rolling
under or twisting of the
lines, as though it repre-
sented a ribbon. There
are three on each quar-
ter of tliebowl, that next
the head being plain.
Fig. 298 represents a
bottle GJ inches in di-
ameter, with parallel
incised lines, three in
number, with the same
twisting or folding of
the ribbon like decora-
tion. This twists to the left, while that of fig. 297 twists in the oppo-
site direction. Both specimens are from the vicinity of Charleston, Mo.
Fig. 296.
VESSEL. OP BLACK WARE.
Spiral scroll.
Arkansas.
DESIGNS ON BASKETRY.
The volute form is particularly adapted to the
decoration of basketry, of which fig. 299 is a
Fig. 297.
BIRD-SHAPED POTTERY BOWL.
Three parallel incised lines with ribbon fold.
Charleston, Mo.
specimen. These motifs were favorites with the Pueblo Indians of
New Mexico and Arizona.
THE SWASTIKA.
925
Fig. 298.
POTTERY BOWL.
Three parallel incised lines with ribbon fold.
Charleston, Mo.
Fig. 299.
BASKETWOR1C WITH MANY-ARMED VOLUTES.
Ennrtl. innn.l U------C ___ .«r
926
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
IV.—Tiie 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 investi-
gation for the purpose of determining if there be any related forms of
the cross among the same peoples. This is done without any argument
Creek eross with incised lines resembling a Swastika.
Union County, 111.
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 IJ. S. National Museum and the Bureau of Ethnology.
THE CROSS ON OBJECTS OF SHELL AND COPPER.
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,
111. 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.
THE SWASTIKA.
927
Near the upper edge are two perforations, botli 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 perfora-
tions 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 speci-
ENGRAVED SHELL GORGET.
Greek cross.
Charleston, Mo.
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pi. 1,1, fig. 2.
men was associated.1 The incised lines of the specimen indicate Inc
possible intention of the artist to make the Swastika. The design i»
evidently a cross and apparently unfinished.
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
1 Second. Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, p. 271, pi. 51, fig. 1.
928
REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Fig. 302.
EIJ. GORGET AVITH ENGRAVING OK GREEK CROSS ANI)
INCHOATE SWASTIKA.
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1>1. 1.11, fig. 3.
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 speci-
men 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 signifi-
cant,” and “elementary or un-
finished,” and more of the same,
yet nowhere is suggested any
relationship to the Swastika,
nor even the possibility of its
existence in America.
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 corro-
sion. 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. Pig. 301 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 perfor-
ated the shell. FI. 19 rep-
resents a recapitulation of
specimens of crosses, thir-
teen 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,
Fig. 303.
FRAGMENT OF COFFER DISK WITH GREEK CROSS IN INNER CIRCLE.
Ohio.
American Museum of Xatviral History, New York City.
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pi. lit, fig. 4.
EXPLANATION OF PLATE 19.
t 2 8
4 5
8
10 11 12 13
Various Forms of Crosses in use among North American Indians, from Greek Cross
to Swastika.
Fig. 1. Greek Cross. Fig. 8. Greek Cross.
o Greek Cross. 9. Latix Cross (Copper).
3. Cross ox Copper. 10. Swastika ox Shell.
4. Cross ox Shell. 11. Swastika ox Shell.
5. Greek Cross. 12. Swastika ox Pottery.
G. Greek Cross. 13. Swastika ox Pottery.
7. Latix Cross (Copper,.
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
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, PI. liii.
I
I
I
THE SWASTIKA.
929
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 con-
form to a circle.”1 Figs. 7
and 9 of pi. 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 Swas-
tika in some of its forms.
TheU. S. National Museum
possesses a small shell orna-
ment (fig. 305) in the form of
a cross, from Lenoir’s burial
place, Fort Defiance, Cald-
well County, N. C., collected
by Dr. Spainhour and Mr.
Rogan, the latter being an
employe 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 speci-
men has, unfortunately, been broken,
and being fragile has been secured in
a bed of plaster.
This and the foregoing specimens
have been introduced into this paper
that the facts of
their existence
may be pre-
sented for con-
sideration, and
to aid in the
determination
whether the
cross had any
peculiar or par-
ticular meaning.
The questions
involuntarily arise, Was it a symbol with a hid-
iden meaning, religious or otherwise; was it the * II.
Fig. 304.
ENGRAVED SHELL DISK GORGET.
Rude cross -with many dots.
Lick Creek, Term.
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, pi. 52, fig. 2.
ENGRAVED SHELL
WITH FIGURE OF
CROSS.
Caldwell County, X. C.
Oat. No. 3:’. I fill, IT. S. N. M.
Fig.306.
ENGRAVED SHELL WITHTHREE-
ARMED CROSS (TRISKELION).
Lick Creek, Tenn.
Cat. No. 83170, U. S. N. M.
1 Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, pp. 272,273.
II. Mis. 90, pt. 2---59
930
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 oJ
trinkets! These questions maybe partially answered in the section on
the meanings given to the cross by the i^ortli American Indians (p. 933).
There is also introduced, as bearing on the
question, another shell ornament (tig. 30G).
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 tlieii
identity of origin, yet the latter specimen hafc
but three arms
instead of four.
This might take
it out of the cat-
egory 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
ot the same excavations, conducted by
the same
Fig. 307.
DRILLED AND ENGRAVED SHELL
“KUNTEE.”
Dotted < i
>ek cross and
Arizona.
?in-1.
e x e a v a
tors. 1 n
determinin
DRILLED AND ENGRAVED SHELL OR
“RUNTEE.”
Dots and rings forming circle and
(.rook cross.
Ohio.
the culture status of their
makers, they must be taken together.
When we consider the variety of the
designs which were apparently without
meaning except for ornamentation, like
the circles, meanders, zigzags, chev-
rons.
, 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 man-
atee, 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 elan,
insignia of ruler, or potent charm of priesthood $ when we consider
DRILLED AND ENGRAVED SHELL OR “RUNTI
Dots and rings forming circle and Or
cross.
New York.
THE SWASTIKA.
931
these things, why should we feel ourselves compelled to accept these
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).1 It avus 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 “runtecs” 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 Avell as on figs. 308 and 3091 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. V. Similar
specimens have been found in the
same localities.
THE CROSS ON L’OTTERY.
Fig. 310 shows a small globular
cup of dark ware from the vicinity of
Charleston, Mo.; height, 2£ inches;
width, 3J inches. It has four large
nodes or projections, and between
them, painted red, are four orna-
mental 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, sliield-like decora-
tion. In fig. 312 (Cat. No. 39518, U.S.N.M.) is shown a Cocliiti painted
water vessel, same collection, showing a Maltese cross.
Dozens of other specimens are in the collections of tlieU. S. National
Museum which would serve to illustrate the extended and extensive
1 Schoolcraft, “History of the Indian Tribes,” in, pi.25; Second Aim. Rep. Jlureau
of Ethnology, 1880-81, pi. 30.
Fig. 310.
POTTERY JAR WITH CROSSES, ENCIRCLING RAYS
ANU SCALLOPS.
932
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894,
Pig.312.
POTTERY AVATER ArESSEL.
Maltese cross.
Second Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. 642.
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 20.
Palenque Cross, Foliated.
Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, Vol. xxn, fig. 7.
(
THE SWASTIKA.
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 sup-
position that these are the only specimens. Fig. 313 (Cat. Ho. 132975,
IJ.S.H.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 concen-
tric 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, pi. 20, from the temple at
Palenque.1
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 re-
lated 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 communi-
cation. Were they the result of similar^
but independent, operations of the human/
mind, or were they but duplicate in veil-(
tions, the result of parallelism in lmmaiy'
thought? This investigation must neeesA
sarily be theoretical and speculative. The)
most that the author proposes is to sug-
gest 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, con-
cerning 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 uwithout
Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, p. 33, pi. 14, fig, 7.
Fig. 313.
POTTERY VASE FINELY DECORATED IN
REI) AND WHITE GLAZE.
Maltese cross with sun symbol (?).
Cat. No. 132975, IT. S. X. M.
934
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
prejudice or preconceived opinion,” then will be time enough to an-
nounce the final conclusion, and even then not dogmatically, but tenta-
tively and subject to future discoveries.
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 prob-
lems presented.
It is rare in the study of arclueology 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 u Picture Writing of the American Indians.” It
is a work of about 800 pages, with 1,300 illustra-
tions, and is the result of many years of laborious
study. It purports to be a history, more or less
p4 ® ^7 complete, of the picture writing, signs, symbols,
totems, marks, and messages of the American In-
dian, whether pictographs or petroglyphs. A large
portion of his work is devoted to ideography, con-
ventional signs, syllabaries and alphabets, homo-
roplis and symmorophs, and their respective means
of interpretation. Among these he deals, not spe-
cifically with the Swastika, but in general terms
with the cross. Therefore, by looking at Colonel
Mallory’s work upon this chapter (p. 721), one is able to say negatively
what has not been found.
Apropois* of the meanings of the cross among the North American
Indians Count Goblet d’Alviella savs:1
-
Fig.314.
GREEK CROSS REPRESENTING
WINDS FROM CARDINAL
POINTS.
Dakota Indians.
Tenth Animal R<port of the Rureaii
of Ethnology, tiff. 1255.
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 cardi-
nal points of the compass, etc., etc.
Colonel Mallory’s volume shows that it meant many other things as
well.
The four tv bids.—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 magi-
cians—recollect their previous dreamy life in these places, and the
instructions then received from the gods, demons, and sages; they recol-
lect 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,
“La Migration des Symboles/’ p. 18.
THE SWASTIKA.
935
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
Sun symbols (?).
Tenth Annual Report of the Ihireau of Ethnology, figs. Ills, Had, llail.
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.
/ g h i h
Fig. 316.
FIGURES OF CIRCLES AND RAYS PROBABLY REPRESENTING SUN SYMBOLS.
Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, figs. I11N-1121, 112:i.
Rev. John McLain, in his work on the “Blackfoot Sun-dance,v says:
On the sacred pole of the ami 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 evidencly referring to the four winds.
936
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Sun and star symbols.—Great speculation lias 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.
XX
-f- ©
M Hh X
(I e /
Fig. 317.
FIGURES OK CROSSES AN1) C IRCLES REPRESENTIN'!} STAR SYMBOLS.
Oakley Springs, Ariz.
Tenth Annual Re]>ort of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. HOT.
Colonel Mallery gives the Indian signs for the sun, stars, and light.1
These have been segregated, and it will be seen that the cross and
circle are used indiscriminately for one and the other,
nJ-V and the fact of the two being found associated is no evi
/T» dence 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 rep-
resented by small rectangular figures, while the circles
a square represent earth lodges, the home of the Hidatsa.
Drayon Jly (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 thefourth, the foot,
much longer. The use of this sym-
bol antedates the discovery of Amer-
Fig. 318.
STAR SYMBOL.
Circle* and rays
without cross.
Oakle*y Springs,
Ariz.
Tenth Annual Report
of the Bureau of Eth-
nology, fig. 11OT.
with dots in
ica, and is carried
x x
t T
Fig.319.
KICiURKS OK CROSSES, CIRCLES, AND SQUARES
REPRESENTING LODGES
Dakota Indians.
Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, lig. IOT3.
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,’7
and is a supernatural being gifted with speech,
warning man of danger, approaching his ear silent-
ly 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
C (t
Fig.320.
LATIN CROSSES REPRESENT-
ING THE DRAGON FLY.
Dakota Indians.
‘Tenth Aun. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1888-89, figs. 1118-1129.
THE SWASTIKA.
937
supernaturnal 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 tlieir 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 &, and, in painting or embroidery,
c, and sometimes d.
Fig. 321 is described in Ream's MS. as follows:
1
Fig. 322
FIGURES OF CROSSES
AS USED BY THE
ESKIMO TO REPRE-
SENT FLOCKS OF
BIRDS.
Tenth Annual Report of
the Bureau of Ethnology,
fig. 1228.
Cat. Nos. 44211 and 4502(1,
U. S. N. .M.
Fig. 321.
DOUBLE CROSS
OF SIX ARMS
REPRESENTING
THE DRAGON
FLY.
Woki Indians,
Arizona.
Tenth Annual Re-
port of the Bureau
of Ethnology, fig.
1165.
This is a conventional design of dragon flies, and is often found
among roek etchings throughout the plateau [Arizona]. The dragon
flies have always been held in great veneration hy the Mokis and
their ancestors, as they have been often sent by
Oman to reopen springs which Muiugwa had de-
stroyed and to confer other benefits upon the people.
This form of the figure, with little vertical lines
added to the transverse lines, connects the Batol-
atei with the Ho-bo-bo emblems. Tho youth who
+ was sacrificed and translated by Ho-bo-bo reap-
peared 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 Ilo-pi-tu, bringing plenteous rains.
Midc' or Shamans.—Colonel Mallery (or Dr. Hoffman)
tells us (p. 72G) that among the Ojibways of northern
Minnesota the cross is one of the sacred symbols of the
Society of Midc' or Shamans and has special reference
to the fourth degree. The building in which the initia-
tion is carried on has its open-
ing 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 some-
what 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 suggest-
ing 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, de-
noting 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
Fig.323.
I’ETROGLYI’H FROM TULARE VAL-
LEY, CALIFORNIA.
Largo white Greek cross.
Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Eth-
nology, fig. 1229.
938
RETORT OF NATIONAL
$
drills represent flocks of birds (Oat. Nos. 45020 and 44211, U.S.N.M.).
They are reproduced in fig. 322. Colonel Mallery’s fig. 28, page 07,
represents a cross copied from the Najowe Valley group of colored pic-
tographs, 40 miles west of Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, Cal.
The cross measured 20
inches in length, the inte-
rior being painted black
while the border is of a dark
red tint. This design, as
well as others in close con-
nection, is painted on the
walls of a shallow cave or
rock shelter in the lime-
stone formation. Fourteen
miles west of Santa Bar-
bara, on the summit of the
Santa Ynez Mountains, is a
j-
Fig.324.
rETUOGLYPHS FROM OWENS VALLEY, CALIFORNIA.
(a, b) Greek crosses, (c) double Latin cross, (</-/) Latin
crosses representing human figures.
Toiith Animal Report of llte Uureaii of E hnolojry, fly. l’j:sn.
cavern having a large open-
ing west and north, in which
iire 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), present-
ing a unique appearance, for the reason that it is the only I
petroglyph in that region to which the white coloring
matter has been applied.
An interesting example of rock sculpturing in groups
is in Owens Valley, south of Beuton, 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, </, occurs upon a large bowlder of tracite 10
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.
Human forms.—Other simple crosses represent the human form.
T
Fig. 325.
CROSS JN ZIGZAG
LINES REPRESENT-
ING THE HU3IAN
FORM.
Navajo T udians.
THE SWASTIKA.
939
Fig.326.
MALTESE CROSS( ?)
REPRESENTING A
WOMAN.
The figuro in the
center is in-
tended to indi-
cate the breath.
Some of these are engraved or cut on the rocks of Owens Valley and
are similar to those above described (fig. 3:24), but they have been
eroded, so that beyond the mere cross they show slight relation to the
human body (fig. 324, d, e, /). Ool. James Stevenson, describing the
Hasjelti ceremony of the Navajoes,1 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.”2
Maidenhood.—Concerning lig. 327 Keam, in his manu-
script, says the Maltese cross was the emblem of a virgin,
and is still so recognized by the Mold. It is a conven-
tional development of the common emblem of maiden-
hood, 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. 327a and b)
present the forms from which the Maltese cross was conventionalized.3
Shamaids spirit.—Among the Kiatexamut
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.4
Divers significations.—The fig-
ure of the cross among the North
American Indians, says Colonel
Mallery,5 has many differing sig-
nifications. 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
Fig.327.
MALTESE AND SAINT ANDREW'
CROSSES.
Emblems of.maidenhood.
Moki Indians.
f
Fig. 328.
CROSS WITH
BIFURCATED
FOOT.
lTsed by the
Innuits to
represent a
shaman or
evil spirit.
1 Eighth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 283.
2 Tenth Ann. Rep. Bureau, of Ethnology 1888-89, lig. 1165.
3 Ibid., lig. 1232.
4 Ibid., lig. 1231.
5 Ibid., p. 729.
940
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
sustained by Trot. Cyrus Thomas in his “ Notes on Mayan Mexican
Manuscript,”1 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,”1 2 gives fig. 329 as a symbol for wood, thus further showing
the manifold concepts attached to the general form of the cross. Ban-
delier 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. Zamacois3 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.
It is a favorite theory with Major Powell, Director of the
Bureau of Ethnology, that the cross was an original inven-
tion of the North American Indian, possibly a sign com-
mon to all savages; that it represented, first, the four
cardinal points, north, south, east, and west; and after-
wards by accretion, seven points, north, south, east, west,
zenith, nadir, and here.
Capt. John (I. Bonrke, in his paper on the u Medicine
Men of the Apache”4 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 Guzauutli to
induce her to send rain.”
Fig. 329.
ST. ANDREW’S
CROSSES, USED
AS A SYMBOL
FOR WOOD.
Tenth Annual Re-
port of the Bureau
of Ethnology, fi^.
1233.
-
Dr. Brinton5 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 Clerq6 as to the veneration in which the cross was held by
the Gaspesian Indians, also from Herrara to the same effect. Profes-
sor Holmes7 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
1 Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 61.
2 Contrib. North American Ethnology, v, p. 144.
3 “ Historia de Mexico,” i, p. 238.
4Ninth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, 1887-88, p.479.
6 “Myths of the New World,” p. 96.
6 “Gaspesi,” London, 1691, pp. 170,172,199.
7 Second Ann. Rep, Bureau of Ethnology, 1880-81, p. 270.
THE SWASTIKA.
941
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 wor-
ship, 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 pfobability
will overreach his proofs.
