Alan at Ancient Art Reproductions

I stopped by a craft show this Labor Day weekend and had a conversation with Alan W. Barbick from Ancient Art Reproductions.  Alan specializes in reproducing petroglyphs as art.  He travels all over the Southwest of America and other places to take pictures of petroglyphs and learn about their meaning from local tribes if the knowledge is available.

We had an interesting conversation regarding some of the symbols that are shown in petroglyphs from the Americas.  Of particular interest to me was the use of the spiral and horned shaman.  But another interesting petroglyph was that of a hand with an eye from Cahokia.   This is a symbol that is common in the Middle East and North Africa, and is known as the Hand of Fatima, Hand or Mary, Hand of Miriam (the sister of Moses), or the Hamsa.

Many of these symbols such as the horned man, the spiral, the sun needle, and more are not only ancient but globally found just like the swastika.  Please feel free to look at Alan's website:


www.ancientartreproductions.com


The eye in the hand motif is a common symbol throughout Mississippian culture.  Here is an artifact from Moundville (in Alabama):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moundville_stone_pallette_HRoe_2003.jpg

by Rita Jean Moran (www.thelibrarykids.com)



Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Khamsa.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamsa

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moundville_stone_pallette_HRoe_2003.jpg

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southeastern_Ceremonial_Complex

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moundville_Archaeological_Site