The leaden idol (fig. 125) (Artemis Nana[265] of Chaldea, Sayce;
statuettes of the Cyclades, Lenormant) found by Dr. Schliemann in the
third, the burnt city of Hissarlik, Troy, was described (p. 829) with its
Swastika on the triangular shield covering the pudendum, with the
statement that it would be recalled in the chapter on Brazil.
The aboriginal women of Brazil wore a triangular shield or plaque over
their private parts. These shields are made of terra cotta, quite thin,
the edges rounded, and the whole piece rubbed smooth and polished. It is
supported in place by cords around the body, which are attached by small
holes in each angle of the triangle. The U. S. National Museum possesses
several of these plaques from Brazil, and several were shown at the
Chicago Exposition.
The consideration of the leaden idol of Hissarlik, with a Swastika, as
though for good luck, recalled to the author similar plaques in his
department from Brazil. Some are of common yellow ware, others were finer,
were colored red and rubbed smooth and hard, but were without decoration.
The specimen shown in pl. 18 (upper figure) was from Marajo, Brazil,
collected by Mr. E. M. Brigham. It is of light gray, slip washed, and
decorated with pale red or yellow paint in bands, lines, parallels,
geometric figures. The specimen shown in the lower figure of the same
plate, from the Caneotires River, Brazil, was collected by Prof. J. B.
Steere. The body color, clay, and the decoration paint are much the same
as the former. The ornamentation is principally by two light lines laid
parallel and close so as to form a single line, and is of the same
geometric character as the incised decoration ornament on other pieces
from Marajo Island. Midway from top to bottom, near the outside edges, are
two Swastikas. They are about five-eighths of an inch in size, are turned
at right angles, one to the right and the other to the left. These may
have been a charm signifying good fortune in bearing children. (See pp.
830-832.)
These specimens were submitted by the author to the Brazilian minister,
Señor Mendonça, himself an archæologist and philologist of no small
capacity, who recognized these objects as in use in ancient times among
the aborigines of his country. The name by which they are known in the
aboriginal language is _Tambeao_ or _Tamatiatang_, according to the
dialects of different provinces. The later dialect name for apron is
reported as _tunga_, and the minister makes two remarks having a possible
bearing on the migration of the race: (1) The similarity of _tunga_ with
the last syllable of the longer word, _atang_, and (2) that _tunga_ is
essentially an African word from the west coast. Whether this piece of
dress so thoroughly savage, with a possible ceremonial meaning relating to
sex or condition, with its wonderful similarity of names, might not have
migrated in time of antiquity from the west coast of Africa to the
promontory of Brazil on the east coast of America where the passage is
narrowest, is one of those conundrums which the prehistoric anthropologist
is constantly encountering and which he is usually unable to solve.
The purpose of these objects, beyond covering the private parts of the
female sex, is not known. They may have been ceremonial, relating, under
certain circumstances, to particular conditions of the sex, or they may
have been only variations of the somewhat similar covers used by the male
aborigine. They bear some resemblance to the _Ceintures de Chasteté_,
specimens of which are privately shown at the Musée de Cluny at Paris.
These are said to have been invented by Françoise de Carara, viguier
imperial (provost) of Padua, Italy, near the end of the fourteenth
century. He applied it to all the women of his seraglio. He was beheaded
A. D. 1405, by a decree of the Senate of Venice, for his many acts of
cruelty. The palace of St. Mark contained for a long time a box or case of
these ceintures with their locks attached, which were represented as
_des pieces de conviction_ of this monster.[266] Voltaire describes his
hero "_qui tient sous la clef, la vertu de sa femme_."
[Illustration: PLATE 18. FOLIUM VITUS ("FIG LEAVES"). Terra-cotta covers,
"tunga." Aborigines of Brazil. Cat. Nos. 59089 and 36542, U. S. N. M.]
[Illustration: MAP SHOWING DISTRIBUTION OF THE SWASTIKA.]