* * * A study of the de-
signs 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 frame-
work 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 foreigu 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.
Continuing in bis “Ancient Art in Cliiriqui,771 presenting bis “ Series
showing stages in tbe simplification of animal characters,” and “ deri-
vation of tbe alligator,77 Professor Holmes elaborates tbe theory how
] tbe alligator was tbe original, and out of it, by evolution, grew tbe cross.
His language and accompanying figures are quoted: * 1
Of all the animal
forms utilized by the
Chiriquians, the alli-
gator is the best
suited to the purpose
of this study, as it is
presented most fre-
quently 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
1 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 delinea-
tive skill of the Chiriquian artist. The native painter must have executed very
1 Sixth Ann. Kep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 173 et seq., figs. 257-278.
Fig. 331.
GRAPHIC DELINEATION OF ALLIGATOR.
From a vaso of tlio lost color group.
Cliiriqui.
Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. ‘25N.
Fig.330.
GRAPHIC DELINEATION OF ALLIGATOR.
From a rase of tlio lost color group.
Cliiriqui.
Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. ‘257.
942
liEPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1*9-1.
much superior work upon the more usual delineating surfaces, such as hark and
skins. The examples here shown have already experienced decided changes through
the constraints of the ceramic art, hut are the most graphic delineations preserved
to us. They are free-hand products, executed hy mere decorators, perhaps hy women,
who were servile copyists of the forms employed hy those skilled in sacred art.
A third illustra-
tion from the same
group of ware,
given in fig. 251)
[fig. 332 of the
present paper]
shows, in some re-
spects, a higher
degree of conven-
tion. * * *
I shall now call
attention to some
important individ-
ualized or well-
defined agencies
of convention.
First, and most potent, may he mentioned the enforced limits of the spaces to he
decorated, which spares take shape independently of the subject to he inserted.
When the figures must occupy a narrow zone, they arc elongated; when they must
occupy a square, they are restricted longitudinally, and when they occupy a circle,
they arc of necessity coiled np. Fig. 2(55 [fig. 333 of the present paper] illustrates
the etfcct produce
ure into a short rc
turned hack over t
down along the s
[fig. 334 of the pret
a circle and is, in <
giving the effect o
gator. v '? *
I present five sei
Fig. 334.
CONVENTIONAL. FIGURE
OK ALLIGATOR
CROWDED INTO A CIR-
CLE.
Chiriqui.
Sixth Annual Report of toe
Bureau of Ethnology, fig.
U ti.
inclosed in circles. The animal figure in the first example is coiled np like a
serj|^^ <
alligator. In the second example [fig. 336 ft] wo have a double hook near the center of
the space which takes the place of the body, hut the dotted triangles are placed sepa-
rately against the encircling line. In the next figure the body symbol is omitted and
d hy crowding the oblong iig-
ctangular space. The head is
lie body and the tail is thrown
ide of the space. In fig. 266
sent paper] t lie figure occupies
•onscqucncc, closely coiled up,
‘ a serpent rather than an alli-
Fig.333.
CONVENTIONAL El G CUE OF ALLIGATOR
CROWDED INTO A SMALL GEOMETRICAL
FIGURE.
Chiriqui.
Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, tig.
•Aio.
ies of figures designed to illus-
trate the stages through
which life forms pass in de-
scending from the realistic to
highly specialized conven-
tional shapes. In the first
series (fig. 277) [fig. 335 of the present paper] we begin with a,
a meager hut graphic sketch of the alligator; the second figure,
ft, is hardly less characteristic, but is much simplified; in the
third, c, avg have still three leadiug features of the creature—
the body line, the spots, and the stroke at the hack 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 siugle dot.
The figures of the second series (fig. 278) [fig. 336 of the
present paper] are nearly all painted upon Ioav, ronnd nodes
placed about the body of the alligator vases, and lienee are
Fig. 332.
CONVENTIONAL FIGURE OF ALLIGATOR.
From :i vessel of the lost color group.
Chiriqui.
Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, tig. V5W.
943
^THE SWASTIKA.
the three triangles remain to represent the animal. Ill the fourth there are, four trian-
gles, ami 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 tlie bars of the cross, tho triangles
becoming mere interspaces, and in tho seventh the dots form a line between the two
encircling lines. This series eould be filled np by other examples, thus showing by
Fig. 335.
c
SERIES OF FIGURES OF ALLIGATORS SHOWING STAGES OF SIMPLIFICATION.
Chiriqui.
Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. ‘.'77.
d
wliat infinitesimal steps the transformations take place. * * *
We learn by tho series of steps illustrated in the annexed cuts that the alligator
radical, under peculiar restraints and inlluenees, assumes conventional forms that
merge imperceptibly into these elassic devices.
Professor Holmes’s theory of the evolution of the eross from the alli-
gator and its location in Chiriqui is opposed to that of Professor Good-
^ FRIES SHOWING STAGES IN THE SIMPLIFICATION OF ANIMAL CHARACTERS, BEGINNING WITH THE ALLI-
GATOR AND ENDING WITH THE GREEK CROSS.
Cliiriqui.
Sixth Annual Rr[x>rt of the Bureau of Ethnology, fig. '27^.
year, who, in his “ Grammar of the Lotus,” ascribes the origin of the
eross to the lotus and locates it in Egypt. I tile wliat in law would be
an “interpleader”—I admit my want of knowledge of the subject
under discussion, and leave the question to these gentlemen.
944
REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
INTRODUCTION OF THE CROSS INTO AMERICA.
Professor Holmes is, in the judgment of the author, correct when he
insists ui)on 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 appear-
ance of the cross. Professor Holmes1 says:
The first explorers were accompanied hy 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.
Tliore 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 possi-
ble that the priests and explorers were, like Colonel Mallery’s mission-
ary, 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,”1 2 states the myth of the re-creation of the world
uas 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 IRblical story of the birth of Christ.
And on the same page he quotes from IY*rc 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 conclu-
sion 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 Piver 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
1 Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 269.
2Seventh Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p. 155.
THE SWASTIKA.
945
Illinois—produce the fewest number of aboriginal crosses. Tills was
the country explored by Fathers Marquette, Lasalle, and Hennepin,
and it was the scene of most of the Catholic missionary labors. Pro-
fessor Holmes seems to have recognized this fact, for he says:1
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 them-
selves 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 charac-
teristic of the same district.
The author agrees heartily with Professor Holmes’s argument in this
matter, and his eonelusion, when he says of these objects (p. 270):
Tlio 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
witli images of the Virgin thereon, with Putin inscriptions, or of Homan
letters; there have been glass beads, iron arrowheads, and divers other
objects found in Indian graves which bore indubitable evidence of con-
| tact with the whites, and no one 'with any archaeological experience
i 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
witli intent to deceive. In such eases 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 examides, and, possibly, King Philip.
Indian graves have been opened in New England and New York con-
taining the gun or firelock of the occupant of the grave buried witli
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 archaeological 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 foun-
? dation and inadmissible.
1 Second Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology, p.269.
H. Mis. 90, pt,. 2---60
94(j
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891.
DECORATIVE FORMS NOT OF THE CROSS, BUT ALLIED TO THE
SWASTIKA.
COLOR STAMPS FROM MEXICO AND VENEZUELA.
The aborigines of Mexico and Central and South America employed
terra-cotta color stamps, which, being made into the proper pattern in
Fig. 337. Fig. 338.
Fig.342.
TERRA-COTTA COLOR STAMPS WITH DESIGNS SIMILAR TO THE SWASTIKA.
Mexico.
Cat. Nos. 99124, 99127, 27S*7, 99115, 9911,9, 99122, IT. S. N. M.
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
THE SWASTIKA.
947
-
its color, as in tlie 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 Swas-
tika; 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 Swas-
tikas shown. Of the
foregoing figures, all
are from Tlaltelolco,
Mexico (Blake collec-
tion), except fig. 339,
which is from the Val-
ley of Mexico, and was
received from the Mu-
i seoNacional of Mexico.
' Marcano says:1
The present Piaroas of
Venezuela are in the habit
I of painting their bodies by
a process different from
that of the North American
Indian. They make stamps
of wood, which, being col-
ored (as types are with ink),
they apply to their bodies.
Fig. 982 shows examples of
these stamps. [See ffg. 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,2 which
might easily produce a Swastika. The aboriginal designer of these
might, if we depend upon the theory of psychological similarity of cul-
ture among all peoples, at his next attempt make a Swastika. Yet,
with the hundreds of similar patterns made during the centuries of
I aboriginal occupation and extending throughout the countries named,
! none of these seem ever to have produced a Swastika.
i •Mem. Soe. d’Antlirop., Paris, 1890, p. 200.
2De Quatrefages, “Histoire GemSralo du liaces llumaines,” Introduction, p. 239,
' figs, W-m, 193-194.
Fig. 343.
TERRA-COTTA COLOR STAMPS WITH DESIGNS SIMILAR TO THE
SWASTIKA.
Piaroa Indians, Venezuela.
Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, fit;.
948
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891.
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 circum-
stantial evidence. This will consist (1) of comparison of known facts
directly concerning the subject; (2) of facts indirectly concerning it, and
(d) 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 arclneologists 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 coun-
tries, whether it was by migration and contact or by independent inven-
tion. 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
THE SWASTIKA.
949
or time. The Swastika was certainly prehistoric in its origin. It was
in extensive use daring 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 u Swastika,” by which it is
recognized to-day in all literature, is a Sanscrit word, and was in com-
mon use among the Sanscrit peoples so long ago that it had a peculiar
or individual pronunciation in Panini's grammar prior to the fourth
century B. C. Some authorities are of the opinion that it was an
Aryan symboi 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 amu-
let, 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 llittite 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, Phenieia, or among the Egyptians.
Whether the Swastika was in use among the Chaldeans, Hittites, or
the Aryaus 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 u without prejudice
or preconceived opinion.'7
A consideration of the subject in the light of the material here col-
lected 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 migra-
tions of the races of man?
Examples illustrating these questions are to be found in history as
well as in everyday life. The Scarabmus of Egypt and Etruria was
a symbol of eternity. The golden hoop on the lady’s finger represent-
ing a snake swallowing its tail, is also a symbol of eternity. These
950
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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. 771). 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 mean-
ing 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 religions 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 l>uddha, 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 “mono-
gram of Christ” (fig. G), shows how naturally there may have been a
conflict of opinion in the selection of a cross which should be a repre-
sentative, 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-
THE SWASTIKA.
951
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.
I The meal used in the Zufii 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 dei-
ties. This question would be interesting if it could be determined Avith
certainty, or if the determination would be accepted by any considera-
ble 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
i among Orientals other than the Buddhists, was as a charm or amulet
signifying good fortune, good luck, long life, or benediction and bless-
ing.1 (See p. 780.)
Looking over the entire prehistoric world, avc iind the Swastika
' used on small and comparatively insignificant objects, those in com-
mon 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 pot-
tery, on gold and bronze ornaments, aud fibukc. In the Bronze Age in
Avestern Europe, including Etruria, it is found on the common objects
of life, such as pottery, the bronze libuhe, ceintures, spindle-whorls, etc.
In addition to the foregoing, there were peculiar uses of the SAvastika
in certain localities: In Italy on the hut urns in Avhich the ashes of the
i dead are buried; in the Swiss lakes stamped in the pottery; in Scandi-
I navia on the Aveapous, swords, etc., and in Scotland and Ireland on the
brooches and pins; in America on the nictates for grinding corn; the
A Brazilian women Avore it on the pottery fig leaf; the Pueblo Indian
painted it on* his dance rattle, Avhile 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
1 Goblet (l’Alviella, “ La Migration (lets Symboles,” pp. 56, 57.
952
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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, nictates, 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. Vet we know it was used on certain ceremonial
occasions which may themselves have had more or less a sacred char-
acter.
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
Y a bundl ed to one of a sacred kind. With this preponderance in favor
of the common use, it would seem that, except among the JJuddliists
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 dis-
cover 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
THE SWASTIKA.
-
distant peoples, or was it accidental and the result of independent dis-
coveries and duplicate inventions—an evidence of the parallelism of
human thought?
Dr. Brinton, in a communication before the American Philosophical
Socie~ty7"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 hecanse certain well-known Oriental sym-
bols, 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 II. Holmes, of the
Bureau of Ethnology, maintain “that it is impossible to give a satisfactory expla-
nation 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 every-
where, and~henee suggesting the same graphic 'representations among tribes mosj:
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 jjorrv to be compelled to differ in these views.
I may not attempt much argument upon this branch of the subject, but
wl 1 atcver 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 argu-
ment, 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 thaUdie 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, 1 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 inoderjLFiirot>eaii or Amerkiaik works on, decoration, nor
is it known to or practiced by artists or decorators of either country.1 2
For the truth of this, I appeal to the experience of artists and decora-
1 Proe. Am. Pkilosoph. Soe., xxvi, p. 177.
2For general lack of knowledge of Swastika in modem times, see Preface, p. 703.
954
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
tors, 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 maybe
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
tInsist 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, some-
times 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 evi-
denced 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 arc 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 mim-
_Jber 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. t). 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 pro-
jecting arms of equal length, to see that they are all at the same angle;
^hnd 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
^£he 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 pro-
THE SWASTIKA.
955
nounces 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 madewas 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 men-
tioned 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 iiseTn modern times should
be notedIrTorder to prevent misapprehension and contradiction. The
double Greek fret made with two continuous lines (fig. 139) forms a
psuedo 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 timesbv carpetTancT 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, 31), and, among the
North American Indians, the Navajo (pi. 17), and those of the Kansas
Reservation (pis. 15 and 16). It is not used bv European peoples in',
modern times, except in Lapland and Finland. The National Museum
lias 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
956
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
drawing of this (fig. 344). Theodor Sclivindt, in “Suomalaisia koris-
teita,”1 a book of standard national Finnish patterns for the embroid-
eries 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. Iljal-
talin it ‘‘was used [in Ireland] a few years since as a magic sign, hut with an
obscured or corrupted meaning.” It arrived in that island in the ninth century
A. D.*
The Swastika mark appears both in its normal and ogee form in the
Persian carpets and rugs.3 While writing this memoir, I have found
in the Persian rug in my own bedchamber sixteen figures of the Swas-
tika. 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 brand Opera House in Washing-
ton 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 in-
creased 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.
344.
MOItKIiX CHIMIN MI) WITH I)K
SIGN KF.SK.MtiUXO SWASTIKA.
Lapland.
C. s. Xat'on.il Musfuin.
Thus, it appears that the use of the Swastika in modern times is con-
fined principally to Oriental jmd_ Scandinavian countries, countries
which hold close relations to antiquity: that, in western Europe, where
in ancient times the Swastika was mosF7re(iueiTf7^J^as71UiriTrg~the"
last one or two thousand years, become extinct. And this in the coun-
tries which have led the world in culture.
i/ff the Swastika was a sj’mbol 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
thej^ehgious idea it represented^ To”*lo this required a certain use of
language, at least the name of the symbol. If the sign bore among the
---------------------- [ ______________________________________________
1 Finnischo Ornamente. 1. Stichornarnente. Heft 1-4. Soumalaisen Kirjallis-
uuden Senra Helsingissii, 1894.
?KarI Blind, “Discovery of Odinic songs in Shetland,” Nineteenth Century, June,
1879, p. 1098, cited by Alfred C. Iladdon in “Evolution in Art,” London, 1895, p. 285.
3Miss Fanny D. Bergen, in Scribner’s Magazine, September, 1894.
THE SWASTIKA.
957
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 Bussian religion
and the Christian cross. While to find the Buddhist religion and the
Swastika symbol together in America, at a locality beyond the possi-
bility of modern European or Asiatic contact, would be evidence of pre-
historic 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 sixtb^century_B^C. 1 Tut 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 tlitf ?
Swastika, we may therefore conclude that if the Swastika came from
India or Eastern Asia, it came earlier than the sixth century B. 0. ^
If a given religion with a given symbol, both belonging to the Old
World, shouldboth be found associated lii the ]STew World, it would be
strong evidence in favor of Old World migration—certainly of contact
and communication. Is it not equally strong evidence of eontact^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 off
the Buddhists and early Christians, the Swastika was used habitually]
as a sign or mark or charm, implying good luck, good fortune, long lifeji
much pleasure, great success, or something similar. The makers and
i users of the Swastika in South and Central America, and among the
mound builders of the savages of Jsorth 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 pre-
historic countries of Europe and Asia, and which brought us to the
con(dn^imTWhaOlie Swastika was there used as a charm or token of
good luck, or good fortune, or against the evil eye, we may^surinise
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
958
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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
^^eferyday use, and on which the Swastika, as a cliarm 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
i 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
f" 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 neces-
sary 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 character-
istic 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
t^nade 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 consid-
erations, and arrives at so many different conclusions, that, with the
manifold diversities of human needs and desires, the chances of dupli-
cate invention by different persons in distant countries, without con-
^ tact or communication between them, are almost as one to infinity.
The old adage or proverb says, “3Iany men of many minds,” and it
only emphasizes the differences between men liTregar'd 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 con-
clusion 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
THE SWASTIKA.
959
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 com-
promise. 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 arc made and what different conclusions are pro-
duced in thq 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 mail*and.depends upon his reason and his
intellect, our common knowledge testifies that this law has no applica-
tion. 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 havcl
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
aiid from one couptry_to another, should not be omitted in this discus-
sion. It may have slight relation to the Swastika to mention the
migrations of the present time, but it will give an idea of the possibil-
ity 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 pas-
960
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
sages and liave 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 these possibilities in the word
4halloo,” 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, u 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!”
6l^M MIGRATION OF CLASSIC SYMBOLS.
Count Goblet d’Alviclla, in uLa 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 indi-
cated in its title.
