Hohokam Bowl and Swastika Symbol

[Charl]

This Hohokam red on buff bowl was found on private property near Queen Creek, Az. It dates c. 750-950 A.D. I obtained it because it has a version of a right handed swastika painted in the interior. Always been fascinated with that symbol, not because of it's' most regrettable Nazi association, but because it is a far more ancient symbol found throughout the world. The oldest example known is on a European bone implement that is 15,000 years old. Here are a couple of pages describing that distribution. To the Hopi of northern Az., it was a migration symbol, with the center representng the Hopi Mesas.
Partial swastika petroglyphs are said to represent a clan that is showing how far it has traveled on the migrations dictated by the creator; if the swastika is missing an arm, the clan had not completed their prescribed migration pattern. This is according to the Hopi informants that advised Frank Waters for his classic "Book of the Hopi". In one form or another, the swastika is a common design element on southern Az. Hohokam pottery as well. This can also be seen as a form of the Four Directions symbol. Found among other NA tribes as well, not just the SW and Mesoamerica.


http://www.theorionzone.com/swastikas_hopi_gary_david.pdf

http://www.ancient-origins.net/myths-legends/symbol-swastika-and-its-12000-year-old-history-001312

A recent article:

How the world loved the swastika, until Hitler stole it.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29644591

In Feb., 1940, to protest Hitler's adaptation of this sacred symbol, the Hopi, Navajo, Papago, and Apache tribes all signed an agreement not to use the swastika symbol in their artwork. I doubt that agreement is still in place.

 

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[Charl]

Red on buff Hohokam vessels, black on white Anasazi(ancestral Puebloan) bowl, and an iconographic Aztec image of a right handed swastika. These vessels are in other collections, not my own.

 

[justonemore]

Enlightening post and thanks for the links.

 

[monsterrack]

Very good post

 

[yakker]

thanks for posting that- a good education Yak

 

[Charl]

This is a very cool rendition. It's a digital drawing based on an engraved shell cup found at the famous site of Spiro, Ok. It displays another important and very widespread Native American image and mythological figure--the horned and plumed (or feathered)serpent.

File:Chromesun 4 uktenas design.jpg - Wikimedia Commons

Excellent short video describing the Hohokam and a dig in the town where the bowl was found, Queen Creek, Az.

http://www.queencreek.org/about-us/town-history/historical-stories/hohokam

 

[Charl]

A Navajo rug:

http://charleysnavajorugs.com/html/navajo-rug-exhibits.htm

"Above and bellow the water bugs are whirling logs or cross spruce logs which give the impression of circular motion by the bent ends. (Whirling spruce logs crossing each other is a sacred symbol used in Navajo religious ceremonies, sandpaintings, and incorporated into weaving at around 1880's.)

Due to the whirling logs being similar to the Nazi Swastika, Navajo weavers have not been using this symbol since the late 1930s."

 

[pickaway]

Love that western pottery...

 

[RGINN]

In the Spiro pic, the circle inside the cross represents fire.

 

[Charl]

Been doing some research and discovered the flare rim bowl and this smaller jar were both collected by Mina Brooks and her husband decades ago on what is now known as the Sonoquil Ruin or Sonoquil Pueblo, occupied from 700-950 A.D.
The Brooks family came forward in 1980 to alert archaeologists to their finds on their farm in Queen Creek. When a highway was extended in 2013, a three month salvage dig of the site was conducted. Below at the link is the story of that dig and a good overview of Hohokam culture, in a short video.


Queen Creek, AZ : Hohokam


"When farmers began cultivating the desert area near the San Tan Mountains in the early 1900s, they regularly uncovered artifacts from the past - pieces of pottery, stones tools, and more. These were often considered nuisances, and were tossed to the side of the fields or discarded. For a few, like the Brooks family living in Queen Creek, these artifacts represented a time of historic significance; a prehistoric time when an ancient people farmed this desert area. Mina and Robert discovered many stone tools and pieces of broken pottery lying in the fields and along wash banks. They ensured that these were preserved for many to appreciate in the years to come."


This miniature jar is from Sonoquil Pueblo, collected by Mina Brooks. Style designs indicate it was made between 850-950 A.D. These two vessels represent some of the best and tightest provenance I've got from relics "found with the wallet, not the eyes", information that I was able to develop after purchasing them.

 

[Sing Reseracher]

How much is that price my friend ?

 

[Charl]

How much is that price my friend ?

