An English gentleman, versed in prehistoric archæology, visited me in the summer of 1894, and during our conversation asked if we had the Swastika in America. I answered, “Yes,” and showed him two or three specimens of it. He demanded if we had any literature on the subject. I cited him De Mortillet, De Morgan, and Zmigrodzki, and he said, “No, I mean English or American.” I began a search which proved almost futile, as even the word Swastika did not appear in such works as Worcester’s or Webste

DIFFERENT FORMS OF THE CROSS. The simple cross made with two sticks or marks belongs to prehistoric times. Its first appearance among men is lost in antiquity. One may theorize as to its origin, but there is no historical identification of it either in epoch or by country or people. The sign is itself so simple that it might have originated among any people, however primitive, and in any age, however remote. The meaning given to the earliest cross is equally unknown. Everything concerning its be

EXTREME ORIENT. JAPAN. The Swastika was in use in Japan in ancient as well as modern times. Fig. 29 represents a bronze statue of Buddha, one-fifteenth natural size, from Japan, in the collection of M. Cernuschi, Paris. It has eight Swastikas on the pedestal, the ends all turned at right angles to the right. This specimen is shown by De Mortillet [107] because it relates to prehistoric man. The image or statue holds a cane in the form of a “tintinnabulum,” with movable rings arranged to make a j

MEANDERS, OGEES, AND SPIRALS, BENT TO THE LEFT AS WELL AS TO THE RIGHT. There are certain forms related to the normal Swastika and greatly resembling it—meanders, ogees, the triskelion, tetraskelion, and five and six armed spirals or volutes. This has been mentioned above ( page 768 ), and some of the varieties are shown in fig. 13 . These related forms have been found in considerable numbers in America, and this investigation would be incomplete if they were omitted. It has been argued ( p. 839

DIFFERENT FORMS. The foregoing specimens are sufficient evidence of the existence of the Swastika among the aboriginal North Americans during the mound-building period, and although there may be other specimens of the Swastika to be reported, yet we might properly continue this investigation for the purpose of determining if there be any related forms of the cross among the same peoples. This is done without any argument as to the use of these designs beyond that attributed to them. The illustra

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: 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 anot

MIGRATION OF THE SWASTIKA. The question of the migration of the Swastika and of the objects on which it was marked, which furnished its only means of transportation, remains to be considered. It is proposed to examine, in a cursory manner perhaps, not only the migration of the Swastika itself, but some of these objects, spindle whorls especially, with a view to discover by similarity or peculiarity of form or decoration any relationship they may have had with each other when found in distant cou

SPINDLE-WHORLS. Spindle-whorls are first to be considered. These are essentially prehistoric utensils, and are to be found in every part of the world where the inhabitants were sufficiently cultured to make twisted threads or cords, whether for hunting or fishing, games, textile fabrics, or coverings, either for themselves, their tents, or other purposes. In western Asia, all of Europe, in the pueblos of North America, and among the aborigines—by whatever name they are called—of Mexico, Central

The prehistoric objects described in the foregoing chapter are not the only ones common to both Europe and America. Related to the spindle-whorls and bobbins is the art of weaving, and it is perfectly susceptible of demonstration that this art was practiced in the two hemispheres in prehistoric times. Woven fabrics have been found in the Swiss lake dwellings, in Scandinavia, and in nearly all parts of Europe. They belonged to the Neolithic and Bronze ages.   Fig. 372. VIEW SHOWING BOTH ENDS OF A

The argument in this paper on the migration of arts or symbols, and with them of peoples in prehistoric times, is not intended to be exhaustive. At best it is only suggestive. There is no direct evidence available by which the migration of symbols, arts, or peoples in prehistoric times can be proved, because the events are beyond the pale of history. Therefore we are, everybody is, driven to the secondary evidence of the similarity of conditions and products, and we can only subject them to our

ABBOTT, Charles C. Primitive Industry: | or | Illustrations of the Handiwork, | in stone, bone and clay, | of the | Native Races | of | the Northern Atlantic Seaboard of America. | By Charles C. Abbott, M. D. | Cor. Member Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., | Fellow Royal Soc. | of Antiq. of the North. Copenhagen. etc., etc., | Salem, Mass.: | George A. Bates. | 1881. Proc. Royal Danish Academy of Science , Fifth series, Section of History and Philosophy, Vol. III , p. 93. MUNRO, Robert . Ancient | Scottis