The sacred tree of the Assyrians.—This he. holds to be one of the old-
est historic symbols; that it had its origin in Mesopotamia, one of the
earliest civilized (tenters of the world. Reginning 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 bo
readily traced. The tree between the two monsters or animals passed
from Mesopotamia to rndia, where it was employed by the Buddhists
ymd Brahmins, and has continued in use in that country to the present
.time. It passed to the Phenicians, and from Asia Minor to Greece.
fFrom the Persians it was introduced to the Byzantines, and during
the early ages, iuto 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 Mexi-
can 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.
THE SWASTIKA.
961
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, atid 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 i>ourcd from ajar 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, fronij
Sardinia to Susiana.
The winged globe.—This was a widely spread and highly venerated
Egyptian symbol. From Egypt it spread, under various modifica-
, tions, throughout the Old World. It is formed by a combination of
| the representations of the sun that have prevailed in different locali-
ties in Egypt, the mythology of which ended by becoming a solar
drama. Two uncus 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 sus-
pended 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 pene-
trated on the north to the Ilittites, and when it reached Mesopotamia,
in the time of Sargonidjc, 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 repre-
| sen ted, she replaced it by the thunderbolt. But the aureole, or halo,
! II. Mis. 90, pt. 2-G1
962
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
which encircles the heads of her divinities, and which Christian art
lias 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 migra-
tion 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 mytliographers of
later times, and is very remote from its primitive form. In the Homeric
hymn it is called uthe golden rod, three-petaled of happiness and
wealth,” which Phudms gave to the youthful Hermes, but on early
Greek monuments the three leaves are represented by a disk sur-
mounted 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 caducous of the Hittites. Our author believes it was
employed originally as a religious or military standard or ilag, and that
it was gradually modified by coming in contact with other symbols.
Some Assyrian bas-reliefs display a military standard, sometimes con-
sisting of a large ring placed upon a stalf with two loose bandelets
attached, sometimes of a winged globe similarly disposed. This Assyr-
ian 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 orescent, 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 (o) surmounted by an
omega (go). Nearly always the upper portion is flanked by two small
circles, or by two horizontal strokes which often take the axipearance of
THE SWASTIKA.
963
-
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 radia-
tion. 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 cadueeus, 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 mil-
lions 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 Ilittite sculp-
tures 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 li undertook the si.xth crusade,
landing at Acre in the latter year, and being crowned King of Jerusa
lem 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 liolyBoman 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,
964
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
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 Joce-
line 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 con-
dition that Joeeline 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 liis 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 G21 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 11GS to 1190 A. D. He held an important command in two cru-
sades 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 sci-
entific 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 number-
less 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 through-
THE SWASTIKA.
965
out all western countries. The architects of Borne, 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, wu~‘Tlavelitile 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 com-
mon existence in early if not prehistoric Greece, and that botirwere
employed in^peJiehteiVlbrm on the same specimen of Archaic Greeks"
pottery. F,ig^jL33 and 134 demonstrate that these two signs migrated
together from (jfeece 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 lias
been employed during all historic tfineTiy the peoples of every civiliza-
tion. The fret is known 11istoricallvlabave-na^sedJhv means of teachers,
either through speaking, writing, or drawing, and never yet a sugges-
tion 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 1
when we are compelled to swallow the camel of migration when applied /
to the Greek fret and architecture? The same proposition of migra-
tion 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 knowl-
edge 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 coun-
tries, and among all peoples, by'the evolution of some new di^ov eryQtUJ
made to jit a-hum an need—that as all human needs in a given stage are ^v
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 sculp-
tor, requiring of him neither original invention nor independent discov-
ery, but permitting him to use, study, adapt, and even servilely copy
the great Greek art works, and we know that with all these opportuni-
ties and advantages he can not attain to their excellence, nor reach
their stage of art culture.
966
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
VII.—Prehistoric Objects associated with the Swastika,
t FOUND IN ROTH HEMISPHERES, AND RELIEVED TO HAVE PASSED
• ry Migration.
SPINDLE-WHORLS.
Spindle-whorls arc first to be considered. These are essentially pre-
historic 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 cover-
ings, 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-who^l was equally in use in Europe and Asia during the
v Neolithic Age as in tin1, 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. Decently a Gallo-Roman tornlTwas opened at Cler-
mont-Ferrand and found to contain the skeleton of a young woman,
and with it her spindles and whorls.1
The existence of spindle-whorls in distant and widely separated
v/countries affords a certain amount of presumptive evidence of migra-
tions of peoples from one country to another, or of contact or com-
munication 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-wliorl 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 con-
sidered, and that this value increased with the number of items of corre-
spondence, 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.
1 Bull. Soc. d’Aiithrop., Paris, October, 1893, p. GOO.
THE SWASTIKA.
967
EUROPE.
Switzerland—Lake dwellings.—Figs. 345 and 340 show stone spindle-
wliorls from prehistoric Swiss lake dwellings. These are in the U. S.
National Museum, and with them are dozens of others of the same kind
Figs. 345 ami 34G.
STONE SPINDLE-WIIOHLS.
Neolithic.
Swiss lake dwellings.
U. S. National Museum.
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 J illson. Figs. 348, 34b, and 350 represent
terra-cotta spindle-whorls from the Swiss lakes. These specimens were
Neolithic. Neolithic or llronzo Age.
Lund, Sweden. Swiss lake dwellings.
Cat. No. 51**1, U. S. N. M. Cat. No. 100(542, U. S. N. M.
selected to show the different patterns, to illustrate their unlikeness
•instead of their likeness, to give an understanding of the various kinds
of Avhorls rather than that they Avere all one kind, a fad Avhieh should be
kept in mind during this argument.
968
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Italy.—Figs. 351, 352, and 353 show terra-cotta spindle-whorls from
Orvieto, Italy, 78 miles north from Koine. Figs. 351 and 355 represent
TERRA COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL.
Neolithic or Bronze Age.
Swiss lake dwellings.
Cat. Xo.-100(54 2, V. S. N. M.
Fig. 350.
TERRA COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL.
Swiss lako dwellings.
Cat. No. 100047, l\ S. N. M.
spindle-whorls from Oorneto, Italy, 03 miles north from Rome. As
remarked above, they have been chosen to represent the different kinds.
_ _ There are thou-
sands of these
whorls found in
Italy. In the
Arelneo logical
Exposition at
Turin, 1884, the number was so
great tha t they were twined about
the columns, thereby providing
a place of storage as well as a
place of display.
Wiirtembury.—Dr. Charles Ran
procured for, and there is now in,
the U. S. National Museum a
spindle (fig. 35G) with its whorl
which had been in use for spin-
ning from 18G0 to 1870, and which
he obtained in Wurtemburg, Germany, from the woman who had used it.
Frame.—The author has seen the French peasants in Brittany spin-
Figs. 351,3512, and 353.
PREHISTORIC TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORLS.
Orvieto, Italy.
Cut. Noh, 101(57 1, 101(572, U. S. N. M.
Figs. 354 and 355.
PREHISTORIC SPINDLE-WHORLS.
Corneto, Italy.
Cat. No. 101773, U. S. N. M.
ning 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.
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 21.
Spindle-whorls of Modern Porcelain from Southern France.
Cat. No. 169598, U. S. N. M.
I
THE SWASTIKA
969
In 1893 Mr. Hiirle 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. H e presented a series to the Soeiete d’An-
tliropologie at Paris, July, 1893.1
The U. S. National Museum has lately received,
through the kindness of the It)cole d’Anthropologie, a
series of nine of these porcelain whorls (pi. 21). The
wheel and modern machines for spinning have pene-
trated this corner of the world, and these whorls are W
the last emblem of an industry dating slightly after7
the advent of man on earth and already old in that
locality when Poland crossed the mountain pass
near there and sounded his uO!iphant,” 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 them-
selves 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 elotli 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 dis-
play in the National Museum and have been pub-
lished in the reports. Special attention is called
to that by Dr. Washington Matthews in the Third
Annual lieport 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 re-
marks 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.
Fig. 35li
-
MODERN SPINDLE AND
WIIOHIj USED FOIi SI’l.N-
NINU THREAD.
Wiirtemlmrg, Germany.
Bull. Goc. (l’Aiitlu-opv. Paris, pp. 461-462,
970
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891.
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. lie repre-
sents a Navajo woman spinning (see
pi. 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 pecul-
iar and perhaps unique. The whorl,
among most other savage or prehis-
toric 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, ac-
complishes the same
purpose, and does
it in the same way.
The sole difference
is in the size and ma-
terial of the whorl.
The difference in
material accounts
for the difference in
size. It is not im-
probable 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.
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 (Oat. Nos.
Fig. 357.
TKKKA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHOliL WITH DESIGN SIMILAR TO SWASTIKA.
Valley of Mexico.
Cat. No. i'7JS75, U. S. N. M.
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 22,
Navajo Woman Using Spindle and Whorl.
Dr. Washington Matthews, Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology, 1881-82, PI. xxxiv.
I
?
i
t
>
l
c
4
«
THE SWASTIKA.
971
27875-27880) from the valley of Mexico, sent to the U. S. National
Museum by the Mexican National Museum in 1877. Fig. 35S also rep-
resents one of a series from Mexico, obtained by W. W. Blake, July,
1880 (Cat. Nos. 99051-99050). The National Museum possesses hun-
dreds of these from Mexico, as well as the small ones from Peru.
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 geo-
metric figures, chief of which is the Greek fret, the labyrinth, the
circle, and the volute, but as in the color stamps (pp. 94(5-947) there is
no Swastika.
CENTRAL AMERICA.
Nicaragua.—The specimen shown in fig. 359, from Omotepe Island,
Lake Nicaragua, is one of a series of pottery spindle-whorls, bearing,
TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORLS.
Omotepe Island, Nicaragua.
Cat. Nos. 28893, 28899, U. S. N. M.
however, great resemblance to those of stone. Fig. 360 shows a speci-
men from the same locality. It is of pottery and bears much resem-
972
REPORT OP NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
bianco in form to the earliest whorls found by Scliliemann 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. 3G1 shows
a specimen from Granada, Nicaragua. It is of the common shape of
the European prehistoric spindle-whorl. Its Hat surface is decorated
TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-W1IOEL.
Granada, Nicaragua.
Oat. No. V. S. N. M.
Fig. 362.
TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL.
Malanatn, Nicaragua.
Cal. No. 20000, U. S. N. M.
with a Greek cross in incised lines, two quarters of which are tilled
with hatch marks. Fig. 3G2 shows a terra cotta spindle-whorl from
Malaeate, Nicaragua. It is cone-shaped. Both these specimens were
collected by Dr. Earl Flint.
SOUTH AMERICA.
Chiri<fiii.—Figs. 30 >, 304, and 305 show terra-cotta spindle-whorls
from Ohiriqui, 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.
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.
Pern.—Plate 23 represents a series of spin-
dles and whorls from Peru. They were fur-
nished 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 spin-
dles, 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 iu different colors, in lines, scrolls, and
chevrons. These are the only whorls from Peru which the U. S. National
Museum has, tlfough it possesses an extensive series of the spindles,
several of which still have the spun thread wrapped upon them.
There are certain distinguishing peculiarities to be remarked when
Colombia.—Fig. 3GG
Fig. 363.
SPINDLE-WHORL MADE OF GRAY
CLAY AND DECORATED WITH
ANNULAR NODES.
Chiriqui
Sixth Animal Report of the Burea-i of Eth-
nology, fig. 218.
Report of National Museum, 1 894.—Wilson.
Plate 23.
Series of Aboriginal Spindles and Whorls from Peru.
Cat. No. 17510, U. S. N. M.
1
THE SWASTIKA.
973
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 represen-
Fig. 364.
SPINDLE-WHORL OP GRAY CLAY WITH
FIGURES OF ANIMALS.
Chiriqui.
Sixth Animal Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
tip. 219.
Fig. 365.
SPINDLE-WIIORL OF DARK CLAY WITH PER-
FORATIONS AND INCISED ORNAMENTS.
Cliiriqui.
Sixth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology,
fig. 220.
tation of those from almost every other locality. But it is different
with the American specimens. Each section in America has a differ-
ent 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
TERRA-COTTA SPINDLE-WHORL.
Maiiizalcs, Colombia.
Cat. No. I683k, U. S. N. M.
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 adoj)ts, not a particular style common to the utensil, but that it
974
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
adopts the styles of the respective countries. The Mexican whorl lias
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 hemi-
spheres are practically the same, and the differences are insignificant.
In style, shape, and manner of use they arc so similar in the two hemi-
spheres as to be the same invention. The whorls, when put ivpon 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 (?'. 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 communica-
tion 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 differ-
ences 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 (pi. 22) with that from Wurtemburg, Germany (fig. 35G),
and these with the spindles and whorls from Peru (pi. 23). These facts
are entirely in harmony with the possibility that the spindle and whorl,
as a machine tor 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 intro-
duced a series of spindle-whorls from Troy, Ilissarlik (pis. 24 and 2o).
These belong to the U. S. National Museum, and form part of the valu-
able collection from Mine. 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.
Report of National Museum, 1894,—Wilson.
Plate 24
Selected Specimens of Spindle-whorls from the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cities
of Troy.
U. S. National Museum.
1
\
1
II
I
I
I
V
Report of National Museum, 1894.—Wilson.
Plate 25,
Selected Specimens of Spindle-whorls from the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Cities
of Troy.
U. S. National Museum.
\ I
i
I
I
THE SWASTIKA.
975
BOBBINS.
EUROPE.
We liave already seen how an increase in the number of correspond-
ences Jifitween. objects.- from, distant countries Tnereases~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-wh o r Is
with which it is
made, had been iio
use during1 preliis-jj
toric times in thev
two hemispheres,
it would add to
the evidence of
contact or commu-
nication. The U.
S. National Museum
are believed to have been, running1 from
Fig. 367.
RORRIN OR SPOOL FOR WINDING THREAD (?).
Type Villanova.
Coriieto, Italy.
U. S. National Museum.
possesses a series of these bobbins, as they
comprising
large to small,
about one dozen specimens ..from—Ltaly, one from Corneto and the
others from Bologna, in which
places many prehistoric spindle
whorls have been found (figs.
307 and 308). These are of the
type Yillanova. The end as
well as the side view is rep-
resented. 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)J It was found by Count Gozzadini
and forms part of his collection in Bologna.
368.
TERRA-COTTA BOBRIN OR SPOOL FOR WINDING
THREAD ( ?).
Typo Villiinova.
Bologna, Italy.
Cat. No. 101771, IT. S. N. M.
UNITED STATES.
The three following figures represent clay and stone bobbins, all
from the State of Kentucky. Fig. 3G9 shows a bobbin elaborately dec-
orated, from a mound near Maysville, Ky. It has a hole drilled longi-
1 Do Mortillet, “Mus6e Prdhistorique,” fig. 1239.
976 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
tudinally through the center. The end shows a cross of the Greek
form with this hole in the center of the cross. Tig. 370 shows a sim-
ilar object from Lexington, Ky., sent by the Kentucky University. It
is of fine-grained sand-
stone, is drilled longi-
tudinally through the
center and decorated as
shown. The end view
shows a series of con-
centric circles with rows
of dots in the intervals.
Tig. 371 shows a simi-
lar 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 con-
secutive 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 ex-
tending to the periphery
of the bobbin, all of which
is said to represent the
sun. The specimen shown
in lig. 373, of line-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 dec-
oration consists of three con-
centric circles, one interval of
which is divided by radiat-
ing lines at regular intervals,
each forming a rectangle. Be-
tween 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 Tlorida by Mr Clarence B. Moore and noted
by Prolessor Holmes.
Thus we And some of the same objects which in Europe were made
Fig. 371.
BORRIN (?) OF FINE-GRAINED SANDSTONE.
Lewis County, Kentucky.
Cat. No. 596S1, V. S. X. M.
Fig. 370.
RORRIN (?) FROM LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY.
Cat. No. I•!»!!> 1, C. S. N. AI.
RORRIN (?) FROM A MOUNI) NEAR MAYSVII.LE, KENTUCKY.
Cat. No. Hills, U.S. N. M.
THE SWASTIKA.
977
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 incon-
siderable testimony in favor of the migration of the sign.
VIIr.—Similar Prehistoric'Arts, Industries, and Implements
in Europe and America as Evidence of tiie Migration of
Culture.
The prehistoric objects described in the foregoing chapter are not
the only ones common to both Europe and America. Eelated 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 frabrics have been found
VIEW SHOWING BOTH ENDS OF A BOBBIN( ?) OF FINE-GKAINET) SANDSTONE.
Maysville, Kentucky.
Cat. No. 10747, U. S. X. M.
in the Swiss lake dwellings, in Scandinavia, and in nearly all parts of
Europe. They belonged to_the XooIithhTand Bronze ages.
Figs. 373 and 374 illustrate textile fabrics in theTBronze Age. Both
specimens are from Denmark, and the. National Museum possesses
another specimen (Cat. No. lSGGlI) in all respects similar. While pre-
historic 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 i>rehistoric 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
II. Mis. 90, pt. 2-----------62
978
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
-
the two hemispheres are alike in thread, stitch, or pattern. But these
at liest 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 what-
ever 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 migra-
tion, 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 substan-
tially the same. There are differ-
ences 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 hem-
isphere. Some hatchets are long,
others short, some round, others
flat, some have a pointed end, others
a square or nearly square or unfin-
ished end; some arc large, others
small. But all these differences
are to be found equally well pro-
nounced within each hemisphere.
Scrapers have also been found in
both hemispheres and in all ages.
There are the same diflferenc.es 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-
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),
1K92, pi. ci, fif?. 2.
THE SWASTIKA.
979
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 substan-
tially 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 prehis-
toric 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 move-
ment, 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 prehis-
toric pottery which bear evidence of having been made in this manner,
Fig. 374.
