Fig. 303.
FRAGMENT OF COPPER DISK WITH
GREEK CROSS IN INNER CIRCLE.
Ohio. American Museum of Natural History,
New York City. Second Annual Report of
the Bureau of Ethnology, pl. LII, fig. 4.

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 corrosion. 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. [Fig. 304] 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 perforated the shell. [Pl. 19] represents a recapitulation of specimens of crosses, thirteen 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, 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 conform to a circle.”[283] Figs. 7 and 9 of [pl. 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 Swastika in some of its forms.

EXPLANATION OF PLATE 19.

1 2 3
4 5
6
7 9
8
1011 1213

Various Forms of Crosses in use among North American Indians, from Greek Cross to Swastika.

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.Swastika on Pottery.

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, Pl. LIII.