The Swastika, the Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migration: With Observations on the Migration of Certain Industries in Prehistoric TimesWilson, Thomas
Religion
The Swastika, the Earliest Known Symbol, and Its Migration: With Observations on the Migration of Certain Industries in Prehistoric Times
Wilson, Thomas
Industries, Primitive; Swastikas; Symbolism
Other figures of sufficient similarity to the Swastika have been found
among the aborigines of North America to show that these do not stand
alone; and there are also other human figures which show a style of work
so similar and such resemblance in detail of design as to establish the
practical identity of their art. One of these was a remarkable specimen of
engraved shell found in the same mound, Fains Island, which contained the
first Swastika (fig. 237). It is described in the Second Annual Report of
the Bureau of Ethnology, page 301, under the name of McMahon's mound. It
is a large polished Fulgur shell disk which, when entire, has been nearly
5 inches in diameter (fig. 239). A little more than one-third has crumbled
away, and the remaining portion has been preserved only by careful
handling and immediate immersion in a solution of glue. It had been
engraved on the concave side. The design represents two human figures
plumed and winged, armed with eagles' talons and engaged in mortal
combat. The design apparently covered the entire shell, leaving no space
for encircling lines. The two figures are in profile and face each other
in a fierce onset. Of the right-hand figure, only the body, one arm, and
one leg remain. The left-hand figure is almost complete. The outline of
the face, one arm, and one foot is all that is affected. The right hand is
raised above the head in the act of brandishing a long knife pointed at
both ends. The other combatant, clutching in his right hand a
savage-looking blade with its point curved, seems delivering a blow in the
face of his antagonist. Of the visible portions of the figures, the hands
are vigorously drawn, the thumbs press down upon the outside of the
forefingers in a natural effort to tighten the grasp. The body, arms, and
legs are well defined and in proper proportion, the joints are correctly
placed, the left knee is bent forward, and the foot planted firmly on the
ground, while the right is thrown gracefully back against the rim at the
left, and the legs terminate in well-drawn eagles' feet armed with curved
talons. The head is decorated with a single plume which springs from a
circular ornament placed over the ear; an angular figure extends forward
from the base of this plume, and probably represents what is left of the
headdress proper. In front of this--on the very edge of the crumbling
shell--is one-half of the lozenge-shaped eye, the dot representing the
pupil being almost obliterated. The ankles and legs just below the knee
and the wrists each have three lines representing bracelets or anklets. It
is uncertain whether the leg is covered or naked; but between the
waistband and the leggings, over the abdomen, is represented on both
figures a highly decorated triangular garment, or, possibly coat of mail,
to which particular attention is called.[252] In the center, at the top,
just under the waistband, are four circles with dots in the center
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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