DETAIL OF DRESS SHOWN IN
PRECEDING FIGURE.
980
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
aiul while it may he rare in tlie Eastern Hemisphere, it is similar in
these respeets to thousands of pieces of prehistorie pottery in North
America.
One of the great puzzles for arclnvologists 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 saw-
ing, 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,
V 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 prehistorie 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 pliysica-l capacity in con-
tests 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 begin-
nings 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
THE SWASTIKA.
981
he knew nothing and had everything yet to learn, it is sufficiently won-
derful that he should have invented the how and arrow as a projectile
machine for his weapons; but it becomes doubly and trebly improba-
ble 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 Avas 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 exhaust-
ive. At best it is only suggestive.
There is no direct evidence available by which the migration of sym-
bols, arts, or peoples in prehistoric times can be proved, because the
events are beyond the pal&-o£4dstory. 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 deter-
mine the truth from the probabilities. In proportion as the probabili-
ties 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 theor^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 Xavajo and Pueblo Indian^ Yet the Swastikas of Mississippi
and Tennessee belong to the oldest civilization we know in Americai
while the Xavajo 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 jirior 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 paral-
lelism of human development by which it is contended that absolute
uniformity of man’s thoughts and actions, aims and methods, is pro-
duced 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
982
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891.
until it lias 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 surel^-has its limitations, and it is only
applicable under special conditions.^ As a general proposition, it might
^yfrpply to races and neooles 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
I egoism of man and his selfish desire for power, improvement, and liappi-
\ness, 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 knowl-
edge of specific objects, the uses of material things, the performance
of certain rites, the playing of certain games, the possession of cer-
tain 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 simi-
ilarity of action and purpose, and with corresponding difficulty of per-
formance, may well be treated as evidence of such migration, contact, or
(jominunieation. Sir John Lubbock expresses the author’s belief when
be says,1 “ 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
ifrom 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 num-
/ bers 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 hemi-
spheres, 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 inde-
pendent of the other.
An illjistiatiomof^hemigration to^Aanericais-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
1 “ Prehistoric Man,” p. G01.
THE SWASTIKA.
983
the people of America.are-4101 Greek, nor do they possess any consid-
erable share of Greek culture or civilization. They have none of the
blood of the Greeks, nor their physical traits, nor their maimers, 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 pre-
historic civilization. There may have been communication between the
countries by which such objects as the polished stone hatchet, the bovfl
and arrow, the leaf-shaped implement, chipped arrow- and spear-heads,
scrapers, spindle-whorls, the arts of pottery making, of weaving, ofJ
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 spo-
radic and isolated cases, importing simply the germ of their knowledge,
leaving the industry to be independently worked out on this side. Cer-
tain 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 cere-
monial 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 prehis-
toric 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, con-
tact, 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 illustra-
tive of the proposition and indicating possibilities of the argument. If a
completed argument in favor of prehistoric communication should be pre-
pared, 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.
984
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SWASTIKA.
ABBOTT, Charles C. Primitive Indus-
try: | or | Illustrations of the Handi-
work, | in stone, bone and clay, | of
the | Native Races | of | the Northern
Atlantic Seaboard of America. | By
Charles C. Abbott, M. D. | Cor. Mem-
ber Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., | Fellow
Royal Soc. | of Antiq. of the North.
Copenhagen.etc.,etc., | Salem,Mass.: |
George A. Bates. | 1881.
8°, pp. v-vi, 1-560, fig. 429.
Grooved ax, Pemberton, X. J. Inscription
of Swastika denounced as a fraud, p. 32.
ALLEN, E. A. The | Prehistoric World |
or | Vanished Races | by | E. A. Al-
len, | author of “The Golden Gems of
Life.” | Each of the Following well-
known Scholars reviewed one or more |
Chapters, and made valuable sugges-
tions: | C. C. Abbott, M. 1)., | Prof.
F. W. Putnam, | A. F. Baiulelier, |
Prof. Clias. Kau, | Alexander Wincliell,
LL. D., | Cyrus Thomas, Pli. D. | G. F.
Wright. | Cincinnati: | Central Pub-
lishing House. | 1885.
8°, pp. i-vi, 1-820.
Swastika regarded as an ornament in the
bronze Age, p. 233.
AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN and Ori-
ental Journal.
Vol. VI, Jan., 1884, p. 02.
Swastika found in a tessellated Mosaic pave-
ment of Roman ruins at Wiveleseombe, Eng-
land ; reported by Cornelius Nicholson, F. G. S.,
cited in Munro’s “Ancient Scottish Lake
Dwellings,” note, p. 132.
AMERICAN ENCYCLOPEDIA.
Title, Cross. j
AMERICAN JOURNAL of Archeology
and of the History of Fine Arts.
Vol. xi, No. 1, Jan.-March, 1896, p. 11, fig. 10.
Andokides, a Greek vase painter (525 b. C.),
depicted Athena on an amphora with her dress
decorated with many ogee and meander Swas-
tikas. The specimen is in the berlin Museum.
ANDERSON, Joseph. Scotland in Early
Christian Times.
The Swastika, though of Pagan origin, became
a Christian symbol from the fourth to the four-
teenth century, A. I). Vol. ji, p. 218.
Cited in “Mnnro’s Ancient Scottish Lake
Dwellings,” note, p. 132.
BALFOUR, Edward. Cyclopmdia of
India | and of | Eastern and Southern
Asia, | Commercial, Industrial, and
Scientific: \ Products of the | Mineral,
Vegetable and Animal Kingdoms, |
Useful Arts and Manufactures; | edited
by | Edward Balfour, L. R. C. S. E., |
Inspector General of Hospitals, Madras
Medical Department, | Fellow of the
Uuivorsity of Madras, | Corresponding
Member of the Imperial Geologic Insti-
tute, Vienna. | Second Edition. | Vol.
V. | Madras: | Printed at the Law-
rence and Adelpbi Presses, | 1873. |
Copyright.
8°, pp. 1-956.
Title, Swastika, p. 656.
BARING-GOUL1), S. Curious Myths |
of | the Middle Ages. | By | S. Baring-
Gonld, M. A., | New York: | Hurst Ar
Co., Publishers, | No. 122 Nassau street.
12°, pp. 1-272.
Title, “Legends of the Cross,” pp. 159-185.
BERLIN SOCIETY for Anthropology,
Ethnology, and Prehistoric Researches,
Sessional report of—.
m, 1871; viii, July 15, 1876, p. 9.
BLAKE, Willson W. The Cross, | An-
cient and Modern. | Hy | Willson W.
Blake. | (Design) | New York: | Anson
I). F. Randolph and Company. | 1888.
8°, pp. 1-52.
BRASH, Richard Rolt. The | Ogam
Inscribed Monuments | of the | Gaed-
liil | in the | British Islands | with a
dissertation on the Ogam character,
&c. | Illustrated with fifty Photo-
lithographic plates | by the late |
Richard Rolt Brash, M. R. I. A., F. S. A.
Scot. | Fellow of the Royal Society of |
Ireland; and author of “The Ecclesi-
astical | Architecture of Ireland.” |
Edited by George M. Atkinson | Lon-
don : | George Bell As Sons, York street,
Covent Garden | 1879.
4°, pp. i-xvi, 1-425.
Swastikas on Ogam stone at Aglish (Ireland),
pi. xxiv, pp. 187-189; on Newton stone Aber-
deenshire, (Scot.), pi. XLIX, p.359; Logio stone,
(Scot.), pi. xlviii, p. 358; bressay, (Scot.), pi.
XLV1I.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SWASTIKA.
985
BRINTON, Daniel G. Tlie Ta Ki, tlie
Swastika, and the Cross in America.
Proceedings American Philosophical Society,
xxvi, 1889, pp. 177-187.
----The | Myths of the New World: | A
treatise | on the | Symbolism and My-
thology | of the | Red Race of America.
| By | Daniel G. Brinton, A. M.,M. D.,
| Member of the Historical Society of
Pennsylvania, of the Numismatic | and
Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia;
Corresponding Member | of the Ameri-
can Ethnological Society; Author of
“Notes | on the Floridian Peninsula,”
etc. | (Design) | New York: | Leypoldt
& Holt. | 1868. ‘
8°, pp. i-viii, 1-307.
The cross of Mexico, pp. 95-97,183-188.
----American | Hero-Myths. | A study of
tlio Native Religions | of the Western
Continent. | By | Daniel G. Brinton, j
M.D., | Member of the. American Philo-
sophical Society; the American | Anti- j
quarian Society; the Numismatic and |
Antiquarian | Society of Phila., etc.; I
Author of “The Myths of | the New
World;” “The Religious Senti- | ment,”
etc. | Philadelphia: | H. C. Watts A ,
Co., j 506 Minor Street, | 1882.
8°, pp. i-xvi, 1-251.
Symbol of the cross in Mexico. The rain god, |
the tree of life, and tho god of strength, p. 122;
in ralenque, tho four rain gods, p. 155; the
Museayas, light, sun, p. 222.
BROWNE, G. F. Basket-work ligures
of men on sculptured stones. Trique-
tra.
Archaioluyia, Vol. L, 1887, pt. 2, p. 291, pi.
xxiii, tig. 7.
BURGESS, James. Arelneologieal Sur-
vey of Western India. Vol. iv. | Re-
port | on the | Buddhist Cave Tem-
ples | and | Their Inscriptions I Being
Part of | Tlie Results of the Fourth,
Fifth, and Sixth Seasons’ Operations |
of the Arelneologieal Survey of West-
ern India, | 1876-77, 1877-78, 1878-71). |
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 Soei<5t6
Asiatique, Ac. | Arelneologieal Sur-
veyor and Reporter to Government!
for Western and Southern India. | Lon-
BURGESS, James—continued,
don: | Triibner & Co., Ludgate llill. |
1883. | (All rights reserved.)
Folio, pp. 140.
Inscriptions with Swastika, vol. IV, pis. xliv,
XLVI, XLVII, XLIX, L, LII, LV; vol. V, pi. LI.
----The | Indian Antiquary, | A Journal
of Oriental Research | in j Archaeology,
History, Literature, Languages, Folk-
Lore, Ac., Ac., | Edited by | Jas. Bur-
gess, M. R. A. S., F. R. G. S. | 3vols.,
1872-71, | Bombay: | Printed at the
“Times of India” Offiee. | London:
Triibner A Co. Paris: E. Lcroux.
Berlin: Asher A Co. Leipzig: F. A.
Brockhaus. | New York: Westermann
A Co. Bombay: Thacker, Vining A Co.
4°, Yols. i—hi.
Twenty-four Jain Saints, Suparsva, son of
Pratishtha by Prithoi, one of which signs was
the Swastika. Yol. n, p. 135.
BURNOUF, Emile. Le | Lotus de la
Bonne Loi, | Traduit du Sanscrit, |
Accompagnd d’un Comincnttiire | et
de Vingt et un Mdmoires Relatifs au
Buddhisme, | par M. E. Burnouf, j
Secretaire Perpetuel de l’Acaddmie des
Inscriptions et Belles Lettres. | (Pic-
ture) | Paris. | Imprime par Automa-
tion du Gouvernement | a lTmx>riinerie
Nationale. | MDCCCLII.
Folio, pp. 1-897.
Svastikaya, Append, vni, p. 625.
Nandavartaya, p. 626.
----The | Science of Religions | by Emile
Burnouf | Translated by J ulie Liebe |
with a preface by | E. J. Rapson,
M. A., M.R. A. S. | Fellow of St. John’s
College, Cambridge | Loudon | Swan,
Sonnenseheiu, Lowrey A Co., | Pater-
noster Square. | 1888.
Swastika, its relation to tho myth of Agni, tho
god of tire, and its alleged identity with the tiro-
cross, pp. 165, 253-256, 257.
BURTON, Richard F. Tlie [ Book of the
Sword | by | Richard F. Burton | Ma1-
tre d’Armes (Brevette) | (Design) |
With Numerous Illustrations | Lon-
don | Chatto and Windus, Piccadilly |
1881 | (All rights reserved).
4°, pp. 299.
Swastika sect, p. 202, note 2.
CARNAC, H. Rivett, Memorandum on
Clay Disks called “Spindle-whorls”
and votive Seals found at Sankisa^
986
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
CARNAC, H. Rivett—continued.
Behar, and other Buddhist ruins in
the Northwestern provinces of India.
(With three plates).
Journal Asiatic Society of Bengal, Yol. xlix,
pt. 1, 1880, pp. 127-137.
CARTAILHAC, Emile. Ilesultats d’Une
Mission Scientifique | du | Ministero
de l’lnstruction Puhlique | Les j ages
Prehistoriques | de | l’Espagne et dn
Portugal | par | M. Emile Cartailhac, |
Directeur des Materiaux pour 1’IListoire
primitive de riiomme | Preface par M.
A. De Quatrefages, de 1’Institut \ Avee
Quatre Cent Cinqiiante Gravures et
Quatre Planches | Paris | Cli. Reiu-
wald, Lihraire | 15, Rue des Saints
Peres, 15 1886 | Tons droits reserves.
4°, pp. i-xxxv, 1-347.
Swastika, p. 285.
Triskelion, p. 286.
Tetraskelion, p. 286.
Swastika in Myeeiue and Sabrnso.—Are they
of the same antiquity?, p. 293.
CENTURY DICTIONARY.
Titles, Swastika, Fylfot.
CESNOLA, Louis Palma Di. Cyprus: |
Its Ancient Cities, Tombs, and Tem-
ples. | A Narrative of Researches and
Excavations During | Ten Years’ Resi-
dence in that Island. | By | General
Louis Palma Di Cesnola, | ?* * * | * * |
With Maps and Illustrations. * * |
New York: | Harper Brothers, Pub-
lishers, | Franklin Square. | 1877.
8°, pp. 1-456.
Swastika on Cyprian pottery, pp. 210, 300,
404, pis. XLIV, XLV, XLVII.
CHAILLU, Paul B. Du. The Viking
Age | The Early History ] Manners aiid
Customs of the Ancestors | of the En-
glish-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.
8°, i, pp. i-xx, 1-591; II, pp. i-viii, 1-562.
Swastika in Scandinavia. Swastika and tris-
kelion, Yol. i, p. 100, and note 1; Yol. ii, p. 343.
Swastika, Cinerary urn, Bornholm, Yol. i, tig.
210, p. 138. Spearheads with runes, Swastika
CHAILLU, Paul B. Du—continued.
and Triskelion, Torcello, Yenice, fig. 335, p. 191.
Tetraskelion on silver fibula, Yol. i, fig. 567, p.
257, and Yol. II, fig. 1311, p. 342. Braeteates with
Croix swasticale, Yol. n, p. 337, fig. 1292.
CHANTRE, Eknest. Etudes Paleoeth-
nologiques | dans le Bassin du Rhone |
Age du Bronze | Recherches | sur l’Ori-
gine de la Mdtallurgie en France |
Par | Ernest Chantre | Premiere Par-
tie | Industrie de l’Age du Bronze |
Paris, | Librairie Polytechnique de J.
Baudry | 15, Rue Des Saints-Peres, 15 |
MDCCCLXXY.
Folio, pp. 1-258.
---- Deuxieme Partie. Gisements de
l’Age du Bronze, pp. 321.
i --Troisieme 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, Yol. II, fig. 186, p. 301.
----Notes Anfchropologiquos: De l’Ori-
gine Orientale de la Mdtallurgie. In-8,
avec planches. Lyon, 1879.
----Notes Authropologiqucs. Relations
entre les Sistres Bouddhiques et cer-
tains Objets Lacustres do l’Age du
Bronze. In-8. Lyon, 1879.
----L’Age de la Pierre et l’Age du Bronze
en Troade et en Groce. In-8. Lyon,
1874.
----L’Age de la Pierre et l’Age du Bronze
dans l’Asie Occidentale. (Bull. Soc.
Anth., Lyon, t. I, fasc. 2, 1882.)
----Prehistoric Cemeteries in Caucasus.
(Ndcropoles prdhistoriques du Caucase,
renferinent des crimes macrocdphales.)
Materiaux, seizi^me annee (16), 2® s6rie,
xn, 1881.
Swastika, p. 166.
CHAVERO, D. ALFREDO. Mexico | A
Travds de los Siglos | Historia General
y Completa del Desenvolvimiento So-
cial, Politico, Religioso, Militar, Artis-
tico, Cientifico, y Literario de -Mdxico
desde la Antigiiedad | Mds Remota
hasta la Epoca Actual | * * | Publicada
bajo la Direccidn del General j D.Vi-
cente Riva Palacio | w | * | * | * | * |
Torno Primero | Historia Antigua y de
laCouquista | Escritapor elLicenciado
| D. Alfredo Chavero. | Mdxico | Bal-
bibliography of the swastika.
987
CHAVERO, D. ALFREDO—continued,
lesca y Comp.% Editores | 4, Amor de
Dios, 4.
Polio, pp. i-lx, 1-926.
Ciclo de 52 anos. (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 Americana:, Premiere Livraison, 1884,
p. 67.
CONDER, Maj. C. R. Notes on Herr
Schick’s paper on the Jerusalem Cross.
Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly State-
ment, London, July, 1894, pp. 205, 206.
CROOKE, W. An Introduction | to
the | Popular Religion and Folk-lore |
of | Northern India | By W. Crooke,
B. A. | Bengal Civil Service. | Honor-
ary Director of the Ethnographical
Survey, Northwestern | Provinces and
Outlh | Allahabad | Government !
Press | 1894. '
8°, 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 Mys-
teries 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 a l’Universitd
de Bruxelles, | Membre de l’Acaddmie
Royale de Belgique, | President do la
Socidtd d’Archeologie de Bruxelles |
(Design, Footprint of Buddha) | Paris |
Ernest Leroux, Editeur | Rue Bona-
parte, 28 | 1891.
