Photo: Dell Crandall.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
HISPANIC ROCK ART – THE CRUCIFIX:
F.B. Delgado, Signature Rock, Boise City, OK.
Photo: Peter Faris, June 12,2006.
As we might expect in an area inhabited by a people as
religiously devout as the Hispanic residents of the early Southwest, we find
many crosses in rock art throughout the region. We must question, however, if
they are actually Hispanic crosses or if they might be stars or some other
symbols left by Native Americans.
This is definitely pertinent when the example in question is
found in the American southwest where Native American and Hispanic cultures
coexisted for quite some time. One clue to identifying some of the crosses as
Hispanic can be found in the treatment of the ends of the arms of the cross.
Wikipedia
Many of the crosses of Hispanic origin display the form
known as the cross pattée (also known as the cross formée), which has arms that are narrow at the center and broader at
the ends, an early medieval symbol dating back to at least the 7th
century AD. This form was sometimes used by the Teutonic knights, a crusader military
order. (Wikipedia)
The examples pictured are found in the southeast Colorado and
western Oklahoma area. The Oklahoma examples are from Signature Rock near Boise
City and are with the date 1859 suggesting association with the Santa Fe Trail.
Hispanic crosses, Picketwire Canyon, Colorado.
Photo: Dell Crandall.
Photo: Dell Crandall.
The example from Picketwire Canyon in Colorado is from later and was probably
created by pastoralists in the area. Indeed, there is still a reputed Penitente
morada in that general area.
Wikipedia.
Another possible inspiration would be the Maltese
cross although I personally have no examples of this in rock art from this area. The Maltese cross originated
in the mid-16th century (it has been traced back to AD 1567 on coins
from the island of Malta) with the Knights Hospitaller, also known as the
Knights of Malta.
Crosses, Freezeout Canyon, Baca County, CO.
Photo: Peter Faris, 1996.
I have also included a panel of possibly Native American crosses from
southeastern Colorado which seem to considerably predate the Hispanic examples
and do not exhibit the enlargement of the ends of the arms seen in the European
inspired crosse(s) pattée. These may represent the traditional presentation of four-armed stars and some viewers have interpreted this panel as a Native American representation of a constellation in the night sky.
REFERENCE:
Wikipedia
Labels:
Colorado,
cross,
cross pattee,
Hispanic,
Maltese cross,
Oklahoma,
rock art,
stars
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Gracias amigo. Un abrazo desde España.
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