CERTAIN ABORIGINAL MOUNDS OF THE GEORGIA COAST 135 



" As to the circle with the dot, there can hardly be a doubt that it is a sun 



ymbol. Of course in the minds of some persons this would simply be a circle with 



dot in it, a mere decoration without any particular meaning ; but I have long 



been convinced that in the develop- 

 ment of American art, after passing 

 through the realistic stage, conven- 

 tionalized forms were used, and at 

 this period of development, symbol- 

 ism became a marked feature in cer- 

 tain regions. Finally the spaces 

 around the essential figure or symbol 

 were sometimes filled up at the fancy 

 of the artist ; the main point in all 

 higher decoration being the expres- 

 sion of a thought by a convention- 

 rig. 78.— Sherd, Mound B, Bluff Field. (Full size.) ,. , V. -. 



ahzed form or sacred symbol. 



" The sun symbol, we may say, is cosmopolitan. It is widely expressed by a 

 simple circle or a circle with a central dot. In this connection I call your attention 

 to the paper by Mr. Willoughby and myself entitled ' Symbolism in Ancient 

 American Art,' and a more recent 

 paper following out the same 

 line of thought, written by Mr. 

 Willoughby and entitled : ' An 

 Analysis of Decorations Upon Pot- 

 tery from the Mississippi Valley.' 

 The perusal of this paper will, I 

 think, convince you that the decor- 

 ations consisting of circles, crosses 

 and scrolls are really the more or 

 less conventionalized rendering of 

 certain symbols. You will notice 

 this circle and dot combined with 

 the swastika-like figure of the four 

 winds in Fig. 11 of Mr. Willough- 

 by' s paper, and you will find the 

 sun symbol in various connections 

 shown in many of the figures ; 

 also in some of the figures in our 

 joint paper on ' Symbolism.' 



" The peculiar Z-shaped figure 

 with the two dots probably has the same meaning as the swastika, or being a half 

 swastika as Mr. Willoughby says, it probably indicates a gentle wind or breath, in 

 other words, life. This is the actual meaning of the symbol as used among some 



79.— Sherd, Mound B, Bluff Field. 