Not sure what you're referring to, but there is a catalog number on the bottom of the bowl......

I left it, in case it was Mina Brooks. She donated many fine pottery vessels to museums throughout Az. She passed away in 2013.

 

[newnan man]

I saw a Mississippian period catlinite pipe found in WVA near the Ohio River that had a swastika scratched into it on each side. I had thought it was done by someone at a later time but was told it was found that way.

 

[HenryWaltonJonesJr]

I knew the symbol was known in ancient India, but had no idea it was also Native American! Is it believed it was coincidental to come up with this same design, or is there some kind of ancient cultural exchange that was going on?

Would be interesting to see which is older North American or Asian dated pieces.

Weird!

 

[Charl]

I saw a Mississippian period catlinite pipe found in WVA near the Ohio River that had a swastika scratched into it on each side. I had thought it was done by someone at a later time but was told it was found that way.

Nice! Would love to find that! Yep, it really is found throughout native NA.....

Engraved shell from Entowah Mound, Georgia. It's the last image in this post. The native's arms and legs are arranged as a swastika. Cool example.....

I knew the symbol was known in ancient India, but had no idea it was also Native American! Is it believed it was coincidental to come up with this same design, or is there some kind of ancient cultural exchange that was going on?

Would be interesting to see which is older North American or Asian dated pieces.

Weird!

That's what fascinates me as well. The oldest example is seen in this photo. A piece of mammoth tusk carved as a bird effigy with a meander pattern of connected swastikas. Found at a site in Ukraine and RC dated to 15,000 years. It was found with phallic objects and may have been a fertility symbol. The swastika symbol was even used as an alternate form of the cross by some early Christians. I can't really answer your question regarding independent invention versus diffusion of the symbol, but pondering that very question, plus the widespread ancient usage of the symbol is the reason I always wanted to ponder a prehistoric Native American example in my own collection! Considering the depth of it's apparent antiquity, perhaps it arrived in the Americas with the Paleolithic hunters who settled the Americas. The known distribution map below is taken from the work linked below, as is the Entowah engraved shell.....

This is an older work, but looks very informative nonetheless, with scores of illustrated examples from throughout the world.....

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/40812/40812-h/40812-h.htm

 

[scotto]

Great examples Charl.

The swastika is an ancient symbol of the sun, same as the cross. The cross was adopted by christianity during it's inception just after 300 a.d. by Constantine, but was in use by sun worshippers for centuries before the Messiah's birth.

The Messiah was crucified on a "stauros" or a stake, not a "cross."

.

 

[pickaway]

Nice jar Charl, the Hopewell here in Ohio were using the swastika symbol as well, ones ive seen published were made from copper.

 

[joshuaream]

I was at a stoplight in Panama today and saw of the the indigenous Kuna women wearing their typical leggings with swastikas. Not polite to take their picture, but it was pertinent to this thread.

 

[tehnik94]

Ring with a solar sign 13-14 century. Russia.

 

[JRedHorse]

This Hohokam red on buff bowl was found on private property near Queen Creek, Az. It dates c. 750-950 A.D. I obtained it because it has a version of a right handed swastika painted in the interior. Always been fascinated with that symbol, not because of it's' most regrettable Nazi association, but because it is a far more ancient symbol found throughout the world. The oldest example known is on a European bone implement that is 15,000 years old. Here are a couple of pages describing that distribution. To the Hopi of northern Az., it was a migration symbol, with the center representng the Hopi Mesas.
Partial swastika petroglyphs are said to represent a clan that is showing how far it has traveled on the migrations dictated by the creator; if the swastika is missing an arm, the clan had not completed their prescribed migration pattern. This is according to the Hopi informants that advised Frank Waters for his classic "Book of the Hopi". In one form or another, the swastika is a common design element on southern Az. Hohokam pottery as well. This can also be seen as a form of the Four Directions symbol. Found among other NA tribes as well, not just the SW and Mesoamerica.


http://www.theorionzone.com/swastikas_hopi_gary_david.pdf

The symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000-year-old history | Ancient Origins

A recent article:

How the world loved the swastika, until Hitler stole it.

BBC News - How the world loved the swastika - until Hitler stole it

In Feb., 1940, to protest Hitler's adaptation of this sacred symbol, the Hopi, Navajo, Papago, and Apache tribes all signed an agreement not to use the swastika symbol in their artwork. I doubt that agreement is still in place.

We had a name for that symbol before Hitler stole it, we called it a Sun Wheel .