270 ART IN SHELL OF THE ANCIENT AMERICANS. 



probabilities as to the European or American origin of the symbol of 

 the cross found in this region are pretty evenly balanced. In its de- 

 lineation there is certainly nothing to indicate its origin. By reference 

 to Plate LIII it -.vill be seen that in all the examples given it is a sim- 

 ple and symmetrical cross, which might be duplicated a thousand times 

 in the religious art of any country. A study of the designs associated 

 with the cross in these gorgets is instructive, but does not lead to any 

 definite result. In one case the cross is inscribed npon the back of a 

 great spider; in another it is surrounded by a rectangular framework 

 of lines, looped at the corners, and guarded by four mysterious birds, 

 while in others it is without attendant characters; but the workman- 

 ship is purely aboriginal. I have not seen a single example of engrav- 

 ing u])on shell that suggested a foreign hand, or a design, with the 

 exception of this one, that could claim a European derivation. 



Some very ingenious theories have been elaborated in attempting to 

 acconnt for the presence of the cross among American symbols. Brin- 

 tou believes that the great importance attached to' the points of the 

 compass — the four quarters of the heavens — by savage peoples has given 

 rise to the sign of the cross. With others the cross is a phallic symbol, 

 derived, by some obscure process of evolution, from the veneration ac- 

 corded to the reciprocal principle in nature. It is also frequently asso- 

 ciated with sun-worship, and is recognized as a symbol of the sun— the 

 four arms being remaining rays left after a gradual process of elimination. 

 Whatever is finally determined in reference to the origin of the cross as a 

 religious symbol in America will probably result from the exhaustive study 

 of the history, language, and art of the ancient peoples, combined with 

 a thorough knowledge of the religions concejjtions of modern tribes, 

 and when the.se sources of information arc all exhausted it is probable 

 that the writer who asserts more than a probability will overreach his 

 proofs. 



Such delineations of the cross as we find embodied in ancient aborigi- 

 nal art represent only the final stages of its evolution, and it is not to 

 be expected that its origin can be traced through them. In one instance, 

 however, a direct derivation from nature is suggested. The ancient 

 Mexican pictographic manuscripts abound in representations of trees, 

 conventionalized in such a manner as to resemble crosses ; these appa- 

 rently take an important part in the scenes depicted. By a compari- 

 son of these curious trees with the remarkable cross in the Palenque 

 tablet, I have been led to the belief that they must have a common sig- 

 nificance and origin. The analogies are indeed remarkable. The tree- 

 cross in the paintings is often the central figure of a group in 

 which priests ofler sacrifice, or engage in some similar religious rite. 

 The cross holds the same relation in the Palenque group. The 

 branches of these cross-shaped trees terminate in clusters of symbolic 

 fruit, and the arms of the cross are loaded down with symbols which, al- 

 though highly conventionalized, have not yet entirely lost their vege- 



