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
D'Alviella[76] presents several figures in support of his contention. The
first (_a_) is on a fibula from Etruria (fig. 190 of this paper). His
explanation is that the small circle of rays, bent at right angles, on the
broad shield of the pin, represents graphically the rotary movement of the
sun, and that the bent arms in the Swastikas on the same object are taken
from them. It seems curious that so momentous a subject as the existence
of a symbol of a great god, the god of light, heat, and thus of life,
should be made to depend upon an object of so small importance. This
specimen (fig. 190) is a fibula or pin, one of the commonest objects of
Etruscan, Greek, or Roman dress. The decorations invoked are on the broad
end, which has been flattened to protect the point of the pin, where
appears a semicircle of so-called rays, the two Swastikas and two possible
crosses. There is nothing about this pin, nor indeed any of the other
objects, to indicate any holy or sacred character, nor that any of them
were used in any ceremony having relation to the sun, to any god, or to
anything holy or sacred. His fig. _b_ is fig. 88 in this paper. It shows a
quadrant of the sphere found by Schliemann at Hissarlik. There is a
slightly indefinite circle with rays from the outside, which are bent and
crooked in many directions. The sphere is of terra cotta; the marks that
have been made on it are rough and ill formed. They were made by incision
while the clay was soft and were done in the rudest manner. There are
dozens more marks upon the same sphere, none of which seem to have
received any consideration in this regard. There is a Swastika upon the
sphere, and it is the only mark or sign upon the entire object that seems
to have been made with care or precision. His third figure (_c_) is taken
from a reliquaire of the thirteenth century A. D. It has a greater
resemblance to the acanthus plant than it has to any solar disk
imaginable. The other two figures (_d_ and _e_) are tetraskelions or ogee
Swastikas from ancient coins.
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