8°, 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 Athenaeum, No. 3381, Aug. 13,
1892, p. 217.
D’ALVIELL A,le Comte Goblet—cont’d.
Favorably criticised in Reliquary Illustrated
Archaeologist (Lond.l, Yol. 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 Cemeter-
ies | of | Etruria. | Parva Tyrrhenum
per aequor vela darem. Ilorat. | (Pic-
ture) | By George Dennis. | Third
Edition. | In two volumes | * * * |
With maps, plans, and illustrations. |
London: | John Murray, Albemarle
Street. | 1883.
8°, 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. Yol. 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 foun-
dry. Yol. ii, p. 537.
D’EICIITAL, G. Etudes sur les origines
bouddhiques do la civilization amdri-
caine, lrepartie. Paris, Didier, 1862.
Swastika, p. 36 et suiv. Cited in Hamy’s
Decades Americana?, Premiere Livraison, 1884,
p. 59.
DICTIONNA1RE DES SCIENCES An-
thropologiques. Anatomie, Craniolo-
gie, Archeologie Prdhistorique, Ethno-
graphic (Moeurs, Arts, Industrie), Dd-
mographie, Langues, Religions. Paris,
Octave Doin, Editeur, 8, Place de
l’Oddon, Marpon et Flammarion, Li-
braires 1 a 7, Galeries de l’Oddon.
4°, 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, pi. XX,
fig. 4.
DULAURE, J. A. Histoire Abrdgee | de
| Diffdrens Cultes. | Des Cultes | qui
ont prdcdde et amend l’ldolatrie | ou |
PAdoration des figures humaines | par
J. A. Dulaure; seconde ddition | revue,
corrigde et auginentde | Paris | Guil-
laume, Libraire-Editeur | rue Haute-
feuille 14. | 1825.
Two vols.: (1), pp.i-x, 11-558; (2), pp.i-xvi,
17-464.
988
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
-
DULAUEE, J. A.—continued.
Origin of symbols, works of art and not nat-
ural things, Vol. I, pp. 25, 2G. Another result
of a combination of ideas, p. 45.
Tho cross represents the phallus, Vol. ii, pp.
58, 59, 167, 1G8.
DUMOTJTIER, Gustave Le. Swastika
et la rone Solairo on Chine.
Revue d'Etlinofjraphie, Paris, iv, 1885, pp.
327-329.
Iteview by G. He Mortillet, Matcrianx pour
l’llistoire Primitiveet.Nntnrellode L’Homme,
II, p. 730.
EMERSON, Ellen Russell. Indian
Myths | or | Legends, Traditions, .and
Symbols of the | Aborigines of Amer-
ica | Compared with those of other
Countries, inclndingllindostan,Egypt,
Persia | Assyria and China | by Ellen
Russell Emerson | Member of the Soei-
tfte Am^ricaine de France | illustrated
| Second Edition | London | Triibner
A Company | Lndgate Hill | Printed
in the II. S. A.
8°, pp. i-x, 1-425.
ENCYCLOPAEDIC DICTIONARY.
Titles, Ansated Cross (Crnx ansata), ]). 230,
Vol. I; Cross, p. 13G2, Vol. II; Crux, p. 1378,
Vol. II; Fylfot, p. 2240, Vol. II; Gainmadion,
p. 225G, Vol. II.
ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA.
Title, Cross. 4°, pp. 539-542.
ENGLEIIARDT, C. Influence Classiqne
sur | le Nord Pendant l’Antiquitd | par
| C. Englehardl. | Traduit par | E.
Beauvois. | Copenhague, | Iinprimerie
de Thiele. | 1876.
8°, pp. 199-318.
Solar disks, fig. 44, p. 240. Crosses, figs. 64,
65. p. 252.
ETHNOLOGY, Reports of the Bureau of.
Second Annual lb',port, 1880-81.
Art in Shell of the Ancient Americans, by
W. II. Holmes, pp. 179-305, pis. xxi-lxxvii.
Collections mado 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. II. Holmes, pp. 427-510, figs. 116-200.
Fourth Annual Report, 1882-83.
Ancient Tottery of tho Mississippi Valloy, by
W. II. 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, pis.
i-VI, figs. 1-49.
Tho Mountain Chant, by Washington Mat-
thews. pp, 379-467, pis. x-xviii, figs. 50-59.
ETHNOLOGY, Reports of tho Bureau
of—continued.
Sixth Annual Report, 1884-85.
Ancient Art in the Province of Chiriqui, by
W. n. nolmes pp. 3-187, pi. I, figs. 1-285.
Tenth Annual Report, 1888-89.
Picture writing of tho American Indians, by
Garrick Mallory, pp. 3-807, pis. l-uv, figs.
1-1290.
Twelfth Annual Report, 1890-91.
-Monml Explorations, by Cyrus Thomas, pp.
3-730, pis. I-XUI, figs. 1-344.
EVANS, John. The Ancient | Bronze
Implements, | Weapons, and Orna-
ments, | of | Great Britain | and |
Ireland. | By | John Evans, D. C. L.,
LL. D., F. R. S., | F. S. A., F. G. S.,
Pres. Nnin. Soc., Ac., | London: |
Longmans, Green A Co. | 1881. | (All
rights reserved.)
8°, 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.)
8°, pp. 1-xvi, 1-640.
FAIR1IOLT, F. W. A Dictionary | of |
Terms in Art. | Edited and Illustrated
l>y | F. W. Fairliolt, F. S. A. | with |
Five Hundred Engravings | On Wood
| (Design) | Daldy, Isbister A Co. |
56, Lndgate Hill, London.
12° pp. i-vi, 1-474.
Titles, Cross, Fret, Fylfot, Symbolism.
FERGUSSON, James. Rude Stone Mon-
uments | in | All Countries; | Their
Ages and Uses. | By James Forgusson,
D. C. L., F. R. S, | V. P. R. A. S., F. R. I.
B. A., Ac. | (Picture.) | With Two
Hundred and Thirty-four Illustrations.
| London: | John Murray, Albemarle
Street. | 1872. | The Right of transla-
tion is reserved.
8°, pp. i-xix, 1-559.
Crosses, Celtic and Scottish, pp. 270-273.
FORRER, R. Dio | Graeber-nndTextil-
funde | von | Aclimim-Panopolis |
von | R. Forrer | mit 16 Tafeln: 250
Abhiidnngen | in Photographic, Auto-
graphic, Farbendrnck nnd theilweisem
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SWASTIKA.
989
FORRER, R.—continued.
Handcolorit, nebst Clinehd-Abbildun-
gen | iin Text; Text und Tafeln auf
Cartoupapier. | Nur in wenigen num-
merirtenExemplarenliergestellt. | (De-
sign.) | Strassburg, 1891 | Drnck von
EmilBirklniuser, Basel. | Pliotographie
von Mathias Gerscliel, Strassburg. | Au-
tograx>bie und Farbendruek von R.
Fretz, Ziirich. | Niclit im Buchhandel.
Folio, ]*j). 1-27.
Swastika, ornament at Acliinin-Pauopolis,
Egypt, P- 2°. Pb xi, fig. 3.
FRANKLIN, Colonel. [Swastika an em-
blem used in the worship of specified
sects in India.']
The Jeyrees and Boodhisls, p. 49, cited in
“Ogam Monuments,” by Brash, p. 189.
FRANKS, Augustus W. Ilora* ferales.
PI. 30, fig. 19.
GARDNER, Ernest A. Naukratis.
Part II. | By | Ernest A. Gardner,
M. A., | Fellow of Gonville and Cains
College, Craven student and formerly
Worts student of the University of
Cambridge; | Director of the British
School of Archaeology 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 or-
der of the committee. | London: etc.
Folio, pis. 1-24, pp. 1-92. Swastika in Egypt,
Pottery, Ajibrodite. PI. v, figs. 1, 7; pi. vi,
fig. 1; pi. VIII, fig. 1.
GREG, P. R. Fret or Key Ornamenta-
tion in Mexico and Peru.
Archieoloyia, Vol. xlvii, 1882, pt. l,pp. 157-
1C0, pi. vi.
----Meaning and Origin of Fylfot and
Swastika.
ArcJueoloyia, Yol. XLVlli, 1885, pt. 2, pp. 293,
32C, pis. xix, xx, xxi.
GOODYEAR, William II. The Gram-
mar of | the Lotus | A new 11 istory 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 | Win.
II. Goodyear, M. A. (Yale, 1867) |
Curator Department of Fine Arts in
the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and
GOODYEAR, William II.—continued.
Sciences | * * * | London: | Samp-
son, Low, Marston & Company | Lim-
ited | 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. II.),
Yol. Ill (188C), pp. 93-108.
HADDON, Alfred C. Evolution in
Art: | As Illustrated by the | Life-His-
tories of Designs. | By | Alfred C.Had-
don, | Professor of Zoology, Royal Col-
lege of Science, Corresponding | Mem-
ber of the Italian Society of Anthro-
pology, etc. | With 8 Plates, and 130
Figures in the Text. | London: | Wal-
ter 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. Antiquity prdliis-
toriques de la Ilongrio; Erstegom, 1877.
No. 3, pi. xx.
----Catalogue de l’Exposition prdliis-
torique des Musdes de Province; Buda-
pest, 1876, p. 17.
HAMY, Dr. E. T. Decades Ain6ricana> |
Mdmoires | d’Arclidologie et d’Etlmo-
graphie | Americaines | par | le Dr. E.-
T. Hamy | Conservateur du Musde
d’Ethnographie du Trocad<5ro. | Pre-
miere Livraison | (Picture) | Paris |
Ernest Leroux, Editeur | Librairedela
Socidte Asiatique | de l’flcole des Lau-
gues Orientales Vivantes, etc. | 28, Rue
Bonaparte, 28 | 1884.
8°, pp. 1-67.
Le Svastika ct la roue solaire cn Amerique,
pp. 59-67.
HEAD, Barclay Y. Synopsis of the
Contents | of the | British Museum. |
Department of | Coins and Medals. |
A Guide | to the principal gold and sil-
ver | Coins of the Ancients, | from circa
B. C. 700 to A. D. 1. | With 70 Plates. |
By | Barclay Y. Head, Assistant Keeper
of Coins. | Second Edition. | London: |
Printed by order of the Trustees. |
Longmans A Co., Paternoster Row; B.
Quaritch, 15, Piccadilly; | A. Asher &
Co., 13, Bedford Street, Convent Gar-
990
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
HEAD, Barclay V.—continued,
den, and at Berlin; | Triibner & Co.,
57 and 59, Ludgate Hill. | C. Rollin &
Feuardent, 61, Great Russell Street, and
4, Rue de Louvois, Paris. | 1881.
8°, pp.i-viii, 1-128, pi. 70.
Triakelion, (Lycian coins), throe cocks’ heads,
pi. 3, fig. 35.
Punch-marks on ancient coins representing
squares, etc., and not Swastika. PI. 1, figs. 1,3;
pi. 4, fig. 24; pi. 4, figs. 7,8, 10; pi. 5, fig. 16; pi. 6,
figs. 30, 31; pi. 12, tigs. 1,3, 6.
HIGGJNS, Godfrey. Anacalypsis | or |
attempts to draw aside tlie veil | of |
tlie Saitie Isis | or, | an inquiry into the
origin | of | Languages, Nations, and
Religions | by | Godfrey Higgins,
Esq. | E. 8. A., F. R. Asiat. Soc., F. R. ,
Ast. S. | of Skellow Grange, near I
Doncaster. | London | Longman, Ac.,
Ac., Paternoster Row | 1836. I
Vols. I, II.
Origin of the Cross, Lainbli or Lama; official
name for Governor is Ancient Tibetan for
Cross. Yol. I, p. 230.
IIIRSCHFELD, G. Yasi arcaici Ateniosi.
Roma, 1872. Tav. xxxix and XL.
HOLMES, W. II. Art in Shell of the
Ancient Americans.
Second Ann. liep. Bureau of Ethnology 1860-81.
The cross, pis. xxxvi, lii, liii. Spirals, pis.
Liv, lv, lvi. Swastika, (shell gorget, the bird,)
pis. lviii, lix. Spider, pi. LXi. Serpent, pis.
lxiii, lxiv. Human face, pi. lxix. Human
figure, pis. lxxi, lxxii, lxxiii. Lighting fig-
ures, pi. 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. 4(56.
Spider, same, fig. 141.
Spirals on pottery vase, fig. 165, p. 484.
----Ancient Pottery of the Mississippi
Valley.
Fourth Ann.Hep.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. liep. 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.
HOLMES, W. H.—continued.
----The Cross used as a Symbol by the
Ancient Americans.
Trans. Anthrop. Soc., Washington, D. C., It,
1883.
HUMPHREYS, II. 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 II. Noel Humphreys, |
Author of “The Coins of England,”
| “Ancient Coins and Medals,” | etc.,
etc. | With above one hundred and fifty
I illustrations | on Wood and Steel. |
In two volumes. | Loudon: | H. G.
Bohn, York Street, Convent Garden. |
1853.
12o, (1)) ])p. i_xxiv, 1-352; (2), pp. 353-726.
Punch-marks on ancient coins, Vol. I. pis. 2,
3, 4. Triquetrum, triskele or triskelion on
coins of Sicily, Yol. 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 Zurich | Second Edition,
Greatly Enlarged | Translated and
Arranged | by | John Edward Lee, 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.
8°, Yol. I, text, pp. i-xv, 1-696 ; Yol. II,
pis. CCVl.
Swastika, Lake Bourget, pattern-stamp and
pottery imprint, p. 339, note 1, pi. 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 Mys-
teries | 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
TheTempleof Solomon. | Illustrated. |
By Augustus Le Plongeon, | Author
of “Essay on | the Causes of Earth-
quakes;” “Religion of Jesus Compared
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SWASTIKA. 991
LE PLONGEON, Augustus—continued,
with the | Teachings of the Church;’7
“ The Monuments of Mayas and | their
Historical Teachings.” | New York :|
Robert Macoy, 4 Barclay Street. | 1886.
8°, pp. 163.
Cross mid 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.
LITTRE’S french dictionary.
Title, Svastika.
McADAMS, William. Records | of |
Ancient Races | in the | Mississippi
Valley; | Being an account of some of
the Pictographs, sculptured | hiero-
glyphics, symbolic devices, emblems,
and tra- | ditions of the prehistoric
races of America, with | some sugges-
tions 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 Pub-
lishing Co. | 1887.
4°, 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 Kinsborougli, “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.
MACRICIIIE, David. Ancient | and |
Modern Britons: | A Retrospect. |
London: | Kegan Paul, Trench &
Co., | 1 Paternoster Square. | 1884.
Two vols.,8°. (1), pp. i-viii, 1-401; (2),
i—vriii, 1-449.
Sculptured stones of Scotland (p. 115), the
Newton stone, a compound of Oriental and
western languages (pp. 117-118). Ethnologic re-
semblances between old and new world peoples
considered. Vol. ii (app.).
MALLERY, Garrick. Picture writing
of the American Indians. i
Tenth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology,
1888-89, pp. 1-807, pis. 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 Futhorc Tir.
Cited in Transactions of the Lancashire and
Cheshire Antiquarian Society, 1886.
MASSON,---------. [The Swastika found on
large rock near Karachi.]
Balochislan, Vol. iv, p. 8, cited in Ogam Mon-
uments, by Brash, p. 189.
matEriaux pour l’llistoire Primitive
et Naturelle de l’Homme. Revue men-
suelle illustrde. (Fondde par M. G. De
Mortillet, 1865 a 1868.) Dirigde par M.
Emile Cartailliac. * * ? *
Swastika, Vol. xvi, 1881.
Prehistoric Cemeteries in Caucasus, by E.
Chantre, pp. 154-166.
Excavations at Cyprus, by General di Ces-
nola, p. 416.
Signification of the Swastika, by M. Girard
de Beale, p. 548.
Swastika, Vol. xvm, 1884.
Etude sur quelques N6cropoles Halstatti-
ennes de I’Autricho et de ITtalie. By Ernest
Chantre, Swastika on Archaic Vase, fig. 5, p. 8.
Croix Gamm6e, figs. 12 and 13, p. 14. Cross, p.
122. Swastika, pp. 137-139. Swastika sculpt6
sur pierre, llritcros, Portugal, fig. 133, p. 294.
Necropolis of Ilalstatt, 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 Moun-
tain Chant.
Fifth Ann. Rep. Bureau of Ethnology,! 883-84,
pp. 379-407, pis. X-XVIII, figs. 50-59.
Swastika in Navajo Mountain Chant. Sec-
ond (?) Dry Painting, pi. xvii, pp. 450,451.
MONTELIUS, Oscar. The | Civilization
of Sweden | in Heathen Times | by |
Oscar Montelius, Pli. D. | Professor at
the National Historical Museum, Stock-
holm. | Translated from the Second
Swedish Edition | Revised and en-
larged for the author | by | Rev. F. H.
Woods, B.D. | Vicar of Clialfont St.
Peter. | With Map and Two Hundred
and Five Illustrations. | London | Mac-
millan 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 dur-
ing the Age of Iron (in Scandinavia). It was
the contrary with the Swastika. Compte-
Rendu, Cong. Inter. d’Antbrop. et d’Arch. Pr6-
historique. 7me session, 1874,1, pp. 439, 466
992
KF.rOKT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
-
MOOREHEAD, Warren K. Primitive
Man | In Ohio | by | Warren K. Moore-
head | Fellow of the American Associa-
tion for the Advancement of Science |
Author of “Fort Ancient, the Great
Prehistoric | Earthwork of Ohio,’’ etc. |
G. P. Putnam’s Sons | The Knicker-
bocker Press, | 1892.
pp. i-xii, 1-246.
