612 A PRIMITIVE URN BURIAL. 



The exterior ornamentation of this large kettle is shown in detail, 

 drawn of actual size, by Fiji:. 3. The dark lines are in relief, standing 

 ont level with the original surface of the clay when molded; the white 

 spaces show the face of the carving that sunk its impression, the six- 

 teenth of an inch in depth, in the yielding mass. It will be observed 

 in tiiis unique design that a well-defined cross a[)pears in each circle 

 surrounded by the intricate scroll lines. The figure of the cross is by 

 no means uncommon in the works of art of the ancient races inhabit- 

 ing America before the historic period. It has been found fashioned 

 in stone and co{)per, engraved on shell and bone, and in colors on pot- 

 tery vases and bottles — not to mention the famous carving at Palenque. 

 Its presence among the relics of the mounds has occasioned much spec- 

 ulation and discussion, in the main with no otlier basis than ludicrous 

 tlights of the imagination. At this late day the fanciful theory of a 

 pre-Columbian propagation of Christianity in America by the Apostle 

 Saint Thomas, supported at one time by such distinguished schohirs as 

 Professor Tiedemann, is scarcely worth a passing notice. " It has been 

 shown by the preceding examples," remarked Dr. Chas. Eau,* which 

 could be multiplied, if it were deemed necessary, that the cross was 

 recognized as a symbol among the more advanced nations of America." 

 Gomara says the knowledge of the cross as a religious emblem bad 

 penetrated all Spanish America before its discovery and conquest; and 

 adds, "This veneration of the cross made them (the Indians) more 

 ready to adopt the Christian symbol." This rubbish has vanished 

 before the march of archiecological science, together with the grandeur 

 and splendor of the *' cultured, semi-civilized mound builders." The 

 " sign of the cross," carved and sketched by the early mound-building 

 Indians, is now properly considered a meaningless figure of ornamenta- 

 tion adopted by crude savages because of its simplicity of execution. 

 This advanced opinion is well expressed by Prof. F. W. Putnam, in 

 mentioning a copper ornament of cross shape found in an old Indian 

 grave in Tennessee, lie says: " I think it must be placed in the same 

 category with the ' Tablet of the Cross' at Palenque, and be regarded 

 as an ornament made in its present form simply because it was uneasy 

 design to execute, and one of natural conception." 



Known instances of the preservation of cremated human remains in 

 earthenware vases, by our prehistoric Indians, are very rare. It was 

 the custom of some tribes to burn their dead collectively. "The practice 

 of reserving the skeletons," says Col. C. C. Jones, ll. D.,t "until they 

 had multiplied sulliciently to warrant a general cremation or inhumation 

 seems to have been adopted." They were then burned all together and 

 the seething pyre was covered with earth, heaped up into a mound, to 

 be never again disturbed. " Burial vases," he adds, ''inclosing human 

 bones (not burned) have occasionally been found in the grave mounds of 



The Palenque tablet, p. 42. t Antiquities of Southern Indians, p. 190. 



