The specimen represented in [fig. 76] is not a spindle-whorl, as shown by the number and location 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]). [Fig. 77] represents a spindle-whorl with a Swastika of the ogee style curved to the right. The center hole of the whorl forms the center of the sign. The figure is of double lines, and in the interspaces are four dots, similar to those in [figs. 96-98], and others which Dr. Schliemann reports as common, and to which he 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. [60] and [64]). Two others are crudely and irregularly formed, and would scarcely be recognized as Swastikas except for their association. [Fig. 79] 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. 81] shows two Swastikas, both crossing their 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 decorations of apparently unmeaning, or, at least, unexplained, lines. [Fig. 82] shows four segmented circles with an indefinite Swastika 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 has 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 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, while the arms of the cross start from the outside of the circle, extending themselves 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 [86] 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 easy.
Fig. 83.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL, FLATTENED.
Ogee Swastika with central circle.
Third city. Depth, 23 feet.
Schliemann, “Ilios,” fig. 1987.
| Fig. 84. BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH SIX OGEE SWASTIKAS HAVING CENTRAL CIRCLE AND DOT. Third city. Depth, 23 feet. Schliemann, “Ilios,” fig. 1862. | Fig. 85. SPHERICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH FLATTENED TOP AND OGEE LINES WHICH DO NOT FORM SWASTIKAS. Schliemann, “Ilios,” fig. 1890. |
Fig. 86.
BICONICAL SPINDLE-WHORL WITH OGEE CURVES
WHICH ARE NOT CROSSED TO FORM SWASTIKAS.
Schliemann, “Ilios,” fig. 1889.
Attention has been called to decorations comprising segments of the circles incised in these whorls, the periphery of which is toward their centers (figs. [60], [64], [65], [69], [70], [82] and [83]). Also to the mysterious dots (figs. [46], [56], [75], [76], [77], [79], [84], [92], [96] and [97]). [Fig. 87] shows a combination of the segments of three circles, the dots within each, and two Swastikas. Of the Swastikas, one is normal, turning to the right; the other turns to the right, but at an obtuse angle, with one end straight and the other irregularly curved. [Fig. 88] represents two sections of a terra-cotta sphere divided similar to [fig. 49]. Each of these sections contains 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 decoration 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]).[148] 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 recurring dots are seen in [fig. 90].