Discoveries in Hopewell Mound, Chillioothe,
Hose County, Ohio, pp. 184-196.
Swastika, p. 19.rS.
MORGAN, J. I)k. Mission Scientifiqne 1 !
an Caucase | Etudes | Arelneologiqncs
et Ilistoriques | par | .1. Do Morgan |
Tomo Premier | Lcs Premiers Ages Des I
Mtftaux | Dans FAnnenio linsse | j
Paris | Ernest Eeroux, Oliteur | 28, Rue !
Bonaparte, 28 | 1889.
8°, (1), pp. i-iii, 1-231; (2), pp. i-iv, 1-305.
Swastikas on bronze pin-heads from prehis-
toric Armenian graves. Vol. i. p. 160, figs. 177,
178, 179.
MORTI1/LET, Gabriel et Adrien de.
Mnsee | Prrihistnrique | par | Gabriel et
Adrien do Mortillet | Photogravures
Michelet I Paris | C. K’einwald, Li-
brairo-Editeur | 15, Rue des Saints-
Peres, 15 | 1881 | Tons Droits Reserves.
4°. Planches C, tigs. 1269.
Tintinnabulnin and Buddha with Swastika,
pi. xcvm, fig. 1230. Swiss Lake pottery, fig.
1231. Swastika, many representations, pi. xeix,
figs. 1233, 1234, 1235, 1239, 1240, 1241, 1244, 1246,
1247, 1248, 1249; pi. c, figs. 1255, 1256, 1257, 1261,
1263, 1264, 1265, 1266. 1267. Crosses—(livers, pi.
xeix, etc.
MORTILLET, Gabriel i>e. Le Prtdiis-
torique | Autiquite do P Homme | par
Gabriel do Mortillet | Professeur d’an-
thropologie pr<5Iiistoriquc | a 1’lOcole
d’anthropologie do Paris. | 61 figures
intercaldes dans le texte. | Paris | C.
Reinwald, Librairo-Editeur | 15, Rue
des Saints-P?ircs, 15 | 1883 | Tous
droits rdservds.
12°, pp. 1-642.
Communications between Europe and Amer-
ica, pp. 186,187.
----Le Signe | de la Croix | Avant | le
Christiauisme | par | Gabriel do Mortil-
let ) Directeur des Matdriaux pour
l’Histoire positive et philosophiqite |
de l’homme | avec 117 gravures sur
bois. | Paris | C. Reinwald, Libraire-
MORTILLET, Gabriel de—continued.
Editcur | 15, rue des Saints-Pere, 15 |
1866 | Tous droits rdservds.
See p. 182.
MULLER, F. Max. Chips | from | A Ger-
man Workship. | By Max Miiller, M.
A., | Fellow of All Souls College, Ox-
ford. | Essays on * * | New York: |
Scribner, Armstrong A Co. | Successors
to Charles Scribner A Co.
Essays on Mythology, Traditions, and Cus-
toms. Svasti, Sanscrit, meaning joy or happi-
ness. Yol. ii, p. 24.
Swastika. Letter to 1 >r. Kehlirmaim, “Ilios,”
pp. 346-349.
Swastika, Review of, Athemrum (Lend.), No.
3332, Ang. 20,1892, p. 266.
MULLER, Lpdwig. [Swastika.]
Proc. Royal Danish Academy of {science, Fifth
series, Section of History and Philosophy, Vol.
Ill, p. 93.
MUNRO, Robert. Ancient | Scottish
Rake Dwellings | or Crannogs | with a
Supplementary Chapter on | Remains
of Lake Dwellings in England | by |
Robert Mimro, M. A. | M. ])., F. S. A.
Scot. | (Design) | Edinburgh: David
Douglas | 1881 | All rights reserved.
8°, pp. i-xx, 1-326.
Swastika on pin and triskelion on plank, cran-
nog of Lochleo, figs. 144 and 149, pp. 130-134.
Note by Montelius, figs. 11 and 12, p. 131.
----The | Lake Dwellings | of | Eu-
rope: | Being the | Rliind Lectures in
Arehmology | for 1888. | By | Robert
Munro, MtA., M. ])., | Secretary of the
Society of Antiquaries of Scotland;
Author of | “Ancient Scottish Lake
Dwellings or Crannogs.,, | Cassell Sc
Company, Limited: | London, Paris &
Melbourne. | 1890 | (All rights re-
served).
4°, pp. i-xl, 1-600.
Swastika in Lake Bonrgot (Savoy), fig. 195,
Nos. 11 and 12, pp. 532 and 538; in Lisnacroghora
(Ireland), fig. 124, No. 20; triskole, fig. 124, No.
22, pp. 383, 585.
NADAILLAC, Marquis de. Prehistoric
America | by the | Marquis de Nadail-
lac | Translated by N. D’Anvers | Ed-
ited by W. H. Dali | (Design of Vase) |
with 219 illustrations | New York and
London | G. P. Putnam’s Sons | The
Knickerbocker Press | 1884.
8°, pp. i-vii, 1-566.
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SWASTIKA.
993
^ADAILLAC, Marquis de—continued.
Swastika (?) alleged to bo on tlio Pemberton
hammer from New Jersey, pp. 22, note 1, citing
Professor Haldeman, Sept. 27, 1877, Rep. Pea-
body Museum, 1878, p. 255. Dr. Abbott de-
nounces this inscription as a fraud. Primitive
Industry, p. 32.
NEWTON, John. History of Migration
of tlie Triskelion from Sicily to tlio
Isle of Man, through Henry III of
England and Alexander III of Scotland.
Athencmm, 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 Dwell-
ings,” note, p. 132.
PETRIE, W. M. Flinders. Naukratis
(Greek inscription). J Part I, 1884-85 j
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: | Triibner&Co.,
57 & 59, Ludgate Hill. | 1886.
Folio, pp. 1-100, pis. 1-28.
Swastika in Egypt, fourth and fifth centu-
ries B. C., pi. iv, fig. 3. Meander Swastikas,
pi. v, figs. 15,24.
PKAHISTORISC1IE BLATTER. | Yon
| Dr. Julius Nan, in Miinchen. | VI.
Jahrg., 1894. Miinchen. Nr. 5. Mit
Taf. xi-nv.
Smlerberg, Sven. Dio Thierornamentik der
Vdlkerwanderungszeit. | Mit Tertabildungen
und Tafol xi-xv. | Lund, Sweden. Figs. 12, 13,
p. 73.
PRIME, William C. Pottery and Porce-
lain j Of All Times And Nations | With
Tables of Factory and Artists’ Marks |
For the Use of Collectors | by William
C. Prime, LL.D. | (Design) | NewYork
| Harper & Brothers, Publishers |
Franklin Square | 1878.
8°, pp. 1-531.
Symbolic marks on Chinese porcelain. Tab-
let of honor inclosing Swastika. Fig. 155, p.
254; fig. 33, p. 61.
QUEEN LACE BOOK, The. A | Histor-
ical and Descriptive Account of the
Hand-Made | Antique Laces of All
Countries. | * * | with | Thirty Illus-
trations of Lace Specimens, and seven
H. Mis. 00, ]>t. 2------G3
QUEEN LACE BOOK, The—continued.
Diagrams of | Lace Stitches. | London:
| “The Queen” Office, 346, Strand, W.
C. j 1874. | All rights reserved.
pp. i-viii, 1-38.
Swastika design in linen embroidery and cut-
work (Sixteenth Century. Geometric Style),
pi. 1, fig. 2.
RAWLINSON, George The Religions |
of | the Ancient World. | By | George
Kawlinson, M. A. | Author of “The
Seven Great Monarchies of the Ancient
| Eastern World,” etc. | New York: |
Hurst & Co., Publishers, | 122 Nassau
Street.
12°, pp. 1—180.
Religion of the Ancient Sanscrit Indians.
Agni, the god of Fire, described pp. 87, 89.
Sun, "Wind, Dyans (Heaven), and Pritliivi
(Earth). Nothing said about Swastika or Solar
circle.
RICHTER, Max Oiinefalsch. Excava-
tions in Cyprus.
Bull. Soc. d'Anthrop., Paris, Vol. xi (ser. in),
pp. 609-682.
ROBINSON, David. A Tour | through
| The Isle of Man: | To which is sub-
joined | A Review of the Manx His-
tory. | By David Robertson, Esq. |
London : | Printed for the Author, | by
E. llodson, Bell-Yard, Temple-Bar. |
Sold by Mr. Payue, Mews-Gate; Messrs.
Egertons, Whitehall; | Whites, Fleet
Street; and Deighton, Holborn. | 1794.
4° narrow, pp. 235.
Triskelion—Coat of arms of Isle of Man.
ROCKHILL, William Woodville.
Diary of a Journey | through | Mongo-
lia and Tibet | in | 1891 and 1892 j by |
William Woodville Rockhill | G o 1 d
Medalist of the Royal Geographical
Society | (Design.) | City of Wash-
ington | Published by the Smithsonian
Institution | 1894.
4°, pp. i-xx, 1-413.
Swastika (yung-drung) tattooed on hand of
native at Kumbum, p. 67.
SACHEVERELL, William. An | Ac-
count J of the j Isle of Man, j its | In-
habitants, Language, Soil, re- | marka-
ble Curiosities, the Succession | of its
Kings and Bishops, down to | the pres-
ent Time. | By way of Essat. | With a
Voyage to I-Columb-kill. ] By William
Saeheverell, Esq.: I Late Governonr of
994
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
SACHEVERELL, William—continued.
Man. | To which is added, | A Disserta-
tion about the Mona of Cresar and |
Tacitus; and an Account of the An-
tient | Druids, &c. | By Mr. Thomas
Brown, | Address’d in a Letter to his
Learned | Friend Mr. A. Sellars. | Lon-
don : | 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.
Triskolion—Coat of arms of Isle of Man.
SCHICK, Herr Baurath von. The Jeru-
salem Cross.
Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly State-
ment, July, 1894, pp. 183-188.
SCHLIEMANN, Heinrich. Atlas Tro-
janischer Alterthiimer. | Photograph-
ische Abbildungen | zu dem | Berichte
| liber 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.
Scliliemann’s collection.
SCHLIEMANN, Henry, llios | The City
and Country | of | the Trojans | The
Results of Researches and Discover-
ies on the Site of Troy and | Through-
out the Troad in the Years 1871-72-73-
78-79 | Including an | Autobiography
of the Author | By Dr. Henry Sehlie-
mann | F. S. A., F. R. I. British Archi-
tects | Author of “ Troy and Its Re-
mains,” “Mycenae,” etc. | With a Pref-
ace, Appendices, and Notes | By Pro-
fessors Rudolf Virchow, Max Muller,
A. II. Sayee, J. P. Mahaffy, II. Brugscli-
Bey, P. Aseherson, M. A. Postolaceas,
M. E. Burnouf, Mr. F. Calvert, and Mr.
J. A. Duffield. | (Greek Verse) | With
Maps, Plans, and About 1,800 Illustra-
tions. | New York | Harper & Brothers,
Franklin Square | 1881. |
8°, 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—pas-
sim—fig. 1850 is in the U. S. National Museum.
SCHLIEMANN, Henry—continued.
----Mycenae; | A Narrative of Researches
and Discoveries | at Myceme and Ti-
ryns. | By Dr. Henry Schliemann, | Cit-
izen of the United States of America, |
Author of “Troy and Its Remains,”
“Ithaque, Le Peloponucse et Troie,” |
and “ La Chine etleJapon.” | The Pref-
ace | By tho Right Hon. W. E. Glad-
stone, M. P. | Maps, Plans, and Other
Illustrations. | Representing more than
7,000 Types of the Objects Found in
the | Royal Sepulchres of Mycenae and
Elsewhere | In tho Excavations. | New
York: | Scribner, Armstrong Sc Com-
pany. | 1878. | (All Rights Reserved.)
8°, pp. i-lxviii, 1-384, Swastika, pp. 77, 165,
259, figs. 383, 385, and many others.
------Troja | Results of the Latest | Re-
searches 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 Jour-
ney in the Troad in 1881 | by | Dr. Henry
Schliemann | Hon. D. C. L., Oxon., and
Hon. Fellow of Queen’s College, Ox-
ford | F. S. A., F. R. I. B. A. | Author of
“ llios,” “ Troy and its Remains,” and
“Mycenae and Tiryns ” | Preface by
j Prof. A. H. Sayce | with 150 Woodcuts
| and 4 Maps and Plans | (Quotation in
German from Moltke: Wunderbueh, p.
19, Berlin, 1879) | New York | Harper &
Brothers, Frankliu Square | 1884.
80, pp. 1-434.
Swastika, preface xviii, xxi, pp. 122,124,125
126,127,128.
Spiral form, pp. 123.
Lycian coins—triskelion, pp. 123,124.
SCIIVINDT, Theodor. Vihko 1-4 | Suo-
malaisia koristeita. | 1. Ompelukor-
isteita. | Finnische Ornamente. | 1.
Stickornamente. | Heft 1-4 | Suola-
laisen Kirjallisuuden Seura Ilelsin-
gissa. | 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 State-
ment, January, 1895, pp. 84,85.
SNOWDEN, James Ross. A Descrip-
tion | of | Aocient and Modern Coins, |
in the | Cabinet Collection | at the Mint
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE SWASTIKA.
995
SNOWDEN, James Ross—continued,
of the United States. | Prepared and
arranged under the Direction of |
James Ross Snowden, | Director of the
Mint. | Philadelphia: | J. B. Lippincott
& Co. | 1860.
8°, 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 | ByE. George Squier,
M. A., F. S. A. | Late U. S. Commis-
sioner to Peru, Author of “Nicaragua,”
“Ancient Monuments | of Mississippi
Valley,” etc., etc. | (Design) | With Il-
lustrations | New York | Harper Broth-
ers, Publishers | Franklin Square |
1877.
8°, 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 North-
ern | Runic Monuments | of Scandina-
via and England | Now first | collected
and deciphered | by | George Stevens,
Esq., F. S. A. | Knight of the Northern
Star and other titles, | with many hun-
dreds of fac-similes and illustrations
partly in gold, silver, bronze and col-
ors. | Runic alphabets; introductions;
appendices; word-lists, etc. | London,
John Russell Smith. | Kobenhaven,
Michaelsen and Tillge. | Printed by
H. H. Thiele, 1866-67.
8°, 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 reli-
gious, 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 commen-
taries of Messrs. Klaproth, Burnouf,
and Landresse.
Journal Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain
and Ireland, Yol. 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, pis. i-vi, figs. 1-49.
Excavations in Little Etowah Mounds.
Human figures on copper plates, repouss6
work, figs. 42,43, pp. 100, 101.
Eagle (copper) Mound near Bluff Lake, Un-
ion 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, pis. i-XLll, figs. 1-344.
Human figures (copper), repouss6 work, figs.
186, p. 304; 189, p. 306.
Eagle Mound in Illinois, fig. 192, p. 309.
Swastika on shell, Big Toco Mound, Tennes-
see, fig. 262, p. 383.
THOMAS, G. W. Excavations in Anglo-
Saxon Cemetery, Sleaford, Lincoln-
shire. Swastika.
Arehceologia, Yol. L, 1887, pt. 2, p. 386, pi.
xxiv, fig. 2.
TYLOR, Edward B. Anthropology: |
An Introduction to the Study of | Man
and Civilization. | By | Edward B. Tay-
lor, D. C. L., F. R. S. | With Illustra-
tions. | New York: | D. Appleton and
Company, | 1, 3, and 5 Bond Street. |
1881.
12°, pp. 1-448.
Spinning and spindle whorls, pp. 247,248.
----Primitive Culture | Researches into
-
the Development of | Mythology, Phi-
losophy, 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 Ameri-
can, from the Second English Edition |
In Two Volumes | (Design) | Boston |
Estes & Lauriat | 143 Washington
Street | 1874.
8°, (1), pp- i-xii, 1-502; (2), pp. i-viii, 1-470.
WAKE, C. S. The Swastika and Allied
Symbols.
Am. Antiquarian, 1894, Yol. xvi, p. 413.
The writer cites Prof. Alois Raimond Hein,
Meander, etc., Worbelornamente in Amerika.
Yienna, 1891.
WARING, J. B. Ceramic Art | in | Re-
mote Ages; | With Essays on the Sym-
bols of | the Circle, the Cross and
Circle, | the Circle and Ray Ornament,
the Fylfot, | and the Serpent, | Show-
ing their Relation to the Primitive
996
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
WARING, J. B.—continued.
Forms | of | Solar and Nature Wor-
ship, | by | J. B. Waring, | Author of |
“Stone Monuments, Tumuli, and Orna- i
meut of Remote Ages,” “Illustrations
of Architecture and Ornament,” | “The '
Art Treasures of the United Kingdom,” i
»Vc., *fcc. | London: | Printed and Pub-
lished by .John B. Day, | Savoy Street,
Straud | 1874.
Folio, pp. 1-127, pis. 1-55.
Swastika; Triskelion; Ancicntcoins. l’latcs
2, 3,7,27, 33,41-44.
WIENER,Ciiahles. lYrou j etBolivie |
R^eit de Voyage | suivi | d’Etmles
Archdologiques et Ethnographiques |
et de Notes | Sur l’Ecriture et les Lan-
gues des Populations Iiuliennes | ]>ar |
Charles Wiener | Ouvrage Contenant |
100 Gravures, 27 cartes et 18 plans | (De-
sign) | Paris | Librairie llaeliette et
Cie. | 79, Boulevard Saint-Germain,79 |
1880 | Droits de Propriety et de traduc-
tion reserves.
8°, pp. i-xi, 1-790.
Christian cross in America.—Means us<<l to
implant it. Chap, vii, pp. 71G-730.
| WOOD, J. G. The | Natural | History of
Man; | Being | an Account of the Man-
ners and Customs of the | Uncivilized
Races of Men. | By the Rev. | J. G.
