The Coolidge examiner., 1930-04-11
(By IRWIN HAYDEN

a fragment of the neck of a pot
one of the long, straight-necked
vessels. On its buff surface painted
in red was a swastika. To me, at
least, this is very interesting.
According to my Webster, the
swastika is a symbol or ornament
in the form of a Greek cross with
the ends of the arms bent at right
angles all in the same direction and
each prolonged to the height of
the parallel arm of the cross" Fur
ther: The swastika is found in re.
mains from the bronze age in va
rious parts of Europe, especially at
Hissarlik (Troy), and was in fire.
quent use as late as the 10th cen
tury. 1t found in ancient Persia,
in India, where both Jains and
Buddhists used (and still use) it
as a religious symbol, in China and
Japan and among the Indian tribes
of North, Central and South Ameri-
ca. 1t is usually thought to be a
charm, talisman, or religious token,
especially a sign of good luck or
benediction. Ma Muller distinguish
ed from the swastika with arms
prolonged to the right the suaas-
tika with arms prolonged to the
left, but this distinction is not COM
monty recognized"
Now the Navajo Indians have a
hymbol, the "whirling logs" which
is a swastika with the arms pro-
longed to the right or to the left;
both are used. The swastika found
by Milton Snow has it's arms pro-
longer to the left.
My information, unverified, is
that the swstika was used by the
ancient Americans but that it's use
had been discontinued and then re-
vived after the coming of the
whites.
AT any rate, here at the Casa
Grande ruins, we have found a gen
uine example of a swastika, in a
prehistoric ruin; and it may be a
very common thing or a rare thing.
What Do Designs Mean?
Our quickened interest in designs
on pottery and the finding of the
swastika on the red-on-buff sherd,
has brought up the question of
symbolism in design. Do the vari-
Gus patterns mean anything or are
they merely decorative?
DR.. Wissler says that "among the
best known New World symbols
are the cloud terraces of the Pueb-
10 peoples and the "whirling logs"
or swastika of the Navajo. The list
is, however, very short, but in ad-
dition we find many degrees of
symbolic associations as among the
ArapahO, where current designs
were often chosen by an individual
to stand for some personal interests
peculiar to himself Again, not a
single case of real symbolism has
so far been reported from the many
basket makers of California. It's
strongest development is in the
Southwest which, is perhaps, the
center of its northern dispersion
Among the Navajo we note that
because of their sacred character
tie true symbols are not used in
blankets, and in the plains we fur
ther note that the conventional and
aesthetic relations are practically
never modified to meet the de-
mands or Interpretation; it is al
ways the latter which is sacrificed.
All of this indicates that we are
dealing With decoration primarily,
upon which is occasionally grated
some symbolism. The facts are
that practically all of the religious
art of the New World is highly real
istic and, therefore, stands apart
fl ION tie art OF ordinary decora-
tion."
The above is from "The Ameri-
can Indian" by Dr. Clark Wissler,
curator of Anthropology in the
American Museum of Natural His
tory, New York City.
In seeking the north wall of the
compound, ran across a rectangu-
lar pit-house, which seems to have
been constructed after the COM
pound was abandoned. Now Kele-
men has found similar one at the
south end, apparently built just
outside the south wall of the COM
pound.
Compound 12o Feet Long
These compounds are not all of
the same size. Ours is about 120
feet long. we do not know how
not found the east wall. The Com
pounds are rectangular, with the
long axis running north and south
approximately at least.
How high the walls stood when
the compounds were occupied does
not appear on the record. One man
thinks they are as much as IL feet
high and built for defense. An
other thinks they were six or seven
feet high. Some think the walls
were built to keep out flood water.
Inside the walls were rectangular
rooms, often at one end, leaving
the rest of the compound for a
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