Wood, M. A., F. L. S. | etc., etc. | AVith
New Designs by An gas, Dan by, Wolf,
Zweeker, etc., etc. | Engraved by the
Brothers Dalziel. | Loudon: j George
Rontledge and Sous, The Broadway,
Ludgate. | New York; 416 Broome
Street. | 1868.
2 volst., 8°, pp. 774, 804.
Tlie Gurani Indians wear the qiteyu or bead
apron; Vol. II, p. 020, blit the Waraus wear
only a triangular bit of bark, p. 023.
WRIGHT, T. F. Notes on the Swastika.
Palestine Exploration Fund, Quarterly State-
ment, London. October, 1894, p. 300.
ZMIGRODZKI, Michael V. Zur | Gc-
schichte der Suastika | von | Michael
V. Zmigrodzki | Mit Vier Figuren ini
Text und Vier Tafeln. | Braun-
schweig, | Druek und Verlag von Frie-
dericli Vieweg und Solin. | 1890.
----Histoire du Suastika.
Congris International d'Anthrop. et Archeol.
Prehist. Compte Rendu de la dixiinne session
a Paris, 1889 pp. 473-490.
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PLATKS.
Facing page.
FI. 1. Origin of Buddha, with Swastika sign, according to Tao Shih..... 800
2. Swastika decreed by Empress Wn (684-704 A. D.) as a sign for sun in
China.......................................................... 800
3. Swastika design on silk fabrics................................... 800
4. Swastika in sjiider 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
Eig. 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 Bisaltse.1 Reverse. Elat incuse square. Octa-
drachiu.
8. Silver coin of Orrescii.1 Reverse. Incuse square. Octa-
drachm.
9. Corinthian silver coin. Reverse. Incuse square divided
into eight triangular compartments.
10. Silver coin of Abdcra. Reverse. Incuse square.
11. Silver coin of Byzantium. Reverse. Incuse square, gran-
ulated.
12. Silver coin of Thrasos (Thrace). Reverse. Incuse square.
10. Engraved Eulgnr(?) 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. Smith-
sonian Contrib. to Knowledge, I, pi. x............................ 888
12. Plan of Hopewell mound, Ross County, Ohio, in which aboriginal cop-
per Swastikas were found. Primitive Man in Ohio, pi. 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
1 The Basal ta'- and Orrescii were Thracian tribes who dwelt in the valleys of the
Strymon and the Augites, to the north of the Pangman Range.
997
998
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Facing page.
PI. 15. Bead necklace and garters witli Swastika ornamentation. Sac Indians. 894
16. Ceremonial bead garters witli Swastikas. Sac Indians, Cook County
(Kansas) Reservation.............................................. 896
17. “Navajo Mountain Chant.” Dr. 'Washington Matthews. Fifth Ann.
Rep. Bur. Ethnol., 1883-84, pi. xvn............................... 898
18. Folium Vitus (“fig leaves”)—terra-cotta covers, “ tnnga,” used by ab-
origines of Brazil. Cat. Nos. 59089 and 36542, U.S.N.M............. 904
19. Various forms of crosses in use among North American Indinns, from
Greek cross to Swastika. Second Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol., 1880-81,
pi. 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. Swrastika on pottery.
20. Palenque cross, foliated. Smithsonian Contrib. to Knowledge, xxir, 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, pi. 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. Tau 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
13a. Ogee and spiral Swastikas. Tetraskelion (four-armed).......... 768
13&. Spiral and volute. Triskelion (three-armed)................... 768
13c. Spiral and volute (five or many armed)...................... 768
13d. Ogee Swastika with circle..................................... 768
THE SWASTIKA.
999
Page.
Fig. 14. Nandavartava, 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., pi. xlvii, fig. 1.. 782
19. Details of a Cyprian amphora; lotus with curling sepals, and dif-
ferent Swastikas. Met. Mus. of Art, N. Y. Goodyear, Grammar,
etc., pi. 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. Conceiltric rings with disconnected tangents. Barringer Coll., Met.
Mus. of Art, N. Y. Goodyear, Grammar, etc., PI. vm, fig. 23.... 784
24. Concentric rings without connection. Goodyear, Grammar, etc., pi.
vm, fig. 25. Farman Coll., Met. Mus. of Art, N. Y.............. 784
25. Special Egyptian meander. An illustration of the theory of deriva-
tion from the spiral. Goodyear, Grammar, etc., pi. x, fig. 9... 784
26. Detail of Greek vase. Meander and Swastika. No. 2843 in Polytech-
nic, 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, Gram-
mar, 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., pi. xi, fig. 139; De Mortillet, Muste Pre-
historique, fig. 1248........................................... 799
31. Potter’s mark on porcelain. China. Tablet of Honor, with Swas-
tika. 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.
34a. The formation of the Jain Swastika—First stage................. 804
34/>. The formation of the Jain Swastika—Second stage................ 804
34c. The formation of the Jain Swastika—Third stage................. 805
35. Bronze pin-head from Cheithan-thagh. De Morgan, An Caucase, fig.
177............................................................. 807
36. Bronze pin-head from Akthala. De Morgan An, Can case, fig. 178_ 808
37. Swastika mark on black pottery. Cheithan-thagh. 1*6 Morgan, An
Caucase, fig. 179............................................... 808
38. Fragment of bronze ceinturo. Necropolis of Koban, Caucasus.
Swastika repouss^. Natural size. Chantre, Le Caucase, pi. xi,
fig. 3.......................................................... 808
39. Bronze agrafe or belt plate. Triskelion in spiral. Koban, Caucasus,
Chantre, Le Caucase, pi. xi, fig. 4.......................... 809
40. Swastika signs from Asia Minor. Waring, Ceramic Art in Pemote
Ages, pi. xli, figs. 5 and 6.................................... 809
1000
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Page.
Fig. 41. Brand for horses in Circassia. Ogee Swastika, tetraskelion. Waring,
Ceramic Art, ete., pi. xlii, lig. 20c................................. 809
42. Fragment of lustrous black pottery. Swastika, right. Sclilieinann,
Ilio8, fig. 247....................................................... 810
43. Spindle-whorl with two Swastikas and two crosses; 23 feet depth.
Sclilieinann, 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, [lion,
fig. 1826 ............................................................ 811
47. Spindle-whorl, three Swastikas; 23 feet depth. Schliemann, Iliox,
fig. 1851............................................................. 811
48. Spindle-whorl, Swastikas; 23 feet depth. Schliemann, Ilios, fig.
1982.................................................................. 812
19. Sphere, eight segments, one containing Swastika. Schliemann, Ilios,
lig. 1999 ............................................................ 812
50. Biconical spindle-wliorl, Swastika. Schliemann, Ilios, fig. 1949....... 812
51. Biconical spindle-wliorl, six Swastikas; 33 feet depth. Schliemann,
Ilios, fig. 1859...................................................... 813
52. Biconical spindle-wliorl, two ogee Swastikas; 33 feet depth. Schlie-
niann, Ilios, fig. 1876............................................... 813
53. Spindle-whorl, four Swastikas; 33 feet depth. De Mortillet, Mu see
Prehistorique, fig. 1210.......................................*— 813
54. Spindle-wliorl, one Swastika; 33 feet depth. De Mortillet, Musee
Prehistorique, fig. 1241.............................................. 813
55. Conical spindle-wliorl, three ogee Swastikas; 13| feet depth. Sclilie-
mann, Ilios, fig. 1850................................................ 814
56. Conical spindle-wliorl, four Swastikas, various kinds; 13£ feet depth.
Schliemann, Ilios, fig. 1879.......................................... 814
57. Conical spindle-wliorl, Swastikas; 13£ feet depth. Schliemann,
Ilios, fig. 1891.................................................... 814
58. Biconical spindle-whorl, one Swastika ; 134 fe depth. Schliemann,
Ilios, fig. 1983 ....'............................................. 815
59. Biconical spindle-whorl, three ogee Swastikas; 134 feet depth.
Schliemann, Ilios, fig. 1990.......................................... 815
60. Biconical spindle-whorl, two Swastikas; 161 feet depth. Sehlie-
niann, Ilios, fig. 1863............................................... 815
61. Biconical spindle-whorl, five ogee Swastikas; 18 feet depth. Sehlie-
maun, 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, tig. 1873................................... 817
68. Biconical spindle-whorl, three Swastikas of different styles; 19.8 feet
depth. Schliemann, Ilios, fig. 1912....T,........................... 817
THE SWASTIKA.
1001
-
Pago.
Fig. 69. Biconical spindle-wliorl, one Swastika of the figure-8 style; 19.8 feet
depth. Schliemann, Ilios, tig. 18C1............................. 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|feetdepth. Selilio-
mann, 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 com-
parison. 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, ogeo Swastika. Third city; 23 feet depth. Schlie-
mann, Ilios, fig. 1822........................................... 820
78. Biconical spindle-whorl, irregular Swastikas and crosses. Fonrth
’ city; 13.6 feet 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 circlo 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, ogeo carves 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 ogeo Swastika. Schliemann, Ilios, fig. 1946.................. 823
90. Spindle-whorl, central dot with ogee arms radiating therefrom, turn-
ing 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 bifur-
cated 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
1002 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Page.
Fig. 97. Spindle-whorl, arms of Greek cross tapering, with dots. Third city;
23 feet depth. Schliemanu, Ilios, tig. 1818.................... 825
98. Spindle-whorl, central hole, three arms ornamented with dots. Third
city; 23 feet depth. Schliemann, Ilios, fig. 1819.............. 826
99. Bieonieal spindle-whorl, with four animals associated with the Swas-
tika. Third city; 33 feet depth. Schliemann, Ilios, fig. 1877.. 826
100. Bieonieal spindle-whorl, with four animals associated with the Swas-
tika. 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£ natural size. Schliemann, Ilios, fig. 226.... 829
126. Terra-cotta vase with mamclon. Fourth city; 16| 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,
iig. 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, pi. iv, fig. 3; and Goodyear,
Grammar, etc., pi. lx, fig. 2.................................. 834
130a. Detail of vase shown in the preceding figure................... 834
131. Pottery fragments with two meander Swastikas. Naukratis, an-
cient Egypt. Petrie, Third Mem. Egypt Expl. Fund, pt. 1, pi. 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, pi. v, fig. 7; and Goodyear, Grammar, etc., pi. 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, pi. vi, fig. 1............. 836
134. Fragment of Greek vase with figures of animals, two meander
Swastikas, and Greek fret. Nankratis, ancient Egypt. Petrie, Sixth
Mem. Egypt Expl. Fund, pt. 2, pi. viii, fig. 1; and Goodyear, Gram-
mar, etc., pi. xxx, fig. 10...................................... 836
135. Greek vase with deer and meander and figure-8 Swastikas. Nan-
kratis, ancient Egypt. Sixth Mem. Egypt Expl. Fund, pi. v, fig. 1. 837
136. Greek tapestry. Coptos, Egypt. First and second centuries A. D.
Forrer, Achmim-Panopolis, pi. ix, fig. 3......................... 837
137. Torus of column with Swastikas. Roman ruins, Algeria. Dela-
mare. "Waring, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. 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. Anfiinge, etc., Vienna, 1870; and Good-
year, Grammar, etc., pi. lvi, fig. 4.................. 839
THE SWASTIKA.
1003
Page.
Fig. 141. Greek vase, geometric ornament, Athens. Horses, Swastika (panels).
Dennis, Etruria, vol. 1, p. cxiii............................... 839
142. Greek vase with Swastikas (panels). Conze, Anfange, etc., vol. 4;
and Goodyear, Grammar, etc., pi. lx, fig. 13.................... 839
143. Detail of Archaic Greek vase with solar goose and Swastika (panel).
British Museum. Waring, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. 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, pi.
. xlvii, fig. 40.................................................... 840
145. Detail lrom Cyprian vase, Swastikas in triangles. Goodyear, Gram-
mar, etc., pi. i, fig. 11....................................... 840
146. Detail of Attic vase with antelope (?) and Swastika. British
Museum. Bohlau, Jahrbuch, 1885, p. 50; and Goodyear, Grammar,
etc., pi. 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, onc-half
natural size. Ludwig Muller. De Mortillet, Musee FrShistorique, '
fig. 1265........................................................ 841
151. Details of Greek vase with birds and Swastikas. Waring, Ceramic
Art, etc., pi. xxxiii, fig. 24; and Goodyear, Grammar, etc., pi. xlvi,
fig. 5............................................................ 842
152. Detail of Cyprian vase, sun hawk, lotus, solar disk, Swastikas. Bolau,
Jahrbuch, 1886, pi. vm; Reinach, Revue Archeologique, 1885, n, p.
360; Chipiez & Perrot, Hist, of Art in Antiq., iv, p.564; Goodyear,
Grammar, etc., pi. xlv, fig. 3.................................... 842
153. Detail of Greek geometric vase with horses and Swastika. Thera.
Leyden Museum. Goodyear, Grammar, etc., pi. lxi, fig. 4......... 842
154. Bronze fibula with large Swastika on shield. Greece. Musce St.
Germain. De Mortillet, Musde Pr61iistorique, fig. 1264. One-half
natural size....................................-..... 843
155. Greek vase, oinochoe, with two painted Swastikas. De Mortillet,
Musfy Frehistorique, fig. 1244. One-quarter natural size........ 843
156. Cyprian vase with animal and Swastikas. Cesnola, Cyprus, etc., pi.
xlv, fig. 36...................................................... 843
157. Archaic Greek pottery fragment. Santorin, ancient Thera. War-
ing, Ceramic Art., etc., pi. xlii, fig. 2....................... 843
158. Cyprian vase with bird, lotus, and Swastikas. Met. Mus. of Art,
N. Y. Goodyear, Grammar, etc., pi. 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, Mycenw, fig. 385,
p. 259 ............................................... 845
162. Detail of Greek vase with goose, honeysuckle (Anthemion), spiral
Swastika. Thera. Monumenti Inedite, lxv, 2. Goodyear, Gram-
mar, etc., pi. xlvi, fig. 7........................... 845
163. Detail of Greek vase, Sphynx with spiral scrolls, two meander Swas-
tikas (right). Melos. Bohlau, Jahrbuch, 1887, xii'; Goodyear.
Grammar, etc., pi. xxxiv, fig. 8................................ 846
1004
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Pago.
Fig. 164. Detail of Greek vase, ibex and scroll, meander Swastika (right).
Melos. Bohlau, Jahrbuch, 1887, p. 121; and Goodyear, Grammar,
etc., pi. 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., pi. xxvm,
fig. 7........................................................... 846
166. Cyprian vase and details with birds and Swastikas. Perrot &. Clii-
piez, Chypre, etc., p. 702; Goodyear, Grammar, etc., pi. xlviii, figs.
6 and 12; Cesnola, Cyprus, etc., appendix by Murray, pi. xliv,
fig. 34, p.412.................................................... 847
167. Cyprian vase with lotus, bosses, buds, and sepals, and different Swas-
tikas. Cesnola Coll., Met. Mus. of Art., N. Y. Goodyear, Gram-
mar, e tc., pi. xlviii, fig. 3......................... 847
168. Cyprian vase with bosses, lotus buds, and different Swastikas. Ces-
nola Coll., Met. Mus. of Art., N. Y. Goodyear, Grammar, etc., pi.
xlviii, fig. 15................................................... 848
169. Detail of early Bmotian vase with horse, solar diagram, Artemis with
geese, and Swastikas (normal and meander, right and left). Good-
year, Grammar, etc., pi. lxi, fig. 12.................. 848
170. Detail of Rhodian vase with geese, circles, and dots, Swastikas (right
and left). British Museum. Waring, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. xxvii,
fig. 9............................................................ 819
171. Detail of Rhodian vase with geese, lotus, circles, and two Swastikas
(right and left). Goodyear, Grammar, etc., fig. 145, p. 271........ 849
172. Greek vase of typical Rhodian style with ibex, geese, lotus, six Swas-
tikas (normal, meander, and ogee, all left). Goodyear, Grammar,
etc., pi. xxxviii, p. 251........................................ 850
173. Detail of Greek vase with deer, solar diagrams, three Swastikas (sin-
gle, double, and meander, right). Melos. Conze. Meliosche Thovge-
fdsse; Goodyear, Grammar, etc., pi. lx, fig 8...................... 851
171. 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., pi. xli, fig. 15; Dennis, Etruria, Yol i,
p. xci.................................................................. 851
175. Detail of Archaic Boeotian vase with two serpents, crosses, eight
Swastikas (normal, right, left, and meander). Goodyear, Gram-
mar, etc., pi. lx, fig. 9......................................... 852
176. Attic vase for perfume with Swastikas of two kinds and Croix swas-
ticale. Olincfalsch-Richter, Pull. Soe. 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. (VAnthrop., Paris,
1888, p. 673, fig. 3............................................ 852
178. Cyprian vase, birds, Swastika, (panel). Musde St. Germain. Ohne-
falsch-Richter, Bull. Soc. (TAnthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 674, fig. 6. 853
179. Chariot of Apollo-Resef with sun symbol (?) on a shield ; four Swas-
tikas, 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 Swas-
tikas. 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
THE SWASTIKA.
1005
Page.
-
Fig. 182. Creek statue, Aphrodite-Ariadne, with six Swastikas, four right, ami
two left. From Polistis Chrysokon. Ohuefalsch-Kicliter, Ball.
Soc. d’Anthrop., Paris, 1888, p. 677, fig. 10.................... 854
183. Hut uru (Bronze Age), Etruria. “Burning Altar” mark associated
with Swastikas. Vatican Museum................................... 856
184. Fragment of Archaic Greek pottery with three Swastikas. Cunne,
Campania, Italy. Pochette; "Waring, Cei'am-ic Art, etc., pi. xlii,
fig. 1................................................. 858
185. Cinerary urn with Swastikas in panels. Vatican Museum. San
Marino, near Albano. Pigorini, Arehaologia, 1869................. 858
186. Cinerary urn with Swastikas inclosed in incised lines in intaglio
(panels). Cervetri, Italy. Conestabile dne Dischi in Bronzo, pi. v,
fig. 2, one-sixth natural size......................... 858
187. Gold fibula with Swastikas (left). Etruscan Museum, Vatican.
Catalogue, 1st pt., pi. xxvi, fig. 6, one-half natural size...... 859
188. Etruscan gold bulla, Swastika on bottom. Waring, Ceramic Art,
etc., pi. xlii, fig. 4a............................... .......... 859
189. Ornamental Swastika on Etruscan silver howl, Cervetri (Ciere),
Etruria. Waring, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. xli, fig. 13............. 859
190. Bronzo fibula with two Swastikas (supposed rays of sun), Etruria.
Copenhagen Museum. Goblet d’Alviella. Oue-fourtli natural size.
Do Mortillet, Musee Prehistorique, fig. 1263..................... 859
191. Pottery urn ornamented with successive bands, in intaglio, two of
which bands are Swastikas. Necropolis Aruoaldi, Italy, Museum
of Bologna. Gozzadini, Scavi Archaologici, etc., pi. iv, fig. 8.. 860
192. Fragment of pottery, row of Swastikas in intaglio, Necropole Fel-
sinea, 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, Mush Prehistorique, fig. 1239................ 860
194. Pottery vase ornamented with bronze nail heads in form of Swastika.
Este, Italy. Materiaux, 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, Mus6e de ChamlxSry. Chantre, Age du Bronze, figs.
53 and 55; and Keller, Lake Dwellings of Europe, etc., pi. clxi,
fig. 3................................................. 861
197. Fragment of ccinture, thin bronze, repoussd, with Swastikas of vari-
ous kinds; Tumulus Alsace. Bronze Age, llalstattien epoch. De
Mortillet, Musee Prehistorique, fig. 1255 ............. £62
198. Fragment of ceinture of thin bronze, openwork with intricate Swas-
tikas; Tumulus of Metzstetten, Wurtemburg. Museum of Stutt-
gart, Halstattien epoch. Do Mortillet, Musee Prehistorique, fig. 1257,
and Chantre, Caucasus, etc., vol. II, p. 50, fig. 25............. 862
199. Bronze fibula, the body of whieh forms a Swastika. Museum of
Mayence. De Mortillet, Musee Prehistorique, fig. 1266 ........... 862
200. Sepulchral urn with Swastika. North Germany. Lisch & Sohroter,
Waring, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. vn, fig. 94....................... 862
201. Spearhead with Swastika, Croix swasticale and triskelion. Branden-
burg, Germany. Waring, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. xliv, fig. 21. Viking
Age, Vol. n, fig. 336.................................. «63
202. Bronze pin with Swastika, pointille, from mound in Bavaria. Chan-
tre. Materiaux, 1884, pp. 14, 120................................ ^63
203. Runic inscription on bronze sword, inlaid with silver. S'aebo, Nor-
way. One of the characters is a Swastika......................... 864
1006
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Page.
Fig. 204a. Swastika with. dots. Torcello, Italy. Du Cliaillu, Viking Age, vol.
ii, fig. 335 .................................................... 865
2045. 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; tris-
kelion, left. Scandinavia.......................................... 866
208. Plaque for ceinture with buckle, two ogee Swastikas (tetraskelions). 866
20S. Scandinavian sword scabbard with two ogee Swastikas (tetrasko-
lions), right and left............................................. 866
210. Scandinavian sword scabbard with ogee Swastika.................... 866
211. Scandinavian sword scabbard, two triskelions, right and left...... 866
212. Gold brooeh with ogee Swastika. Island of Fyen. Waring, Ceramic
Art, etc., pi. xliii, fig. 11.................................... 867
213. Scandinavian bronze silver-plated horse gear with three Swastikas,
one elaborate. Waring, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. 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, repoussd, ogee Swastika. Ireland. Dr. R.
Munro, Lake Dwellings of Europe, pi. 124, figs. 20-22............ 868
217. Fragment of thin bronze, triskelion. Ireland. Munro, Lake Dwell-
ings of Europe, p. 384, pi. 124, figs. 20-22 .................... 868
218. Bronze pin with small normal Swastika on head. Crannog of Loch-
lee, Tarbolton, Scotland. Munro, Lake Dwellings of Europe, p. 417.. 868
219. Carved triskelion found on fragment of ash wood. Crannog of Loch-
lee, Tarbolton, Scotland. Munro, Lake Dwellings of Europe, p. 415.. 869
220. Stone altar with Swastika on pedestal. France. Museum of Tou-
louse. Do Mortillet, Musce Prtihistoriquc, fig. 1267 ............ 869
221. Pottery bottle of dark gray with Swastika, and decoration in white
barbotine. Gallo-Roman epoeh. Museum of Rouen. De Mortillet,
Musce Prthistorique, fig. 1246................................... 870
222. Anglo-Saxon bronze gilt fibula, simulation of Swastika. Long Wit-
tenliam, Berkshire............................................... 870
223. Pottery urn with band of twenty Swastikas made by hand. White
on blackish ground. Shropham, Norfolk. British Museum. War-
ing, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. hi, fig. 50 ............... 871
224. Lycian coin, triskelion, with three arms representing cocks’ heads
and necks.......................................................... 871
225. 226. Lyeian coins, triskelions, with central dots and circles, 480 B. C.
Waring, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. xlii, figs. 12 and 13............. 871
227. Sicilian coin with quadriga and triskelion, 336-280 B. C. Coins of the
Ancients, Brit. Mns., pi. xxxv, fig. 28............................ 873
228. Warrior’s shield, from a Greek vase, Achilles an4. Hector, Agrigen-
tum, Sicily. Waring, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. 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 eaeh arm.
Cunningham, Waring, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. xli, fig. 18.......... 877
231. 232, 233, 234. Ancient Hindu eoins with Swastikas, normal and ogee.
Cunningham, Waring, Ceramic Art, etc., pi. xli, figs. 20, 21, 22, 23.. 877
235. Ancient coin- with Swastika. Gaza, Palestine. Waring, Ceramic
Art, etc,, pi. xlii, fig. 6...., .rTT.. r........................ 878
THE SWASTIKA.
1007
rase.
Fig. 236. Gold braeteate with Jain Swastika. Denmark. Thomson, Atlas,
Table vn. Waring, Ceramie Art, etc., pi. 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, Mon-
roe County, Tenn. Cat. No. 115624, U.S.N.M.................... 880
239. Shell gorget. Two fighting figures, triangular breecli-clout, dots and
eircles, three garters and anklets. From mound on Fains Island;
associated with fig. 237. Cat. No. 62930, U.S.N.M. Third Ann.
Hep. Bur. Etlinol., 1881-82, p. 452, fig. 128................. 885
240. Copper plate. Etowah Mound, Georgia. Cat. No. 91113, U.S.N.M.
Fifth Ann. Hep. Bur. Etlinol., 1883-84.......................... 886
241. Copper plate. Repoussd 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 repousse (eagle). Mound in Union County, 111. 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. Repouss6 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. Nat-
ural 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. Jlep. Bur.
Etlinol., 1880-81, fig. 562..................................... 896
257. Tima Indian war shield with ogee Swastika (tetraskelion) in three
stripes of color, (I) 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 arro\v shot. (Prop-
erty of F. W. Hodge)................................. 900
259. Colonial patchwork with pattern resembling Swastika; Scribner's
Magazine, September, 1894 ...................................... 901
1008
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1891.
Page
Fig. 260. Fragment of the foot of a stone metate with Swastika. Niearagua.
Cat. No. 23726, U.S.N.M.................................. 902
261. Fragment of stone slab with ogee Swastika (tetraskelion) from an-
cient Maya city of Mayapan. Inscription translated as “lire” by
Le Plongeon. Proc. Amcr. Antiq. Soc., April 21, 1881 ... 903
262. Different forms of Swastika placed together for comparison....... 905
203. Shell gorget, cross, circle, sun rays (?), and the heads of four ivory-
hilled woodpeckers (?) arranged to form a Swastika. Missis-
sippi................................................... 906
261. 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 (tetra-
skelion). Mound near Nashville, Tenn............................ 910
269. Shell disk, unfinished engraving, dot and circle in center, and ogee
Swastika (tetraskelion) marked, but not completed. ilrakebill
mound, near Knoxville, Tenn...................................... 911
270,271. Engraved shell disk (obverse and reverse) with tliree-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..................................... 913,911,915
279. Engraved shell gorget (Fulgur) representing rattlesnake. From
McMahon mound, Tennessee. Second Ann. Iicp. Bur. Ethnol.,
1880-81, pi. lxiii................................................. 915
280, 281, 282, 283, 281, 285. Engraved shells (Fulgur) with representations
of the human face. (For comparison.) From Tennessee and Vir-
ginia........................................................ 916,917
286. Engraved shell (Fulgur). Human figure. McMahon mound, Ten-
nessee. (For comparison.) Second Ann. Pep. Ilur. Ethnol., 1880-81,
pi. lxxi........................................................... 917
287. Engraved shell (Fulgur). llumantigure. (Foreomparison.) Mound
in Tennessee. Second Ann. Pep. Bur. Ethnol., 1880-81, pi. lxxii.. . 918
288. Engraved shell gorget (Fu Igur). Human figure. (Foreomparison.)
Missouri. Second Ann. Pep. Bur. Ethnol., 1880-81, pi. lxxiii..... 919
289. Tottery vessel, with four-armed volute, ogee Swastika (tetraskelion).
Arkansas. One-third natural size................................... 920
290. Pottery vessel, four volutes resembling Swastika. Fecan 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 nat-
ural 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, live 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
THE SWASTIKA.
1009
-
Pago
ig. 297. Pottery bowl, bird shaped with three parallel incised lines with
ribbon fold. Charleston, Mo..................................... 924
21)8. Pottery bottle with three parallel incised lines turning with ribbon
fold. Charleston, Mo............................................ 925
299. Pasket work with many armed volutes. Fourth Ann. Ilep. F>nr.
Fihnol., 1882-83, fig. 485 ..................................... 925
300. Engraved shell gorget disk. Greek cross resembling Swastika, in-
cised lines. Monnd, Union County, 111.............................. 920
301. Engraved shell gorget with Greek cross. Charleston, Mo. Second
Ann. Hep. Bur. Ethnol., 1880-81, pi. li, fig. 2................. 927
302. Engraved shell gorget disk. Greek cross, inchoate Swastika. Sec-
ond Ann. Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1880-81, Tl. lii, fig. 3............ 928
303. Fragment of copper disk. Greek cross in center eirele. Ohio. Am.
Mns. Nat. Hist., N.Y. Second Ann. Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1880-81, pi.
lii, fig. 4........................................................ 928
304. Engraved shell disk gorget, rude cross with many dots. Lick Creek,
Tenn. Second Ann. Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1880-81, pi. lii, fig. 2... 929
305. Engraved shell, Greek cross, hatched. Caldwell County, N. C. Cat.
No. 831G9, U.S.N.M................................................. 929
306. Engraved shell tliree-armed (triskelion). Lick Creek, Tenn. Cat.
No. 83170, U.S.N.M.............................................. 929
307. Drilled and engraved shell or “rnntoe” 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 “runtce,” dots and rings forming circle
and Greek cross. New York . ................................ 930
310. Pottery jar with crosses, encircling rays and scallops. Third Ann.
Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1881-82, tig. 188.............................. 931
311. Olla, decorated with Greek and Maltese crosses. Second Ann. Bep.
Bur. Ethnol., 1880-81, fig. 708 .................................. 93,2
. 312. Pottery water vessel, Maltese cross. Second Ann. Bep. Bur. Ethnol.,
1880-81, fig. 642.................................................. 932
313. Pottery vase finely decorated in red and white glaze. Mexico. Mal-
tese cross with sun symbol (?). Cat. No. 132975, U.S.N.M........ 933
314. Greek cross representing winds from cardinal points. Dakota
Indians. Tenth Ann. Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1888-89, fig. 1225....... 934
315. The eross in connection with eirele. Sun symbols (?). Petroglyphs
a to f, Hopi Indians, Oakley Springs, Ariz.; g, Maya Indians.
Tenth Ann. Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1888-89, figs. 1118, 1120, and 1126.... 935
316. Circles and rays, probably representing sun symbols, a to /, 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 eross. 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. Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1888-89, fig. 1165....... 937
322. Crosses representing flocks of birds, Eskimos. Cat. Nos. 14211 and
45020, U.S.N.M. Tenth Ann. Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1888-89, fig. 1228.. 937
323. Large white Greek eross, petroglyph. Tulare Valley, California.
Tenth Ann. Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1888-89, fig. 1229 ............... 937
324. Petroglyphs from Owens Valley, California, a, h, Greek cross; c,
double Latin cross; d to /, Latin crosses representing human
figures. Tenth Ann. Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1888-89, fig. 1230:......
H. Mis. 90, pt. 2-------04
938
1010
REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Page.
Fig. 325. Cross in zigzag lines representing human form. Navajo Indians____ 9.58
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. Ilolmes, 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 ligure of alligator, from lost-color ware. Chiriqui.
Holmes, Sixth Ann. Rep. Bur. Ethnol., 1884-85, lig. 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 Anti. 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. C at. 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 dwell-
ing. Cat. No. 100642, U.S.N.M..................................... 967
349. Terra-cotta spindle-whorl, Neolithic or Bronze Age. Swiss lake dwell-
ing. 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. Wiirtemberg,
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
THE SWASTIKA.
1011
Page.
Fig. 360. Terra-cotta spindle-wliorl. 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. Malacato, Zapatera Island, Nicaragua.
Cat. No. 29009, U.S.N.M........................................ 972
363. Spindle-whorl, gray clay decorated with annular nodes. Chiriqui.
Holmes, Sixth Ann. Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1884-85, fig. 218....•___ 972
364. Spindle-whorl of gray clay with animal figures. Chiriqui. Holmes,
Sixth Ann. Bep. Bur. Ethnol., 1884-85, fig. 219................ 973
365. Spindle-whorl of dark clay with perforations and incised ornaments.
Chiriqui. Holmes, Sixth Ann. Bep. 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-Eskoi, Denmark.
Bep. Smithsonian Inst. (U.S.N.M.), 1892, pi. ci, fig. 2........ 978
374. Detail of woven cloth shown in the preceding figure. Denmark.
Bep. Smithsonian Inst. (U.S.N.M.), pi. ci, fig. 3.............. 979
Distribution of the Swastika
Facing page.
..... 904
cnAJ^r.
Tage.
Showing the probable introduction of tlie Swastika into different countries.. 794
I
-
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Page.
Preface.................................................................... 763
I.—Definitions, Description, and Origin.
Different forms of tlie cross.............................................. 765
Names and definitions of the Swastika...................................... 768
Symbolism and interpretation............................................... 770
Origin and habitat......................................................... 791
II.—Dispersion of tiie Swastika.
Extreme Orient............................................................. 799
Japan................................................................. 799
Korea................................................................. 799
China................................................................. 799
Tibet................................................................ 802
India................................................................. 802
Classical Orient..................-..............................•-...... 806
Babylonia, Assyria, Chaldea, and Persia.............................. 806
Plienicia............................................................. 807
Lycaonia.............................................................. 807
Armenia............................................................... 807
Caucasus.............................................................. 808
Asia Minor—Troy (Ilissarlik).......................................... 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 Ilissarlik......................................... 829
Owl-shaped vases.................................................. 830
The age of Trojan cities.......................................... 832
Africa............................................-...................... 833
Egypt................................................................. 833
Naukratis......................................................... 831
Coptos (Achmiin-Panopolis)........................................ 834
Algeria.............................................................. 838
Asliantee............................................................. 838
Classical Occident—Mediterranean........................................... 839
Greece, Cyprus, Rhodes, Melos, and Thera.............................. 839
Greek fret and Egytian 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........................................................... 816
Swastikas Avith four arms crossing at right angles, ends beut 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
759
760 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1894.
Page.
Eurol>e................................................................. 854
Bronze age.......................................................... 354
Etruria aiul Italy.............................................. 355
Swiss lake dwellings............................................ ggl
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 011 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 Toeo mounds, Tennessee......................... 879
Hopewell Mouud, Chillieotlic, Ross County, Ohio................. 888
Mounds in Arkansas.............................................. 893
North American Indians.............................................. 894
Kansas.......................................................... 894
Sacs............................................................ 895
Pueblos......................................................... 896
Navajoes........................................................ 897
Pimas........................................................... 901
Colonial patchwork.................................................. yyx
Central America................?........................................ y02
Nicaragua........................................................... y02
Yucatan............................................................. <)02
Costa Rica.......................................................... <)03
South America........................................................... y03
Brazil.............................................................. 993
Paraguay............................................................ 905
III.—Forms Allied to tiie Swastika.
Meanders, ogees, and sjdrals, 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................................................... 943
The rattlesnake.............................................. 9X4
The human face and form..,................................... 9X4
Designs ou x>ottery............................................. 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
THE SWASTIKA.
761
Pago.
Symbolic meanings of the cross........................................ 933
The four winds.................................................... 934
Sun and star symbols.............................................. 939
Dwellings......................................................... 939
Dragon fly (Susbeca).............................................. 939
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 stumps 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 caducous...................................................... 962
The trisula....................................................... 962
The double-headed eagle 011 the escutcheon of Austria and ltussia. 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
Cliiriqui..................................................... 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.......................................................... 981
List of Illustrations .................................. -. 997
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